Crowsnest ASaC achieves FOC

The Crowsnest airborne early warning capability has achieved full operating capability, the MoD said. (Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has declared full operating capability (FOC) for its Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) capability.

The milestone was announced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 25 April but happened in late March, some 20 months after initial operating capability (IOC) was declared in September 2023 and in time for the Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG25) deployment of HMS Prince of Wales and its escorts to the Far East.

“The announcement that the Merlin Crowsnest Programme has achieved its full operating capability means the Royal Navy now has the full capability required for its Merlin aircraft configured in the ASaC role,” Paul McDermott, head of programmes at Defence Equipment and Support, said.

The Crowsnest mission fit comprises a Thales-supplied radar/mission system that can now be carried by any of the RN's 30 Lockheed Martin-Leonardo AW101 Merlin HM2 maritime helicopters. Of the nine Merlin HM2s assigned to CSG25, three will be fitted with the system to provide airborne early warning for the fleet.

“The principal reason for having the ASaC capability and the Crowsnest programme to do that is for protection of the strike group against air threats, and although it doesn't fire anything to engage missiles, it's there to provide early warning to ships and particularly for the threats that ships would struggle to see themselves,” Captain Colin McGannity, Carrier Air Wing and Strike Warfare Commander, said, adding, “By getting a really capable radar up high and looking down, we're taking advantage of all the lessons that we've learnt in the past, particularly back in the Falklands war, to make sure that we've got that capability to help protect the strike group.”