Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar, abbreviated C-RAM or Counter-RAM, is a system used to detect and/or destroy incoming artillery, rockets and mortar rounds in the air before they hit their ground targets, or simply provide early warning.
C-RAM is effectively a land version of weapons such as the Phalanx CIWS radar controlled rapid-fire gun for close in protection of vessels from missiles.
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C-RAM is an initiative taken in response to an operational needs statement made by the Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I). The directive arose in response to the increasing number of casualties caused by attacks using rockets, artillery, and mortars in Iraq. The land-based Phalanx B was subsequently deployed in Iraq in the summer of 2005. It protects the Green Zone and Camp Victory in Baghdad, Logistics Support Area Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, and is also deployed by the British Army in southern Iraq.
Israel is considering buying the system to counter rocket attacks and defending point military installations. Each system costs $15 million, and uses a 20 mm M61A1 Gatling gun firing 3,000 or 4,500 M-246 or M-940 rounds per minute. The shells are fused to self-destruct in the air.[1][2]
Raytheon is developing a laser-based variation where low cost focused lasers will provide increased range and time-to-intercept over the gun. A proof of concept was demonstrated on a 60mm mortar round in 2006.[3]