USNS Invincible

USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24), also known as ex-AGOS 10, is one of two tracking ships operated by the Military Sealift Command. One of the radars it carries is the Cobra Gemini dual band, X band and S band, radar.^[1]

SURTASS gear on Invincible in 1987, soon after christening.

USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24)
History
United States
Ordered	20 January 1982
Builder	Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington
Laid down	2 May 1986
Launched	8 November 1986
In service	30 January 1987
Out of service	15 December 2021
Homeport	No homeport assigned
Identification	IMO number: 8833879 MMSI number: 338941000 Callsign: NIYJ
Status	Deactivated
General characteristics
Type	Tracking ship
Displacement	2,285 tons full load
Length	224 ft (68 m)
Beam	43 ft (13 m)
Draught	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	four diesel generators, two shafts, 3,200 brake hp
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity	Officers: 7 Enlisted: 13
Complement	18 civilians 18 military/sponsor personnel
Sensors and processing systems	Cobra Gemini

Like other members of the Stalwart class of ocean surveillance ships, the original mission of the Invincible was to patrol the oceans looking for submarines with her Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), a large passive sonar array. The ship was reclassified from AGOS-10 to AGM-24 on April 4, 2000 after she was refitted as a missile range instrumentation ship. Invincible provides a platform for the Cobra Gemini dual-band radar developed by the United States Air Force to support data collection requirements on theater ballistic missiles.^[2] The Military Sealift Command retains custody for United States Air Force use for deploying a mobile surveillance and tracking radar system.^[2]

History

Invincible deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2012, passing through the Strait of Hormuz on 19 May 2012 in convoy with British minesweepers.^[3] In March 2017, Invincible visited the Persian Gulf under Royal Navy escort, and was greeted by numerous IRGC fastboats which provocatively approached within 600 meters of Invincible in the Gulf of Oman.^{[citation needed]}

The ship was inactivated on 15 December 2021 and the US Navy plans to repurpose it into a training vessel or store it as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.^[4]