Seventh Fleet Tests Innovative Missile Defense System

From U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs

GUAM (NNS) -- Seventh Fleet and the Navy Warfare Development Command (NWDC) tested how radar-absorbing, carbon-fiber clouds can prevent a missile from detecting and striking its target, June 21-25.

The Navy tested these man-made clouds, called maritime obscurant generator prototypes, to assess their tactical effectiveness for anti-ship missile defense.

The systems and tactics were tested under a variety of at-sea conditions using assets from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force to evaluate how the radar-absorbing, carbon-fiber clouds can protect naval assets as part of a layered defense.

Adm. Robert Thomas, Commander U.S. Seventh Fleet, kicked off the multi-ship experiment in Guam.

"Pandarra Fog is example of the quick-turn integrated technical and tactical development the Fleet is doing to master electromagnetic maneuver warfare and assure access of joint forces," said Thomas.

"Pandarra Fog showed the value of quickly bringing together scientific and joint forces to tackle our hardest warfighting problems,"said Antonio Siordia, U.S. Seventh Fleet's Science Advisor. "This isn't just smoke or chaff, this is high tech obscurant which can be effective against an array of missile homing systems."

A shipboard device generated the carbon-fiber particles which were suspended in a cloud of smoke. These clouds can absorb or diffuse radar waves emanating from the seekers of incoming missiles and potentially obscure friendly ships from those missiles.

The experiment demonstrated how maritime obscurant generation can be a key enabler of offensive maneuver of the Fleet despite the global proliferation of anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles.

"We are developing a layered approach using a full spectrum of active and passive capabilities to give us the advantage," said Capt. David Adams, who leads the Seventh Fleet Warfighting Initiatives Group. "It is not just about the technology, but also practicing how the Fleet will employ these emerging capabilities."

"A defense in depth approach has a lot of advantages. Not only do we know the smoke is effective, it adds a level of uncertainty and unpredictability to the equation," said Adams.

In addition to having a significant level of effectiveness, the systems are relatively inexpensive when compared to other countermeasures and can be tactically employed through typical Fleet maneuvers. The materials are environmentally friendly and sized to maximize operational effectiveness.

"Our initial assessment is the testing was very successful in terms of tactical employment, usability and cost-effectiveness." said Adams.