Meroka CIWS
Posted: June 2nd, 2018, 6:21 pm
I was browsing some of the Spanish ships and I didn't really like how the Meroka looks like in the current parts sheets , so I decided to try my hand at drawing it myself.
Since I imagine this is a little known system, here are my 2 cents:
The Meroka (ME hr RO hr KA none in German) is a Spanish CIWS system which entered service in 1984. Instead of using a rotary cannon like the Phalanx, it has its 12 Oerlikon 20/120 20mm cannons mounted in two rows. The cannons are slightly deviated from the center and fire at the same time, achieving a buckshot effect like that of a shotgun. The Meroka was perfectly comparable in terms of effectiveness to other contemporary CIWS when it was introduced, but it hasn't been upgraded since, which has sparked a lot of debate in the Spanish navy about whether it is useful at all.
It mounts a Lockheed Electronics VPS-2 Sharpshooter I-band radar and a bakup optronic targeting system in case the radar is jammed by ECM.
Here are some more detailed specifications:
Cannon: Oerlikon 20/120.
Weight: 4500 kg.
Elevation: -15 / +85 degrees
Traverse: 360 degrees.
Initial speed: 1290 m/s.
Rate of fire: 1440 shots per minute
Ammunition capacity: 720 APDS-T projectiles total, 60 per cannon.
Range: Effective using APDS-T between 1500 - 2000 m.
Targetins system: Lockheed Electronics VPS-2 Sharpshooter I-band radar, w/ Indra-built thermograph.
Edit: re-uploaded due to incorrect scaling
Since I imagine this is a little known system, here are my 2 cents:
The Meroka (ME hr RO hr KA none in German) is a Spanish CIWS system which entered service in 1984. Instead of using a rotary cannon like the Phalanx, it has its 12 Oerlikon 20/120 20mm cannons mounted in two rows. The cannons are slightly deviated from the center and fire at the same time, achieving a buckshot effect like that of a shotgun. The Meroka was perfectly comparable in terms of effectiveness to other contemporary CIWS when it was introduced, but it hasn't been upgraded since, which has sparked a lot of debate in the Spanish navy about whether it is useful at all.
It mounts a Lockheed Electronics VPS-2 Sharpshooter I-band radar and a bakup optronic targeting system in case the radar is jammed by ECM.
Here are some more detailed specifications:
Cannon: Oerlikon 20/120.
Weight: 4500 kg.
Elevation: -15 / +85 degrees
Traverse: 360 degrees.
Initial speed: 1290 m/s.
Rate of fire: 1440 shots per minute
Ammunition capacity: 720 APDS-T projectiles total, 60 per cannon.
Range: Effective using APDS-T between 1500 - 2000 m.
Targetins system: Lockheed Electronics VPS-2 Sharpshooter I-band radar, w/ Indra-built thermograph.
Edit: re-uploaded due to incorrect scaling