Phalanx Gun System ??

[Kira]

It looked like common wave action effected their fire. ps, I'm all for chopping up pirate ships.

When that row boat assaulted Cpt. Phillips' ship (Tom Hanks movie) a BAR would've been enough.

 

[billt460]

It looked like common wave action effected their fire. ps, I'm all for chopping up pirate ships.

When that row boat assaulted Cpt. Phillips' ship (Tom Hanks movie) a BAR would've been enough.

I've never understood the logic of those container vessels not being armed with shoulder fired automatic weapons.

 

[Pablo]

I've never understood the logic of those container vessels not being armed with shoulder fired automatic weapons.

Maritime rules???

 

[thastinger]

That

In the video it looks like they miss a lot. Is ours more efficient?

That initial salvo was all that was needed and only the first couple fell short, all that you see on the other side of the boat are rounds that went all the way through the boat and are skipping on the water.

I'm not sure why they kept shooting at the thing after that first salvo, but I imagine those misses could be contributed to there not being a "defined target" because it would just be a hot blob on a thermal (due to the fireball) or the hull was sinking and not presenting a good radar target to lock on.

 

[thastinger]

I've never understood the logic of those container vessels not being armed with shoulder fired automatic weapons.

International Law of the Sea prevents it...we call armed private vessels pirates.

 

[kschachn]

No such thing as “spent plutonium”. PU-239 is the only isotope in common use and it’s highly radioactive. Used in nuclear weapons and in nuclear reactors, including RTGs for space probes.

Depleted Uranium is U-238, the stable isotope, with the U-235 removed. U-235 is the more radioactive, and is used in nuclear weapons. Uranium is very dense, nearly twice the density of lead, so, it made a good projectile, but Tungsten is even slightly more dense than Uranium.

Yes, very often when depleted or "spent" uranium is discussed people think all the radioactivity is gone. Nothing could be further from the truth, both are radioactive but U-238 won't undergo a self-sustaining chain reaction.

 

[billt460]

Maritime rules???

Obviously but why? It's idiotic. The Somali Basin where these pirates operate, is one of the most dangerous waters shipping travels through.

And the fact is most any off the rack hunting rifle could easily disable and / or sink one of those wooden skiffs those pirates use, from 500 yards or more.

It is ridiculous that all they had for defense were water nozzles and flares. I'm better defended when I go to the hardware store.

 

[Pablo]

Obviously but why? It's idiotic. The Somali Basin where these pirates operate, is one of the most dangerous waters shipping travels through.

And the fact is most any off the rack hunting rifle could easily disable and / or sink one of those wooden skiffs those pirates use, from 500 yards or more.

It is ridiculous that all they had for defense were water nozzles and flares. I'm better defended when I go to the hardware store.

It is idiotic

 

[billt460]

It is idiotic

And it's not like this was a one off type of deal. These ships were getting whacked left and right when this was going on back then. I read somewhere that many vessels were employing, "armed security".

But I don't know if they had permission to engage the pirates before they boarded. Or were there to deal with the aftermath, after they boarded. It appeared the Russians answered to no one for their, "target practice"... (Good for them if that was the case).

You look at the amount of freeboard this big container vessels have, one would think the ship personnel would most certainly have the advantage. Especially if they were using these makeshift ladders, like they did in the movie, "Captain Phillips". (I'm assuming that part of the movie was at least partly realistic).

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

So they can track and lead targets on their own, I get that.

But they can be set to actually fire on their own? Cool yet scary.

 

[Astro14]

And it's not like this was a one off type of deal. These ships were getting whacked left and right when this was going on back then. I read somewhere that many vessels were employing, "armed security".

But I don't know if they had permission to engage the pirates before they boarded. Or were there to deal with the aftermath, after they boarded. It appeared the Russians answered to no one for their, "target practice"... (Good for them if that was the case).

You look at the amount of freeboard this big container vessels have, one would think the ship personnel would most certainly have the advantage. Especially if they were using these makeshift ladders, like they did in the movie, "Captain Phillips". (I'm assuming that part of the movie was at least partly realistic).

The movie was very realistic. I spoke with Captain Phillips. Long story.

The point is: shipping companies are very risk averse and many of them operate in and out of ports/countries where firearms are strictly prohibited.

So, they examine the risk (training costs, equipment costs, liabilities of firearm discharge, cost of adding trained people, and being prohibited from some ports) vs. the reward (defeating pirate attack) and conclude that they can mitigate the chances of attack by going faster and avoiding the Somali coast. They have insurance for the cargo.

In the case of Maersk, they didn’t think the risk of attack was that high, and directed Captain Phillips to take the shortest (most fuel efficient) course.

It’s all about money.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

As Astro has said, they’re super impressive. Not sure if the Navy changed the rules on that, but it was 97 or 98 they did a CIWS test and we were allowed to be on the flight deck when it was in operation with one of the towed targets. Amazing!

But one of the most crazy things is, CIWS is driven by 30kV DC!! The cabling inside the ship has about a 2’ cage around the cabling to prevent anyone from getting near. Although, that’s coming up on 25 years ago so there may have been updates to those systems since.

 

[JHZR2]

As Astro has said, they’re super impressive. Not sure if the Navy changed the rules on that, but it was 97 or 98 they did a CIWS test and we were allowed to be on the flight deck when it was in operation with one of the towed targets. Amazing!

But one of the most crazy things is, CIWS is driven by 30kV DC!! The cabling inside the ship has about a 2’ cage around the cabling to prevent anyone from getting near. Although, that’s coming up on 25 years ago so there may have been updates to those systems since.

I’m not sure CIWS is driven by that. The radar faces may get that at some point in their circuit. The mount should comply with MIL-STD-1399 in the variant appropriate for the hull it is installed on.

IWS owns the internal power interfaces.

 

[Kira]

CIWS is driven by 30kV DC!!

Was it for firing the rounds...2,000 to 4,000 rpm!..instead of a slew of coils?

 

[JHZR2]

Was it for firing the rounds...2,000 to 4,000 rpm!..instead of a slew of coils?

There are distribution A DTIC articles that indicate the electrical priming is done at 160V.

 

[Tikka]

Point is, it is an M-61 gun. Same ammo, though projectiles vary. We carried API, HEI, and ball rounds, depending on the mission. No need for Tungsten or other rounds, in the airplanes, but the ammo is all compatible, just like there are a variety of .44 mag projectiles and all .44 mags can shoot all of them.

The weapon in question is a 20mm M-61.

The rest of the mount is sensors and aiming.

Hi.
So your ammunition choice for your M-61 was mission dependant? I did not know that.

Was ground/surface strafing something you would practice in the F-14?

 

[Astro14]

Hi.
So your ammunition choice for your M-61 was mission dependant? I did not know that.

Was ground/surface strafing something you would practice in the F-14?

Yes. We would load up API for ground attack. HEI for air to air.

Ball ammo for target practice.

 

[tom slick]

The ground based version of the CIWS is the C-RAM.