USNS Alan Shepard Enhances Training with Navy Sub-Sonic Target
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Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3) helped test the capabilities of the BQM-177A, the U.S. Navy next-generation Sub-Sonic Aerial Target (SSAT) while operating in the Western Pacific, 9-10 September.
“The BQM-177A enhances our readiness because it increases our training capabilities,” said Cmdr. Eli Marshall, range operations officer assigned to Pacific Missile Range Facility in Barking Sands, Hawaii.
This sub-sonic aerial target replicates modern subsonic anti-ship cruise missile threats launched from air, land, surface and subsurface to test the effectiveness of shipboard air defense systems and is used for fleet training. Capable of speeds in excess of 0.95 Mach and a sea-skimming altitude as low as 6.6 feet, the BQM-177A delivers realistic anti-ship missile threat emulation, according to program managers at Naval Air Systems Command.
This versatile aerial target supports a variety of mission requirements by carrying an array of internal and external payloads. These include proximity scoring, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), passive and active RF augmentation, electronic counter-measures, infrared (IR) augmentation (plume pods), chaff and flare dispensers, and towed targets.
The Navy is in the process of replacing current air-to-air target simulators with the BQM-177A. Alan Shepard, a fleet ordnance and dry cargo ship, was selected as the first vessel in the U.S. Navy’s Combat Logistics Force operating in the Western Pacific to help test the new capability.
“Alan Shepard’s crew is helping provide valuable training for our warfighters in the WESTPAC area of responsibility,” Marshall said.
