Faulty Phalanx

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33533, 14 May 1974, Page 13

Faulty Phalanx

(N.Z Press Assn—Copyright!

WASHINGTON, May 13. The United States Navy’s new, self-firing Phalanx anti-missile gun became so confuted in Its first test that it threatened to sink not only a friendly ship but Santa Barbara Island.

A General Accounting Office report says that the radar-controlled gun interpreted the island as a fastmoving target according to e member of the House of Representatives, Mr Leslie Aspin (Democrat. Wisconsin).

The yards-per-second speed was censored from the copy of the report made public, but Mr Aspin said that a classified version showed that the gun thought that Santa Barbara was a verv fast island indeed. During another test, the gun tracked, locked on to. and declared as hostile the U.S.S Hollister. The report says that the

incidents occurred during initial testing of the Phalanx off the California coast between January and March of this year. The Phalanx is essentially a last-ditch defence to shoot down enemy missiles headed for the ship on which it is mounted, but it can also fire on aircraft and other vessels.

The GAO says m its report: "The tendency to lock on to ships in its area warrants considerable attention, particularly when it is considered that a Phalanxequipped vessel may be part of a multi-ship task force. “The problem is that the clutter of radar reflections from large objects makes the gun think that it has an enemy target.

“The United States Navy says that the problem is being actively pursued.” Mr Aspin commented: "The initial tests cast serious doubts on whether the Phalanx is worth another dime out of the American defence budget. Certainly, we have no urgent requirement for an automatic gun that attacks islands and friendly ships.”