USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24), also known as ex-AGOS 10 , is one of two Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ships, Range Ships, or Tracking Ships, are ships equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets...

s operated by the Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

. One of the radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

s it carries is the Cobra Gemini dual band, X band

X band

The X band is a segment of the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of X band is rather indefinitely set at approximately 7.0 to 11.2 gigahertz . In radar engineering, the frequency range is specified...

 and S band

S band

The S band is defined by an IEEE standard for radio waves with frequencies that range from 2 to 4 GHz, crossing the conventional boundary between UHF and SHF at 3.0 GHz. It is part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum...

, radar.

USNS Invincible, a converted T-AGOS 1 class ship, was redesignated a missile range instrumentation ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ships, Range Ships, or Tracking Ships, are ships equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets...

 in April 2000. Invincible provides a platform for the Cobra Gemini dual-band radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 developed by the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 to support data collection

Data collection

Data collection is a term used to describe a process of preparing and collecting data, for example, as part of a process improvement or similar project. The purpose of data collection is to obtain information to keep on record, to make decisions about important issues, to pass information on to...

 requirements on theater ballistic missiles.

The ship was reclassified from AGOS-10 to AGM-24 on April 4, 2000. The Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

 retains custody for United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

use for deploying a mobile surveillance and tracking radar system.

External links

• NVR AGM-24
• navsource.org: T-AGOS-10 / T-AGM-24 Invincible
• Global Security - Cobra Gemini
• FAS - Cobra Gemini
• MSC Ship Inventory - USNS Invincible