US Navy Deploying New Anti-Torpedo Technology

asianobserve

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Kris Osborn Defensetech
October 28, 2013



The Navy is gearing up for deployment and a new round of tests of its Surface Ship Torpedo Defense System — a high tech system designed to protect aircraft carriers by locating, tracking and intercepting incoming torpedoes, Navy leaders said Oct. 24 at the Naval Submarine League, Falls Church, Va.

The upcoming tests, slated to take place on the USS George H.W. Bush, are designed as a follow on to initial end-to-end testing of an early prototype model aboard the Bush this past May. The Navy plans to equip all aircraft carriers with SSTD by 2035.

The SSTD system, which consists of a sensor, processor and small interceptor missile, is a first-of-its-kind "hard kill" countermeasure for ships and carriers designed to defeat torpedoes, said Rear Adm. Dave Johnson, Program Executive Officer, Submarines.

The SSTD is slated for additional testing on board the USS Bush next month in what's called a Quick Reaction Assessment, Johnson said. The SSTD will be an Engineering Development Model of the technology, meaning it will be further tweaked and refined before deploying aboard the USS Bush in the near future.

Ships already have a layered system of defenses which includes sensors, radar and several interceptor technologies designed to intercept large, medium and small scale threats from a variety of ranges. For example, most aircraft carriers are currently configured with Sea Sparrow interceptor missiles designed to destroy incoming air and surface threats and the Phalanx Close-in-Weapons System, or CIWS. CIWS is a rapid-fire gun designed as an area weapon intended to protect ships from surface threats closer to the boat's edge, such as fast-attack boats.

Torpedo defense for surface ships, however, involves another portion of the threat envelope and is a different question. SSTD is being rapidly developed to address this, Navy officials explained.

The system consists of a Torpedo Warning System Receive Array launched from the winch at the end of the ship, essentially a towed sensor or receiver engineered to detect the presence of incoming torpedo fire. The Receive Array sends information to a processor which then computes key information and sends data to interceptor projectiles — or Countermeasures Anti-Torpedos, or CAT — attached to the side of the ship.

The towed array picks up the acoustic noise. The processors filter it out and inform the crew. The crew then makes the decision about whether to fire a CAT, a Navy official told Military"‹.com.

The CATs are mounted on the carriers' sponson, projections from the side of the ship designed for protection, stability or the mounting of armaments.

The individual technological pieces of the SSTD system are engineered to work together to locate and destroy incoming torpedos in a matter of seconds or less. Tactical display screens on the bridge of the ship are designed to inform commanders about the system's operations.

After being tested on some smaller ships such as destroyers, the SSTD was approved for use on aircraft carriers in 2011 by Chief Naval Officer Adm. Jonathan Greenert, according to the Navy.

The SSTD effort is described by Navy officials as a rapid prototyping endeavor designed to fast-track development of the technology. In fact, the Torpedo Warning System recently won a 2013 DoD "Myth-Busters" award for successful acquisition practices such as delivering the TWS to the USS Bush on an accelerated schedule. The TWS is made by 3 Phoenix.

The Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo is being developed by the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory.


Read more: http://defensetech.org/2013/10/28/navy-deploying-new-anti-torpedo-technology/#ixzz2j7aIifia
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asianobserve

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A. Mission Description and Budget Item Justification

The Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) program provides a detect-to-engage hardkill torpedo defense capability through two development programs. The Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT) program develops a canisterized Anti-Torpedo Torpedo (ATT) as an ACAT II program. The Torpedo Warning System (TWS) develops the required ship systems as an ACAT III program. Additionally, the program will require fielding of the AN/SLQ-25X (NIXIE) (Previously identified as AN/SLQ-25D) system as a tow point for the TWS towed sensors. This requires interfacing NIXIE power and data transfer with the TWS.

The program will focus on first providing torpedo defense capability to High Value Units (HVU). The SSTD system will be installed on one CVN and one Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ship (both HVUs) with initial operational capability (IOC) in FY 2018.

Additionally, the program will develop and field six surface ship torpedo defense prototype systems (TWS/CAT) on CVNs. Each prototype consists of one TWS and 10 CATs. The 6 systems are required to be accelerated due to the lack of torpedo defense on HVUs which has been exacerbated by recent real-world events and evolving threats. The systems provide a hard-kill torpedo defense capability in advance of the IOC as part of the program of record. To accomplish this effort, the department reprogrammed $9.9 million of FY 2010 funds and received a prior approval reprogramming for an additional $7.9 million of FY 2010 funds. The first two prototypes are expected to deliver in FY14, two systems in FY15, and two systems in FY16.

Finally, the program will deliver one hybrid prototype system in FY 13. This is in addition to the six prototype systems discussed above. The system will deliver some capability to a forward deployed CVN asset before the first prototype system is available.

At-sea demonstrations of the Torpedo Detection Classification and Localization (TDCL) systems conducted in FY06 through FY09 led to a CRUDES TDCL draft system specification in FY09 which is being modified to accommodate installation of a system for HVUs. Additionally, in 2nd Qtr FY10, prototype TDCL systems were tested at sea to collect data to characterize the ability of towed active and passive sonar arrays to detect and track threat targets both actively and passively in adverse conditions. System manufacturing readiness levels indicate FY18 as most acceptable risk for delivery.
Successful at-sea testing of the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Engineering Development Model (EDM-1) in FY06 through FY09 facilitates completion of the ATT EDM-2 design in early FY12. The EDM-2 design will be the ATT included in the six fielded prototype systems.
http://www.dtic.mil/descriptivesum/Y2013/Navy/stamped/0603506N_4_PB_2013.pdf
 

W.G.Ewald

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Last night I was watching this movie:

Assault on a Queen (1966) - IMDb

At the end a Typ II U-boat fires two torpedoes at a USCG cutter. No problem! Captain says to gunner with M2 .50 caliber, "Take out those torpedoes!" and it seconds the torpedoes explode harmlessly 1/2 a mile away. :)
 

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