The LAMPShip Team

“We” is the word. We—a 1970 ring-knocker who completed LAMPS training in 1975, and a 1967 NESEP grad out of Vanderbilt who matricu­lated at the Surface Warfare Officer School in 1976—are a team. The SH-2F is “our” helicopter, the Spruance “our” ship. Don’t be confused by what follows; sometimes he starts sentences and I finish them, and sometimes it’s the other way around. But, since being thrown together in August 1977, we have learned a great many things about the LAMPShip team.*

The USS Spruance (DD-963), first in a class of 30 new ASW destroyers, was commissioned in September 1975. During the next two years, she underwent a rigorous test and evalua­tion program, both in port and at sea. Helicopter Antisubmarine Light Squadron Three-Four (HSL-34) was commissioned in September 1974 and thereafter provided eight detachments for deployment on board Atlantic Fleet frigates, destroyers, and cruisers.

After being certified for helicopter operations in December 1976, follow­ing a LAMPS modification, the Spruance had conducted only three days of oper­ations with SH-3 helicopters before the assignment of the LAMPS detachment in August 1977.

The LAMPS detachment—four pilots and 11 enlisted men, including one chief—shared the supply depart­ment’s living space. Christened the air department, LAMPS officers integrated quickly with the rest of the ward­room. The LAMPSkipper bunked with the ship’s operations officer, the aircraft maintenance/material officer roomed with the supply officer, and the air ASW officer with the ship’s ASW officer.

The successful melding of the men was inevitable as ship’s personnel realized that LAMPS would greatly en­hance the Spruance's capabilities, that it would be the ship’s primary weapon, and that it would provide spinoff goodies in mail, parts, and personnel delivery. And, contrary to earlier rumors, the LAMPS gang did not speak a foreign language, eat strange foods, or hibernate in the hangar.

Because the LAMPS detachment is permanently assigned, not to the ship, but to HSL-34, it operates daily from the squadron hangar when the ship is in home port. Still, it shares with ship’s personnel the responsibility for a safe and efficient operation of the ship. Thus, there was a sometimes confusing, but mostly amusing, shuttling of detachment personnel back and forth between ship and squadron as the LAMPShip team pre­pared for a two-week “workup” cruise

to the Caribbean which would include ASW weapons firings near Puerto Rico.

Readying for the workup, the LAMPSkipper had to work out a train­ing schedule with the ship’s ops offi­cer. Another LAMPStalwart had to work with the Spruance's damage con­trol assistant and crash crew leader to conduct refresher training for the helicopter crash crew. The detachment aviation supply petty officer and ship’s storekeepers spent many hours dis- ' covering that there are some similiarities between surface and avia­tion supply, and so on. Most new LAMPShips and detachments undergo similar “awareness” ordeals. The Spruance and her LAMPS were fortunate to have a full two weeks notice prior to their sail date, thus enabling all crew members to complete their prep­aration with minutes to spare.

Customarily, the air department is responsible to the ship’s CO for opera­tional matters and subject to the ship’s exec for administrative purposes. However, because the new air depart­ment is really a miniature air squadron functionally, it is also responsible to the aviation type commander for air­craft accounting and to the parent

and

recoveries, low visibility ap­

squadron commander for flight hour ^acc°unting, safety standards, long­^term personnel management, and squadron doctrine. This “serving two Masters’’ arrangement remains in ef­fect from flyon to flyoff. Despite the °bvious violation of basic management Principles, this system works surpris- •ngly well because the ship and air­craft unit have common purposes such ^as antisubmarine warfare, gunfire ^sPotting, search and rescue, and util- fey support.

During the first week of the ^w°rkup, which was observed and cer- C’fied by an airwing observer, the ship concentrated on basic helicopter opera­tions such as day and night launches proaches, and basic helicopter/combat '^formation center (CIC) coordination exercises. During the second week, ^cb^e ship began extensive ASW opera- ^tlons including a torpedo drop and rnulti-aircraft/ship exercises. All of the fectures, exercises, and training ses- ^Sl°ns of the previous weeks were for ^lb^e first time amalgamated into a complete ASW scenario. Although the oasic mission of the two-week workup ^Was more than adequately ac­complished, the first exercises proved that there is always room for im­provement.

Shortly after the successful workup cruise, the ship departed for Northern Europe for a joint fleet exercise— p^Cean Safari. The first stop was Lis- °ⁿ> where we met a Canadian air- ^Capable task group and two U.S. Lamps frigates (USS Joseph Hewes [FF- '°⁷8] and USS Valdez [FF-1096]). The Lisbon visit was short and busi- Oesslike. Sortieing north, the Spruance feund herself in a NATO ASW screen '^vfeh an October Sea State of 4-6 with ^-knot winds. We quickly discov­^ered that operating in the North At- fentic was not the same as operating in rfee Caribbean. While our ship proved ^t0 be a good station-keeper, getting ^tbe ship to “fit” the helicopter launch ^eUvelope in marginal weather proved ^taxing for even the best OODs. ^fevertheless, we operated daily with task group, launching our LAMPS along with the Canadian Sea Kings ac­cording to their daily flight schedule, ^ith either great skill or blind luck, we managed to prosecute successfully our share of submarines.

Successful? Can we postulate a suc­cessful ASW mission? Let’s try. Let’s assume that the Spruance, assigned to the forward ASW screen, has received intelligence that an enemy submarine is somewhere in the area with a high probability threat sector. The CO, ops officer, and air officer confer, and it is decided to launch LAMPS for a limited area search. The air officer notifies the alert flight crew and crew chief. The operations officer sets up a CIC brief­ing for the alert crew. Earlier, the LAMPS was placed in an alert 30 condi­tion (30 minutes from notification to launch), so the aircraft has already been certified ready and safe for flight by the aircraft maintenance officer (AMO) and is positioned for flight on the flight deck. As the deck crew pre­pares for flight quarters, the alert crew is briefed by the CIC officer and his antisubmarine air control (ASAC) petty officer. During the brief, the aircrew receives task group call signs, frequen­cies, emission control policies, and specific operating instructions for the mission. The helicopter aircraft com­mander (HAC) informs the combat in­formation center of any aircraft limita­tions and flight safety considerations. The enlisted aircrewman gets acoustic information, and the HAC notifies the crew chief of the necessary ordnance load (type sonobuoys, torpedoes, and smoke floats). Following the briefing, the pilot goes to the bridge to inform the OOD of the mission details such as launch/recovery times, operating ranges, and any special mission con­siderations. With the OOD, the pilot also verifies wind, pitch, and roll en­velope limitations for launch and re­covery. The OOD tells the pilot of necessary ship movements such as im­pending surface traffic, scheduled course changes, and limitations of the formations. The OOD sounds flight quarters 15 minutes prior to launch. The deck and crash crews scramble to the flight deck.

In addition to performing all helicopter maintenance, air depart­ment members also function as flight deck crew during flight operations. The deck crew consists of chocks and chain men, aircraft support personnel, a landing signalman, and a crash crew. Although the detachment is ca­pable of manning all of these posi­tions, to do so on a full-time basis while still performing maintenance on the helicopter would not be feasible. Therefore, the ship has also trained a flight deck crew to allow for rotation during extended flying operations.

Climbing into the aircraft, the air­crew commences the launch checklist. The helicopter control officer (HCO) and his phone-talker are now in the helicopter control tower to supervise launch preparations. Acting as a small-scale air boss, the HCO is usually a member of the ship’s company. His function is to oversee the deck opera­tion, maintain communications be­tween all other control stations, and give the final permission to land/ launch after coordinating with the bridge, CIC, the deck, and the helicopter. For unusual or hazardous operations or for landing practice, a pilot is normally in the tower to as­sist. On the flight deck, the landing signal enlistedman (LSE) supervises the deck crew and directs the lift-off and landing. When the ship is maneu­vered into the launch envelope, the pilot engages the SH-2F’s rotors and the aircraft is made ready for takeoff. A green deck light from the bridge signals that helicopter launch is au­thorized. Chains are removed upon signal from the pilot, and the aircraft lifts off the deck and departs in the direction of the threat. Accomplishing all of these functions in 30 minutes only happens on veteran LAMPShips. Once the pilot reports, “ops normal," the OOD returns the ship to the de­sired course.

En route to the search area, the air­craft is vectored by a controller in CIC, and search patterns are already being displayed on the Spruance's modern naval tactical data system (NTDS) con­soles. Both sonar and combat prepare for the first sonobuoy drop. The tacti­cal action officer (TAO) and the ASAC have the helicopter “lay” a sonobuoy pattern by one of three methods:

►  Plan all tactics in CIC, issue posi­tive control vectors to the aircraft, and call each sonobuoy drop

►  Issue advisory directions to assist the pilot to lay the sonobuoy pattern ► Allow the pilot to plan and execute all tactics.

Most LAMPS ASW missions are a com­bination of all three modes of control, thus allowing maximum flexibility.

With the sonobuoy pattern in place, combat and sonar (interlinked in the Spruance-class destroyer) take on the function of a small-scale ASW tac­tical support center (TSC) similar to the more complex model found in many CVs. Sonobuoy processing and analysis information begins to flow into combat. The TAO and command­ing officer review the data. “There is something out there within range of sonobuoy number 7 that may be a sub.” The confidence (CONF) level— how confident are we that it is a sub?—is low, but the IAS (Condition I antisubmarine) attack team is manned, the ship is maneuvered, and sonar is directed to concentrate in the area of buoy #7. The ship, engineered for silence, can still remain passive and covert. The TAO directs the placement of two more buoys near the “hot” buoy. Sonar continues to analyze buoy #7, sure now that some type of vessel is near the buoy. Al­though the signals are very faint, the aircraft reports no surface contacts in the area. The CONF level is increased. Of the two new buoys dropped (#16 and #4) buoy #16 is silent, but a good signal is coming from #4. The IAS team quickly plots a probability area with a direction of movement.

The TAO redefines the search area for sonar. The tactic works, and the TAO is rewarded with a passive line of bearing corresponding to the area of buoy #4. Probability of a sub contact increases and the TAO now desires to put a buoy in front of his contact. He confers with the helicopter pilot via radio, and they agree on the optimum drop point. The new buoy, #19, is placed with computer precision by positive control of the aircraft. The first few signals are strong and sonar is working on a classification. A new line of bearing again confirms the TAO’s suspicions. The probability in­creases again as sonar reports its first rough classification.

Now, a magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) confirmation would eliminate any remaining doubt. Under direct control of the TAO, the ASAC vectors the aircraft over the submarine’s esti­mated position. First pass: nothing. The aircraft makes a second pass: again, no results. Maybe the sub­marine is further north; maybe she is too deep. The TAO asks for MAD vec­tors just to the north of where the air­craft “looked” before. Meanwhile, the buoy signals are getting weaker and the line of bearing passive contact has been lost. “Madman!” "Madman!” (aircraft with MAD contact) yells the pilot over the radio speaker. “Com­mencing Mike One.” Combat quickly plots its first fix as the aircraft at­tempts to reposition atop the sub­marine for more MAD contacts. In this same way, the LAMPS continues to track the target.

Though the detection is successful and the ship maneuvers cautiously to regain passive contact, the aircraft is running low on fuel and must return to the ship for landing, hot refueling, and then return to the target area. The aircraft is off station for 15 to 45 min­utes depending on the station's dis­tance from the ship. Once refueled, the aircraft can operate for another two-plus hours before it must be shut down for servicing. This limited endurance/ordnance load carrying capability is considered a major draw­back to the SH-2F helicopter. Once the mission is complete and the aircraft is safely recovered, the flight crew re­turns to combat for a debriefing and mission analysis.

Upon completion of Ocean Safari, the Spruance proceeded to the Baltic Sea for joint operations with U. S. and Federal Republic of Germany ships and aircraft. The ship's primary mis­sion during both of these exercises was ASW, thus providing the first opera­tional evaluation opportunity during actual fleet operations for a Spruance- class ship with LAMPS embarked.

Just prior to the beginning of the Baltic operation, the Spruance was in­volved in her first truly multi­helicopter operation. The Joseph Hewes’s LAMPS (HSL-34 Det. 8) landed on board the Spruance while both ships were operating near the Isle of Wight. The helicopter’s serious hydraulic leak could not be immediately repaired.

With her helicopter airborne and her deck fouled, the Spruance deck crews quickly folded the Joseph Hewes’s air­craft and pushed it into the hangar. After recovery of the Spruance helicop­ter, it was discovered that it also was down because of a bad port brake cyl­inder. To make matters worse, a British Wessex-5 helicopter was due to operate from the Spruance's deck the following day. One aircraft had to be cannibalized in order to repair the other. The repaired aircraft would then have to make a series of parts runs to repair the other LAMPS. That night, one healthy helicopter was made ready for launch at sunrise.

By noon, trips were made to the Valdez and HMS Henries for the needed parts. Meanwhile, the Wessex-5 methodically conducted its all-day mission operating from the Spruance s deck. The Spruance helicopter, after dropping off the parts, waited on the deck of the Joseph Hewes while the Joseph Hewes’s helicopter was repaired aboard the Spruance. The Wessex-5 remained airborne long enough for the Joseph Hewes’s helicopter to be spotted, given a good test turn, and launched to return to its ship. As the Wessex-5 j hot refueled on board the Spruance for the last time, the Spruance helicopter launched from the Joseph Hewes and re­ported back for duty. The Wessex-5 went home to Lee-on-the-Solent; the Joseph Hewes went to Copenhagen; and the Spruance went to the Baltic for seven more days of ASW operations.

Throughout the Baltic at-sea period, the Spruance operated with other U. S. and West German ships- Nonetheless, she always managed to keep in trail a small international flotilla of miscellaneous gunboats, missile boats, and trawlers originating mostly from East Germany and the U.S.S.R.

Our Baltic operation proved even more successful than Ocean Safari- The ship was able again to detect, track, and simulate attacks on exercise submarines largely because of the ad­vantage derived from its new sys­tems—improved sonar, the quietness of the ship, and LAMPS. By this point, the officers and crew were beginning | to suspect that perhaps more than a j massive overdose of luck was responsi-

'^e for our numerous successes.

Back through the Kattagat, out of ^t'^le gloom of the Skaggarat, and up ^fhe narrow Oslo Fjord to the city of Oslo, we found ourselves tracking. At Oslo, receptions, dinners, dances, Press conferences, and official calls Permeated the plan of the day. With ^che help of the U. S. embassy, the ^shlP held open house and conducted grand tours of the newest American Warship. En route down the Oslo ^jord to Larvik (a six-hour trip), the ^ship hosted members of the Norwe- g‘an Storting (parliament), city offi- ^Clals, and the press.

During the homeward leg and At- ^aotic crossing, our air-capable ships ^c°nducted daily flight operations for ^^S'^x'> surveillance, communications 'nks, exercise training and utility.

Though not readily apparent in the ectic pace of the deployment, several ''MPShip observations can now be rri°re clearly defined. Famil iarity reeds understanding. Cross-training, although obviously necessary in some ^areas, seemed to come naturally to rrrost members of the Spruance crew Uring the deployment. This ranged ^r°m pilots standing CIC/bridge Marches, to cross-training of seamen ^0ri the deck crews. Only by learning ^the unique capabilities of the helicop­^ter can a ship’s company officer func- ^tlQn effectively as a CIC evaluator dur- ‘ⁿ8 ASW or as an officer of the deck ^Uring flight operations. Only by earning the unique capabilities of the ^s*Tp can the LAMPS pilot effectively operate from the ship. These joint ef- °rts became quickly apparent during initial indoctrination period. ^afety of flight rests not only with the Pdot but with the officer of the deck ^and the CIC controllers. The need for ^c°ordination of tactics and helicopter ^ernployment was evident during the ^lfst asw mission. Sonar and sonobuoy Processing must be a joint function, as JTust be the coordination of the ship/ helicopter search and attack. On the ^P^ruance’s typical ASW mission, an ^Sw specialist from the aircrew was in s°nar control assisting in the process- ^ltlg of sonobuoy information, and a Pilot was in CIC and/or on the bridge helping to coordinate the mission.

Each was also actively involved in learning the other’s job. This coordi­nation of the mission between the pilot in CIC, the ASW evaluator, and the helicopter crew worked well.

Junior pilots who had not worked previously in LAMPShips were given the opportunity to stand bridge and CIC orientation watches during flight operations. Aircraft commanders had already stood orientation watches when they were more junior, but still found themselves on the bridge during many ship/aircraft evolutions. They helped the OOD train the JOODs in most facets of aviation-related ship’s maneuvers. A note of caution— scheduled watches for junior pilots and normal flying duties do not mix. Flight safety, like safe operation of a ship, requires total concentration. Non-flying periods, as when the LAMPS is inoperative, provide better opportunities for scheduled bridge ex­perience.

LAMPS secondary missions can occa­sionally become as important as its ASW mission. Of particular note is the LAMPS’s capability to transfer person­nel and critically needed parts from ship to ship and to conduct surveil­lance and targeting missions for the task group.

The Spruance-dass destroyer pos­sesses a significant potential for inter­mediate level repair of both ship and aircraft repairable components. Unlike most ships, the Spruances have ample space to set up electronics and avionics repair benches. The ship’s metal shop, with minor additions, could serve as a LAMPS airframe shop. The establish­ment of an on-board intermediate maintenance activity (IMA) would re­quire only a handful of specially trained men with augmentation from the ship’s company and LAMPS de­tachment. The potential of such a capability emerged when a helicopter blade crutch was lost over the side in heavy weather. Within 24 hours, a machinery repairman and an aircraft metalsmith fabricated a replacement crutch in the ship’s metal shop. Such a repair capability eliminates long lines of communication for replacement parts at sea. An air-capable task group with an IMA-equipped Spruance-dass destroyer could keep itself in better operational condition and could have fewer logistical strings tying it to a shore establishment. With LAMPS, other ships of the task group could fly their repairable parts to and from the IMA-equipped Spruance. For the air­craft in particular, an IMA would mean less dependence on shore-based avia­tion maintenance facilities and almost no dependence on the aircraft carrier.

The passive ASW potential of the Spruance class and the LAMPS acoustic system mesh with more precision than with any other LAMPS-class ships, ex­cluding specially equipped towed array ships. Although the full ASW potential of the LAMPSpruance system

The light airborne multi-purpose system (lamps) Mk I consists of electronic sensors and weapon systems for antisubmarine warfare and airborne surface surveillance and targeting (asst), combined in a day and night, all-weather, destroyer-capable sh-2F helicopter. The helicopter’s equipment consists of a search radar, electronic warfare support measures (esm) equipment, magnetic anamoly detector (mad), and related antennae, receivers, displays, and navigation/communications systems. Much of the equipment is borrowed from the Navy’s p-2 patrol aircraft. The helicopter carries either active or passive sonobuoys, and can attack with either the Mk 44 or Mk 46 homing torpedo. Launched from the destroyer’s flight deck in response to a submarine contact, the helicopter can locate, classify (with the aid of the ship’s monitoring equip­ment), identify, and attack the target, or mark it for attack by other air or sur­face units. In the asst mission, the helicopter extends the detection and classi­fication range of surface targets and air/missile platforms beyond the radar range of the ship. The sh-2F helicopter can also be used for search and rescue (sar), medical evacuation, personnel transfer, surveillance, reconnaissance, gunfire spotting, vertical replenishment, communications relay, and targeting. The maximum time the helicopter can remain airborne is 2.5 hours if no weapons are carried and both of the auxiliary fuel tanks are used. In order to carry a torpedo, a decrease in flight time results because of the necessity to remove an auxiliary fuel tank. The normal cruising speed is 90 knots, with a dash speed of 120 knots. The aircraft can extend its airborne time by helicop­ter in-flight refueling (hifr). However, because of scheduled maintenance and flight crew fatigue, it is not normally desirable to have the aircraft remain air­borne more than five continuous hours. Flights are normally scheduled on a two-hour basis to provide a safety margin since the helicopter has a limited navigation capability. The helicopter flight crew consists of two pilots (one flies the aircraft while one controls the mission) and an enlisted sensor operator who monitors the radar, mad, and sonobuoy receivers. In order to carry pas­sengers, the sonobuoy launcher is removed allowing the helicopter to carry three passengers in addition to the crew. The helicopter has a limited hoist capability (600 pounds maximum) and can conduct at sea rescue operations.

SPRUANCE

The helicopter spaces in the Spruance-class destroyer are the best designed of any in existence in the cruiser-destroyer Navy. Built to accommodate either two sh-2s or one sh-3, the facility is modern, roomy, and well planned. Some of the conveniences in the hangar area are: helicopter detachment office, spare parts storeroom, sonobuoy storage racks, avionics workshop, torpedo maga­zine, aqueous film-forming foam (afff) station (exclusive for hangar/flight decks), crash crew locker, refueling station, and control tower. The hangar, designed to hold two sh-2 helicopters, has an overhead monorail hoist which can be used for changing an engine or gearbox. The hangar doors slide open/closed athwartships. The excess space with only one helicopter in the hangar provides maintenance personnel with surplus room to work on the air­craft. Some of the ship's support facilities include the an/sqr-17 sonobuoy proc­essing equipment, tacan, an asw air control mode in the ntds, glide slope indicator, and a jp-5 system for either deck or in-flight refueling.

LAMPS I

has barely been explored, it has al­ready proved to be an extremely effec­tive, formidable ASW weapon system- Perhaps the greatest additional capa­bility LAMPS provides is the ability of the ship to remain passive and conduct standoff attacks. This is particularly advantageous with the Spruance class because of the ship’s inherent quiet­ness. The one-two punch of the Spruance and LAMPS allows for localiz­ing passively, classifying, confirming- and launching a weapon all covertly—and as far as 50 miles away from the ship.

With the helicopter data link to the ship and the ship’s data link 11 with other units of the force, ASW has joined the ranks of the defense-in­depth, tactically coordinated, multi­unit force once known only in antiait warfare. Even though the possibility of the LAMPSpruance combination are already overwhelming, the future o( LAMPS on the Spruance, with the ad­vent of LAMPS Mk III, with more than double the endurance and range, mod­ern avionics, simplified maintenance requirements, and a full capability data link 11, will provide an AS¹^ combination unheard of in surface ASW. The Spruance's ability to carry two LAMPS helicopters enhances tfu^s capability even greater. In addition. LAMPS III will be capable of providing an outstanding communications relay­processing sonobuoy data on board, and targeting for Harpoon. (Addi­tional information about LAMPS III ^lS presented in the next professional note.) Add this to the room for future growth designed into the Spruan& (e.g., addition of towed array, etc.)- stir with a little imagination, and the potential is staggering.

The LAMPSpruance system has the potential to become the nation’s best ASW weapon against the nuclear sub­marine, providing the surface unit ^a better than even chance in a one-on- one encounter. Such features as the quietness of the ship, the effectiveness of the sonar, and the ability of LAMPS to localize, classify, and attack must be seen to be believed. The revered one-liner, “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,” may again become ap' propriate when tasking the LAMPSpruance team.