Innovative strategies for the US Navy's ship defense at sea

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Fluctus channel. At sea, the United States Navy stands as a formidable power. With a vast fleet that includes some of the world's most advanced warships, it is capable of projecting force to any corner of the globe. Backed by billions of dollars in investment, the Navy's cutting-edge weapon systems, both offensive and defensive, equip its vessels with unmatched combat effectiveness. One such system is the Mark 38 25mm machine gun, a shipboard weapon specifically designed to protect warships at sea. It consists of an M242 Bushmaster chain gun mounted on a turret that can be operated either manually or using a remote. The Bushmaster uses an electric motor to drive the moving parts for ammunition feeding, loading, firing, extraction, as well as cartridge ejection. The U.S. Navy has installed the Mark 38 on several ships either temporarily or permanently to counter fast attack crafts at sea. On May 8, 2017, the U.S. Navy conducted a live fire exercise aboard the USS America. The Marines used a Mark 38 machine gun system to identify, track, and eliminate an unmanned fast attack boat. The test was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Mark 38 and to test the ship's defense capabilities at sea. Large sea vessels are equipped with built-in weapon systems such as the .50-caliber machine guns. These guns fire 550–850 rounds per minute at a range of up to 2,000 meters. Their armor-piercing capability not only proves them lethal against small sea vessels but also makes them a viable option against aerial threats at sea. The .50 caliber machine gun is one of the earliest weapon systems that were installed on a sea vessel. However, in 1973, the development of the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, or CIWS, changed the course of naval warfare. It is the last line of defense on a ship that automatically identifies, locates, and defends against all incoming threats, including aircraft, anti-ship missiles, and small boats. Phalanx CIWS is equipped with a radar-guided 20-millimeter Vulcan Gatling gun that fires at a rate of 4,500 rounds per minute. The ammunition is continuously inserted into the drum magazine of the Phalanx CIWS, enabling it to engage and respond to successive threats. Typically, Phalanx CIWS is loaded with armor-piercing discarding sabot and high-explosive incendiary 20mm rounds, which are sometimes mixed while reloading. To ensure that the Phalanx CIWS is deployed rapidly against potential threats, the U.S. Navy frequently conducts targeted and untargeted drills. On October 5, 2017, the Navy conducted a pre-action aim calibration exercise aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. During the demonstration, the Phalanx CIWS fired a total of three bursts at both a high rate of fire and a low rate of fire. The pack exercise requires the sailors to perform post-fire maintenance procedures like taking apart the weapon system, verifying the wear and tear of the equipment, re-greasing the moving parts of the weapon system, and reassembling the gun for future use. What we're going to be doing tonight, it's a pre-aim calibration. We fire the gun to make sure that the gun and the radar are pointing in the same direction. So when we do have incoming, when the radar is tracking the round, the gun is pointing at the round. So when we fire, hopefully we hit it. In addition to the PAC exercise, the U.S. Navy also conducts detect-to-engage exercises to evaluate the performance of the Phalanx CIWS against low-flying aerial threats. The weapon system identifies the target and launches a burst of rapid-fire projectiles to neutralize it. The U.S. Navy's warships also use the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile RAM for self-defense and short-range engagements. It is a small, lightweight surface-to-surface air missile that uses infrared guidance to intercept and destroy hostile anti-ship missiles and other airborne threats. The RAM System Mk. 31 consists of the Missile RIM-116 and the Guided Missile Launching System Mk. 49. The GMLS can hold 21 RAM Block I missiles or RAM Block II RIM-116 missiles. Additionally, the original weapon cannot employ its sensors before firing. Therefore, it is integrated with the command and control system of the naval platform which directs the launcher at targets. On U.S. ships, it is typically integrated with the AN-SWY two-ship defense surface missile system or Mark I and Mark II ship self-defense system. Sometimes, the Phalanx CIWS is modified to replace the 20mm Gatling gun with a launcher that pinpoints its target and fires up to 11 RAM missiles. This setup is known as SeaRAM. which provides an extended range along with a high resolution search and track sensor to maneuver RAM missiles to the target The U.S. Navy has installed RAM on more than 40 ships particularly on aircraft carriers and conducted more than 350 live fire exercises to evaluate the performance of this weapon system. Combined statistics of these exercises suggest that RAM got several first shot kills on target and achieved a kill performance above 95% overall. In 2016, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson fired two Rolling Airframe missiles during a missile exercise. As its name indicates, RAM rolls as it flies, which is why only one pair of steering canards is required. It is a necessity for military ships to have air defense systems on board. These systems launch anti-ship missiles specifically designed to attack hostile ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, whereas others use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat emitted by a ship. However, it is also possible to guide an anti-ship missile by radio command. Since the advent of nuclear-powered propulsion, the legacy of submarines has continued to evolve, resulting in submarines belonging to state-of-the-art classes such as Ohio and Virginia. The control room of a submarine serves as the nerve center of the submarine as it oversees all the crucial operations. Including command and control, navigation, communication, and photonic mast operation. The control room is located beneath the sail or the conning tower. With the introduction of the non-hull penetrating photonic masts, the control room in the Virginia-class subs was moved to the spacious middle deck as it is not required to place it directly underneath the sail. Sailors perform their surveillance activities using the visual feeds displayed on LED displays. The photonic mast provides high-definition all-weather visuals and infrared images, displayed on two large vertical displays in the control center. Apart from the visuals provided by the optronic periscopes, the sonar equipment plays a crucial role in identifying surface and subsurface movements. Submarines have sonar arrays located at various locations that act as the eyes of the submarine. In addition to the sonar, submarines are equipped with radars as well. While radars are not effective when submerged due to radio wave attenuation by water, they are often called upon for action when the submarine is surfaced or at periscope depth. What speed do you want when you pass? Usually, submarines stay undetected during the entirety of the patrol mission. During the patrol, they keep an eye on possible threats and maintain readiness to quickly engage or evade, depending on the nature of the mission. As submarines are engineered to leave a low acoustic signature, detecting them can be really challenging. Submarines are inherently stealthy. You can't see them when they're submerged. So how are you going to find a submarine? One of the primary ways we do this is with acoustics. And so we are listening for submarines underwater. This is very difficult because submarines are extremely quiet, and this is a very slow process that requires intense concentration. From warships bristling with rapid-fire defenses to submarines prowling silently beneath the waves, the U.S. Navy continues to embody unmatched maritime dominance. Systems like the Phalanx CIWS and Rolling Airframe Missile Integration ensure that naval forces are protected from threats above, on, and below the sea. That's the end of this video. I hope you enjoyed it. 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