Part II: J-SHIP Tests Rapid Helo Re-Arming on USS Essex - Brief Article

Approach, Oct, 2000 by Bret Gary, Bob Giffin

Rockets on target, on time--that's what our ground forces expect, and J-SHIP intends to deliver. Recently the J-SHIP JTF deployed aboard USS Essex (an amphibious assault ship, LHD 2) to investigate how to better operate Army and Special Operations Forces (SOF) helicopters on Navy ships.

One of the main goals of this six-day, at-sea event was to study how to rapidly re-arm Army helicopters. The key differences between Army and Navy re-arming procedures include individual tube-loading rocket pods and re-arming "hot" (while the rotor blades are turning). The test was conducted by tube loading inert ammunition (2.75-inch aerial rockets with warheads) using helicopters from the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). This method may prove to be faster and just as safe as the current Navy-Marine Corps method of pod loading.

LtCol. Bud Sauvageau, JSHIP's Air Force Deputy Director and former Special Operations Forces Air Planner, explains, "The Special Operations Forces routinely conduct tube loading in the field at their FAARP [Forward Area Arming and Refueling Point] as an absolute operational mission requirement. Lost minutes re-arming can mean lost lives in the battle."

Tube-loading also produces more accurate rockets by keeping the rocket-pod boresight aligned. However, this procedure involves greater risk management aboard ship. Factors such as the intense electromagnetic fields produced by shipboard emitters require special consideration.

The Navy's Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) program includes procedures and safeguards that must be followed aboard ship to keep aircraft weapons from inadvertently firing and ordnance from exploding. LtCol. Thomas McDaniel, J-SHIP's Army Deputy Director and Naval Test Pilot School graduate, said, "This precaution is especially necessary since you cannot see, feel or smell the intense electromagnetic fields produced by shipboard systems."

Most army aviators are not attuned to this hazard because they seldom fly from ships. But when they do--and they will--the last thing a helicopter pilot needs is to accidentally activate his onboard flight and weapon systems, or to completely fry those systems.

The Navy's HERO program of necessity sets much more stringent restrictions than the Army has to consider in the field. Procedures were investigated, developed, and tested on the SOF helos (with rotors turning) to safely handle HERO-susceptible ordnance during tube-loading exercises. The Navy and Marine Corps use pod-loading instead of tube-loading because pods protect against radar hazards and heat. AO1 Michael Haines from the office of the Aviation Ordnance Safety Supervisor (AOSS), at Naval Surface Force, Atlantic, took part in the test as one of three aviation-ordnance safety advisors. AO1 Haines has been working for the past three years exclusively with Army helicopters during joint deployments and exercises, helping them operate safely on Navy ships.

AO1 Haines said, "No matter how good the Army guys are, they just don't know all the hazards that could bite them when they operate off Navy ships at sea because they spend very little of their time at sea. I believe J-SHIP will help not only other services understand how to operate safely on ships, but it will also help the Navy understand how to operate safely with the other services."

Bob Giffin also embarked for the J-SHIP test as an overall safety observer and advisor. He said, "By bringing out an AOSS team member out for the J-SHIP test, they were able to cover all the bases--and do it safely--in testing new aviation-ordnance handling procedures. I was very pleased with the skills of Essex's flight-deck and ordnance-handling crew, the SOF helicopter detachment, and the J-SHIP team. I believe safety officers need to get out and turn over rocks to find problems and fix them, and that is what we did on this test."

The J-SHIP test validated the following major safeguards:

* Transport the rockets to the aircraft in a 7-shot and/or 19-shot pod whose ends are covered with barrier shields. The pod provides a HERO-safe environment for the rockets.

* Complete a loading checklist to prepare the aircraft.

* Ground the aircraft and the rocket pod.

* Transfer one rocket at a time from the thermally protected pod to the pod mounted on the aircraft using a HERO-safe protective sleeve to cover the rocket motor when not in the pod.

* Download unexpended ordnance the same way.

Rockets were also loaded "hot" (engines running and rotor blades turning) during the test. The procedures used were very similar to the "cold" re-arming procedures with added precautions to ensure safe operations, and since the pilots didn't have to shut down and restart engines, the "hot" operations were much faster. The added complexity of turning rotors required clearly defined procedures, comprehensive briefings, and a team effort between the air department, flight-deck crew, ship's ordnance handlers, aircrews, crew chiefs, and helicopter ordnance personnel.