By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Hillary Browning, USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower Public Affairs
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike)
completed the first successful carrier launch of the MK 234 Nulka countermeasure
fired from the MK 53 Decoy Launching System (DLS), Dec. 16. Nulka, an
Australian Aboriginal word meaning to "be quick," is a rapid-response
active expendable decoy (AED) capable of providing highly effective
defense for ships against modern anti-ship missiles (ASM). |
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The decoy
was developed through a joint effort by Australia and the United States.
Australia developed the hovering rocket while the U.S. developed the
electronic payload.
When launched, the Nulka decoy radiates a large, ship-like radar cross
section that attempts to lure ASMs away from their intended targets.
"The Nulka system brings with it a needed upgrade to the Ike's
current Anti-Ship Missile Defense (ASMD) capability," said Senior
Chief Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Christopher Noltee, the Naval
Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Office (PEO), Information
Warfare Systems (IWS) 2.0 military liaison. "When a signal originates
from the ship, you're still a potential target. Nulka gives you separation.
This round sends out the electronics, away from your ship. The goal
is to get the missile to fly to the Nulka round instead of coming here."
Although the Nulka round has been used on smaller naval vessels for
years, it had never been used aboard a ship as large as an aircraft
carrier. Ike is the second carrier to have the MK 53 DLS installed,
but the first to successfully deploy the Nulka countermeasure while
at sea. It's considered a "soft-kill" weapon, which means
that it's used to deceive and never makes physical "skin-to-skin"
contact.
"Hard-kill weapons systems are used for both offensive and defensive
purposes while soft-kill weapons systems are used strictly for defensive
purposes." Noltee said.
During the testing phase, all aircraft and personnel were removed from
the flight deck while weather conditions and the sea-state were closely
monitored.
"For testing purposes, we wanted to have baseline conditions,"
said Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Robert Whiddon,
Ike's Electronic Warfare Module leading chief petty officer. "We
wanted to be able to control everything we could to mitigate risk. In
the real world, you don't have hours to prepare for a Nulka launch,
you have less than a minute. But when you're testing, you want to control
the environment."
Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Seaman Apprentice Jerry Dalalo pressed
the button that launched the first Nulka round from a carrier platform.
"I had to go through a lot of procedures to make sure every condition
was right," Dalalo said. "I was really nervous. I had a lot
of butterflies in my stomach, but luckily it went through fine."
Ike successfully launched the Nulka countermeasure five times over the
course of three days, surpassing the minimum testing requirement by
two launches. |
U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). (U.S. Navy photo
by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jameson E. Lynch/Released)