USS Porter (DDG 78), an Aegis-upgraded guided-missile destroyer, completed on March 4 a live-fire test from a SeaRAM missile system and became the first U.S. Navy destroyer to do so.
SeaRAM, which replaced Porter’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) mount, is a self-contained detect-to-engage ship self-defense capability that combines the sensor systems of a CIWS with an 11-round Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher.
USS Porter is the first destroyer to receive this upgrade while the other three destroyers in the U.S. 6th Fleet will also receive the SeaRAM system this year.
The SeaRAM installation aboard Porter took place as a response to a formal Urgent Operational Need for forward-deployed naval forces in Europe.
Cmdr. Andria Slough , USS Porter’s commanding officer, said: “The addition of this advanced weapon system to Porter’s arsenal is extremely welcome. It is a culmination of the cooperation of several program offices and agencies, both at sea and ashore, ensuring that out here on the front lines, we receive the capabilities we need, when we need them.”
Additionally, the live-fire Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial (CSSQT) represented the first cooperative effort between NAVSEA agencies and El Arenosillo Test Range off the coast of Huelva, Spain. The success of this CSSQT concluded a year’s worth of ground-breaking effort for the engineering and acquisition professionals at NAVSEA.