4 High-Tech Surprises From the USS New York

The USS New York, commissioned this month in its namesake city, is the Navy's newest warship. It's a Landing Platform Dock ship, which means it brings Marines to wherever they are needed. The 700 marines on the ship travel ready for combat, and that means landing hovercraft (called Landing Craft Air Cushions), attack helicopters, tanks, amphibious vehicles and V-22 Ospreys come along for the ride. The aircraft launch from the ship and are maintained in hangars on and below the flight deck. The New York has the most famous hull in the world—the Navy integrated 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers into the bow. But that is not the only interesting detail of this new vessel's design. Here are four high-tech surprises the USS New York has in store for enemies

USS New York makes her way up the Hudson River.

1) Invisible Invasions:

 

The New York's eye-catching shape, with two smooth cone shapes jutting from the deck, attracted thousands of gawkers as it moored on the west side of Manhattan. However, this shape is meant to allow the ship to remain undetected by enemy radar. Every surface on the ship's outside decks is faceted at 10 degree angles to prevent radar waves from bouncing back and returning a clean signal. All these surfaces are also painted with radar-reflective material. The duel masts are enclosed in a composite material that allows antennas to transmissions to travel through. Radar, satellite and radio hardware are housed in globes of the material. "We saw what the ship looks like in an enemy ship's radar," says Bosun Mate First Class Alan Davenport. "This big ship looks like a sailboat in the water."

2) Stealth Crane:

 

The Navy's desire to move toward a hostile coastline without attracting attention depends on an attention to details. The best example of this is the knuckle boom crane that the crew use to hoist boats into and out of the water, or to move cargo to and from the ship. The 22,000-pound crane is housed inside a paneled structure made of the same radar-foiling material as the hull and masts. A door underneath the arm swings open to deploy the crane, and whatever is being lifted is set down into the "boat valley," a wide space between the two masts. From there the cargo can be conveyed into the ship; if it's a vehicle, it can drive down ramps to anywhere it needs to go, including to the lowest decks where the landing craft launch. This removes any need for other heavy-duty cranes on the ship.

 

3) Smart Layout:

Smart ways to move cargo and ground vehicles around the ship are just the start of a smarter layout. The passageways are wide, almost spacious in some places, to keep any equipment mounted in the hallway from jutting out too far and snagging quick-moving Marines or sailors as they pass by. The passageways—or as sailors say, "p-ways"—are designed in more straight lines and take into account who is using them. For example, the ladders between Marines' berths and their landing craft or flight deck are wider than any others on board, in deference to the Marines' large backpacks. The chow hall is larger, and nearly every panel has a touch screen. "This is a big upgrade," says Davenport, who has spent 16 years in the Navy and served on other LPD ships. "The best part about being on a new ship is that all the equipment inside is also new."

4) Decoys:

The ship travels with escorts but can still take pretty good care of herself with a 30-mm cannon, Sea Sparrow missiles and myriad mounts for .50-cal. machine guns. But the New York also has decoys. If an antiship missile is inbound, a protective system (shown above) fires slivers of metal, like aluminum foil, to spoof the warhead's tracking sensors. Another neat trick to trip up torpedoes: Drag a 700-foot length of steel cord with a beacon at the tip. This towed decoy, called a Nixie, makes the ship look twice as long as it is, which ruins a torpedo's aim because the sensors in the weapon's nose aim for the middle of the target vessel.