March 20, 2018

The Royal Netherlands Navy’s first upgraded Goalkeeper close-in weapon system recently passed its sea acceptance trials aboard landing platform dock HNLMS Johan de Witt, Thales – the company in charge of the system modernization – announced.

The test came six years after the company was contracted for upkeep modifications in 2012.

Goalkeeper proved its mettle against air targets which included detection, tracking and elimination of Kinetiq’s Banshee propeller and jet drones with traditional and modern inbound attack flight paths. For surface targets, the same procedure was carried out with Kinetiq Sprite II drones.

The upkeep modification will once again bring performance of the Goalkeeper system to the highest operational status, in correspondence with the Royal Netherlands Navy’s ambition to optimally protect its crew and ships during overseas deployments.

The CIWS modifications consist of new algorithms and electro-optic tracking capabilities, making Goalkeeper capable of dealing with more modern, evasive maneuvering air threats with a complex trajectory. The original system was developed in the 1980s.

According to Thales, total of 63 Goalkeepers have been sold to Navies across Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.