[TOSD] The Navy announced Wednesday "game-changing" technology that will allow its warships to be reloaded with guided missiles while at sea.The new Transferrable Rearming Mechanism, or TRAM, was successfully demonstrated in a land-based test at Port Hueneme near Ventura earlier this month.
TRAM will allow the Navy to reload the vertical launch tubes on destroyers and cruisers while they are on patrol, rather than requiring a return to port.
Tim Barnard, director of the NAVSEA Technology Office, said TRAM "will allow our ships to reload missiles just like they refuel — using connected underway replenishment, steaming at speed and in open ocean."
The latest Arleigh Burke-class destroyers carry 96 large guided missiles, but those can be expended quickly during intense fighting as has occurred against the Houthis in the Red Sea.
"Being able to quickly rearm our warships’ vertical launch tubes at sea will significantly increase forward, persistent combat power with the current force," said Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. "No longer will our combatants need to withdraw from combat for extended periods to return for vulnerable in-port reloading of weapon systems."
A test of the new technology at sea is expected later this year.