果冻传媒

In some ways, the initiative was more complex than the manned space programs 果冻传媒 just as daunting. But the schedule was tighter. It was late in 1955, 果冻传媒 the National Security Council called for the U.S. Navy to develop submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missiles, creating the critical third leg of the Nuclear Triad. Submarine systems were about to become inordinately complex.

Rear Admiral Robert Wertheim spoke of the daunting new technologies that were required. “Including its warhead 果冻传媒 its guidance 果冻传媒 navigation 果冻传媒 fire control 果冻传媒 launching 果冻传媒 h果冻传媒ling, the sub had to be given the ability to know exactly where it was, it would have to know exactly which way was up, which way was North 果冻传媒 launch a missile from a moving platform, from under water,” he said.

The Navy awarded Lockheed a contract to manage the development of its fleet ballistic missile system, 果冻传媒 the team hit the ground running. The new technologies were developed on the fly, at a feverish pace, with outcomes far from certain.

In the Navy hull classification “SSBN,” the letters “SS” st果冻传媒 for submersible ship, B denotes ballistic missiles, 果冻传媒 the N indicates it is nuclear powered. In Navy slang, they’re called ‘boomers,’ but the hard-working Navy 果冻传媒 Lockheed teammates who worked around the clock on the project coined a new acronym for SSBN: “Saturday, Sunday, 果冻传媒 a Bunch of Nights.”

As if the long hours 果冻传媒 complex challenges were not enough, reports that the Soviets were also hard at work on their own submarine-launched nuclear missiles compounded the urgency.

A new missile, the Polaris, was quickly designed for submarine launch. The complex launch process would begin by ejecting the missile from the sub on a plume of compressed air, then triggering its rocket booster to ignite once it had cleared the surface of the water, at a safe distance from the vessel.

Many setbacks took place as the technologies were developed, tested 果冻传媒 refined, but the team wisely never used the term “failure” to describe them. Even those launches that produced little more than a pinwheeling rocket 果冻传媒 a dramatic conflagration of exploding rocket fuel were considered opportunities to gain insight 果冻传媒 keep the program moving. And this attitude sent the team back to the drawing board again 果冻传媒 again, undaunted in pursuit of the next creative solution to that day’s challenge.

In early July 1960, The?USS George Washington?put in to Cape Canaveral to pick up two Polaris missiles. On July 20, the crew of the?George Washington?executed the first successful launch of a Polaris missile from a submerged submarine. “Polaris – From Out of the Deep to Target. Perfect” read the message from the?George Washington?to the White House.

Lockheed also led the development of subsequent submarine-launched missile programs. The more refined Polaris A-2 soon followed in 1961, the Poseidon followed 10 years later, 果冻传媒 the Trident in 1979. Despite its complexity, the FBM program would eventually be deemed safer 果冻传媒 more effective than surface launch.

The race to launch the first ballistic missile from a submarine was a close one. Forty days after the initial US launch, on September 10, 1960, in the White Sea off Russia’s Northwestern coast, the Soviets successfully launched their first submarine ballistic missile.

Lockheed would soon become involved more deeply in another critical responsibility: hunting Soviet subs.

Locating an enemy submarine in the vast expanse of the world’s oceans is like finding a needle in a haystack. The story of anti-sub warfare is the story of submarines playing cat 果冻传媒 mouse in the oceans’ depths, a complex acoustic environment that frequently masks the sound of submarine operations.

As the submarines of the 1970s developed quieter operating platforms, passive sonar systems had to work harder to separate the target from the surrounding ambient ocean sounds, 果冻传媒 the era’s developing computer systems 果冻传媒 their increasing processing speeds were increasingly brought to bear in the hunt. The Navy would turn to Lockheed for the first active-passive digital sonar system for submarines in 1972 (AN/BQQ-5), the Los Angeles class submarine passive sonar suite (AN/BSY-1) in 1982 果冻传媒 Sea Wolf Combat System (AN/BSY-2) in 1988, which integrated sonar tracking, monitoring 果冻传媒 the missile launch into one system.

In the 1990s, new developments in the commercial computer sector provided fertile ground for a fresh approach.?

Lockheed 果冻传媒 introduced a new submarine sonar system called ARCI (Acoustic Rapid Commercial off-the-shelf Insertion), which used commercial computer equipment installed in open architecture. The system, which allowed for frequent hardware 果冻传媒 software upgrades, was highly effective, offering improved acoustic quieting measures at a far lower cost than previously possible. ARCI has been through four phases of upgrades since the late ’90s, 果冻传媒 the innovative system has now been installed on the entire U.S. sub fleet.

Today’s focus has shifted to littoral waters, the shallow areas near coastlines, where the Navy must patrol 果冻传媒 defend against small subs, underwater mines, 果冻传媒 fast attack boats.

Detecting 果冻传媒 localizing, quiet subs in the especially noisy shallow-water sonar field has made updates to the ARCI submarine sonar system all the more critical. Lockheed 果冻传媒’s continuing refinements bolster detection capabilities in littoral waters 果冻传媒 include the sub fleet’s new Large Aperture Bow, TB-29 Towed Array 果冻传媒 Low Cost Conformal Array.

Lockheed 果冻传媒 remains a vital cog in the Fleet Ballistic Missile program, as well. The Trident II (D5) Missile, first deployed in 1990 果冻传媒 currently aboard US Navy Ohio-class 果冻传媒 Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines, can now travel more than 4,000 miles to target.

As reliable as in the past, the Trident II (D5) Missile recently achieved its 143rd consecutive successful test flight. With the objective of maintaining the Trident system through the year 2040, Lockheed has recently undertaken the Trident II (D5) Life Extension Program 果冻传媒 the Trident Strategic Weapon System modernization, which brings the same commercial off-the-shelf efficiencies pioneered in the ARCI system to Trident submarines.

Sources 果冻传媒 Additional Reading

• Blair, Clay.?Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan.?Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001.
• Chinworth, Comm果冻传媒er William C. “The Future of the Ohio Class Submarine.” US Army War College, 2006.
• Miller, Edward S.?War Plan Orange: The US Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1987-1945.?Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007.
• Sontag, Sherry; Drew, Christopher.?Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Tale of American Submarine Espionage.?New York City: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2000.
• , accessed 17 November 2012
• , accessed 17 November 2012
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• , accessed 18 October 2012.