Analysis of the Instrument Carrier Landing System Certification Process for Amphibious Assault Ships

The AN/SPN-41 Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS) is a precision electronic approach and landing aid that provides shipboard guidance information to Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The ICLS emits a microwave beam that is received by the aircraft and presented to the pilot as azimuth and elevation needles. These needles indicate the deviation from the ideal glide path and course line and provide the pilot with direct guidance information. This system has long been in use on aircraft carriers and has recently been adapted for use on other U.S. Navy aviation ships.

The shipboard landing task is a challenging effort that is undertaken daily by naval aviators on amphibious assault class ships. The amphibious assault ship, also known as an L-class ship, is smaller than an aircraft carrier and is designed to host helicopters and Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft. Until recently, aviators landing on an L-class ship relied on verbal talk-down from a shipboard controller who was tracking the aircraft with precision approach radar (PAR). This radar had low reliability, especially during poor weather conditions, and did not provide the pilot with any direct guidance information. For these reasons, the AN/SPN-41A ICLS has been adapted for use on L-class ships and is presently being installed on new ships and retrofitted to existing ships of the class.

This thesis will examine the procedures used to certify the AN/SPN-41A ICLS for use aboard the L-class ship and recommend improvements to that process.