Target Drone damages USS Chancellorsville

[BOP]

SAN DIEGO – An aerial target drone malfunctioned and struck the San Diego-based USS Chancellorsville, which damaged the ship and left two sailors with minor burns, Navy officials said.

Read more: Sailors injured when drone hits Navy ship | FOX5 San Diego

That's a big-ass hole in the side of that ship.

 

[GURPS]

That's a big-ass hole in the side of that ship.

looks like a new window

 

[BOP]

Not sure why nonothing locked his thread, but looking at the side of that ship, I was impressed. How big was that target drone, thingie?

 

[b23hqb]

That hole was small, but still.....What was on that drone, and is the current steel on board the above decks hulls that vulnerable? Or are our drones that powerful?

 

[Railroad]

That hole was small, but still.....What was on that drone, and is the current steel on board the above decks hulls that vulnerable? Or are our drones that powerful?

It's aluminum, and yes, it's that vulnerable. The hull is steel, but everything above the main deck is aluminum.

 

[b23hqb]

It's aluminum, and yes, it's that vulnerable. The hull is steel, but everything above the main deck is aluminum.

That's what they were turning to when I got out in 1976. Lighter, more fuel efficient, sure. But very weak and dangerous for sailors. Aluminum, while great for aircraft and very fast moving sea vessels, is weaker and burns more easily.

USS Stark displayed that.

 

[b23hqb]

Not sure why nonothing locked his thread, but looking at the side of that ship, I was impressed. How big was that target drone, thingie?

The boy probably locked it's thread simply because it was insulted by me, me thinks. So be it.

 

[Railroad]

That's what they were turning to when I got out in 1976. Lighter, more fuel efficient, sure. But very weak and dangerous for sailors. Aluminum, while great for aircraft and very fast moving sea vessels, is weaker and burns more easily.

USS Stark displayed that.

It was somewhat disconcerting to be aboard a Destroyer with that superstructure in the Persian Gulf, close inshore, and in a few other places where the natives aren't friendly. Safest place above the main deck was the radar room I "owned." Rest In Peace, USS John Hancock (DD-981).

 

[b23hqb]

I was primarily on the O-1 level (radio room), up until discharge in 1976. We actually had steel then. My main concern was my bunk - starboard hull about two feet below the waterline. Listening to the seas swish by about 18" from my head was relaxing, but not very reassuring.

I know and understand why submariners see everything but themselves as "targets".....but fresh air rocks!

 

[Railroad]

I was primarily on the O-1 level (radio room), up until discharge in 1976. We actually had steel then. My main concern was my bunk - starboard hull about two feet below the waterline. Listening to the seas swish by about 18" from my head was relaxing, but not very reassuring.

I know and understand why submariners see everything but themselves as "targets".....but fresh air rocks!

My radar room was on the O-1 level, somewhat aft of Radio and the Transmitter room. My rack was inboard by about 6 feet, below the waterline, and somewhat aft of most other things. Radiomen and others in Ops slept in a berthing are on the same level but well forward.

I started out my time in the fleet working for a submarine squadron on a sub tender, doing I level repairs on submarine electronics. I was one of the few non-bubbleheads.

My ex-wife and I both worked on the testing and configuration management of Chancellorsville's Radio Comms systems. She managed the equipment, and I did some of the testing and some of the engineering.

 

[GURPS]

so if there is a fire, topside is going to look like a bud can in a camp fire

 

[Railroad]

so if there is a fire, topside is going to look like a bud can in a camp fire

Well, the idea is that the crew and fire systems will be REALLY GOOD at firefighting and damage control. An incredible amount of time and energy is spent on preparing for such an event. I don't know firsthand, but I'm guessing that a lot of potential disasters are averted on a frequent basis by alert and well-trained crews with well-maintained equipment.

As a matter of fact, sailors are taught how to approach a fire or the site of a mishap, so that unless they are at the actual site of the event when it actually happens, most are never injured.

 

[glhs837]

Someone asked about the drone in question?

http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/86/51/b47e18ac319ef4a067a012157530-grande.jpg

 

[BOP]

The boy probably locked it's thread simply because it was insulted by me, me thinks. So be it.

nhboy is ecstatic about this.

 

[BOP]

Someone asked about the drone in question?

http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/86/51/b47e18ac319ef4a067a012157530-grande.jpg

BQM-74E

That's big enough to put a hole in aluminum alright. It's a cruise missile threat emulator, and while it is recoverable, they shouldn't have let it hit the ship. If it had been a real cruise missile, that ship would have been in deep kim-chi.

And by "shouldn't have let it hit the ship," they should have blasted it out of the sky. That's what ship defenses do, whether it's an emulator they lose control of, or an all-up missile.

No wonder the Navy isn't saying much about it.

 

[Inkd]

BQM-74E

That's big enough to put a hole in aluminum alright. It's a cruise missile threat emulator, and while it is recoverable, they shouldn't have let it hit the ship. If it had been a real cruise missile, that ship would have been in deep kim-chi.

And by "shouldn't have let it hit the ship," they should have blasted it out of the sky. That's what ship defenses do, whether it's an emulator they lose control of, or an all-up missile.

No wonder the Navy isn't saying much about it.

Ships guns may not have been armed. Normally when they are testing ships radar they do tracking only, unless they purchased the BQM and are allocated for a kill.

Normally a flight profile is in line fore and aft with the ship when flying and altitude is determined by what they want to test, these things can scream along at close to Mach 1 about 50 or 60 feet off the surface. At that profile, if link is lost, there isn't much time to do anything at all. If flying at a high enough altitude it will go into recovery mode but at the low and fast profile it pretty much disintegrates when it hits the water.

When a friend of mine sent me a link, the first thing I thought was a single JATO misfire. These things use JATO bottles to get off the ground and very once in awhile there is a mishap where only one ignites. So you basically have a huge jumping jack filled with JP-5 spinning around the flight deck. If you are lucky it spins over board.

Navy probably isn't saying anything about it yet cause there has to be a mishap investigation. There used to be a Navy Squadron that operated them but it got de-commissioned in 2008 and it's all civilian operated now.

 

[czygvtwkr]

Shoulda got the Wal-Mart drone I guess.

 

[CrashTest]

I wonder how long before someone gets relieved. Navy will never admit a system or process malfuntion. Always has to be human error.

 

[BOP]

Ships guns may not have been armed. Normally when they are testing ships radar they do tracking only, unless they purchased the BQM and are allocated for a kill.

Normally a flight profile is in line fore and aft with the ship when flying and altitude is determined by what they want to test, these things can scream along at close to Mach 1 about 50 or 60 feet off the surface. At that profile, if link is lost, there isn't much time to do anything at all. If flying at a high enough altitude it will go into recovery mode but at the low and fast profile it pretty much disintegrates when it hits the water.

When a friend of mine sent me a link, the first thing I thought was a single JATO misfire. These things use JATO bottles to get off the ground and very once in awhile there is a mishap where only one ignites. So you basically have a huge jumping jack filled with JP-5 spinning around the flight deck. If you are lucky it spins over board.

Navy probably isn't saying anything about it yet cause there has to be a mishap investigation. There used to be a Navy Squadron that operated them but it got de-commissioned in 2008 and it's all civilian operated now.

I saw a video back in the day of one of those jatos firing on a BQM 74 launch. That thing cartwheeled nearly the length of the runway at Pt Mugu, with chunks of it slamming into the blockhouse. Which is when the other jato finally fired off.

 

[Inkd]

I saw a video back in the day of one of those jatos firing on a BQM 74 launch. That thing cartwheeled nearly the length of the runway at Pt Mugu, with chunks of it slamming into the blockhouse. Which is when the other jato finally fired off.

Thankfully I never experienced one but did see a couple videos of them onboard a ship.

They tore some stuff up before they spun themselves overboard!!! Nasty!!!