Unidentified systems on warships

Written by D-Mitch  

In this short article I will include all those tweets where I asked for help in order to identify weapon systems or sensors on various warships. Those systems have not been identified yet.If you know the systems I would be grateful.

1. Launchers on an Israeli Navy Sa'ar 4.5 class FACM? 

Unidentified boxy launchers amidships

Unidentified launchers on a Sa'ar 4.5

The following photos were taken on May 29, 2017 and were posted for the first time by the user Eugene 5110 at forums.airbase.ru. Some people identified those boxes on an Israeli fast attack missile boat (FACM) as Spyder, Iron Dome or Spike (NLOS) launchers. Another person suggested that it was a Green Dragon loitering missile/munition. Indeed, the launching system looks similar to that. Others proposed different kind of systems. The tweet and the comments are at this link. Do YOU know the system?

Sa'ar 4.5 class fast attack missile boat with boxy launchers amidships

2. New sensors on a Horizon class destroyer of the French Navy? 

Chevalier Paul with her new equipment

The devices on the C. Paul's hangar.
Photo by Devrim Yaylali

The following photos were taken on October 9, 2017 by Giorgio Arra and were posted at www.naviearmatori.net. While I was looking those photos I noticed that that the French Navy Horizon class destroyer D621 Chevalier Paul is equipped with some new, unknown to me, devices in her equipment. I have modified those photos for the purpose of highlighting the unidentified systems. I think that they look like ECM/ESM systems. Somebody said that they look like SATCOM which I do not believe that this is the case as the ship has already numerous SATCOM. Those radomes are really small and are spread all over the ship (I spotted four such systems). They look also in specific direction and have protected plate behind them for interference avoidance. They are definitely not SATCOMs. Somebody else proposed that they are sensors part of a thermal sea skimming missile detection system while another one proposed that they are electro-optical sensors. There were those also that agreed with my proposition. The tweet and the comments are at this link. Do YOU know the system?

The unknown device

Another view of the devices

Three of the unknown devices atop the hangar

 

3. Unknown system on Israeli Navy Sa'ar 4.5 FACM and Sa'ar 5 class corvettes

The unknown to me system
of a Sa'ar 5 class corvette

The main mast of a Sa'ar 4.5 class FACM

The following photos show the main mast of the Sa'ar 4.5 class fast attack missile boat and the foremast of a Sa'ar 5 class corvette of the Israeli Navy. There is a kind of electronic equipment hidden inside the enclosed masts of the two warship classes and it is clear that this is a sensor as it can be noticed the NO PAINT warning on the surface of the cover. Do not forget that when we talk about any kind of Israeli military platform, we expect a variety of sensors and antennas, of which the majority of them have usually an unknown to the general audience purpose. My guess is that this is an electronic/communication support measures system but I cannot identify which exactly system. Therefore in my analysis of the Sa'ar 4.5 class here, I mentioned what I strongly believe it is enclosed there but I did not mention a specific system. The tweet and the comments are at this link. Do YOU know the system?

The main mast of a Sa'ar 4.5 class FACM

The foremast of a Sa'ar 5 class corvette