Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System

Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) is the United States Navy's program that developed manned helicopters that assist in the protection of surface fleets from submarines and anti-ship missles .

During the late 1960s, the U.S. Navy retired its “Drone Anti Submarine Helicopter” DASH QH-50 from its destroyers. The primary mission of the QH-50 was to deliver weapons on suspected submarine targets. During the same period the Israeli Six Day War was taking place and the Israeli destroyer, INS Eilat, formerly the British HMS Zealous, a Z-class destroyer was sunk on 21 October 1967 in international waters off Port Said in the Sinai. The sinking was the result of attacks from three Egyptian missile boats firing Styx missiles from a position over the Eilat’s radar horizon. In the same time frame the U.S. Navy had started the decommissioning of its fleet of UH-2A, Seasprite helicopters, a small medium utility helicopter.

The result of all of these seemingly unconnected actions placed the US navy in a position of significant vulnerability to attacks by missiles from over-the-horizon. This vulnerability led the Navy, in 1968, to explore a fleet protection program that combined the staying power of the ship with the over-the-horizon and weapons delivery capability of a ship borne helicopter. A number of production and development helicopters produced by Bell, Boeing, Hughes, Westland, and MBB were initially considered as the ship borne helicopter. An aircraft platform for service on U.S. Navy ships was considered premature as aircraft capabilities, shipboard support, and mission capability tasks were considered. None-the-less, the threat and need was so immediate the U.S. Navy, in the early 1969 began a test program lead by the Naval Air Systems Command using the capabilities of the Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, PA ,researching LAMPS aircraft weapons systems capabilities using available Kaman UH-2A helicopters. This research lead to (1) the approval of a Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) requirement document issued by the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in early 1970; and (2) a rapid introduction of a limited version of the LAMPS helicopter for destroyer class ships in the early 1970s using the Kaman Seasprite helicopter and a shipboard support suite. This was designated LAMPS MK I. LAMPS MK I provided a near term capability to protect the fleet by providing over-the-horizon detection and weapons delivery capability. LAMPS MK II was considered as an intermediate program that would upgrade the LAMPS MK I if necessary. LAMPS MK III would be a fully integrated aircraft-shipboard system developed under the CNO’s requirements document and DoD development process.

The choice of the ultimate aircraft and ship capabilities would have to wait for a significant amount of development to be concluded. In the fourth quarter of 1970 a Program Manager, PM-15, was assigned as a joint program management office under the guidance of the Naval Air and Naval Ship Systems Commands to manage the LAMPS development (PM-15 would later become(Program Manager Air(PMA)/Ships(PMS) PMA/PMS 266). A major systems development and integration program was created by PM-15 to join surface ship and aircraft into a synergistic combat system. IBM was selected via a competitive contracting process to be the LAMPS integration contractor.  IBM was giving the task to integrate the all system hardware into a viable and functional system. IBM was also responsible for fitting out the selected aircraft during development and production stages of the program. 

The selection of an aircraft was delayed by the U.S. Navy until a system operational suite would be available. The aircraft suite and shipboard aircraft operating facilities would be used to size the aircraft so that it would operate from U.S. Navy Destroyer and Cruiser class ships. With consideration of all available helicopters, the U.S. Army Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program offered the U.S. Navy significant helicopter development and production costs and time by taking advantage of tooling and parts commonality, and higher production rates from a joint services program. In early 1978 the Navy officially selected Sikorsky's S-70B design which was designated "SH-60B Seahawk". The Seahawk would ultimately replace the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite.

The purpose of LAMPS was to scout outside the limits of a fleet's radar and sonar range to detect and track enemy submarines or missile-equipped escort ships and feed the real-time data back to the LAMPS rship and fleet. They also have the capability to directly engage the enemy with various weapons.

• SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS Mk I, retired)
• SH-60 Seahawk (LAMPS Mk III)

See also

• PAVE

External links

• LAMPS History