Joint Warfare Successfully demonstrated On Board USS Georgia

Since 11-19-04

Excerpted from NSL UPDATE 11-15-2004

Joint Warfare Successfully demonstrated On Board USS Georgia

From Team Submarine Public Affairs

WASHINGTON - The Naval Sea Systems Command's Undersea Technology Directorate, along with a network of participants, including Naval Submarine Forces, Naval Warfare Development Command, Navy Network Warfare Command, Submarine Group Nine, and the Second Fleet, as well as other fleet units and industry teams and academic naval researchers, successfully demonstrated new Joint Warfare capabilities during the Sea Trial experiment called Silent Hammer.

The platforms and forces, which participated in Silent Hammer off the coast of San Diego, Calif., from Oct. 4-14, 2004, included USS Georgia (SSGN 729), Special Operating Forces (SOF), USS La Jolla (SSN 701), USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720), USS Tarawa (LHA-1), VAQ-137 EA-6Bs and an EP-3 aircraft, two Unmanned Aerial Vehicle surrogates, Air National Guard HH-60 helicopters, Penn State University Applied Research Lab's Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, and the U.S. Air Force/MIT Lincoln Lab's Boeing 707 Paul Revere equipped with LIMIT, a spaced based radar surrogate.

"Silent Hammer demonstrated how a network of forces consisting of ground forces sea based on an SSGN can fill can work together to fill Joint Gaps (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and time sensitive strike requirements) by conducting large scale clandestine operations, aided by advanced unmanned systems, to reduce risk and increase capability," said Capt. J.S. Davidson, experiment director for Silent Hammer.

Georgia served as Silent Hammer's clandestine sea base platform, serving as the foundation from which Command and Control operations and logistic support were conducted. Silent Hammer, which was coordinated with another Sea Trial experiment 'Trident Warrior', explored the continued spiral development of Universal Encapsulation, the technology that could provide for the future, affordable deployment of unmanned sensors such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and the Submarine Littoral Warfare Weapon, a subsurface to surface or air missile.

During Silent Hammer, a Flexible Payload Module installed in one of Georgia's missile tubes enabled the release of two Stealthy Affordable Capsules each containing an inert test shape simulating a UAV. This effort is the second SSGN Payloads and Sensors Demonstrations that tested SSGN capabilities to employ technologies developed by others to explore new delivery methods to support joint mission capabilities at a fraction of the cost of a new program.

"A demonstration Battle Management Center was installed aboard Georgia, enabling an embarked Joint Task Force Commander access to real-time persistent intelligence in support of command and control of multiple SOF missions and time sensitive strike. Additionally, the embarked commander was able to maintain near continuous connectivity to the Theater Commander via the Global Information Grid," explained Rear Adm. Mel G. Williams, Jr., commander of Submarine Group Nine.

High speed and advanced communications, overhead and ground ISR sensors and operations, time sensitive strike operations, and information operations were among the other technologies and capabilities integrated into the experiment.

Silent Hammer provided real time data for improved capabilities offered by the SSGN-SOF Strike Group with access to a network of off-board assets to conduct and support extended littoral, terrestrial and strike operations. A carefully conceived data collection and analysis plan, led by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, will ensure that the contributions provided by new capabilities and technologies are thoroughly evaluated, providing the Navy with the information needed to support investment decisions in the future.

Georgia, commanded by Cmdr. John Tammen, is scheduled to commence refueling, overhaul, and SSGN conversion this spring at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Georgia is the last of four Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs) being converted into state-of-the-art, multi-mission, Guided

Missile Submarines (SSGNs). Georgia along with the USS Ohio (SSGN 726), USS Michigan (SSGN 727), and USS Florida (SSGN 728) are all scheduled to return to the fleet by 2007.

"This was an experiment with many successes. It added greatly to our understanding of the true warfighting potential of SSGN and in developing credible concept of operations focused on the joint warfighter. If anything we have underestimated the potential capability of the SSGN in the Global War on Terrorism in support of the joint warfighter," said Rear Adm. Paul F. Sullivan, commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. "Silent Hammer" showed us that SSGN will be a crucial future capability in our nation's defense when Ohio first becomes operational in 2007."