DATE: Monday, November 10, 1997             TAG: 9711100058

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   61 lines

NAVY PRAISES GEAR-HIDING MAST AFTER ITS TEST RUN AT SEA STEALTH POTENTIAL IS ONE OF ITS ASSETS.

A revolutionary mast enclosure that may become a hallmark for all future Navy ships has passed its endurance test at sea, leaving the crew of a Spruance-class destroyer impressed with its ruggedness and potential for stealth.

Looking somewhat like a chimney bulging at its midsection, the 87-foot high, six-sided mast is made of fiberglass, foam and balsa and encloses the ship's radars, antennae and sensors.

The first-ever composite structure of its type, it is called the Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor system. It was installed last summer aboard the Norfolk-based destroyer Arthur W. Radford while it was undergoing an overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

``It's exciting,'' Cmdr. Kurt W. Tidd, the ship's commanding officer, said Thursday upon returning from sea trials off the Virginia coast.

``We got a chance to go through a northeaster that blew up over the weekend.''

While steaming at 30-plus knots, buffeting 40-knot winds and pounding through high waves, the structure ``handled like a charm,'' Tidd said.

The crew already has nicknamed it ``obelisk,'' for its dagger-like shape and has even changed its radio call sign to the same name.

The mast protects the equipment that on most other warships is exposed to the elements, thus reducing maintenance. It also hides, or at least distorts, the radar signature the ship emits, allowing the ship greater stealth at sea.

The concept will allow an easier transition to the next generation of technology, the Navy says. Features such as embedded sensors, planar arrays, integrated antennae and reduced topside weight all contribute to the Navy's objectives for the future.

It was developed by the Navy's Office of Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Research Laboratory, Carderock and Dahlgren Divisions of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Naval Command and Control and Ocean Surveillance Center and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Industry participants were Ingalls Shipbuilding, Seemann Composites, Mission Research Corp., Materiel Sciences Corp., Ohio State University and Analysis & Technology.

Future designs most likely will be used aboard the Navy's next generation of amphibious transport dock ships - LPD-17 - as well as aboard the future surface combatant - DD-21 - and future new class of aircraft carrier - CVX.

``It's the wave of my future,'' Tidd said. ``It makes sense.''

He only wishes the Navy would convert his second mast to the new design. The traditional tripod mast found on most modern Navy ships looks cluttered in comparison, he said.

``If they would give me a second one, I'd be delighted to take it,'' he said.

Far from an ugly duckling, Tidd classified his futuristic mast as a ``thing of beauty'' and said, ``It is creating a tremendous amount of jealousy on the waterfront.

``Everybody wants one.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

The mast enclosure, left mast, on the Radford was installed last

summer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY RADAR

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