A crucial stage in the development of a multifunctional weapon system for the US NavyThe creation of the Aegis multifunctional weapon system has become a landmark event in the history of the American Navy and has significantly increased their capabilities for the combat use of various types of naval weapons, but primarily anti–aircraft and anti-missile.
The scale of the implementation of the program can be estimated by the number of already commissioned, as well as under construction and future surface ships – carriers of this weapon system in various configuration options. Today, the multinational Aegis Fleet has more than a hundred frigates, destroyers and cruisers, and about 70 more units are planned for construction.
In the previous publication ("HBO", "The first steps to "Aegis ", 09.02.23), we considered issues related to the initial stage of the implementation of this program: the emergence of the idea of a fundamentally new weapon system and the definition of the spectrum of its combat tasks, the analysis of alternative options, etc. In this publication, we will talk about the first activities for the development of components of the future "shield" of the American fleet.
SURVIVE IN A LIFEBOATRear Admiral Wayne Meyer has been the head of the Aegis Project Office since 1970 for a long time.
For his contribution to the creation of air and missile defense systems (air defense and missile defense) for the US Navy, American sailors awarded him the title "father of the Aegis". In an interview with Paul Stillwell from the US Naval Institute (US Naval Institute - USNI), the admiral recalled:
"I think that no later than 1971 we adopted the slogan: "Aegis to sea, Aegis to sea, Aegis to sea" (three–fold "Aegis" – in the sea." - V.Sh.) ... The initial large contract for design development, a contract in the style of the Air Force, required the construction of three large models, creating a brand new rocket and a brand new launcher... This could only be done if you had the right team, the right attitude and the right decisions. And then we decided that we would do this for weeks. I called it "the behavior of people in a lifeboat." We are all in this boat, and we have a choice: try to save ourselves or send everything to the devil... There was no one at my disposal who was not a volunteer. And I'm proud of it... They risked their future if they failed. If we fail. And I am proud to say that many of them have achieved outstanding results. But, of course, it didn't look so rosy at the very beginning."
The principle of operation of Rear Admiral Meyer gave results. After a rather long stage of approvals and "lapping" of the customer's wishes and the contractor's capabilities, in December 1973, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), the developer of a new weapon system, produced a development model, which was named Engineering Development Model 1 (EDM-1).
According to the information given in the series of articles "The History of the Aegis system" in the special issue of the Naval Engineers Journal (October 2009), this sample included the following elements: one antenna array of the main radar station (radar) of the AN/SPY-1 complex (90 degree viewing sector); a combined tracking illumination station and a control station fire (this station was released in a single copy); one Mk 26 type launcher; a radar control system (it included two AN/UYK-7 type electronic computers), as well as a weapon control system based on a computer of the same type.
The first prototype of the Aegis EDM-1 system was installed in 1973 at the developer's ground test site in Moorestown, New Jersey, where it passed the first stage of testing from April to October 1973.
After its completion, the first Aegis prototype was turned off and disassembled, and in December of the same year, on board the C-5A Galaxy military transport aircraft (Lockheed C-5A Galaxy), it was transported to Long Beach, California, for installation on board the Norton Sound experimental vessel (USS Norton Sound, AVM-1).
"When I joined the program, Norton Sound was at a private shipyard in Baltimore," Rear Admiral Wayne Meyer later recalled. – It contained elements of a weapons system created as part of the Typhoon program. But now this ship was to become the carrier of the Aegis system.
The installation of the pilot system on the ship "Norton Sound" was completed by March 1974, after which the stage of sea trials began.
AT SEA AND ON LANDThe prototype was installed on the experimental vessel "Norton Sound" in the following configuration: one antenna post of a new radar station on the superstructure of the experimental vessel (one antenna web, which included four thousand ferrite phase shifters), as well as prototypes of all modules, including a high-speed computer, multifunctional displays for displaying tactical situation, control consoles for various weapon complexes, radar target lights and other special equipment.
The prototype of the Aegis system underwent intensive tests on the specified vessel from 1974 to 1979-1980. At the same time, as indicated in the certificate prepared by analysts of Forecast International, during 1974, during tests in the Pacific Ocean, the Aegis experimental system was able to detect and automatically accompany 20 aircraft in the air over the ocean. "I don't remember that we had any breakdowns," Admiral Meyer later recalled.
In May 1977, the U.S. Navy Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (Combat Systems Engineering Development Site) in Moorestown, New Jersey was commissioned. One of the Aegis samples was installed here: the complex of equipment and the antenna post of the main radar were mounted in a full-size model of the superstructure of a guided missile cruiser (URO) of the Ticonderoga type. A long hangar was built nearby.
At this test site, the developer and the customer had the opportunity to carry out tests with anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) firing on "enemy" aircraft in conditions of active use of electronic warfare (EW) by them. During 1977, the Aegis weapon system and the Standard missile system were tested for a total duration of 88 hours.
In particular, the EA-6B "Prowler" electronic warfare aircraft from the US Navy naval aviation took part in the tests. Even when working "at full power" of several special electronic warfare containers suspended on the aircraft, the crew of the "Prowler" did not succeed in jamming the SPY-1(V) radar complex – the core of the Aegis system.
Another participant in the tests was the NKC–135 flying laboratory aircraft provided by the US Air Force. It was equipped with one of the most powerful American electronic warfare stations called TREE SHARK. According to some estimates, the potential of one such EW container was comparable to the power possessed by 32 EA-6B EW aircraft with a full set of standard equipment.
A witness who served in the US Air Force and had experience with the TREE SHARK system described it as follows:
"This electronic warfare system was a large suspended container that could only be carried by an NKC-135 aircraft. It consisted of 18 traveling wave lamps of high (400 watts) power, which were connected together in stages and worked on an antenna device, including a line of 18 horn antennas (gain – more than 20 dB), which were also controllable. Everything had to be in phase (of the same length) – electrical networks, high-frequency waveguides, etc. It was just a nightmare to ensure that all this worked.
We used the TREE SHARK system to test and evaluate the operation of naval radars, since it provided the required level of interference when the providing aircraft is at a distance safe for real firing (from the ship). Another modification, TREE SQUID, provided operation in two different radio frequency bands. Both systems were essentially radio frequency amplifiers. Perhaps someone has built something even bigger."
However, eyewitnesses recalled, even such a powerful electronic warfare system also proved powerless against the main "Aegis" radar. "In all cases, the radar turned out to be able to "break through" a dense veil of interference and simulate the launch of anti–aircraft guided missiles," the Forecast International company's certificate stresses.
During the tests, out of several hundred missile launches against various aerial targets, including unmanned aerial vehicles, guided missiles and aircraft, only a small number of misses were made. Moreover, there was almost no direct fault of the SPY-1(V) type radar. Basically, failures and errors in the operation of the computer system, shortcomings in the operation of the launcher or operator errors (the notorious "human factor") were recognized as the causes of failures.
During the tests, shortcomings were identified in the operation of individual elements of the system, which required additional time to finalize the entire "shield of Zeus". But despite these problems, the customer's feedback on the system was generally very positive.
A special impression on the representatives of the US Navy was made by the fact that during the entire period of testing, the combat readiness of the new system did not fall below 96%. Although the crew of the ship "Norton Sound" was significantly inferior in terms of training to the personnel of warships of the American fleet.
THE SHIELD TAKES SHAPEAfter the first success in the field of creating an anti-aircraft missile system (SAM), it was decided to start creating the remaining elements of the Aegis system.
In 1976, RCA received a state contract worth $ 159.2 million, under the terms of which it was supposed to develop and assemble a prototype as part of an AN/SPY-1 active phased array radar, target illumination radar, electronic warfare equipment and missile weapon systems.
By that time, the Aegis system had grown to be fully multifunctional: it was supposed to provide combat use not only of air defense and missile defense systems, but also of ship–to–ship and ship-to-submarine missile defense systems, as well as anti-submarine torpedoes.
In April 1977, the developer was able to successfully demonstrate the possibility of a system for simultaneous interception of several air targets – two SM-2 "Standard" (RIM-66C) missiles destroyed two subsonic air targets BQM-34A "Firebee I" (Firebee I). Moreover, in this case, which is especially important, there was no constant illumination of the targets of a specialized radar, as was the case with other SAMs of that time, which were in service with the American fleet.
In this case, the launch of the missile defense system was carried out at the calculated point of finding the target, after which the rocket followed the target using its onboard inertial navigation system, receiving periodic "updates" on the target in flight from the carrier ship, generated by an AN/SPY-1 type active phased array radar. And the illumination of the target using AN AN/SPG-62 type radar was carried out only in the final section – before the direct defeat of the target.
In total, during the testing of the Aegis complex, 32 air targets (mainly subsonic BQM-34A Firebee I, but also supersonic) were hit by anti-aircraft guided missiles (20 SM-1 type missiles and 10 SM-2 missiles of the Standard complex) from the Norton Sound vessel. type BQM-34E "Firebee II"). Seven targets were hit at long range, 16 at medium ranges, and the remaining nine at short range.
This clearly demonstrated the high efficiency of the Aegis system and the combat means of the new Standard ship-based air defense system for detecting, tracking and intercepting air targets of various classes and types. Moreover, SM-1 type missiles were used to intercept almost all low-altitude air targets (except three), as well as to intercept two air targets at high altitudes.
In total, since April 1984, tests have been conducted at different test sites using SM-1 Block IV and SM-2 Block I missiles (8 missiles and 81 missiles, respectively), Harpoon anti-ship missiles (two missiles), ASROC anti-submarine guided missiles (five missiles) and Mk type anti-submarine torpedoes 46.
The test results were recognized as successful, which allowed the developer to begin studying options for placing the Aegis system on surface ships. As part of this work, not only the selection of specific types of the Aegis carrier was carried out, but also the preliminary design of both the ships themselves and individual ship systems and equipment samples was carried out, which were to enter into a single contour of the new multifunctional weapon system.
First of all, the command of the US Navy began to study the possibility of placing a new system on the nuclear cruisers of the URO types "Virginia" (the lead ship is CGN–38 Virginia, four ships were built) and "California" (the lead ship is CGN-36 California, two ships were built). And also on promising "nuclear strike cruisers" ("Strike Cruiser" / CSGN), their project with a total displacement of 17284 tons was proposed in the second half of the 1970s by the Agency for Advanced Defense Research and Development (DARPA), part of the US Department of Defense.
After the closure of the "strike cruiser" project, US Navy specialists considered the possibility of building an upgraded version of the Virginia-type URO nuclear cruiser (the CGN-42 project with a total displacement of about 12,100 tons). But this project also suffered the fate of its predecessor.
As a result, all these options were recognized as "economically impractical" or having "operational shortcomings". And the command of the US Navy decided to install the Aegis system on a specially created ship – the DDG-47 URO destroyer, which was later reclassified into the CG-47 URO cruiser (Ticonderoga type). We will tell you more about this in the next publication.
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Deputy Executive Editor of HBOVladimir Leonidovich Shcherbakov is a military expert, historian, and writer.
