McCain a 'Valiant Shield' Against Submarine Threats
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060619-17
Release Date: 6/19/2006 7:37:00 PM
By Ensign Andrew Blanchard, USS John S. McCain Public Affairs
USS JOHN S. MCCAIN, At Sea (NNS) -- Participating in Exercise Valiant Shield '06, held June 19–23 in the Guam operating area, USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) firmly established herself as an Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) expert by sinking five simulated hostile submarines within the first few days of the exercise.
ASW is a major focus area of naval operations in the Western Pacific. By honing those skills to perfection, the ship further supports the exercise’s goal of having a highly capable and well trained force in the Asia-Pacific region.
While most ASW exercises involve only one or two submarines, Valiant Shield is far more challenging. The Sailors of John S. McCain, however, met the challenge head on.
“Our [sonar system] enables us to generate real-time sound-velocity profiles, greatly improving our ability to destroy a hostile submarine,” explained Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SW) Adam Lee.
Sound-velocity profiles are key in ASW, as they determine how sound travels underwater, which helps McCain Sailors identify where to look for submarines.
A high level of confidence in ASW is common aboard McCain, according to Ensign Justin Ford, the ship’s ASW evaluator.
“We can detect, track, and put weapons downrange on a target within [seconds], which is scary for an enemy submarine,” he said.
A typical submarine engagement follows a basic sequence of events, Ford explained. “First, an underwater contact is classified by sonar control,” Ford said.
“Classifying” submarines involves trying to determine a number of identifying aspects about the submarine, such as its actual type and whether it’s friend or foe.
“It is then evaluated by the combat watch team, and if designated hostile, is immediately engaged by the appropriate weapons system, either by McCain, one of the other ships in the strike group, or a supporting asset,” said Ford.
Valiant Shield '06 is covering more than just ASW simulations. More than 300 Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force aircraft, as well as more than 20 ships from the Navy and Coast Guard, participated in the exercise, which included a range of mission areas.
As John S. McCain demonstrated in the exercise, when state-of-the-art technology is combined with confident Sailors, ships are ‘shielded’ from the submarine threat.
To learn more about Valiant Shield '06, visit the Web site at www.pacom.mil.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
