Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

A division of the US Navy
Brian James
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Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

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USNS Howard O Lorenzen....a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship built for the U.S. Navy by VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Mississippi.The keel was laid during a ceremony on August 13th, 2008,and the vessel became operational in 2014. This ship carries a next-generation active electronically scanned array radar system named Cobra King.
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Little h
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Re: Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

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USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23) with Cobra Judy radar

USNS_Observation_Island_(T-AGM-23) wiki.jpg

USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23) was built as the Mariner-class merchant ship Empire State Mariner for the United States Maritime Commission, launched 15 August 1953, and operated by United States Lines upon delivery on 24 February 1954, making voyages for the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) until going into reserve at Mobile, Alabama on 9 November 1954.[1][5] Title was transferred to the United States Navy on 10 September 1956 and, after conversion, the ship was renamed Observation Island.[1][5] On commissioning the ship was classified as the "experimental miscellaneous auxiliary" (EAG), USS Observation Island (EAG-154) supporting fleet ballistic missile development.[1][6] On 1 April 1968 Observation Island was redesignated as a miscellaneous auxiliary USS Observation Island (AG-154).[1][6] Observation Island was decommissioned and placed in reserve from 1972 until 1977 in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet until withdrawn and then returned in 1978.[5][7] The ship was permanently withdrawn April 1979 and placed in service with MSTS successor, the Military Sealift Command.[5]

The ship was classified in 1979 as the missile range instrumentation ship USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23).[5] Observation Island operated worldwide and monitored compliance with strategic arms treaties and supported U.S. military weapons test programs. Observation Island carried the United States Air Force AN/SPQ-11 Cobra Judy passive electronically scanned array radar system for collecting data on missile tests. The ship was operated by Military Sealift Command for the Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick Air Force Base.[4][7]

Observation Island was the platform for the first at-sea firing of the Polaris missile in 1959[1] and also the platform for first at-sea firing of the Poseidon missile in 1969.[8][9] In 2014, the ship was one of two Missile Range Instrumentation Ships that had been operated by the Military Sealift Command.[4][10]

The ship served the MSC until her inactivation 25 March 2014 after her mission was taken over by USNS Howard O. Lorenzen.[4]

Source; Wiki
Cobra_Judy_Phased_Array wiki.jpg

The Cobra Judy phased-array radar system on the missile range instrumentation ship USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23).
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Little h
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Re: Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

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USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24) - Grey Star Radar




The U.S. Air Force Has a Spy Ship — Yes, Ship — in the Persian Gulf
War Is Boring
1 -5uOayiOHCuXHeGyyQ_5cw.jpeg

Another official photo from November 2012 shows sailors from the destroyer USS Jason Dunham
riding in a small boat to visit Invincible somewhere in the Persian Gulf


Dec 30, 2014 · 4 min read
USNS ‘Invincible’ is in the perfect position to track Iranian missiles

by DAVID AXE

The U.S. Air Force quietly keeps a small, inconspicuous spy ship in the Persian Gulf, presumably in order to keep an eye on Iran’s missile launches.

Technically speaking, USNS Invincible—a 224-foot vessel displacing a mere 2,800 tons—belongs to Military Sealift Command, the quasi-civilian branch of the Navy that operates America’s military logistics ship and other specialist vessels.

But Invincible is just a hull—unremarkable, painted white and maintained by 18 civilian contractors. It’s what’s inside and atop the hull that really matters. A sophisticated, dual X- and S-band radar called Gray Star that belongs to the Air Force.

No one says much about Invincible or Gray Star. Military Sealift Command refers to the vessel as a “missile range instrumentation ship” whose job it is to “monitor missile launches and collect data.”

The Air Force’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, in its official history for 2012, lumps Gray Star in with its sea-based systems that collect “scientific and technical data of foreign military capabilities and systems.”

War Is Boring obtained a copy of the history through the Freedom of Information Act.

Source; here see also here
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Little h
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Little h
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Re: Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

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Raytheon Receives $128M U.S. Air Force Contract to Support Cobra King, Gray Star Radars

October 22, 2019 DP Press Releases 0 Comments Cobra King radar, Gray Star radar, Missile range instrumentation ship,
Radar, Raytheon, Tracking ship, U.S. Air Force (USAF), USA, USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25), USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24)


Raytheon has been awarded a contract, worth around $128.5 million, for the operation and maintenance of the U.S. Air Force (USAF)’s Cobra King and Gray Star radars under the ‘Mobile Sensors’ program.

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract was awarded by the USAF’s Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center (ACC AMIC), Detachment 2 based at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

“This contract provides for non-personal services for operations and maintenance services that will ensure the availability of the Cobra King and Gray Star’s radar facility to collect on 100% of the tasked data collection opportunities that pass through its field of view with the necessary support provided 24 hours per day, 365 days per year”, said a Pentagon statement announcing the contract award.

The contract work will be performed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and locations overseas and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2021.

The Cobra King and Gray Star are ballistic missile defense (BMD) radar assets operated by the U.S. Air Force’s Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) but installed onboard vessels operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC).

Both are dual X- and S-band radars and are tasked with space tracking, ballistic missile tracking, and other long-range defense instrumentation missions. They are high-powered and capable of operating from extremely great standoff distances.

The S-band radar primarily conducts large-volume searches and is capable of performing radar tracks and collections on a large number of radar targets. The X-band radar provides high-resolution data on specific radar objects of interest and also has a search capability.

Cobra King radar

Cobra King is a next-generation dual X- and S-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system developed as a replacement for the AN/SPQ-11 Cobra Judy passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar under the Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR) program.

The Cobra King radar suite consists of steerable S- and X-band phased arrays, which expand the data collection capability over the original system.

The radar system is installed onboard the U.S. Navy’s missile range instrumentation ship USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (TAGM-25) but the radar and the missions it performs are operated and executed by the Air Force.

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Gray Star radar

Gray Star is a dual X- and S-band AESA radar system developed as a follow-on to the Cobra Gemini program.

The new radar replaced the Cobra Gemini radar onboard the U.S. Navy missile range instrumentation ship USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24). The radar is operated by the Air Force.

The Gray Star radar is less powerful compared to the Cobra King radar and is used for tracking short-range theater ballistic missiles (TBMs).

Full article at DefPost
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ivorthediver
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Re: Missile Range and Instrumentation Ships

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Just come across this post Harry , did not realise they fielded this type of vessel , and having now read it understand its importance ...... thanks for the post ;)
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