CG 47 CLASS ADVISORY NO. 08-95
MK 26 GUIDED MISSILE LAUNCHING SYSTEM (GMLS) NO-LAUNCH CONDITION
REF/A/DOC/SURFWARDEVGRU/01SEP87//
AMPN/REF A IS CG 47 CLASS TACTICAL MANUAL, NWP 65-17.//
RMKS/1. THIS ADVISORY PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO PREVENT A NO-LAUNCH
CONDITION ON MK 26 GMLS SHIPS. THIS ADVISORY APPLIES ONLY TO CG 47
THROUGH CG 51 (BASELINE 1.3 AND 1.4 SHIPS). A NO-LAUNCH CONDITION
OCCURS WHEN:
A. A LAUNCHER IS LOADED (MISSILE ON RAIL) WITH MISSILE SYSTEM
SUPERVISOR (MSS) FULL-READY VARIABLE ACTION BUTTON (VAB) DISABLED
(25TH BULB OFF) OR LAUNCHER READY-NO-TEST VAB DISABLED (OFF) WHEN
OPERATIONAL READINESS TEST SYSTEM (ORTS) RUNS A MISSILE INVENTORY
TEST. MANUAL LAUNCHER LOADS INCLUDE BOTH LOCAL LOADS AT THE LAUNCHER
AND MSS VAB ACTIONS ORDERING LAUNCHER LOAD.
B. AN ENGAGEMENT ORDER CAUSES AUTOMATIC MISSILE LOAD, BUT THE
ENGAGEMENT IS BROKEN BEFORE FIRING AND THEN ORTS RUNS A MISSILE
INVENTORY TEST BEFORE THE MISSILE IS DOWNLOADED. RECOMMEND SHIPS
FORCE ALLOW AEGIS WEAPON SYSTEM (AWS) TO AUTOMATICALLY LOAD RAILS AS
PART OF THE AWS DETECT-TO-ENGAGE SEQUENCE.
2. BACKGROUND. DURING A FIRING EXERCISE, A MK 26 GMLS SHIP MANUALLY
LOADED AN SM-2 IN AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE AWS REACTION TIME AGAINST A
SUPERSONIC LOW ALTITUDE TARGET. THE SHIP SUCCESSFULLY DETECTED AND
ESTABLISHED A FIRM TRACK ON THE TARGET AND INITIATED AN SM
ENGAGEMENT. THE MISSILE WAS NOT LAUNCHED BECAUSE ORTS EXECUTED A
PERIODIC INVENTORY TEST PRIOR TO LAUNCH WHICH REPORTED NO MISSILES
AVAILABLE.
A. AN SM-2 BLOCK II WAS MANUALLY LOADED ON THE LAUNCHER WHILE
AWS WAS IN THE READY STATE INSTEAD OF THE READY-NO-TEST STATE. THE
READY-NO-TEST STATE INHIBITS ORTS PERIODIC OPERABILITY TESTS. THE
PERIODIC ORTS LAUNCHER INVENTORY TEST DOES NOT COUNT DUDDED MISSILES
IN THE MAGAZINE OR MISSILES LOADED ON THE RAIL. IN THIS CASE, ALL
MISSILES IN THE MAGAZINE WERE DUDDED TO PREVENT INADVERTENT FIRINGS.
THE ORTS TEST REPORTED AN INVENTORY OF ZERO TO WEAPONS CONTROL SYSTEM
(WCS). FOLLOWING THIS SEQUENCE, AN ENGAGEMENT ORDER WAS INITIATED,
BUT THE ZERO INVENTORY CONDITION PREVENTED WCS FROM LAUNCHING THE
MISSILE ON THE RAIL.
B. THE ZERO INVENTORY CONDITION IS ELIMINATED WHEN MISSILE LOAD
IS ORDERED BY WCS. ON COMMENCING AN SM ENGAGEMENT, WCS WILL ENABLE
FULL-READY AND READY-NO-TEST STATES FOR ALL AVAILABLE LAUNCHERS AND
ILLUMINATORS TO LOCK OUT PERIODIC AND MANUALLY INITIATED ORTS TESTS.
WCS WILL ALSO LOAD ALL AVAILABLE LAUNCHER RAILS. SINCE ORTS TESTS
ARE INHIBITED, ZERO INVENTORY WILL NOT OCCUR UNTIL THE LAST AVAILABLE
ROUND OF THE SELECTED MISSILE TYPE IS LAUNCHED. SIMILARLY, MANUAL
LOADS OF A LAUNCHER WITH FULL-READY OR READY-NO-TEST STATES ENABLED
BY THE MISSILE SYSTEM SUPERVISOR WILL PRESERVE THE CORRECT MISSILE
INVENTORY BY DISALLOWING THE ORTS INVENTORY TEST. (NOTE: IF THE
ENGAGEMENT IS BROKEN, THE WCS ENABLED FULL-READY VAB AND READY-NO-
TEST VAB WILL BE DISABLED.) SINCE THE MISSILE IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY
DOWNLOADED, THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ORTS TEST TO REPORT A
ZERO INVENTORY.
3. ACTION. FOR CG 47 THROUGH CG 51: IF AN SM ENGAGEMENT IS
ANTICIPATED, AND A PRE-LOADED LAUNCHER IS DESIRED, THE MSS SHOULD
ALWAYS ENABLE THE FULL-READY VAB PRIOR TO ANY LAUNCHER LOAD ACTION.
ENABLING THE FULL-READY CONDITION WILL ORDER THE HIGHEST STATE OF
READINESS FOR BOTH MK 26 GMLS LAUNCHERS AND MK 99 FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM
(FCS) ILLUMINATORS BY PLACING THESE EQUIPMENTS IN THE READY-NO-TEST
STATE, LOCKING OUT ALL PERIODIC AND OPERATOR INITIATED ORTS
OPERABILITY TESTS. ONCE THE LAUNCHER IS LOADED, READY-NO-TEST (VIA
FULL-READY) STATE MUST REMAIN ENABLED TO INSURE THE CORRECT LAUNCHER
INVENTORY. IF A ZERO INVENTORY CONDITION IS NOTICED BEFORE OR AFTER
THE ENGAGEMENT ORDER, THE ANTI-AIR WARFARE COORDINATOR (AAWC) CAN
MANUALLY ENTER A CORRECTED MISSILE INVENTORY. AN ALTERNATIVE (BEFORE
THE ENGAGEMENT ORDER) WOULD BE TO DOWNLOAD ALL MISSILES, RUN THE ORTS
TEST BY COMMAND FROM THE TEST MAINTENANCE CENTRAL (TMC) OPERATOR,
WHICH WILL RESULT IN AWS MAINTAINING A CURRENT AVAILABLE MISSILE
INVENTORY. THIS DISCUSSION OF ZERO INVENTORY CONDITIONS IS
APPLICABLE WHEN AWS IS IN TACTICAL MODE USING LIVE MISSILES AND THE
MK 26 GMLS.
4. FOR COMNAVSURFLANT AND COMNAVSURFPAC: RECOMMEND CG 47 THROUGH
CG 51 BE TASKED TO ADHERE TO PARA 3 PROCEDURES.
5. FOR COMSURFWARDEVGRU: REQUEST REF A BE UPDATED TO INCLUDE PARA 3
GUIDANCE. NEXT SCHEDULED UPDATE FOR REF A IS JUL 97.
6. THIS ISSUE IS DOCUMENTED AS CPCR 81411 FOR BASELINE 1.3 AND 1.4
SHIPS. THE WEAPONS SYSTEM IS OPERATING AS DESIGNED AND NO CHANGES
ARE PLANNED FOR THE CURRENT COMPUTER PROGRAMS. THIS ADVISORY DOES
NOT AFFECT CSOSS, EOSS, PMS, TECH MANUALS OR CMMP AND WILL BE
CANCELLED WHEN REF A (CG 47 CLASS TACTICAL MANUAL) HAS BEEN UPDATED
TO INCLUDE PARA 3 GUIDANCE.
7. ORIG POC IS MR. N. SMITHSON, PMS 400F511, DSN 332-5981 OR COMM
(703) 602-5981 EXT 133. TPOC IS CDR J. WILSON, PMS 400B30A, DSN
332-7090 OR COMM (703) 602-7090 EXT 222.//
BT
MK-26 GMLS