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Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) became the first U.S Navy ship to use missile simulator test sets during an at-sea combat ship qualification trial on Feb. 18.
“This new use for these test sets is a great example of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD)’s capability of solving complex challenges,” said Matthew Bell, test and evaluation principal assistant program manager, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) 1.0 Aegis Weapon System. “Originally intended to evaluate situations where a missile resource was unavailable, Port Hueneme’s novel approach of conducting a traditional Weapons Integrated Test at sea with existing technology has uncovered new data capture techniques and cost savings.”
The team used two different missile simulator test sets installed in Vertical Launching System cells on USS Winston S. Churchill to conduct Air Defense Warfare testing.
“Initially, the test sets were created for a different use,” said Mike Ladner, NSWC PHD deputy technical director, “but the PHD test community recognized an additional application for testing a combat system fire control loop without an actual missile. The team’s ability to innovatively re-purpose the missile simulator test sets is a testament to the technical expertise and creativity of the military members and civilian workforce at Port Hueneme Division.”
The Multi Standard Missile Echo Unit and the MK 683 simulators act as missile surrogates which have been used for several years to conduct in-port simulated missile firings. The use of these simulators allowed the test team to verify and validate proper ship functionality of the detect-to-engage sequence and close the fire control loop without a live missile. Initially proposed by NSWC PHD in 2022, this ability to simulate test and evaluation events without expending live ordnance will save the Navy significant missile inventory and associated production costs in the future.
This pioneering use of missile simulator test sets paves the way for future testing endeavors. Through these collaborative contributions, NSWC PHD and PEO IWS are maintaining a world-class, worldwide deployable Navy as a first line of defense for the United States.
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About Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division
NSWC PHD is a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command and provides the U.S. Navy fleet with in-service engineering, test and evaluation, and product support for combat systems. The command is located at Naval Base Ventura County in California.
About PEO IWS
As the Navy’s premier combat systems organization, PEO IWS is evolving our existing combat systems into the Integrated Combat System to ensure ongoing combat superiority over any adversary. PEO IWS works as a team to ensure that our Sailors needs are met by acquiring the best and most cost-effective integrated weapons systems for our ships, submarines, and aircraft, both today and in the future.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2024 12:10 |
| Story ID: | 469640 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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