Forces fear suicide boats

US and British navies are more worried about al Qaeda strikes on ships in the event of war with Iraq than anything Saddam Hussein could throw at them, the deputy allied sea commander said today.

British Rear Admiral David Snelson said that air patrols over the so-called "no-fly" zones and sanctions-enforcing sea patrols have long since neutralised many of the threats that Iraq could present to the 130-odd coalition ships now positioned off its shore.

But commanders fear Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda militant network could respond to war in the Gulf with suicide strikes against ships like those against the US warship Cole in October, 2000 and the French merchant vessel Limburg last year.

In both cases, militants are thought to have approached warships near land on tiny boats and detonated explosives. Seventeen American sailors were killed on the Cole.

"At the moment that is the threat that is uppermost in our minds," said Snelson, who commands the British sea contingent in the Gulf and is deputy to the American commander of coalition navies.

He was speaking to reporters on board a British supply ship docked in the port of Mina Salman, Bahrain.

"They certainly have had plans to attack ships at sea. We know that because they've done it and from debriefs of al Qaeda operatives," said the admiral.

"We must assume that there is a possibility that al Qaeda will take action against British interests if we take action against Saddam Hussein. I have to assume it will get worse."

The United States and Britain have taken widely publicised measures to protect their vessels at sea throughout the buildup of forces in the Gulf.

Helicopters patrol the waterways looking for small boats, and armed sailors with night scopes man the decks of coalition ships. In some cases, ships have fired warning shots toward boats that come too close, Snelson said.

And in a unique security measure, the United States has trained sea lions to watch over their vessels in Mina Salman harbour in the island Gulf state where the allies have their fleet headquarters.

The sea lions are trained to carry a special clamp in their mouths which they can attach to a suspicious person.

The conventional threat from Iraq to sea forces is small. Baghdad's navy consists of only a handful of patrol boats, and its aircraft have been effectively neutralised by allied "no-fly" zone patrols.

Iraq also has ground-to-ship missiles, called Seersuckers, but the allies have been able to strike launch sites before they can be fired.

Sea mines, like those that struck two allied ships during the 1991 Gulf War, have long since been cleared, although 10 coalition minesweepers are in place just in case.

"We're well prepared. Therefore we can operate in the northern gulf in support of the land campaign," Snelson said of the threat from Iraq itself.

Here! TRy wun o' dese!

MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS)
The MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS - pronounced "sea-whiz") is a fast-reaction, rapid-fire 20-millimeter gun system that provides US Navy ships with a terminal defense against anti-ship missiles that have penetrated other fleet defenses. Designed to engage anti-ship cruise missiles and fixed-wing aircraft at short range, Phalanx automatically engages functions usually performed by separate, independent systems such as search, detection, threat evaluation, acquisition, track, firing, target destruction, kill assessment and cease fire. Phalanx underwent operational tests and evaluation onboard USS Bigelow in 1977, and exceeded maintenance and reliability specifications. Phalanx production started in 1978 with orders for 23 USN and 14 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) systems.
Phalanx is a point-defense, total-weapon system consisting of two 20mm gun mounts that provide a terminal defense against incoming air targets. CIWS, without assistance from other shipboard systems, will automatically engage incoming anti-ship missiles and high-speed, low-level aircraft that have penetrated the ship primary defense envelope. As a unitized system, CIWS automatically performs search, detecting, tracking, threat evaluation, firing, and kill assessments of targets while providing for manual override. Each gun mount houses a fire control assembly and a gun subsystem. The fire control assembly is composed of a search radar for surveillance and detection of hostile targets and a track radar for aiming the gun while tracking a target. The unique closed-loop fire control system that tracks both the incoming target and the stream of outgoing projectiles gives CIWS the capability to correct its aim to hit fast-moving targets, including ASMs.

The gun subsystem employs a gatling gun consisting of a rotating cluster of six barrels. The gatling gun fires a 20mm subcaliber sabot projectile using a heavy-metal (either tungsten or depleted uranium) 15mm penetrator surrounded by a plastic sabot and a light-weight metal pusher. The gatling gun fires 20mm ammunition at either 3,000 or 4,500 rounds-per-minute with a burst length of continuous, 60, or 100 rounds.

CIWS has been a mainstay self defense system aboard nearly every class of ship since the late 70’s. It was originally designed to defeat low altitude antiship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and was called the block 0. As antiship cruise missiles became more complex in maneuvers and ability to be detected, and warfare areas moved from open ocean to littoral environments, CIWS has evolved to meet the threat.

Block 1 incorporated a new search antenna to detect high altitude missiles, improved search sensitivity, increased the ammunition available for firing by 50 percent, a pneumatic gun drive which increased the firing rate to 4500 rounds per minute, and started using tungsten ammunition as well as depleted uranium. Block I improvements provide increased elevation coverage, larger magazine space for increased round capacity, a variable and higher gun fire rate, and improved radar and processing capabilities.

Block 1A incorporated a new High Order Language Computer (HOLC) to provide more processing power over the obsolete general purpose digital computer, improved fire control algorithms to counter maneuvering targets, search multiple weapons coordination to better manage engagements, and an end-to-end testing function to better determine system functionality.

Block 1B Phalanx Surface Mode (PSUM) incorporates a side mounted Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) which enables CIWS to engage low slow or hovering aircraft and surface craft. Additionally, the FLIR assists the radar in engaging some ASCM’s bringing a greater chance of ship survivability. Block 1B uses a thermal imager Automatic Acquisition Video Tracker (AAVT) and stablilization system that provide surface mode and electro-optic (EO) angle track. These Block 1B enhancements will allow day/night detection capability and enable the CIWS to engage small surface targets, slow-moving air targets, and helicopters.
Baseline 2C improvements provide an integrated multi-weapon operations capability. During integrated operations, the command system controls CIWS sensors, target reports, mode employment, and doctrine. The sensors are utilized to provide 360 degree search and track coverage, while providing track data to, and receiving designations from, the Command system. This CIWS installation includes a conversion kit for each weapon group to facilitate ease and safety of maintenance; the "maintenance enclosure" kit installs the below-deck equipment for a gun mount in a prefabricated enclosure with the mount located above it.

Specifications
Primary Function Anti-ship missile defense
Contractor Hughes Missile Systems Company
(formerly General Dynamics' Pomona Division, sold to Hughes in 1992)
Weight 12,500 pounds (5,625 kg)
Later models 13,600 pounds (6,120 kg)
Range Classified
Gun Type M-61A1 Gatling
Type of Fire 3,000 rounds per minute
- Later models 4,500 rounds/min
(starting 1988 production, Pneumatic Gun Drive)
Magazine Capacity 989 rounds
Later models 1,550 rounds
Caliber 20mm
Ammunition Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS),
Depleted Uranium or Tungsten sub-caliber penetrator.
Sensors Self-contained search and track radar
Search Radar Ku-band; digital MTI
Track Radar Ku-band; pulse Doppler monopulse
E/O Sensor FLIR Imaging System with Automatic ACQ Tracker
Fire Control Director with closed-loop spotting
Gun Drive Pneumatic
Mount Drive Electric
Date Deployed 1980 (aboard USS Coral Sea)
Later models 1988 (aboard USS Wisconsin)

Sources and Resources
CG 47 CLASS ADVISORY NR 13-93 -- WEAPON CONTROL SYSTEM - CLOSE IN WEAPON SYSTEM (WCS-CIWS) DIGITAL INTERFACE
DDG 51 CLASS ADVISORY NR 07-93 -- WEAPON CONTROL SYSTEM - CLOSE IN WEAPON SYSTEM (WCS-CIWS) DIGITAL INTERFACE
DDG 51 CLASS ADVISORY NR 14-94 -- CIWS MAGAZINE AMMO HANDLING SYSTEM SLACK CHAIN BRAKING DEVICE RESET

Toxic ammo is tested in fish areas by Larry Johnson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 9, 2003.

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