미해군, 해상 VLS 재장전 시험 성공

[위종민]

미해군의 순양함 CG-65 USS 초신함과 T-AKE-11 USNS 워싱턴 채임버스함이 지난 금요일 샌디에이고에서 새로운 장전 시스템 TRAM(Transferrable Rearming Mechanism)을 이용해 Mk.41 VLS에 미사일 캐니스터를 적재하는 시험에 성공했네요. 2026년~2027년이 실전운용 목표 시기라고 합니다. 

민간 분야에서는 훨씬 더 거친 바다에서도 폭발물을 포함한 화물들과 사람들도 나르고 있는데 미해군은 여전히 파고 3ft 이하에서만 작동할 수 있는 시스템을 시험하고 있다는 기사도 있네요. ( US Navy Reloads Missiles At Sea: Is America Now Ready For A Naval War With China? (gcaptain.com) )

U.S. Navy Holds First TRAM At-Sea VLS Loading Test - Naval News

U.S. Navy Holds First TRAM At-Sea VLS Loading Test - Naval News

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) steams alongside the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) during an at-sea demonstration of the Transferrable Reload At-sea Method (TRAM) while underway in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 11, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charlotte Dudenhoeffer)

U.S. Navy Holds First TRAM At-Sea VLS Loading Test

The U.S. Navy held its first at-sea test of a new reloading mechanism, beginning a path that the service claims will allow warships to rearm while underway by 2027.

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa  12 Oct 2024

The U.S. Navy successfully loaded a vertical launching system cell on an underway cruiser this week in the first-ever test of a new reloading mechanism that the service claims will be a “game-changing” capability to keep warships in the fight without returning to port. 

USS Chosin (CG-65) and USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) held the test off San Diego on Friday. The trial saw the loading of an empty missile canister into the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser’s Mk.41 vertical launching systems (VLS) using the Transferrable Rearming Mechanism (TRAM), a new reloading system based on older concepts from the late Marvin Miller that appears to address the relative motion issues of the former strike down cranes. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro deemed the development of TRAM to be a priority, highlighting its necessity and progress since early 2023 as the service looked to match increasingly capable near-peer adversaries.

The ability to reload and sustain combat operations without U.S. naval bases or friendly facilities has been an increasing concern as the service faces down adversaries in the Red Sea and plans for contingencies in the Indo-Pacific region. In the Western Pacific, many U.S. naval bases are within range of long-range Chinese missiles, which could deny their use to resupply and replenish warships during a conflict. Meanwhile, bases that aren’t under active threat are outside of the theater, something that Tim Barnard, director of the NAVSEA technology office, highlighted following the TRAM test:

“Deploying TRAM into the Military Sealift Command logistics fleet would enable combatants to remain in theater while reloading their VLS missile launchers instead of having to travel long distances to a port, greatly expanding the volume and tempo of long-range fires—and the U.S. Navy’s advantage over adversaries.”

Sailors on USS Chosin (CG-65) load a Mk.41 cell during an underway replenishment demonstration of the Transferrable Rearming Mechanism. Photo from Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro.

According to a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) press release, the missile canister was transferred to Chosin from Washington Chambers using the already existing underway replenishment process in Sea State Four. Once onboard the missile cruiser, the canister reached the VLS cell using rails attached directly to the Mk.41 system. From there, TRAM vertically tilted the canister and lowered it into the cell. 

NAVSEA further claimed that as TRAM was designed to be done during underway replenishment, the receiving warship could also be refueled and restocked with provisions at the same time as its VLS cells were reloaded. “The combatant can stay near the fight to be rearmed, refueled and resupplied all at the same time,” said Richard Hadley, UNREP division manager at NSWC PHD, in the press release. 

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Lisa Franchetti (fourth from left) watches a demonstration of the Transferrable Rearming Mechanism, or TRAM, at the Underway Replenishment Test Site at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) onboard Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, on Dec. 1. Designed to rearm a warship’s Vertical Launching System (VLS) while underway, the mechanism can lift and rotate a missile canister vertically. The TRAM then lowers the canister into a cell of the VLS, demonstrated here with an empty canister on a mockup of a VLS module. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons/Released)

Further details on the test such as how long the reloading took, what would happen with used missile canisters, and if TRAM sped up the tedious and lengthy VLS reloading process, were not mentioned by the Navy. However, Del Toro and NAVSEA highlighted that this test was the first of many to refine and develop TRAM for operations. Del Toro said:

“This demonstration marks a key milestone on the path to perfecting this capability and fielding it for sustained operations at sea,” 

Reloading the Mk.41 pier side has been known to be a lengthy process, with the loading of a single missile cell taking up to half an hour. For reference, the U.S. Navy’s primary surface combatant, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, has up to 96 missile cells. It is unclear if this process is sped up with TRAM or remains the same at sea. 

Before this at-sea test, TRAM was previously ground trialed by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division and sailors from Chosin at Naval Base Ventura County in July. Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti also observed the system in late 2023 during her tour of the facility. 

The Navy aims to field TRAM into the fleet by 2026 or 2027 according to Del Toro. 

US Navy Reloads Missiles At Sea: Is America Now Ready For A Naval War With China? (gcaptain.com)

US Navy Reloads Missiles At Sea: Is America Now Ready For A Naval War With China?

"But here’s the rub: while the Navy is patting itself on the back for cracking open its first missile canister at sea, the commercial offshore industry has been doing even more complex operations for decades. Companies in the North Sea, for example, routinely use advanced cranes—built with precise positioning technology and heave-compensation tech—to transfer dangerous loads – and even people – between moving ships and workboats in seas much rougher than what the Chosin faced.

That’s right. Private industry has been handling multi-ton payloads – including explosives used in drillship well testing – in stormy waters for years, while the Navy is still testing systems designed to work in sea states with three-foot waves. Catch-up, meet the U.S. military."

[백선호]

원래는 64셀 VLS에 재장전 크레인을 달아 3셀을 차지해 미사일은 61셀만 들어갔는데, 위험하다고 해서 안쓰다가 이제 다시 시도하네요.

https://groups.google.com/g/sci.military.naval/c/49SqkgvRZ18/m/M9cZiUHGtckJ

Andrew Toppan
Sep 22, 2002, 12:50:24 AM

The strikedown crane, which is meant for reloading VLS cells at sea. Unfortunately, most or all VLS weapons are too heavy for the crane to handle (safely, at least), so it is not used. They've finally acknowledged this reality and deleted the crane from VLSs installed in new ships, in favor of three more usable cells.

[degg.]

여러 분야에서 유행은 돌고 도는것 같습니다. 드론 잡겠다고 대공포가 부활한것처럼요

[위종민]

해상 재장전은 저한텐 충분히 될 것 같았는데 아직 구현 안됐던 대표적 기술이었습니다. 그 동안은 가까운 군항 가서 재장전받으면 됐었을 테니..

[김민석]

VLS는 파고가 잔잔한 항구에서 재장전하는것 조차 엄청나게 힘든 작업이라고 하더라고요. 크레인으로 폭이 좁고 긴 VLS에 셀을 집어넣는게 굉장히 어려웠다고 이순신함 재장전 작업을 했던 학교 선배님이 말씀하신 적이 있습니다.
파고가 있는 상태에서 재장전을 하려면 배의 움직임을 크레인에 뭔가 기계적으로 보정해주는 장비같은게 있어야 할거 같네요. 자동화는 거의 불가능하고요(VLS 근처에서 '나라시'를 알려주는 기능이 센서보다 사람이 저렴함)