Bonhomme Richard Conducts CIWS PAC Fire

SASEBO, JAPAN

08.30.2016

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Carlstrom  

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)

PACIFIC OCEAN – Fire Controlmen aboard amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) conducted a live-fire exercise on the MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS), Aug. 29.

The shoot is designed to test the system’s overall effectiveness, capabilities, and ensure the CIWS is mission ready.

“We have to do an annual check on the system,” said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Ian Hukill. “The only way we know if the maintenance is successful is to conduct a live-fire test. We were successful.”

The CIWS provides the ship with an inner layer point of defense capability against anti-ship missiles (ASM), aircraft and littoral warfare threats. If anything penetrates through other fleet defenses, the Phalanx automatically detects, evaluates, tracks, engages and performs kill assessment against ASM and high speed aircraft.

“The system is an incredible piece of machinery,” said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Michael Jordan. “When the CIWS can fully engage, it can displace up to 4,500 rounds a minute against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. There’s not a whole lot that can survive something like that.”

The CIWS, also commonly referred to as R2-D2, due the large dome resembling the famous “Star Wars” droid, uses armor piercing sabot 20 mm rounds and weighs-in at 13,600 pounds. Like many other Navy ships, Bonhomme Richard is outfitted with two systems.

“One of the other amazing pieces of this technology is that the two mounts can work together,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class Alexandria Recalde. “We sometimes try to test both systems at once when shooting at a target to see which one can pick up the ‘kill.’ It’s like a fun competition.”

Production for the system started back in 1978 and the first model was rolled out to the fleet in 1980. CIWS is currently on its third configuration, Block 1B, introduced to the fleet in 1999.

“It’s an older system, but old doesn’t mean broken,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class Franklin Martinez. “We continue to have success with it, and as long as we do, I don’t imagine the CIWS will be going away anytime soon.”

Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

The Bonhomme Richard ESG consists of USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and USS Germantown (LSD 42).

• Date Taken: 08.30.2016
• Date Posted: 01.31.2017 04:16
• Story ID: 221954
• Location: SASEBO, JP