Seaborne target

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Seaborne targets are vessels or floating structures that are shot at for practice by naval or air forces. They may be remotely controlled and mobile, or towed behind other craft, or just set adrift in the sea.

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Target ships

The former USS Towers (DDG-9) sinking after being used as a target ship USS Towers (DDG-9) sinking Pacific Ocean after being used as a target, 9 October 2002 (021009-N-8590B-005).jpg
The former USS Towers (DDG-9) sinking after being used as a target ship

Target ships are vessels, typically obsolete or captured warships, used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing – perhaps most spectacularly in Operation Crossroads (1946), where 95 ships were sunk in a U.S. nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll.

Powered targets

A U.S. Navy QST-35 SEPTAR US Navy 050801-N-3725R-059 Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Dennis Smith, assigned to Fleet Composite Squadron Six (VC-6) receives line from a Public Works Center worker.jpg
A U.S. Navy QST-35 SEPTAR

In the U.S. Navy, a Seaborne Powered Target (SEPTAR) is an unmanned surface vehicle used as the naval counterpart of a target drone. They are remote-controlled, and all but the smallest can be equipped with electromagnetic emitters to appear as a larger ship on sensors. [1]

As of 2013, U.S. Navy SEPTARs include: [1]

Turkish Navy variants,

Towed targets

USS Kewaydin (ATO-24) towing a target sled Kewaydin (ATO-24).jpg
USS Kewaydin (ATO-24) towing a target sled

Targets can also be towed behind other craft, the counterparts of target tugs in aviation.

The U.S. Navy employs the Low-Cost Modular Target (LCMT), a modular barge made from pontoons, scaffolding and large colored sails as visual targets, which can be shot at with guns or a variety of missiles. It is usually towed by a HSMST. [1]

Free-floating targets

Sailors launch a "killer tomato" for use in a small arms training exercise US Navy 030611-N-4374S-004 Sailors launch a killer tomato prior to executing a small arms training exercise aboard the Aegis-class cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) during the annual maritime exercise Baltic Operations 2003 (BALTO.jpg
Sailors launch a "killer tomato" for use in a small arms training exercise

Navies have used all sort of equipment thrown overboard for gunnery practice, such as empty barrels.

Modern free-floating targets are large, inflatable and bright orange; hence the nickname "killer tomato".

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tarantola, Andrew (19 July 2013). "What the Navy Shoots for Target Practice". Gizmodo . Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  2. "Aselsan Albatros T seaborn target" (PDF).
  3. "ALBATROS-K" (PDF).