Photo By Elisha Gamboa | Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) engineers Bryan Akagi and...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO - Weather conditions can adversely impact naval operations both in flight and at sea, putting warfighters at risk. Weather detection is often critical, allowing warfighters to precisely plan military operations, accurately assess enemy capabilities, successfully execute military missions and, ultimately, protect warfighters’ lives.
To address this challenge, the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) collaborated with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Virginia Beach Detachment (NSWC PHD VB) in the successful completion of 11 installations of the Hazardous Weather Detection and Display Capability (HWDDC) system in 2011. This effort successfully increased situational awareness and cut operational costs.
HWDDC detects and displays storm location, storm intensity, rain rate, radial winds, and turbulence that are hazardous to flight operations. It performs these tasks by passively extracting atmospheric information from the tactical scans of a radar installed on Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ships and Navy Nimitz-class carriers.
Developed by SPAWAR’s Atmospheric Propagation Branch, the HWDDC system was installed aboard six Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ships and five Navy Nimitz-class carriers.
The HWDDC team, consisting of SPAWAR engineers Bryan Akagi and David Belanger, and Todd Tokarczyk, the NSWC PHD VB Alteration Installation Team lead, performed the installations and provided the fleet with training and end-to-end support.
“By passively leveraging existing air search radar, the HWDDC system provides Navy ships with the capability to detect, locate, and display hazardous weather trends without impacting the tactical mission of the radar,” said Akagi.
The real-time weather displays provided by HWDDC are readily available to the captain, flight operations personnel, and Meteorology and Oceanography forecasters through the Ship’s Video Display System and the ship’s network.
“The primary capability of HWDDC is to enhance the fleet’s readiness and ability to conduct air operations by detecting and locating hazardous atmospheric conditions that affect launch and recovery of aircraft during combat operations, rehearsals, and training events,” said Belanger.
“Prior to the HWDDC system, ships at sea based all of their weather information on forecasts, satellite imagery, and empirical data,” said Akagi. “By using the HWDDC in conjunction with the existing data collection methods, the ship is now provided with a more detailed and useful meteorological picture.”
During prototype testing aboard USS Peleliu (LHA 5) in February 2005, Brig. Gen. Carl B. Jensen, Commander Expeditionary Strike Group Three, in a naval message, stated: “In an extraordinarily short time, the HWDDC’s capabilities have had a definitive operational impact during transit to AOR (area of responsibility). Without it I’d have lost at least three cycles of four Harriers and six hours of rotary wing operations.”
The average daily cost of a WASP-class amphibious assault ship is about $260,000. By saving a morning’s worth of flight operations, HWDDC provides a considerable return on investment.
HWDDC had its beginnings in September 2001 when the commanding officer of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) expressed a need for onboard weather radar, and Commander Carrier Group Seven listed the need for a weather radar capability as one of his “Top 5” lessons learned during Operation Enduring Freedom.
SPAWAR responded to this need for weather radar at sea by tasking former Atmospheric Propagation Branch members Ted Rogers and Lee Wagner to assess the possibility of leveraging pre-existing topside radar to include weather radar functionality. Funded by PMW-120, branch members found the AN/SPS-48(E) 3-D volume search radar to be an ideal candidate in providing ships with severe weather detection capability.
Following these findings, the HWDDC project, funded by the office of Rear Adm. David W. Titley, Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy and Director of Navy Space and Maritime Domain Awareness, gained momentum and matured with the 11 installations in 2011.
“With so many benefits to the Navy, the potential for HWDDC growth is tremendous as is the potential to develop new technologies that leverage the HWDDC,” said Belanger.
Currently, there are projects in the research and development stages that are follow-ons to the HWDDC and rely heavily on its data. These projects aim to further characterize atmospheric conditions that affect radar and wireless communication system performance.
The team plans to resume HWDDC installations and training in fiscal year 2013 aboard the remaining Wasp-class amphibious assault ships and Nimitz-class carriers. In addition, the HWDDC has been extended to leverage the SPY-1D radar operating on Arleigh Burke class, Guided Missile Destroyers (DDG), which are also scheduled for installations in fiscal year 2013.
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.29.2012 19:01 |
| Story ID: | 84524 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 250 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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