Praetorian 1C

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The Praetorian anti-aircraft-artillery system was designed to protect NATO naval vessels from any possible aerial threats in close range. Armed with 20mm Minigun rounds, it’s a threat to respect for any opponent. Field Manual

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Praetorian 1C 20 mm
Faction	NATO
Type	Autonomous Anti-Aircraft System
Calibre	20 mm
Magazine capacity	1,550
Variants	None
Games

The Praetorian 1C is a static 20 mm anti-aircraft weapon system commonly mounted onto NATO warships in ArmA 3. It was added with the release of the Jets DLC.

Overview

The Praetorian 1C is a point-defence, close-in weapons system that is designed to engage Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and fixed-wing aircraft at short ranges.

It can attain a fire rate of up to 4,615 rounds per minute, and has a muzzle velocity of 1,440 m/s. The Praetorian's fire control sight can toggle between normal day, night, and black/white-hot thermal vision modes. It has an effective firing range of between 1,500 and up to 3,000 metres.

Praetorians always feed from a single linked 1,550-round belt of 20 mm shells, and have another belt left in reserve for a combined total of 3,100 rounds. It can reload once on its own but must be rearmed manually once both belts are entirely depleted.

Most vessels will usually have at least one Praetorian to protect them from low-flying aircraft. Liberty-class destroyers for instance, have one affixed to the front of hull just below the bridge, whereas Freedom-class aircraft carriers have several Praetorians attached to multiple points throughout the ship instead.

Though intended for naval vessels, Praetorians can function as ground-based defences.

Though the Praetorian lacks the range or accuracy of guided missile systems like the Spartan or Centurion, it compensates by being able to fire off hundreds of rounds in the span of less than a few seconds. This doesn't guarantee that it will always hit its targets, but at least ensures that any attacking helicopter pilot will need to think twice before trying to get close to the ship itself.

The Praetorian is completely autonomous and does not require human input to function. Just like the smaller, man-portable Mk30A sentry gun, the Praetorian can be controlled directly by using a UAV Terminal. However, this is usually unnecessary in most cases since the Praetorian's AI will automatically engage targets once they get within range.

It should be noted that in spite of their armament, Praetorians are vulnerable to having their control systems get hijacked by enemy drone operators. Praetorians can (usually) defend themselves against hacking attempts but hostiles can manoeuvre to a blindspot at the turret's base where the gun cannot depress low enough. It may be necessary for friendly forces to keep watch in order to prevent it from being hijacked.

Camouflage

• Light Grey
• Sand
• Green

1/3

• Light Grey: Standard light grey paint scheme with a flat white radar dome.
• Sand: Desert tan paint scheme with a flat white radar dome.
• Green: Dark olive green paint scheme with a flat white radar dome.

Ammunition

Base damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Initial velocity (m/s)	Penetration depth (mm)
72	-0.00035	1,440	97.2

Praetorian 1Cs utilise just one type of ammunition:

1550Rnd

Standard 1,550-round linked belt. The rounds are armour-piercing and retain no explosive properties, but still have a small splash radius of 1 metre.

Every third shell fired will consist of a visible, red-coloured tracer round.

Sensors

The Praetorian 1C uses a search and track radar that is located within the gun's radar dome. It has access to three types of sensors to carry out its air defence duties:

Sensor type	Max range (Air/Ground)	Min range (Air/Ground)	Affected by environment?	Target max speed (km/h)	Azimuth coverage (°)	Elevation coverage (°)	Friendly identification range (m)
Active	A: 10,000 m G: 7,000 m	A: 10,000 m G: 7,000 m	Terrain clutter (200 m)	5,000 km/h	360°	100°	7,000 m
Infrared	A: 4,000 m G: 3,500 m	A: 500 m G: 500 m	Fog (0.005%)	2,160 km/h	60°	40°	3,500 m
Data Link	A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m	A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m	Nothing	1e+10 km/h	360°	360°	0 m

Active Radar

The Praetorian's Active Radar can acquire targets from any direction once they get within proximity of the sensor's range (represented by the teal circle on the SENSORS panel), though they must also be within bounds of the 100 degree elevation limit.

Note that although ground targets at distances below 200 metres remain "invisible" to the radar due to terrain clutter, any targets that begin moving at speeds of ~ 100 km/h or greater will immediately become visible on the Praetorian's radar.

It should be noted that the Active Radar has an elevation offset of 45 degrees.

Infrared Sensor

The IR Sensor dependent on the turret's facing direction (represented by the RED cone on the SENSOR panel). It has an elevation offset of 0.5 degrees.

Although it is technically affected by heavy fog, the range reduction effect is so miniscule (-0.125 metre reduction) that it will be barely noticeable.

Data Link

The Praetorian is data link-capable. It can receive the locations of radar contacts from any friendly forces within 16 km range.

Note that unlike its IR Sensor and Active Radar, the Praetorian's data link is not restricted to the turret's facing direction.

Trivia

• The Praetorian is based on the real-world "Phalanx CIWS" that remains in use with many ships in Western navies.
  • While the Phalanx was previously featured in ArmA 2 as a static weapon that could be seen attached at the base of USS Khe Sanh's island, it was completely non-functional and was purely cosmetic.
• "Praetorian" refers to the Praetorian Guard, which were elite troops from the Ancient Roman army whose members often served as personal bodyguards for its emperors.
• Before the release of the Tanks DLC, it was not possible to lock onto Praetorian turrets even if they were active. This was changed with Game Update 1.82 so that it is now possible to lock onto them with infrared-guided missiles once the turret heats up.
• After the Mk30A/Mk32A, it is the second unique gun-based system that is fully autonomous in the entire series.

Gallery

Starboard view of the USS Liberty's bow. A Praetorian 1C can be seen mounted just in front of the bridge.

Overview of the USS Freedom's AA systems introduced with Jets DLC. The Praetorian is located on the far left.

External links

• Wikipedia: Phalanx CIWS

See also

Heavy AA systems of comparable role and configuration

• Mk49 Spartan (Short-ranged IR-guided missile counterpart)
• Mk21 Centurion (Medium-ranged radar-guided missile counterpart)

Heavy anti-air systems of ArmA 3
Land	MIM-145 Defender* • S-750 Rhea*
Naval	Mk21 Centurion • Mk49 Spartan • Praetorian 1C
Jets DLC * denotes content added as part of the Encore platform update.