SeaKingTacco said:
The entire crew is going have to operate as a crew, interpreting sensor info, is my guess. Raising, lowering and operating the sonar is probably (I am not Cyclone trained) an AESOp only job, but I would guess passive acoustic, EO, radar and ESM interpretation will get shared around to whomever has the time.
Do MH Pilots & ACSOs do BPAAC, Triple-A-C coursing?
I've never done MH, so this is a generalized comment; IMO, for RMP/ASuW, you (and MH AES Ops) will probably find that the AES Op can handle RADAR and ESM quiet easily and EO as well. When we are heading to and getting ONSTA, once the sfc plot is settled, 1 NASO can and does take RADAR/ESM/EO on their own (with what is most likely a bigger sensor horizon than MHs usually have, just by our altitude). I've done ASW with 4 AES Ops total (2 wet, 2 dry); with the 2 wet folks stuck in their seat the whole time, that left 1 dry guy for Ordinance and 1 to do RADAR/ESM/EOIR/MAD. I set up the sensor seats and ran it for a few hours, then I put my B Cat on the rail, explained how/why I set things up the way I did, and then I went back to Ordinance for the second half of the trip. It worked fine; not ideal, but the point is I think after people get comfortable with the sensors they'll realize that the bigger job may be analyzing the amount of data, not gathering it. That might be the bigger task for the non-flying pilot, backing up the TACCO while the SENSO mashes buttons and feeds data into the DMS.
ASW - I don't see how the acoustic stuff is going to be shared based on my understanding of acoustics (very basic...enough to be dangerous and misleading probably). With really decreased sensor horizons in the dip, at least the TACCO and non-flying pilot won't have to worry about a gazillion ESM hits and RADAR contacts.
Question - has the MH community considered getting current LRP line and training sqn reps down for any working groups happening, to get our take on things based on our Blk 3 experience? We've done a significant amount of overland and maritime stuff the past few years; getting some suggestions and face-to-face with people currently at 404, 405 might be of value.
* I know the ship has already sailed on this, but man it would have been nice if there was 1 more station on the platform. It would free the TACCO up from 'getting data' and allow him/her to think tactics and manage info. I'd also like to win the lottery, if anyone comes along that can make the new MH platform come with a '5th seat'. ;D
rly: Down lower, we also have MAD in the picture and it's no big deal to manage all 4 really, unless you're in a crazy dense contact area, but even then you'll be moving slower than I'm used to so have more time to operate/analyze.
