Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!xanth!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!cbnews!henry@zoo.toronto.edu
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: CIWS
Message-ID: <3499@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 26 Jan 89 14:51:41 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Lines: 43
Approved: military@att.att.com

From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)

> In Henry Spencer's Reply to "ARE CARRIERS OBSOLETE ", Mr. Spencer writes"
> Most tests put CIWS close to the waterline...." First CIWS is installed on
> ships of the line tenders and support ships. All these mounts must undergo
> at least one official inspection each year (with live firings at a towed
> target.) On several classes of ships the mounts are not close to the
> waterline...

Sigh, you've misinterpreted my comments somewhat.  Phalanx is generally
mounted high on ships, as you indicate, but all the *realistic* testing --
against realistic sea-skimming targets, mind you, not set-piece demos at
significant altitude -- was done with mounts just above the waterline.
The importance of this is that the radar/computer system has never been
given a thorough test in the situation that would be typical in real
combat, looking *down* on a low-flying missile.  Anyone can hit a missile
silhouetted against the sky.

> ... Seems to me that the Navy wouldn't keep putting the mounts
> so far above the water if they we not effective.

It says in the book that a high-mounted Phalanx will work, so the ships
are designed on that assumption.  We all know that the book is always
right, don't we?

> Second The average burst lenght is only 300 to 400 rounds giving each mount
> a best case capbility to counter up to 10 missiles. Since CIWS is CLOSE in
> weapons system it will not have time to empty it's ammo drum before impact
> if it is unable to destroy incoming missiles...

If it's got a single target, clearly it won't empty its magazines against
it, win or lose.  Against a stream of targets - they will *not* come one
at a time in a real war -- the magazine will start looking awfully small
very quickly.

I would also note that the British found out the hard way in the Falklands
that Sea Wolf's control system tended to freeze up when presented with
multiple simultaneous targets.  This was a system that had supposedly
been tested quite thoroughly... by peacetime standards.  How often is
Phalanx tested against multiple targets?

                                     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
                                 uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu