Ever since the introduction of Aegis into the US Navy in 1983, the next step in fleet air defense has been “Cooperative Engagement Capability” (CEC). Harpoon players have had a rule specifically prohibiting them from CEC since the first edition of the game: To engage an air target with SAMs, the firing ship must have detected the target with its own sensors. It’s not enough that the target is detected by your side. The shooter has to see it before he can engage. That’s about to change in the real world. For over ten years, the Navy has worked on the concept of “Cooperative Engagement Capability” - allowing one ship to fire using the data from another ship’s (or aircraft’s) sensors. While NTDS/CDS has allowed ships to share sensor data since the 1970s, this data was not precise enough for firing purposes, and there were problems just making sure all the data lined up. Often, when two ships tracked the same contact, it would be reported as two separate track numbers. A lot of NTDS management was dedicated to preventing this or correcting it when it did happen. The amount of data required for firing is much greater. It requires true sensor fusion. There was also the problem of common data standards and many other technical issues. Imagine a wireless network for a group of office computer systems that has to be incredibly flexible, survive a competitor’s attempts to jam it, and must provide real-time data for critical buy/sell decisions. Throughout the 1990s, the Navy has worked hard to integrate older (“legacy”) sensors and weapons with more advanced systems just entering the fleet. A series of tests and exercises culminated in May of 2001 with a successful OPEVAL of the CEC concept. OPEVALs are the US Navy’s last step before accepting a system into service. The equipment that makes it happen is the USG-2 for ships and USG-3 for aircraft. This anonymous-looking grey box processes the ship’s data into a common format so that it can be shared by other ships and aircraft (“nodes”) in the network. The ability to share sensor information will have several advantages. If one sensor is jammed, sensors on other ships will still cover the affected area unless they are jammed as well. This makes the enemy’s job a lot harder. Second, aerial sensors can eliminate horizon problems for surface vessels. Seaskimmers can be engaged much farther out - a big advantage against supersonic seaskimmers. Third, simple and long-standing problems with radar propagation can be overcome. Any one ship will have areas of good and bad radar coverage depending on atmospherics, etc. Overlapping sensor coverage will eliminate those blind spots. The ability to share not just sensor data but firing data will suggest several new tactics. Electronically quiet surface ships can fire at aircraft based on data from airborne radar aircraft. Even when they are under attack, ships can leave some of their radars off, lessening the threat from ARMs. Ships fitted with developmental USG-2 systems: John F. Kennedy (CV-67) Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) USS Hue City (CG-66) Vicksburg (CG-69) Anzio (CG-68) Cape St. George (CG-71) Some E-2C Hawkeye 2000 aircraft have also been fitted with the USG-3 for the tests. These ships will certainly have their USG-2 systems upgraded to full operational status, and other ships will be fitted with the equipment as they enter refit. Under a normal schedule, most of the fleet would have CEC with 2-4 years. If the Navy makes it a priority, that time may be halved. Ships bound for a high-threat area will almost certainly be fitted with CEC before they deploy. In Harpoon, ships fitted with CEC systems can engage targets detected by any CEC-capable unit, even if their own search radars are off. One immediate benefit is that Improved Spruance-class ships fitted with USG-2 will be able to carry and fire SM2 missiles in their VLS launchers. However, there are no plans to fit them with illuminators. The guidance system still limits the types of missiles that can be fired. SARH missiles must have their targets illuminated by somebody who is within the target’s radar horizon. In a related development, the US Navy is starting to field the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS), Mk1 and Mk2. Fitted to high-value units like carriers and amphibious ships, it links all their point defense weapons, countermeasures, and sensors into a single network, making NATO Sea Sparrow, Phalanx, and RAM autonomous, and ensuring that they will not engage the same target, unless directed to. USS Ashland (LSD-48) served as OPEVAL ship in June of 1997 for SSDS Mk1. Whidbey Island, Fort McHenry, and Germantown have been fitted with SSDS, and the last ship of the class, Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) was built with SSDS. All LSDs should be fitted with SSDS Mk1 by the end of 2002. The San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ships will be built with SSDS Mk2 aboard. SSDS Mk2 was installed on USS Nimitz during her last refit (ending summer ’01) and will be installed on all carriers. Both marks of SSDS share data with ships fitted with CEC. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #22 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com