Escribano Sentinel Remote Weapon Stations Pass Peruvian Navy Patrol Boats Acceptance Tests

Sentinel 2.0 and Sentinel 30 systems from the Spanish company ESCRIBANO M&E have successfully passed the SAT tests in Peru undertaken on the Peruvian Navy Río Pativilca Class patrol boats PPMM 208 BAP “Río Tumbes” and PPMM 209 “Río Locumba”, now in operation. Both systems are “stand alone” solutions that can either be integrated with the combat, navigation or data system of the patrol boat or can integrate an electro-optical system for long range detection and threat tracking, as, for example, the solutions installed in the BAP UNION or in the BAP PISCO of the Peruvian Navy. In this sense, the performance and firepower of the SENTINEL RWS would be combined with a new generation of the OTEOS electro-optical system on the patrol boats, enhancing their observation capabilities and surveillance missions.

ESCRIBANO M&E has been established in Peru for years with SIMA. This collaboration has resulted in the installation of different naval systems on ships of the Peruvian Navy, such as the river patrol boats “CLAVERO” or “CASTILLA”, on the ship BAP TACNA, the sailing training ship BAP UNION and the multipurpose ship BAP PISCO, where one of the most novel and innovative systems developed by ESCRIBANO M&E was deployed, the SCAMO system (System of Control of Remote Stations by Optronic Means). System equipped with 4 stations of 12.7mm calibre, 2 stations of 30mm calibre and a stabilised surveillance system with 360º vision (OTEOS). An integrated combat system that allows the joint management of stations and cameras and their coordination from an independent console, as well as those of each station.

The SENTINEL 2.0 station integrates Browning 12.70 mm calibre heavy machine guns, a standard armament and weapon for Navies. Equipped, like the SENTINEL 30, with an infrared, a day camera and a laser range finder (LRF), it allows the operator managing the integrated console inside the ship or patrol boat to locate, aim and shoot down targets both day and night. In addition to these capabilities, automatic target tracking ensures that the weapon is automatically aimed on target using video from both cameras, resulting in immediate and lethal effectiveness. The SENTINEL 30 station can mount a 30mm cannon (MK44S Bushmaster II) adaptable to 40mm in the same system without modification. The Spanish Navy has SENTINEL 2.0 naval stations mounted on its frigates, especially on the LHD “Juan Carlos”, the Navy’s flagship, where four 12.70 mm mounts are installed.

The Río Pativilca Class corresponds to an initial series of 6 OPV patrol boats, derived from the South Korean-designed Taeguk Class of the Korea Coast Guard (KCG; Haeyang-gyeongchal-cheong), whose construction and design was awarded to STX Offshore & Shipbuilding after an international tender initiated by the Peruvian Navy in 2013, paying 82, 4 million dollars for its execution, an investment framed in the plan to recover the capacities of the coast guard, covering search and rescue, interdiction and patrol needs. Construction is being carried out at the SIMA-Peru shipyards in the town of Chimbote, the first two patrol boats called BAP Río Pativilca and BAP Río Cañete were completed in 2015 and assigned to the Peruvian Coast Guard.