GIANT SHADOW: SSGN ISR & NBC FORCE PROTECTION MISSION LOE

GIANT SHADOW: SSGN ISR & NBC FORCE PROTECTION MISSION LOE

Since 01-06-03

The Undersea Warfare Directorate of the Naval Sea Systems Command will sponsor a Limited Objective Experiment (LOE) called GIANT SHADOW in January 2003. GIANT SHADOW is the first LOE under the Sea Trial initiative of the Chief of Naval Operations ⌠Sea Power 21¦ vision. This effort is the first in a planned series of SSGN Transformational Payloads and Sensors Experiments. The experiments will be done on OHIO Class submarines prior to the ships' overhaul and conversion to test SSGN capabilities for employment by the joint force. This first event will test an SSGN ISR and Nuclear-Bio-Chem (NBC) Force Protection Mission.

GIANT SHADOW will:

Explore how a network of forces consisting of a stealthy platform (SSGN), Special Operations Forces, Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs & UAVs) and sensors (underwater, overhead, and ground) could be used to clarify ambiguous intelligence and provide persistent ISR, and then develop, recommend, and execute appropriate courses of action within the guidance of the Joint Commander, including time-critical strike;

Assess the marginal or incremental value of this network of forces and their ability to provide a powerful new capability to enhance asymmetric operations against future, non-state threats to find, fix and finish these threats;

Demonstrate time-critical cueing and fusion of manned, unmanned, and unattended sensor information;
Determine whether an orbiting UAV with a COTS communications network repeater could reduce reliance on overburdened satellite channels; and

Test how this network of forces might enable SOF/SSGN to transition from reactive to preemptive operations.

GIANT SHADOW is being preceded by and coordinated with an at-sea demonstration and validation (DEMVAL) test of the Tomahawk launch concept from the USS FLORIDA (SSBN 728) prior to starting the conversion to SSGN. To perform the experiment, NAVSEA selected the Forward Pass Consortium, one of two industry teams executing the Submarine Payloads and Sensors Project. Members of the Consortium include Raytheon Company (Lexington, MA); Electric Boat Corporation (Groton, CT); The Boeing Company (Chicago, IL); and Rite-Solutions (Stonington, CT).

Additional participants include Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory (State College, PA); Naval Oceanographic Office (Bay St. Louis, MS); Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Newport Division (Newport, RI); and NUWC Keyport Division (Keyport, WA). Military units taking part in GIANT SHADOW include USS FLORIDA; elements of Naval Special Warfare Group Four; Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command's USNS Mary Sears (T-AGS-65); MV Dolores Chouest; and Hairy Buffalo, NAVAIR's Time Sensitive Strike and Network Centric Warfare Test Aircraft.

The experiment will be conducted at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas. Technologies being evaluated include NBC sensor, ISR, and targeting systems (some of which are employed by SOF supported by Unmanned Vehicles); strike assets; and a C4I network. All of these assets will be covertly delivered and supported by the submarine. To show the utility of unmanned vehicles, a large UUV will be launched from the missile tube of the SSGN to conduct a long-range ISR and Mine Countermeasures (MCM) surveillance in support of SOF insertion. The UUV will also resupply SOF elements inserted ashore for strategic reconnaissance of suspected WMD facilities.