Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude)) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Naval Combat Message-ID: <12214@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 12 Dec 89 04:53:12 GMT References: <12147@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: UCLA Lines: 78 Approved: military@att.att.com From: tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude)) In article <12147@cbnews.ATT.COM> randy@ms.uky.edu (Randy Appleton) writes: > >From: Randy Appleton > >I have noticed there seem to be two distinct types of magazines in naval >missiles. There seem to be the new, American type that hold >40 rounds, >and the older type that hold around 8 or so. > ... >A related question would be this: Do most ships have more than the listed >number of missiles on board, so as to reload after a battle? I would say there are actually four basic types of missile mounts: 1. 8 cell trainable launcher; examples: Mk16 launcher for ASROC Mk29 launcher for Sea Sparrow These launchers have 8 missiles in the launcher and a below-deck magazine with a few more sets of eight missiles. Reloading is pretty slow (minutes per missile) and in some cases is manually done. Due to the nature of the weapons you don't launch more than one or two at a time. (In the case of ASROC, generally only one is launched at a time to prevent mutual interference between the homing torpedos. In the case of Sea Sparrow, there is generally only one director for the mount.) 2. 4 missiles in a fixed, bolt-on canisters; examples: Mk 141 launcher for Harpoon Mf 143 Armored Box Launcher for Tomahawk These launchers are one-shot deals. But you can basically launch them all at once or in a short time. These are anti-ship missiles (Tomahawk can be land-strike too) and so they can be launched in a big salvo to try to overwhelm the enemies defenses. I think you cannot reload (replace) these things at sea. These launchers are pretty cheap and can be put onto ships rather easily. 3. rotating arm launchers; examples: Mk 13 single-arm launcher Mk 26 dual-arm launcher These launchers are serviced by integral below-deck magazines of about 40 missiles. Firing rate is something like one per 10 seconds per arm. Reloading is through a loading hatch, which probably requires a crane and thus port facilities. These launchers can carry a variety of things, but were originally meant for long-range anti-air warfare. Thus, effective rate of fire may be more limited by the number of directors. 4. vertical launch cells (Mk 41) These are one shot deals, but they come in 32 and 64 cell models, with a few cells taken up by an integral loading crane. You can fire all of them in very short time. There is a crane, so maybe you can reload them on a calm sea, though who knows if replenishment ships carry these modules. This type of launcher will eventually be able to launch everything. >Is the difference important? Would a ship with a 40 round magazine be >*much* better than an 8 round one? Could a single 40 round ship be the >equal of 2 or more 8 round ships? The 8 round and 40 round magazine launchers are often not directly comparable, since many cases they are for different purposes. But if they were, I suspect for many cases 8 missiles is enough for a single battle. But, due to reloading constraints, ships with the smaller magazines may have to go to port to get reloads. -ted Ted Kim UCLA Computer Science Department Internet: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu 3804C Boelter Hall UUCP: ...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek Los Angeles, CA 90024 Phone: (213) 206-8696