- Reaction score
- 5,930
- Points
- 1,120
Considering the total NEQ involved, yes, that would be an interesting task....then getting it from whatever airfield to the waterfront would be interesting as well. Lots of interesting placards on vehicles. Also probably interesting routing to the waterfront - some locations (ie Halifax) don't allow certain classes of 'stuff' to be brought across bridges. I'm sure other nations/cities have similar concerns about tunnels/etc too. Also, which jetty can be used for it - there's a reason that Bedford Mag and Rocky Point are 'away' from other jetties.
As a former Magazine Custodian having been involved in many ammo loading/unloading evolutions over the years, you'd also need skilled/qualified/capable crane operators to do the hoisting - are you bringing them over from one of the CFADs or hiring locals?
At Bedford, a full ammo evolution was normally planned for 2 days - lots of factors to consider there - jetty security, what happens to the ammo that doesn't all make it aboard on day 1? If it's in a foreign nation, do we have permission to put armed guards on the jetty to protect it? What's the crappy weather plan in case the winds are too high to load missiles? Are the Harpoon cannister tools/hoists inspected/certified? What happens when one of the new ESSMs fails to tune to the FCS and has to get swapped out? Are you bringing a couple of spares in case that happens?
That's a much bigger problem set than most would think.
As a former Magazine Custodian having been involved in many ammo loading/unloading evolutions over the years, you'd also need skilled/qualified/capable crane operators to do the hoisting - are you bringing them over from one of the CFADs or hiring locals?
At Bedford, a full ammo evolution was normally planned for 2 days - lots of factors to consider there - jetty security, what happens to the ammo that doesn't all make it aboard on day 1? If it's in a foreign nation, do we have permission to put armed guards on the jetty to protect it? What's the crappy weather plan in case the winds are too high to load missiles? Are the Harpoon cannister tools/hoists inspected/certified? What happens when one of the new ESSMs fails to tune to the FCS and has to get swapped out? Are you bringing a couple of spares in case that happens?
That's a much bigger problem set than most would think.

