Narrative:

I was working R52; without much traffic. However there were a few things that needed to be coordinated with the surrounding controllers. At this time; the controllers of W-122 (giantkiller) called for a whiskey alert. The intruder had no altitude display and was heading approximately 230. The intruder was 'ship's traffic' meaning that it was talking to an aircraft carrier; with no way of communicating with the carrier. I watched the target and started to take action to prevent a possible collision between the intruder and an aircraft under my control. My aircraft was at FL340. The intruder's altitude appeared on the scope indicating that they were at FL240. At that time I re-cleared my traffic on route because there was no conflict. The intruder then turned and climbed; fast up to approximately FL390 and turned to head back towards W-122. I had another aircraft heading north at FL360 that would have passed under the intruder; had he stayed at about FL390. When there was only about 10 miles laterally between my aircraft and the intruder; the intruder began to descend into my aircraft. A separation error was now imminent; so I turned my aircraft to prevent a collision. At that point there intruder's altitude indicator turned to 'xxx' and when it came back it was FL240. The intruder then returned to W-122. At this point there was another airspace violation from W-177 at fl 320. Those controllers (doubleshot) called me asking if I was talking to him or new anything about him. I didn't. This intruder then descended to 10.5 and entered W-122. Before he made it there was another spill out from W-122 around FL180. Neither of these last two violations got close to my traffic; however they added to the complexity of trying to separate my traffic from the original intruder as well as having to keep an eye on whether they would quick climb into my traffic. I also tracked these two last violators to warn others. The intruders were obviously fighter jets of some kind. They can climb; descend; and turn very fast. There was no way of communicating with the intruders or the people controlling them. And with a fighter's capabilities; I had no way of knowing where to go with my traffic to ensure that i would miss them. There needs to be a way to talk to the carriers when they are working airspace adjacent to commercial traffic. Especially for situations like this; when they spill out of their assigned airspace.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZJX Controller described a developing conflict when military traffic operating with ship off shore exited restricted airspace; the Reporter suggesting improved communications with ship operations staff.

Narrative: I was working R52; without much traffic. However there were a few things that needed to be coordinated with the surrounding controllers. At this time; the controllers of W-122 (Giantkiller) called for a Whiskey Alert. The intruder had no altitude display and was heading approximately 230. The intruder was 'ship's traffic' meaning that it was talking to an aircraft carrier; with no way of communicating with the carrier. I watched the target and started to take action to prevent a possible collision between the intruder and an aircraft under my control. My aircraft was at FL340. The intruder's altitude appeared on the scope indicating that they were at FL240. At that time I re-cleared my traffic on route because there was no conflict. The intruder then turned and climbed; fast up to approximately FL390 and turned to head back towards W-122. I had another aircraft heading North at FL360 that would have passed under the intruder; had he stayed at about FL390. When there was only about 10 miles laterally between my aircraft and the intruder; the intruder began to descend into my aircraft. A separation error was now imminent; so I turned my aircraft to prevent a collision. At that point there intruder's altitude indicator turned to 'xxx' and when it came back it was FL240. The intruder then returned to W-122. At this point there was another airspace violation from W-177 at FL 320. Those controllers (Doubleshot) called me asking if I was talking to him or new anything about him. I didn't. This intruder then descended to 10.5 and entered W-122. Before he made it there was another spill out from W-122 around FL180. Neither of these last two violations got close to my traffic; however they added to the complexity of trying to separate my traffic from the original intruder as well as having to keep an eye on whether they would quick climb into my traffic. I also tracked these two last violators to warn others. The intruders were obviously fighter jets of some kind. They can climb; descend; and turn very fast. There was no way of communicating with the intruders or the people controlling them. And with a fighter's capabilities; I had no way of knowing where to go with my traffic to ensure that i would miss them. There needs to be a way to talk to the Carriers when they are working airspace adjacent to commercial traffic. Especially for situations like this; when they spill out of their assigned airspace.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.