Hello everyone, Supercraft888 again, it has been a long time now hasn't it? 5 and a half months without a post. I'm still here, silently watching the community from afar. And today I make my return, I present to you the the Shield II CIWS, part of the fortress defense network. I'm glad to bring this to you guys after a very long hiatus, and I hope to be posting more to make up for it. Till then, I have a sneak peek of a build I have been doing in the meantime:

---Notes---

Thanks to EternalDarkness for modding the miniguns.

---Instructions---

• AG 4 to activate motion control
• VTOL to elevate the weapon up and down
• TRIM to traverse the weapon left and right

---Description---

The Shield II CIWS (pronounced "sea-whiz") is a close-in weapon system for defense against antiship missiles, helicopters, etc. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Canada on August 22, 2023 and is a direct upgrade to the Shield I CIWS. Consisting of two radar-guided 25 mm GAU-12 cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Shield II is a direct upgrade to the Shield I CIWS used by the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Shield II CIWS during testing

A land variant, known as the LSWS (Land Shield Weapon System), also part of the Fortress defense system, has recently been deployed in a short range missile defense role, to counter incoming rockets and artillery fire.

Design

The basis of the system is the 25 mm GAU-12, linked to a Ku-band radar system for acquiring and tracking targets. This proven system was combined with a purpose-made mounting, capable of fast elevation and traverse speeds, to track incoming targets.

Housing and Radar

An entirely self-contained unit, the stealth mounting houses the gun in a housing that reduces radar cross section drastically, an automated fire-control system and all other major components, enabling it to automatically search for, detect, track, engage, and confirm kills using its computer-controlled radar system. Due to this self-contained nature, Phalanx is ideal for support ships, which lack integrated targeting systems and generally have limited sensors. The entire unit has a mass between 2,460kg unloaded and 2,620kg when fully loaded.

The radar system on the Shield II can track a sea-skimming target with 0.07 square meter radar cross section at 12 km, extended to 23 km if the radar cross section is increased to 2 square meters, and further extended to 29 km if the radar cross section is increased to 10 square meters, though the targets could not be engaged until much closer (3 km) due to the limited range of the gun.