makku
02-14-2005, 10:24 AM
Just thought it was cool that my company (center for naval analysis) is finally getting some press. Sometimes it feels like we're one of those secret underground gov't agencies like on the X-files. I don't know any details at all about this project, but if I had to guess, I'd say we saw that the project would work and save lives.
Houston Chronicle
February 13, 2005 Anti-Missile Weapons May Be A Miss
Auditors warn that system has undergone only limited testing
By Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Navy auditors have rebuked the service for installing costly anti-missile weapons aboard ships before the devices were independently tested in realistic battlefield conditions.
The weapons — known as the MK-53 decoy launching system — are designed to protect ships against cruise missile attack by tricking an incoming missile into veering harmlessly away.
After being fired from the deck of a ship, the missile-shaped decoy uses a small rocket motor to hover in mid-air while emitting electronic signals that theoretically fool the radar-guided brain of the enemy missile into mistaking the signals for those of a warship.
The MK-53, also known as the "Nulka" — the Australian aboriginal word for "be quick" — is a last-ditch defense for the ship in case other weapons, such as ship-launched missiles, fail to knock down the incoming cruise missile.
But Navy auditors warn in an internal report that the MK-53, a project valued at $934 million, is being fielded after only limited testing under controlled circumstances.
The result, auditors warn, is that the weapon's effectiveness, performance and comparative benefit over existing cruise missile defenses "are at risk" in a real-world situation, according to a May 2004 audit obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The decoy is currently on board 47 Navy warships and is set to be installed on 99 other vessels in the next five to 10 years.
Failed test in 1998
The MK-53 has had a checkered history. In 1998, the last time the system was independently tested by the Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Force, the weapon failed. The agency concluded the MK-53 should not be installed on ships because its ability to knock down missiles was "undetermined."
The agency was overruled by a panel of experts from the Center for Naval Analysis, a Navy-funded think-tank in Alexandria, Va., the Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, Calif., and the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Md. That ruling allowed the Navy to continue building and installing the weapon.
But since 1998, even as the weapon was installed on ships, "little progress has been made to resolve testing issues," the auditors said.
Further evaluation planned
Asked about the new audit results, a Navy spokesman said that the decoy system has performed well in tests conducted by the offices that are managing the decoy's development.
"The system has undergone numerous test events," said Navy Lt. Jon Spiers, adding that it has "met the objectives each time."
He said that the weapon "continues to exceed its established performance requirements."
Spiers added that the service's independent testing force will evaluate the weapon in September 2006 when it is installed on an LPD-17, the newest class of ships used to transport Marines and their equipment to trouble spots around the world.
But Thomas Christie, the Pentagon's top weapons tester, warned Congress in a recent report that potentially biased testing, known as developmental testing, "gives a false impression of system quality."
Houston Chronicle
February 13, 2005 Anti-Missile Weapons May Be A Miss
Auditors warn that system has undergone only limited testing
By Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Navy auditors have rebuked the service for installing costly anti-missile weapons aboard ships before the devices were independently tested in realistic battlefield conditions.
The weapons — known as the MK-53 decoy launching system — are designed to protect ships against cruise missile attack by tricking an incoming missile into veering harmlessly away.
After being fired from the deck of a ship, the missile-shaped decoy uses a small rocket motor to hover in mid-air while emitting electronic signals that theoretically fool the radar-guided brain of the enemy missile into mistaking the signals for those of a warship.
The MK-53, also known as the "Nulka" — the Australian aboriginal word for "be quick" — is a last-ditch defense for the ship in case other weapons, such as ship-launched missiles, fail to knock down the incoming cruise missile.
But Navy auditors warn in an internal report that the MK-53, a project valued at $934 million, is being fielded after only limited testing under controlled circumstances.
The result, auditors warn, is that the weapon's effectiveness, performance and comparative benefit over existing cruise missile defenses "are at risk" in a real-world situation, according to a May 2004 audit obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The decoy is currently on board 47 Navy warships and is set to be installed on 99 other vessels in the next five to 10 years.
Failed test in 1998
The MK-53 has had a checkered history. In 1998, the last time the system was independently tested by the Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Force, the weapon failed. The agency concluded the MK-53 should not be installed on ships because its ability to knock down missiles was "undetermined."
The agency was overruled by a panel of experts from the Center for Naval Analysis, a Navy-funded think-tank in Alexandria, Va., the Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, Calif., and the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Md. That ruling allowed the Navy to continue building and installing the weapon.
But since 1998, even as the weapon was installed on ships, "little progress has been made to resolve testing issues," the auditors said.
Further evaluation planned
Asked about the new audit results, a Navy spokesman said that the decoy system has performed well in tests conducted by the offices that are managing the decoy's development.
"The system has undergone numerous test events," said Navy Lt. Jon Spiers, adding that it has "met the objectives each time."
He said that the weapon "continues to exceed its established performance requirements."
Spiers added that the service's independent testing force will evaluate the weapon in September 2006 when it is installed on an LPD-17, the newest class of ships used to transport Marines and their equipment to trouble spots around the world.
But Thomas Christie, the Pentagon's top weapons tester, warned Congress in a recent report that potentially biased testing, known as developmental testing, "gives a false impression of system quality."