Nato offers missile firing training to UAE with Patriot, Roland and Hawk

Abu Dhabi: The Nato Missile Firing Installation offered the UAE training in aerial target simulation for tactical firing with the anti-aircraft and air defence systems, Patriot, Roland and Hawk, it was announced at the region largest military show on Wednesday.

"A select crew of air defenders can travel to the Mediterranean Island of Crete to fire a live Patriot missile in conjunction with their air defence counterparts, as part of a training exercise held by the Nato Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI)," Major General G. Tsartsaris, NAMFI Commander, told Gulf News.

The UAE, he said, can also avail of our experience in setting up its firing range in the country. NAMFI is a firing range with multinational character where Patriot missiles can be fired and ground air defence units can be evaluated in a tactical behaviour. Up to six high performance drones can be simultaneously provided as target presentations. Deployable control and reporting centres and national or Nato airborne early warning systems support these firings.

A multinational evaluation team assesses the performance of the unit. Surface-to-air, air-to-surface, air-to-air and surface-to-surface firings are also possible.NAMFI, Nato's main firing range in Souda Bay, Crete, provides range control, surveillance, target launching facilities and telemetry support for the missiles.

NAMFI fired high speed target drones, which simulated air-to-surface and surface-to-surface anti-ship cruise missiles, against ships using various flight profiles and different degrees of engagement. Cape St George's well-trained crew and fully integrated Aegis combat system performed flawlessly, detecting, tracking and engaging the targets with two well-placed SM-2 standard missiles.

NAMFI has trained and evaluated more than 390,000 soldiers and leaders since it began functioning more than 40 years ago, Tsartsaris said earlier at a presentation at the International Defence Exhibition IDEX."Units leave the range equipped with train as you fight experience and with the ability to make better decisions under pressure," he said.

"Our vision is to provide a world-class range to address the most pressing challenges in the air defence of the 21st century by promoting cooperation with the user nations, placing the highest priority through continuous training, modernising the fire range and introducing new capabilities, and enforcing safety and environmental stewardship,'' Tsartsaris explained.

NAMFI has become over the years the place where people of different nationalities work together promoting mutual understanding and creating a friendly relations among armed forces. This is more important as multinational cooperation is a key principle of our collective defence effort in the 21st century," he said.

Posted in: IDEX,UAE