I have to bring this thread up again.
After reading
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2005/MAB0501.htm
(btw, very _very_ interesting!
)
I have the impression that TMA is not only done before firing but constantly, even without having alot data. In the report they were clearing the baffles and got a new contact and immediatelly did TMA, estimated range etc.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by From the report
The FTOW said that he followed his usual procedure to determine a solution for S-13 and other contacts, based on the information relayed to him when the sonar system initially gained a contact. He indicated that sonar did not designate any of the contacts as merchant ships. He stated that "just being in Hawaiian waters," he assumed that the contacts were typical of the "traffic around here . . . probably trawlers, fishing vessels [and] pleasure crafts."
The FTOW told Safety Board investigators, "I always put in a closing solution, which means the contact . . . is pointing at us, coming at us . . . and anywhere between 5 and 15 knots" depending on whether the contact is a trawler or a merchant ship. He added that he always initially entered a conservative range, "usually anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 yards."
[...]
Fire control data, as reconstructed by the Navy, show that after the bearing data for S-13 were relayed from the sonar system to the fire control system (at 1232:59), the FTOW entered three closing solutions between 1233:14 and 1240.00. While the FTOW was calculating these early solutions for S-13, the Ehime Maru was moving at 6 knots while stowing anchor. The FTOW next entered a closing solution about 16 minutes later, at 1256:00. Then, about 1258, he changed the course for S-13 from closing to "opening," that is, heading away from the submarine.
The FTOW stated that, on the day of the accident, he never tracked more than two or three contacts, which was a light workload. He indicated that, in the past, he had tracked as many as 20 to 30 contacts in high-traffic areas and that on more than one occasion, he had worked with another fire control technician at his station to track more than 40 contacts at a time.
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Now thats contrary to what OKO said.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by OKO
you think you need to spend lots of time on this station, but you only have to come here when you have something to do !
And you have something to do here ONLY when you have enought info to work. Not before.
[...]
If you think you need to spend too much time on the TMA station, that's just because you don't go there at the right time.
A good TMA is just the final result of a good sonar work.
[...]
A TMA need 2 minutes of work, maximum, if you do it in the right time, this mean when you have enought information to make it.
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In the report they even stated that in a high contact density enviroment they sometimes had 2 people constantly managing solutions for up to 40! contacts.
So I conclude that, if TMA is done manually, you could well be constantly calculating and recalculating course speed and range for contacts. Not for a fire solution or tactical awareness, but contact awareness / situational awareness.
Any RL bubblehead can help carify?