Thursday, August 05, 2010

NAVSEA Warfare Center Installations Enhance Fleet Maintenance

From Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Public Affairs

CRANE, Ind. (NNS) -- Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane, Ind., personnel completed Ram Air Turbo-Generator Test Set (RATTS) maintenance equipment installations and training at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Calif., in July 2010.

RATTS enables the fleet to condition magnets, balance generator rotors and more efficiently inspect generator assemblies.

This supports intermediate level maintenance for the AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) Ram Air-Turbo Generator (RATGen), an electronic warfare system used on the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler aircraft that protects warfighters by intercepting and processing radar signals, jamming a wide variety of threats. RATGen generates the power needed for the AN/ALQ-99 TJS to fully function.

"These installations provide significant cost savings to the Navy," said John Miller, electronics engineer. "Most importantly, more systems are now available and reliable for the warfighter."

Installations are anticipated to result in more than $750,000 per year in cost avoidance, as well as a significant decrease in system maintenance turnaround time. Prior to the installations, the systems were shipped to NSWC Crane for complete system overhauling when maintenance was required.

After experts completed the installations, NSWC Crane personnel worked directly with the fleet to train them on RATTS operation ability. The weeklong training provided hands-on instruction to better ensure the warfighter can correctly operate and manage the testing system.

"The training was a great opportunity to work directly with the warfighters on this legacy system," said Tyler Laughlin, mechanical engineer and RATGen subject matter expert. "The fleet is now prepared to complete intermediate-level system maintenance with greater quality and efficiency."

NSWC Crane, a Naval Sea Systems Command field activity, continuously improves its maintenance and modernization processes to ensure it delivers the right capability in a cost-effective way.

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