Crew members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Wednesday fired two Rolling Airframe Missiles and tested a Phalanx rapid-fire gun in live-fire training to shoot down incoming cruise missiles.
The RIM-116 missiles have range of six miles and can reach twice the speed of sound. The Phalanx, a radar-guided gun that can fire 75 rounds a second, is used as a final means of defense.
The San Diego-based Carl Vinson fired at two drones using the ship’s aft missile launcher and downed both.
“The firing exercise tested the strike group’s entire self-defense capability, from the radars to the missile systems and everyone operating them,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Kelly Smith, the defensive weapons coordinator for the exercise. “We also verified the ship’s self-defense capabilities to track and engage a threat.”
The Phalanx gun was fired as a maintenance check during the training off the coast of Southern California.
“If we’re under attack, today’s evolutions prove we can defend ourselves against an air strike,” said Smith. “Exercises like this are vital to the constant improvement of the strike group’s effectiveness, and Carl Vinson’s combat readiness.”
