OVERVIEW: Philax Chaff is a naval countermeasure system introduced in the late 1970s. It is designed to deploy radar-reflective chaff for the protection of fast-attack craft against radar-guided missiles.

DETAILS: Philax was adopted by Nordic navies and installed aboard vessels such as the Finnish Navy's Rauma-class missile boats. The system operates through deck-mounted launchers that deploy chaff rounds in response to detected radar threats. When integrated with an electronic support system, it can automatically trigger the deployment upon threat detection. Philax was eventually phased out and replaced by more modern systems such as Rheinmetall's MASS during mid-life upgrades of the Rauma-class between 2010 and 2013.

FONCTION:
Detects radar-guided threats using electronic sensors.
Initiates launch sequence from deck-mounted chaff dispensers.
Ejects radar-reflective chaff to mislead or decoy incoming missiles.

SOURCE:
Forecast International PDF (ARC_ID 718) ; Forecast International PDF (ARC_ID 825) ; https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Finnish-Navy/Rauma-class.htm