The Mobile Aerial Target Support System (MATSS), a World War II era section of floating dry dock has been revamped for upcoming Theater Ballistic Missile Defense testing. It recently passed several helicopter landing tests in the open seas with flying
The Mobile Aerial Target Support System (MATSS), a World War II era section of
floating dry dock has been revamped for upcoming Theater Ballistic Missile
Defense testing. It recently passed several helicopter landing tests in the
open seas with flying colors.
By Sheila Heathcote Arthur
Special to The
Garden Island
BARKING SANDS — Navy officials have declared the latest
round of sea trials for the Mobile Aerial Target Support System (MATSS)
successful, making her sea worthy for upcoming Navy Theater Ballistic Missile
Defense (TBMD) testing.
The current round of MATSS sea trials, conducted
in late February, included landing and refueling huge H-3 helicopters on its
deck in windy and rough seas, critical safety drills, and a check out of
various communication and electrical systems.
This latest round of sea
trials allowed for further testing of the MATSS platform’s capabilities
following the completion of key modifications made to the vessel during the
initial sea trials conducted in April 1999.
The MATSS platform is a
section of WWII floating dry dock, transformed into a highly sophisticated
barge, complete with high-tech communications systems, radar, and personnel. It
will allow targets to be launched from sea instead of using land-based sites or
costly active-duty ships, and will carry sophisticated instrumentation in
support of TBMD testing.
Last week’s exercises included an operational
checkout of the new sea water intake system, crew training and emergency
drills, and helicopter landing and fueling exercises. The trials were conducted
off the coast of O’ahu by naval hydrodynamic specialists and private
contractors, who acted as the MATSS to Hull, Mechanical and Electrical
(HM&E) crew, and enlisted Navy personnel from the USS Frederick, serving as
the MATSS aviation team and fire fighting crew.
“The MATSS Phase 1113 Sea
Trial went very well,” said MATSS Program Manager Stan Rollins. “The
success of the Sea Trial must be credited to the team work demonstrated by 42
dedicated personnel from Carder Rock Division Naval Surface Warfare Center
(CDNSWC), USS Frederick, EG&G, ITT Industries Systems Division, and the
Pacific Missile Range Facility.”
Rollins added that the latest round of sea
trials were conducted in waters up to 20 miles from the O’ahu shoreline in
choppy seas roughened by 15 – 25 knot trade winds. “Despite the conditions, we
landed one of PMRF’s H-3 helicopters 10 times,” Rollins said.
Objectives
that were successfully met during the recent sea trials included making sure
that the communications systems were working properly; conducting ‘at-sea’
checkout of training and safety drills; collecting various data about the
platform’s maneuverability; and utilizing the galley for meals.
Certification sheets were completed for each system, exercise or drill,
and served as the basis for declaring the MATSS platform as “mission ready”
with respective systems, including helicopter support.
Helicopter operators
received certification for critical skills including such maneuvers as the ‘Fly
By and Hover’, landing on the deck of the MATSS platform and fueling while on
the open sea.
Emergency drill procedures for all hands included a
simulated fire above and below decks; a mock ‘flooding compartment’ exercise; a
‘man overboard’ drill; and ‘abandon ship’ scenarios.
The MATSS platform is
currently capable of supporting helicopters and launching BQM-74 targets, which
are small inert missiles used as targets.
Future modifications being
planned include the installation of COSIP radar.
COSIP, an acronym for
‘Coherent Signal Processor’, is a sophisticated radar system that can image
distant targets with extreme accuracy .
The successful completion of this
week’s sea trials have given engineers the green light to continue with the
COSIP installation, which will facilitate future Theater Ballistic Missile
Defense support.
“The sea trial concludes the baseline MATSS conversion,”
Rollins continued. “Next month we’ll start the MATSS next conversion evolution
as we begin the installation of the COSIP radar.”
Other applications that
MATSS may be used for in the future include utilization by other helicopter
commands to accomplish their Deck Landing Qualifications (DLQs) – a training
scenario for helicopter pilots and their crews.
