A new mechanism capable of reloading the U.S. Navy’s vertical launching system (VLS) cells while underway at sea completed its first ground-based test at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division last week.
In 2023, Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro said in his speech at the American Society of Naval Engineers Combat Systems Symposium 2023 that reloading at sea was a “main priority.” His remarks also included the first mention of the Transferrable Rearming Mechanism (TRAM), a 20-year-old concept declared to be the most feasible to allow ships to reload their missile cells while underway. While the service used strike-down cranes on Ticonderoga-class cruisers and early Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, these cranes were deemed impractical and dangerous due to relative motion issues.
Through TRAM, the Navy looks to overcome these issues. Rich Hadley, Director of the NSWC Port Hueneme Underway Replenishment Division, stated in a press release of the test that “by solving key relative motion challenges, TRAM is a capability enabling reloading operations while underway in significant sea states, TRAM will greatly expand the fleet’s logistical flexibility, resilience, as well as volume and tempo of long-range fires.”
The Navy has traditionally conducted VLS reloading pier side with cranes, requiring warships to return to port for extended periods to replenish missiles. With lessons from the Red Sea and concerns about great power competition in the Indo-Pacific, the need to reload missiles underway has only increased since the inception of the concept in 2022. Movement on the system’s development has also been fast, with the testing facility at NSWC Port Hueneme appearing in Dec. 2023.
“This demonstration that you superbly delivered on the Secretary’s aggressive timeline sends a powerful message. This revolution in surface warfare will make our existing fleet even more formidable, both in sustained forward presence and lethality—and will create a powerful new near-term deterrent that will disrupt the strategic calculus of our adversaries.”
Steve Brock, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy,
While the specifics of TRAM are not yet known, statements from SECNAV and images of the ground-based testing facility at NSWC Port Hueneme indicate that the system involves the transfer of missiles from a supply vessel to the warship. According to Hadley, TRAM will “allow our ships to reload missiles just like they refuel—using connected underway replenishment, steaming at speed and in open ocean.” Unlike the old strike-down crane, missile canisters appear to be secured to the crane during the reloading process.
Naval Sea Systems Command guided sailors from USS Chosin (CG-65) and the Expeditionary Reload Company during the test, which reportedly involved “real-time analytics and in situ monitoring through instrumentation.” While the system has yet to complete its at-sea test, which is set to occur in the fall, data collected from this test will be used to inform its future trial.
