A Step Forward in At-Sea Decision-Making
By Vice Admiral Emmanuel Descleves, French Navy
Our warships' operations are often hampered by bad weather. Without even considering storms, a single additional degree in roll or pitch can he a no-go in any aviation activity. We need to acknowledge that our basic seamanship is not enough to enable us to get the best out of ships and shiphorne aircraft, given the ships' structural limitations and the operating limits of the aircraft.
To support their decision-making, commanding officers at sea must be able to get additional, reliable data from sources other than their own feelings and at-sea experience. They can then make better-founded and safer decisions regarding ship-handling and operations management. This kind of system-called an expert system-already exists. At sea. it enhances the safety level and streamlines operation management.
The French Navy has defined brand-new orientations with regard to constructing, maintaining, and driving ships. New shipbuilding rules are under effect, linked to international rules (SOLAS, MARPOL, and others). Manning is strongly reduced, thanks to automation. Readiness standards are getting close to what is routinely seen in the commercial fleet. This new policy was implemented for the first time on Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.
Weather Forecast at Sea
Until recently, ships collected weather information or downloaded it from an external source. As a result, forecasts showed limited accuracy and reliability. The CO might be aware that tomorrow's weather would be fair, with a slight residual swell from the west and a level 4 moderate wind sea to the southwest. Or he might be told thai the situation could worsen to level 6, very rough wind sea. He assessed whether to keep sailing at a speed of 18 knots-or was he compelled to interrupt carrier qualification operations?
As long as weather conditions allow us to operate with a good safety margin. every thing runs smoothly and good seamanship is enough. But it's a different matter when the situation is so dire that the ship must sail at high speed in heavy seas, at any cost, while running the risk of incurring structural damage. Or she might he ordered to do something more than simply weathering the storm. Operations officers, usually eager to fill in the ship's drill log. might have to reschedule miscellaneous activities at the last minute, or cancel them.
Emergency situations aside, a two-meter-high and ten-second-long moderate swell is enough to forbid any landing craft handling on an amphibious ship. whereas it is feasible with a one-meter-high and twelve-second-long swell. A mere additional half degree in pitch prevents carrier deck landing. In the absence of sensorcd data in very heavy seas, how can it he known how close the ship's main beam is to static or dynamic stress limits?
Ships' Motions
Ships' motions are made of roll, pitch, yaw. and heave. The ship itself moves as a result of sea conditions and the wind's action. Since the ship is not fully rigid. the hull responds by bending and twisting in a reversible manner. On a big ship, the amount of main beam bending may be rather noticeable.
We know that there are static and iKnaniic limitations beyond which a breakage occurs. Those limitations, obviously, should not be overshot. To that end, monitoring the ship's condition with stress gauges and accelerometers is necessary. Like some merchant vessels, high-speed ferries, and container carriers, newly built warships such as the French Navy amphibious transport dock Mistral are fitted with these kinds of devices.
Under the same principle, shipborne helicopters' operating limitations are made of relative wind, pitch, and roll limits. Vertical acceleration may he one of these limitations, in connection with landing gear stress limits. Landing craft handling on an amphibious ship is also ruled by sea conditions, in terms of wave height and length. A commando fast boat, towed variable depth sonar, and mine warfare unmanned underwater vehicle can be lowered alongside only under specific roll conditions and at a given speed. And so forth.
Mechanical or electronic pitch and roll sensors are well-known devices that gauge the ship's motion. But it's more difficult to get the yaw, heave, and acceleration measures. On the oilier hand. inertial devices, set on hoard tor navigation or weapon guidance purposes, are able to provide an accurate picture of the ship's motion, in a given set of axis. Accelerometers are available on board, out of which one can get speed and movement by computation. There is a hurdle, though: The ship's motion, sensored by accelerometers, is indicative of the current situation and is instantly available for display-but there's no short- or middle-term forecast.
In any case, the CO or landing safety officer is able to clear or wave off a plane based on current conditions or what he thinks near-future conditions will be. The officer in charge of overseeing the lowering of a boat also knows what has to be done with regard to the ship's motion
that he sees or feels. But it is harder to deal in a relevant manner with the problem of working close to the keel's irreversible deformation boundary-on the safe side.
Forecasting the Ship's Motion
It is rather easy to take into account the current motion, for instance 3 degrees in roll and 2 degrees in pitch, to decide whether to have the helo land on deck. It is more difficult to select a path across the Indian Ocean on which a frigate can sail at the maximum speed allowed by structural limits, in very rough weather. It is another challenge to foresee whether, three days from now. the conduct of an amphibious operation, including unloading landing craft and operating helos, will be feasible.
To achieve the goal in a reliable and accurate manner, one must first define the operating limitations for every device impacted by the ship's motion, not forgetting the hull itself. Then it is necessary Io establish, by means of trials in a hull laboratory, the way the structure will respond in terms of motion, as a function of the sea and wind (the response function). Finally, an accurate and reliable weather forecast has to be available to obtain a workable result. Once the model is set up, it will be necessary to update it regularly, as soon as real world data become available.
Reverse thinking leads to the desired result. A reliable ship's motion forecast, inferred from an accurate weather forecast by means of a validated response function, confronted with the miscellaneous operating limitations, will result in a decision-making support system. But, as Napoleon said regarding war. principles are straightforward: the know-how lies in putting them to work in the real world. In reality, such a system is very hard to set up and requires a lot of work and knowledge. The key to success lies in a fluent connection between the knowledge of experts: on the one hand, oceanographers, hydrodynamics engineers, and seamen: on the other, mathematicians and cutting-edge IT specialists.
Decision-Making Support System
The French Navy has set up that kind of system in an experimental version, Saphir, developed by Commander Christophe Capitant, on board the new Mistrals. After fine-tuning the incoming parameters, it will be possible to use this system in three different areas: routing, helicopter operations, and amphibious operations.
* The routing module enables the user to optimize course and speed on a given voyage, with weather conditions and data scnsored by a hull monitoring network.
* The helicopter operations module aims to optimize the scheduling of helo ops with regard to weather conditions and operating limitations on a given spot.
* The amphibious operations module allows the user to schedule docking and undocking operations as a function of weather conditions.
All three can be hooked together to manage the areas in a consistent manner.
A civilian version of this system has been established on board the blue-water oceanography vessel Tlialassa, operated by IFREMER. the French oceanography research institute. This version updates the sea conditions on a real time basis by means of satellite sensors and allows the user to handle unmanned underwater vehicles in an optimized manner.
Further Developments
The value of such a system is clear. It can be set up on every kind of warship or merchant vessel, with modules tailored to specific activities and operating limitations. By using our imagination, we can envision operating unmanned drones at sea. Performing the safe deck landing of an unmanned drone on a moving platform is apparently a major hurdle.
Many other applications can be foreseen. Of note are special purpose ships such as oceanographic vessels, offshore oil rigs. and underwater cable lenders.
A "lessons learned" package should he soon available. Thanks to a memory device, this module will take into account past experiences on similar kinds of ships in a given environment, for instance amphibious theaters of operations. This module is currently being developed and will enable the whole system to become self-learning-capable, by generating a relevant database for each particular situation encountered at sea.
This same kind of tool could be used in new ship designing. It would feed the design software with data from trials in a hull basin and from helos' operating limitations (and those of any craft homebased on board the ship), as inputs. In the early stages of design, it would give a more accurate, reliable vision of what the ship is capable of doing.
Maritime Science and Seamanship
Karly Polynesian seafarers were capable of navigating in archipelago areas just by looking at the different wave systems that internieshed as an indication of the overall sea conditions. They had to have knowledge of how scattering and bouncing affect the swell when reaching an island. This is not easy to grasp with a single directional swell, and it becomes really complicated when there are three or four systems of waves coming from different directions. The Polynesians made their way through the net of waves by looking at the lines composing the net. Those lines were combinations of direct, scattered, and reflected waves, and they truly felt the lines when sailing through them.
Western seamen never had such amazing skills, or the seamanship resulting from thousands of years of blue water navigation in the vast Pacific Ocean. But they managed to offset this lack of skills through scientific means. Like what happened in the 18th century with the invention of the Marine Clock, or two hundred years later with the GPS (global positioning) system, we still follow that path by using organized weather forecast data. The goal is to improve the way we operate our ships, by enhancing our knowledge of how they move at sea.
After 30 years on duty, including a good amount at sea and three tours as commanding officer, Vice Admiral Desclaves has devoted himself to the next generation of surface ships.
Details Emerge on the Russian Navy's New Big Amphibious Ships
By Marcin Schiele
In the coming years. the Russian Navy plans to introduce to active service several big amphibious vessels of completely new concept. They will be dedicated Io various fleet support tasks, including peacekeeping operations, hut typical beaching abilities will also be retained.
The ship's layout was prepared by the Nievskoye Proyektno-Konstruktorskoye Buiro at Sl. Petersburg and its naval designer, V. N. Suvorov; theYantar shipyard at Kaliningrad uon the contract lor building the prototype. The neu amphibious construction, designated as Project Il 711. will replace all older big I-STs huilt in the Soviet period ( 14 ships of Project 1171 Tupirtr/Alligator, 3 large ships of Project I 174 Yedinorog/Ivan Rgov; and at least part of Project 775 vessels, purchased from a Poland yard in the amount of 28 units).
The keel-laying ceremony of the first-of-the-class Ivan Gren took place 23 December 2004. The schedule calls for delivery to the VMF in early 2009.
Project 11 711 will have full load displacement of about 5.000 t and a total length of 120 in. V. N. Suvonn accepted a two-island concept, with forward bridge superstructure, separate aft helicopter hangar superstructure, and large free space between them dedicated to removable ISO standard containers. Within the d-meter-high hull, a long vehicle reinforced deck can carry a few basic variants of military load, for example:
* 13 heavy MBTs of MLO 60 (60 t) category each, or
* 36 medium armored tracked/wheeled vehicles of MLC 15 each (for example BMP 1/2. BTR 70/80. 2 S 1, 2 S 9). or
* Several tons of heavy/medium/light military trucks
On the deck, as well as the uncovered cargo space amidships, may be stored up to 1,500 I of load hold inside a standard container.
The latest Bolshoi Diesantnyi Korabl (BDK) was designed to embark a battalion from the Russian naval infantry, in force of 380 fully armed and equipped soldiers. It can transfer soldiers, vehicles and cargo-onto the heach. wharf, or small craft-via bow door and ramp, using horizontal hatches on its deck, side doors, and ramps. Transfer could be facilitated by the installation of a few hydraulic cranes of various capacity and internal lifts.
Data about the machinery set are not yet confirmed. Only because of two easily visible elements, i.e., two shall lines and two small funnels, may we inter that inside the machinery rooms will he installed two marine diesels of adequate power.
Weaponry
Like all earlier Russian BDKs. the new ships will have very strong offensive and defensive armament. The first one is formed around a naval variant of a multiple-launch rocket system. On the how deck will be placed two automatic launchers of the A 215 Grad M system. Hach mount, designated as MS 73. has 40 smoothbore tubes of 122 mm caliber, which can fire the 9 M 22 spin-stabilized rockets fitted with a high explosive/splinter warhead. Under the deck are two independent stores with a total number of 320 such rockets.
The defense weapon system covers two artillery nuns of medium and small caliber. The first system belongs to the Burieviestnik AK 176 M dual-purpose model of 76.2 mm/59 caliber: most likely two turrets will be installed. The second antiaircraft/missile system will be chosen from the Tula AX 630 M Catling gun and the latest Raima combined gun/missile mount-for a total of two or four such turrets. The barreled weapon will be surely supplemented by a guided missile launcher dedicated to point air defense.
Craft
Project 11 711 large LSTs are appropriated to carry integral landing craft, both floating and aerial. On the amidships deck may be embarked several small landing boats, which can be lowered to sea level with a hydraulic crane. In the aft hangar there is space to accommodate at least two shipborne helicopters, most likely the Kamov Ka 24 TB and Ku 50. The first model can carry up to 16 fully armed soldiers of naval infantry.
Electronics
The Ivan Gren BDK and her sister ships will have a comprehensive combat electronic suite and meet all modern tactical and technology standards. The Tayfun Puzitiv M 1 radar, placed on the bridge root under a dielectric cupola, will indicate the surface and air situation around the mother vessel. Its maximum range is about 100 km radius. Three small radars on the same superstructure, perhaps even of an LPI concept, are designated for sea navigation, helicopter aid. and detection of low flying targets. A modern gunfire control radar is coupled with both medium caliber artillery turrets, most likely the MR 123-02 Laska model. An ESM/KCM system covers four integrated jamming/ intercept antennas as well as two-four launchers of radar/IR/laser decoys (probably the KT 2 Id mounts, ten barrels each). The external communication suite is unusually rich, including a lew satellite link antennas, which means that a modern shipborne CIC will he also employed.
Looking Ahead
The Russian Navy's future hig amphibious vessels will provide the fleet with highly versatile capabilities in peace and wartime missions. The general philosophy is similar Io that of luirope's latest constructions, such as the Netherlands Navy's Rotterdam and Jolitin de Wilt or the Royal Navy's Albion ami Lurxs Buy classes. They can act as humanitarian disaster managing vessels or typical beaching ships for heavy armored vehicles. The current VMF procurement program calls for four-five ships of the project tu constitute the lirst hutch. These would he commissioned between 2008 and 2012. But the Russian Navy needs greater numhers. perhaps even 15-20 units in the long term.
Mr. Schiele, an expert in Russian-designed warships, has been a frequent contributor to the Naval Institute's reference classic Combat hlei-ts of the World.
NAVOCEANO Is Part of Net-Centric Warfare
By Peter J. Washburn
The Naval Oceanographic Office, one of the Navy's oldest organizations. has since 1830 surveyed the seas and recorded meteorology and oceanographie data. NAVOCEANO (at Stennis Space Center. Mississippi) has provided environmental databases, modeling-and. of particular interest to today's war fighters, environmental prediction systems.
These prediction systems aid the Fleet and Marines in tactical decision making. In (he early days of automated data processing, they consisted of Navy standard computer hardware and specially designed software applications. Used on the scene, they remain indispensable tools for DoD and NATO mission planning.
The next big push is to deliver these systems via Web-based software, in compliance with the Navy's Task Force Web and ForceNet initiatives. TFWeb is charged with building a "Web-enabled Navy": providing an integrated information exchange ashore and afloat. ForceNet will create a network of naval, joint forces, and national information grids to achieve net-centric warfare: dominant awareness of all tactical situations.
Increasing use of information technology allows the DoD to plan and execute operations more rapidly, so it is essential that environmental databases and prediction systems be easily accessible through state-of-the-art IT systems. All tactical users must be able to reach effectively relevant and reliable environmental data in real time.
To meet this challenge. NAVOCEANO is moving toward full integration with ForceNet and full participation in netcentric warfare. Clearly. Web services are crucial to the transfer of tactical data and functionality.
The Web Setup
Environmental prediction software consists of meteorological and oceanographie applications hosted by a computer with an industry-standard operating system. These have varied, over the years, from UNIX to DOS and eventually Windows for the personal computer. Typically an application suite consists of software applications designed and developed hy the federal government, hut in recenl years it has come to include commercial software applications. Often, a combination of government and commercial software applications offers the best solution for environmental predictions systems.
Applications are integrated from Navy standard computer models, algorithms. and databases archived in the Oceanographie Atmospheric Master Library, maintained since 1984 at NAVOCEANO N64. The OAML is a master repository of standardized meteorological and oceanographie modules developed by Navy research laboratories. Navy contracted academic institutions, and various data collection activities. These are integrated into computer software systems throughout the DoD and NATO.
How It All Works
Among NAVOCLANO's current applications are:
* Forcasting: The Remote Automated Weather System (RAWS) is a modular shore-based weather observing station designed to collect, process, and archive weather data. Sensors collect the information and send it to a data collection platform, where RAWS software processes the raw weather data, generates reports, and archives the data. The final data is then sent over a telephone to a standalone terminal. This parses the data, auto-generates Web pages, and sends them to designated Web-servers for users. RAWS, in conjunction with the Meteorology Integrated Digital Display System (MIDDS). is set up in more than 20 naval and Marine Corps air stations worldwide.
Applications such as RAWS are unique in that a computer's Internet browser is used to display output generated by the software. System resources that would ordinarily be used to host the application's user interface are conserved, and preexisting operating system components are used instead. This concept led to the development of Web-based software applications. Entire applications that once resided on the computer performing the calculations could then be accessed remotely, from a more powerful server computer.
An interest in Web-based meteorological predictions led to the development of MIDDS Next, a system consisting of a central server where users connect via an NMCI approved workstation with a Web browser. Five such servers will replace the XO original MlDDS installations. In addition to the NMCI workstations, individual sites will have multiple large screen plasma displays and access to multiple data feeds, as well as local sensor data. The MIDDS Next will also have the powerful Leading Environmental Analysis and Display System Forecaster Tool Kit for creating electronic weather charts.
* Aviation: The Naval Flight Weather Briefer (NFWB) is a Web-based weatherbriefing tool. NFWB provides interactive briefing capability between pilots and forecasters through an Internet connection. The Naval Oceanographie Office is the NFWB Program Manager. NFWB provides electronic delivery of formal Flight Weather Briefings and includes an electronic or Flight Plan generator. NFWB also provides nearly instantaneous Operation Area briefings for Visual Meteorological Conditions flights. The Web-based Pilot Suite provides live weather graphic displays that can be viewed simultaneously between pilots and forecasters during briefings. These can be printed, allowing pilots to compile their own weather packages on the fly. NFWB provides the capability tor pilots to submit !light plans in the Air Operations office for filing with the Federal Aviation Administration.
* Faster Networks: A Weh service is Web-based software designed to support interoperable computer interactions over network, using standard IT languages such as the Extensible Markup Language. This facilitates the request-response information exchange. A Web service allows the Tree exchange of data and functionality between Web-based applications, providing information and services to users from one centralized server instead of numerous workstations using various software utilities and applications. The result is faster, more accurate, more consistent tactical information for users.
Already established and operational is a Web-based GFMPL (Geophysical Fleet Mission Program Library). Applications familiar to GFMPL users are fully implemented in the Web environment; GFMPL Web utilizes Map Services, giving it a "look and feel" like other Web applications. GFMPI. Web is accessed through the computer's Internet browser. The user may take advantage of the greater computing power of the server, where the updates to software, databases, and documentation are made. The most important feature of CiFMPL Web is to provide users with total "reach back" capability (access to features and functionality of a software application residing on a remote server computer).
NAVOCEANO N64 is committed to developing the highest quality software products following the practices of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). In December 2002, N64 achieved CMM Level 3 in software development, which placed it in the top 13.5 percent of military and federal aszencies.
Requirements engineers transform ideas and user input into technical specifications. Using industry standard tools, engineers code and compile the final software products. Life-cycle support distributes and maintains the software for the user and provides configuration management.
Computerized History
The first on-scene environmental prediction system was a suite of ocanographie and acoustic applications called the Integrated Carrier ASW Prediction System, hosted on the NOVA X(K) Series computers. In the early 19SOs. they appeared on hoard aircraft carriers and fleet shore-based centers, facilities, and detachments worldwide.
This same software suite was later hosted on the HP-9020 Navy Standard Desktop Computer. Then it was augmented with meteorological, ha/ard avoidance, and electromagnetic applications, to form the GFMPL (established in 1982).
Developed in the mid 1980s, the Tactical Environmental Support System, hosted on the HP-9020, provided Gf-MPI. with real-time environmental data and satellite imagery. The need in the late 1980s for mobile environmental prediction systems prompted the development a PC-based GFMPL. which led to the Mobile Oceanography Support System. This remained in use until the mid 1990s.
GFMPL is maintained by NAVOCEANO N64. providing applications for meteorology, oceanography, electromagnetic, electro-optics, hazard avoidance, and a map utility. It also includes the Solar Lunar Almanac Predictions (SLAP), Tide Predictions, and Surf Forecasting. Such meteorological applications were developed through the feedback and guidance of GFMPL users.
The most popular version of GFMPL (which remains among the most popular environmental prediction systems in use today) was hosted by a PC-type workstation with DOS and later the Windows operating system. GFMPL aided tactical decision-making and planning for Fleet air. amphibious, surface, and undersea warfare operations. Widely used by the U.S. MarineCorps. Army, and Air Force, applications were later integrated in other Navy tactical decision aids. The SLAP application was widely delivered as a standalone application to users who needed only solar/lunar predictions.
A hardware/software superset of GFMPL was the Interim Mobile Oceanography Support System, introduced in the mid 1990s. It combined all the software applications in Gf7MPL with a receiver for weather satellite transmissions, a communications receiver, and a laptop workstation on which to host the software. IMOSS provided Mobile Environmental Team offices and Marine Expeditionary Force users with a highly portable onscene environmental prediction system.
MIDDS. developed in 1995, was a suite of hardware and software applications that computed, stored, enhanced, annotated, and displayed weather data for use by forecast duty officers at U.S. naval air stations worldwide. The data was composed of alphanumeric, graphical, radar, lightning, and satellite imagery received from local and external sources. MIDDS data was analyzed and collated, giving naval aviators accurate and timeK weather briefs for flight safety, and issuing local warnings and advisories. Marine Corps weather service personnel also used MIDDS to provide aviators with weather predictions.
As NAVOCEANO's mission statement sums it up: "We maximize America's Sea Power by applying relevant oceanographic knowledge across the full spectrum of warfare."
Mr. Washburn is a physical scientist at NAVOCEANO. Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. Hc has written numerous articles on software development, environmental software predictions, and tactical decision aids. He is the requirements lead tor the Solar/Lunar Almanac Predictions (SLAP) application and the customer interface manager for the Geophysics Fleet Mission Program Web-based (GFMPL Web) project.