RAM-System GmbH (RAMSYS) has been contracted to deliver 600 state-of-the-art Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2B guided ship self-defence missiles to the German Navy, deliveries will commence in 2024. RAM-System GmbH is a joint venture in charge of programme management and marketing of the RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) naval self-defence missile system in Europe. RAM-System GmbH is owned by MBDA Deutschland (50%), Diehl Stiftung (25%) and Diehl BGT Defence (25%). RAM-System also controls the German share in the US ESSM and Standard Missile SM-2 production programmes. RAM has been a bilateral US-German government programme for over 40 years
The contract for the 600 RAM Block 2B missiles for the German Navy is an essential element within a multinational production scenario. Diehl Defence produces the IR seeker head, guidance section and launch canister, and is responsible for integration of the front section. MBDA Deutschland produces the evolved RF receiver, control section and warhead, and performs final assembly. In addition to being the RAM marketing leader for the European market, RAMSYS is the German Navy’s national industrial partner for ship-based air defence and manages the nation’s participation in the RAM, SeaRAM and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) programmes.
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship missiles. As its name indicates, RAM rolls as it flies. The missile must roll during flight because the RF tracking system uses a two-antenna interferometer that can measure phase interference of the electromagnetic wave in one plane only. The rolling interferometer permits the antennas to look at all planes of incoming energy. In addition to Germany and the USA, the navies of Egypt, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Turkey and the UAE rely on the RAM missile system.
The 6th-generation RAM Block 2B missile is a development by industry partners Raytheon Missiles & Defense and RAMSYS, in close cooperation with parent companies Diehl Defence and MBDA Germany. The newly-developed RAM Block 2B missile incorporates a new IR seeker head and a missile-to-missile-link between RAM Block 2B salvo shootings. Together with its evolved RF receiver software, this enables the missile to effectively counter complex raid scenarios of incoming anti-ship missiles and new targets of the latest generation. The new RAM Block 2B can be loaded into all deployed RAM launching systems.
