Posted on 04/03/2002 7:29:22 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — In preparation for its upcoming deployment, the USS Kitty Hawk has become the first aircraft carrier in the Navy to test a new defensive missile system.The Rolling Airframe Missile, or RAM, is designed to shoot down incoming threats. The ship, which spent three months in the Arabian Sea last fall participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, is expected to return to the same area for a five-month deployment this spring.
An initial test firing on March 21 was designed to see if the new system would harm the superstructure of the ship. A second testing on March 28 targeted an incoming "drone" missile.
Both tests were successful, crewmembers said.
"We performed this test to see if Hawk’s structural support components could support a motor blast from one of the missiles and to see if the blast presented any hazards to the ship and crews," said Chief Warrant Officer Robert Trammell, the ship’s missile division officer.
"There were no major problems found from the testing. Everything went as planned, and all systems are up and ready to go."
Kitty Hawk officials say the ship’s status as the Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier helped it become the first to test-fire the system. The ship received the system in July, but had not fired it.
Officials said the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz also has the system but has not yet tested it. The recent Kitty Hawk tests ensured the system could be used, if called upon, during the upcoming deployment.
"We’ve been performing the necessary checks and balances since the system arrived, so we would have the kind of success that was witnessed today," Petty Officer 2nd Class Terry Guess, of the ship’s weapons maintenance division, said on the day of the test.
The new system represents a big step forward in the ship’s self-defense capability, officers said.
"This upgrade will improve our ability to integrate our radar and missile systems, allowing them to automatically work together," said Lt. Cmdr. Dean Smith, a tactical action officer.
"This means that we can now react much more quickly to missiles that appear at the last minute, and if necessary place the system in automatic engagement mode that will classify and react to the threats faster than humanly possible."
Each of the two RAM launchers installed on the ship’s bow carries 21 missiles; the older Sea Sparrow launcher, which the RAM replaces, carried only eight missiles.
The system’s speed impressed those who watched the launches last week.
From his tactical seat about 100 feet away from the launcher, Smith said he could hear, but not see, the missile being launched.
"The missile leaves the launcher at a very high rate of speed — well above supersonic — and it is literally something that you will miss if you blink," Smith said.
"As it was, I could not see the missile itself, but only the blast from the rocket motor and plume of smoke departing the launcher. It’s one fast little missile. And now that we’ve successfully tested it, one we’re glad to add to our inventory."
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