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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA,
Ariz. - During the Weapons and
Tactics Instructors Course 1-14,
volunteers with Marine Aviation
Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1
had the opportunity to spend a
day firing small unguided
missiles at the Barry M.
Goldwater Air Force Range in a
simulated aircraft missile
strike training exercise Oct. 3,
2013.
Commonly known as “Smokey Sams,”
these relatively inexpensive and
harmless rockets are comprised
of phenolic paper and Styrofoam.
During training, the white plume
produced by the rockets
simulates takeoff surface-to-air
missile.
“The purpose of the Smokey Sam
rocket is to provide WTI pilots
and aircrew students with
defensive maneuver tactics
through the use of simulated
anti-aircraft munitions,” said
Sgt. Christopher Thompson, the
training non-commissioned
officer with MAWTS-1 operations,
and North Haven, Conn., native.
“This successfully increases the
survivability of aircraft and
crewmembers while deployed to a
combat environment.”
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Commonly known as “Smokey Sam,”
these small unguided rockets
made up of phenolic paper and
Styrofoam were used to give
Weapon and Tactic Instructor
course students an intense
missile strike simulation at the
Barry Goldwater Air Force Range,
Ariz., on Oct. 3, 2013. (U.S.
Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl.
James Marchetti)
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In order to intensify the
missile strike simulation,
scientists and engineers with
the Naval Surface Warfare Center
(NSWC) based in Crane, Ind., set
up camp at the training site and
took the operation a step
further.
Using an SA-18 infrared homing
seeker, the NSWC workers locked
on to the heat radiated by the
CH-53 helicopters in order to
trigger the automatic Direct
Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM)
response inside of their
cockpits. Combined with the
visual plume of the Smokey Sam,
the sounding of the DIRCM alarms
inside the cockpit greatly
enhanced the authenticity of the
simulated missile strike.
Then, as a defensive
countermeasure to the infrared
seeker, the aircraft set off a
flare in an effort to misguide
the missile.
“Pilots like to see what
missiles look like coming at
them and that's what the Smokey
Sam is for,” said Logan Tharp,
an engineer with NSWC. “We use
the seeker to make sure the
pilots properly activate the
aircraft survivability equipment
(ASE) on board and that the
DIRCM sends a jam signal back at
us as the aircraft sets off a
flare.”
To give WTI students an even
broader understanding of a
missile threat, the NSWC crew
adds the threat of radar homing.
With the ability to scout out
the aircraft from miles away,
the NSWC radar-equipped vehicle
tracks the out-of-sight
aircraft. While still recovering
from their encounter with
infrared weaponry, the aircraft
crew must be weary of a
long-range, radar-homed missile
strike.
This addition to the exercise is
designed to keep the WTI
students on their toes at all
times, ensuring they are
cautiously observant of missile
strikes, even if the visual
indicators of a missile strike
were obscured by weather or
battlefield geography.
“Flares are automatically set
off by the aircraft when they
are locked on from an infrared
seeker, but with radio wave
missiles it's more complicated,”
said Jordan Roehl, an engineer
with NSWC. “Pilots have the
ability to set off chaff, a
bunch of metal coils that radar
can pick up, to disperse from
the back of the aircraft to give
the long range missiles a false
target. "
“The problem with that is if the
chaff is dispersed too early,
the aircraft can pretty much
give its position away on radar.
That's why chaff isn't dispersed
automatically by the aircraft
and is in the hands of the
pilot,” explained Roehl.
As with any skill, practice make
perfect, making the simulated
aircraft missile strike a
significant training exercise
for WTI students.
The exercise allows the student
pilots and crew members to
progress in their tactics and
maneuvers, while giving them a
better understanding of the
versatile threats they may
encounter in combat.
“Over the course of the day the
pilots started using the
vegetation to block off our
seekers, and they did a good job
in making sure their ASE was
activated before the strike,”
said Tharp. “It's a big deal for
us to be out here making this
simulation as effective as
possible with these Marines.”
By USMC Lance Cpl. James Marchetti
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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