DSEI 2023: SEA launches Ancilia trainable decoy launcher

Capable of rapid movement, the Ancilia trainable decoy launcher is designed to counter a wide range of threats quickly and accurately. (SEA)

Fleet protection specialist SEA unveiled its new high-performance trainable decoy launcher system, Ancilia, at the DSEI 2023 exhibition, held from 12 to 15 September in London.

According to the company, Ancilia's trainable nature represents a step change in decoy launcher technology from traditional fixed countermeasures solutions, as it removes the need to manoeuvre the vessel. The system is flexible and highly modular, and its compact design enables it to be fitted to a wide range of maritime platforms without the need for major mechanical modifications.

Speaking to Janes, Paul Parsons, SEA international business development director, said Ancilia had been designed to rapidly and accurately deliver decoys to protect surface platforms from increasingly advanced missile and torpedo threats.

“There is a real demand driver, in that the threats have changed, but the West is behind the curve in terms of the hypersonic missile threat and the necessary countermeasures for those,” Parsons said.

Currently, the doctrine of naval ships for air defence would be to manoeuvre the ship as part of its defensive capability.