A French destroyer shot down a KAB for the first time in history: how the PAAMS anti-aircraft system worked (video)

Share: During the recent Horizon exercise, the French Navy destroyer Forbin intercepted an AASM Hammer guided bomb with an Aster 30 missile. The interception was carried out automatically by the airborne anti-aircraft system, marking the first documented case of a ship striking an aerial bomb of this type in mid-air.

During a high-intensity threat simulation exercise, a Rafale fighter jet fired an AASM Hammer aerial bomb at a target that simulated the operation of a Mistral amphibious assault ship. And the PAAMS air defense system without human intervention automatically detected, identified, tracked the target and launched a missile to intercept it. This is reported by the Naval News portal.

During the training mission, the capabilities of the Aster 30 missile, as well as the entire PAAMS system, were established, which will be the impetus for the further development of the French fleet. PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System) is an integrated shipboard air defense system installed on Horizon-type destroyers (including Forbin), which combines the Herakles multifunctional radar and Sylver launchers that control the vertical launch of Aster family missiles.

As for the interceptors themselves, they are quite high-speed, high-precision weapons. The missile has the following parameters: Thus, the PAAMS system has proven its effectiveness against modern guided air munitions, which, by the way, are widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces. It will be recalled that the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine uses the AASM Hammer against Russian troops, delivering high-precision strikes from the air.