Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!unmvax!uokmax!occrsh!fang!att!cbnewsc!cbnews!cbnews!military From: norton@manta.nosc.mil (LT Scott A. Norton, USN) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Missile pods on Soviet warships Message-ID: <1991Jun28.023620.29768@cbnews.cb.att.com> Date: 28 Jun 91 02:36:20 GMT References: <1991Jun27.015710.2794@cbnews.cb.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.cb.att.com (william.a.thacker) Organization: Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command Lines: 29 Approved: military@att.att.com From: norton@manta.nosc.mil (LT Scott A. Norton, USN) In article <1991Jun27.015710.2794@cbnews.cb.att.com> 002@pnet16.cts.com (J.W.Cupp Lcdr/Usn) writes: > >VLS is wonderful, but the AEGIS fire control system is the beauty of the whole >idea. Without AEGIS you couldn't make much use of the VLS capabilities even >if it was installed. (Btw, most SPRUANCE class destroyers won't have >VLS...they weren't guided missile ships in the first place.) As a former Terrier cruiser sailor, I have to jump up and say, "Its not the Aegis system that gets you around the limitations of directors, its the SM-2." That is, the SM-2 (MR on the Aegis ships, CGNs and DDG-993s, and ER on the CG-16s, 26s and CGN-9) is what allows you to launch the missile without having to guide it the whole way. The SM-2 is smart enough to fly to a given point in space, and then look for illumination. SM-1 was semi-active the whole way, and needed a dedicated director. Now, Aegis is cool, combining a very capable radar with a good command and control system. And vertical launchers greatly reduce the risk of a single failure disabling the missile battery. (I spent time off the coast of Lebanon with both launchers down due to some failed hydraulics. Fortunately for us, the PLO was more interested in shooting each other than shooting us.) Scott Norton