National Defense reports,

The Marine Corps is preparing for the transition to full-rate production of the Marine Air Defense Integrated System Remote Weapon Station, according to a July 10 press release from manufacturer Kongsberg.

The Marine Air Defense Integrated System Remote Weapon Station, otherwise known as MADIS RWS, is a critical system in the Marine Corps Ground-Based Air Defense portfolio, which provides protection from drones with increased lethality against evolving threats.

Since this is a Marine system, built to be exposed to salt air and sea spray, there is no reason it could not also be a naval mount.

Currently no Coast Guard ships seem to have an effective hard kill system to use against Unmanned Air Systems.

The Marines seem to think they have an effective system.

It looks like a version of the MADIS system could be a very useful addition to some Coast Guard Cutters. The Navy might even want a few, including perhaps for the protection of Military Sealift Command Ships.

The war in Ukraine is showing us how useful and potentially dangerous even small Unmanned Surface and Air systems can be. The threat is not limited to Ukraine or Southwest Asia.

The MADIS system and its Remote Weapon Station is light enough to be used on virtually anything the Coast Guard calls a cutter. In addition to defense against UAS, this system could provide basic air defense against other potential threats and defense against swarming small craft.

The Webber Class:

We have already seen the sensors used in the MADIS system on the Webber class WPCs in PATFORSWA, but even those cutters don’t have an effective, installed hard kill system.

The addition of the MADIS remote weapon station to PATFORSWA FRCs would not only allow the cutters to engage UAS but would also provide them with protection against various air threats.

While perhaps less urgent, mounting the system on all Webber class would allow them to offer this protection to other potential targets.

Offshore Patrol Cutter port quarter

The Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC): 

There are two troubling issues with the OPC with regard to their armament.

• Aside from the .50 calibers, on most bearings, there is only one weapon that can bear on a target. The lack of redundancy is a serious weakness.
• Protection against even the most basic air threats, including UAS, is weak at best.

I have always been a bit concerned that the arc of fire for the single 25mm Mk38 Mod3 gun is severely limited. It’s mounted on top of the hangar, but what appear to be satcom antennas on either side may limit the firing arc to less than 180 degrees.

Replacing the Mk38 mount, the two .50 caliber in remote weapon stations, and the crew served .50 caliber guns with three properly sited MADIS style remote weapon stations (RWS), would ensure redundant coverage of 360 degrees, provide a more robust air defense (including against cruise missiles), and reduce the number of different weapon systems that need to be maintained.

The National Security Cutters (NSC):

The NSCs are nominally better armed than the OPCs because they have a 20mm Phalanx rather than a 25 Mk38. They would certainly be better off if a pair of the MADIS RWS replaced the .50 caliber crew served weapons. The additional visual sensors might also be useful. It might even be preferable to replace the Phalanx with a third RWS.

Polar Security Cutter and Others: 

The remote weapon system does not necessarily require the air search radar system. This system is light and compact enough to arm virtually any cutter from patrol boats to icebreakers including buoy tenders that do occasionally do law enforcement and would benefit from the electro-optics that are part of the Remote Weapon Station.

Other Considerations: 

Other Remote Weapon Station combinations might be preferable. I would like to see a more powerful gun than the M230 combined with Hellfire or APKWS in addition to Stinger, but this is in the Navy’s system now and provides a unique combination of capabilities. Training and maintenance course should become available.

The gun in the remote weapon system, the XM914E1 30mm that fires the 30x113mm does have a lower muzzle velocity (805 m/s (2,641 ft/s)) than the 25mm M242 (1,100 m/s (3,600 ft/s)) but the 30mm has a higher rate and airburst ammunition not currently available for US 25mm guns. The 25mm might be a better anti-surface weapon but not by much and the air burst ammunition and particularly the Stinger make me strongly favor the MADIS system.

From Back Left: 40mm grenade casing, 30x173mm (A-10/M44), 30x113mm (M230), 25x137mm (M242/Mk38 gun mount), 20x103mm (Phalanx), 50 BMG
300Blackout (typical rifle round), 9mmx19 (typical pistol round)

The air search radars used with the MADIS system would provide redundancy for air search and helicopter approach control. It could also be used to support UAS operations. Reportedly the radar has a range of up to 30km and an instrumented range of 50km at altitudes from 30ft to 30,000 feet.

Stinger may be an old system, but it has a proven capability. It is likely to be replaced with a new and even better system in the near future.