Close-In Weapons System

During World War Two, USS New Jersey’s many medium and 20mm anti-aircraft guns were replaced by 1982 with four Phalanx Close-In Weapons System mounts, the U.S. Navy’s primary fast-reaction, rapid-fire defensive gun system against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. Each mount covered a specific area around the battleship and worked with the ship’s SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System on the 010 Level Deck beside New Jersey’s foremast to determine automatically whether to engage incoming hostile targets. The system used two separate radars in a closed loop to track both incoming targets and its own outgoing rounds from a 20mm six-barrel Gatling gun, firing 3,000 rounds per minute and correcting its aim after every 10-round burst. With a magazine of 989 rounds, it could fire continuously for about twenty seconds and used 20mm Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot ammunition containing a very hard 15mm metal penetrator, first made from depleted uranium and later tungsten, to explode missile warheads or tear apart missile bodies before they could hit the ship. Its accuracy increased as range decreased, making it most effective at 2250 feet while still able to engage targets farther out, and later Navy versions fired up to 4500 rounds per minute.

Camden, New Jersey · United States