US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

[Jeff Head]

Even with delays (which are not unusual for a first of class), the US Navy is moving forward with the Ford and you can bet that she will get to sea, sooner rather than later.

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Huntington Ingalls Industries reached a major milestone on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) as the ship’s crew moved aboard.

The first-in-class carrier is in the final stages of construction and testing at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.

Rolf Bartschi, Newport News’ vice president, CVN 78 carrier construction, said:

This is a rewarding time for the shipbuilders who have worked for the past six years to complete the systems and compartments needed to support the crew as they move aboard.

The ship we are building will be their home and will serve the Navy and the nation’s need in defense of our country for the next 50 years.

Ship’s Sponsor Susan Ford Bales helped serve a meal of prime rib, crab legs, shrimp, salmon and a 7-foot-long cake made to look like an aircraft carrier.

Capt. John F. Meier, CVN 78’s commanding officer, said:

Currently pierside in Newport News, we have water under our hull, and 1,600-plus sailors are eating, sleeping and working aboard. Our crew is fully aligned with Newport News Shipbuilding in executing the test program to deliver Gerald R. Ford next spring.

Ford is designed to house a crew of up to 4,660 sailors who will benefit from quality-of-life improvements in the ship’s design.

 

[Jura The idiot]

...

SeaRAM Live Fire Test (1 target)

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a blogger noticed favorable weather conditions (and tried to kinda downplay the test); I wonder if there's a relevance to (wiki for SeaRAM):

Guidance system
three modes—passive radio frequency/infrared homing, infrared only, or infrared dual mode enabled (radio frequency and infrared homing)

and to that test, or SeaRAM is all-weather?

 

[Jeff Head]

a blogger noticed favorable weather conditions (and tried to kinda downplay the test); I wonder if there's a relevance to (wiki for SeaRAM)

It was the first SeaRAM test on an LCS for heaven's sake. What does the "blogger" expect?

Of course the first tests are going to be in relatively optimum conditions. They are simply making sure it works.

They will have progressively harder tests later...just like with any program.

Quite frankly, IMHO, and not to sound too harsh, a comment like that simply reveals that the blogger has absolutely no experience regarding these things, very little common sense regarding them, and/or a preconceived agenda trying to make anything look bad somehow.

If we look, we can find bloggers with comments saying almost any crazy thing all over the net.

This is not meant against you Jura, rather against such a comment be the blogger.

 

[Jeff Head]

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The US Coast Guard and US Customs and Border Protection interdicted approximately 15000 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Mexico on August 31.

A CBP Office of Air and Marine P-3 Maritime Patrol Aircraft tracked the 50-foot self-propelled semi-submersible vessel while on routine patrol in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, also on patrol in the area, was alerted of the suspicious vessel.

The cutter launched two Over-the-Horizon Long-Range Interceptor boat crews to intercept and board the vessel. Upon approach of the boarding teams, four suspected smugglers exited the hull. Boarding team members retrieved bales and loose bricks of contraband from the semi-submersible that tested positive for cocaine.

The seized contraband is worth an estimated $227 million. After the suspected smugglers and contraband were removed from the semi-submersible the craft was sunk as a hazard to navigation

Great experience for the National Security Cutter in conjunction with a US P-3 Orion.

The drug smugglers have upped their game over the last few years wit these semi-submersible vessels...but the US Coast Guard has upped its game as well and with todays sensors...they have a much harder time getting through.

 

[Jeff Head]

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The guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) departed Naval Station Norfolk Sept. 21 to participate in Exercise Joint Warrior off the coast of Scotland.

Besides The Sullivans, other U.S. Navy units participating in the exercise include the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), the fleet replenishment oiler USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12), and U.S. maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft from Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing (CPRW) 11.

Also participating are maritime, land and air units from nine countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Exercise Joint Warrior, course-designed and led by the Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff (JTEPS) in the United Kingdom, is intended to improve interoperability between allied and partner navies and prepares participants for a role in a joint maritime environment during deployments.

As one of the largest concentrations of allied and partner forces in one integrated training event, Joint Warrior addresses the full spectrum of maritime and joint warfare mission areas.

The Sullivans is named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers, who were killed when the ship they were assigned to, USS Juneau (CL-52), was sunk on November 13, 1942 and is homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The history associated with this name is important to the US Navy.

On January 3, 1942, less than a month after Pearl Harbor,the five Sullivan brothers (George, 27, Frank, 25, Joe, 23, Matt, 22, and Al, 19) enlisted in the US Navy with a stipulation that they be allowed to serve together. The Navy had a policy at the time separating siblings, but in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor it was waived for these brothers. They were all assigned to the light cruiser, USS Juneau (CL-52).

On November 13, 1942, ten months later, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Juneau was struck by a torpedo and had to withdraw. Later that same day, as it was struck againby a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. The ship quickly sank and rescue efforts were cut short because of fears of the overwhelming Japanese presence in the area.

Three of the brothers were killed in the attack. Al drowned in the water that first day. George drowned after four or five days. Eight days after the attack, only ten survivors were found alive.

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In April 1943, six months after their death, a brand new Fletcher class destroyer was launched and christened USS Sullivans, DD-537. She was not struck from US Navy service until 1974, when she became a Museum Ship, which you can visit to this day in Buffalo, New York

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Twenty-one years later, a brand new AEGIS Destroyer was launched, she was Christened the USS The Sullivans, DDG-68. She serves to this day and is the ship mentioned above.

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Of the 73 years since the Sullivan brothers died, for 52 of those years, there has bee a USS The Sullivans. I expect this tradition will go on long after my own life time. It is one of those worthy traditions, like the USS Enterrise, or the USS Constitution, or the which will live on through the years.

 

[FORBIN]

This capability is interesting a quiet submarine can deploy mines near a ennemy port and in more mines are cheaper in general.

Navy demos submarine mine-deployment capability

The submarine USS Buffalo has demonstrated the capability of Navy submarines to deploying mines.

The U.S. Navy reports that its Pacific Submarine Force has successfully demonstrated its capability at clandestinely deploying mines.
The mines used in the exercise off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, were Mk-67 submarine-launched mobile mines, which are launched like a torpedo.
The Mk-67 SLMM consists of a Mk-37 torpedo body with a modified warhead and trigger so the submarine doesn't have to pass over the area to be mined. The Mk-37 has an effective firing range of 23,000 yards.
For the testing conducted by the submarine USS Buffalo, inert SLMM exercise mines were used.
"The Pacific Submarine Force once again demonstrated successfully its continued ability to conduct submarine-launched clandestine mining operations," Capt. Harry Ganteaume, director of tactics and training for Submarine Force Pacific said. "With growing interest in Pacific maritime activities, SLMM-Ex helps to ensure that the U.S. Navy can protect American interests and assist our allies when asked.
"These exercises help to ensure that the Pacific Submarine Force is prepared to meet the emerging challenges in the years ahead."
Submarine Force Pacific provides anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, precision land strike, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and early warning and special warfare capabilities to U.S. Pacific Command.

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[Jeff Head]

This is great news.

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The four ballistic missile defense destroyers patrolling 6th Fleet will get a self-protection upgrade beginning this year, as the Navy integrates Raytheon’s Sea Rolling Airframe Missile (SeaRAM) onto its Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) for the first time.

U.S. 6th Fleet leadership sent an urgent requirement for self-protection on the four ships, which focus all their energy on the BMD mission, Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) Rear Adm. Jon Hill said last week at an American Society of Naval Engineers event.

“We put [the ships] out there by themselves, and they’re putting all their radar energy up in space, they’re tracking space objects now, and you have to wonder, hey, can they defend themselves?” he said. After toying with the idea of putting a second ship nearby to protect the BMD destroyer – much like a cruiser protecting an aircraft carrier – the Navy decided the SeaRAM could fill the self-protection requirement even though the system had never been paired with an Aegis ship before.

“What we had to do was really develop software, make sure we had the equipment ready to roll, get the computer programs aligned,” Hill told USNI News after the event.

“And the big thing you have to worry about is fratricide – so where you put that mount on the ship, it’s looking right over the vertical launching system, so what you don’t want to have happen is you’re shooting something with the SeaRAM while missiles are coming out of the VLS. So that’s the fundamental bit of integration we have to do.”

Hill added there were no extra SeaRAM systems lying around, so he pulled equipment from a foreign military sales program to allow for the quickest installation possible. He said the Navy also leveraged testing done by other programs to help speed up the process of integrating SeaRAM onto a new class of ships.

According to a February reprogramming request by the Pentagon comptroller, the Navy requested $15.3 million in Fiscal Year 2015 to get started on filling the urgent need, to be followed by additional funding in FY 2016. That money will help “capitaliz[e] on factory flexibility to work an extra shift,” minimizing the delay to the FMS contract.

USS Porter (DDG-78) and USS Carney (DDG-64), which arrived in Spain this year, will undergo selected restricted availabilities in fiscal year 2016 and will receive the SeaRAM upgrade then. Hill said Porter should be through maintenance and back on station by about November.

USS Ross (DDG-71) and USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) will have availabilities in FY 2017 and will receive SeaRAM then.

Hill said the level of integration between SeaRAM and Aegis Combat System would improve as they learn more with each ship.

“We’re pretty excited about it. It’s a great missile system, it’s a great radar system, it gives them an extra layer of capability they don’t have today,” he said.

As currently configured, the four Rota destroyers are equipped with an older Aegis baseline that requires the ship to operate in a BMD mode or switch to the traditional aircraft and cruise missile defense role. The Navy’s new Baseline 9 ships can do both missions at the same time,

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SeaRAM is a combination of Raytheon’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon System and Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Guided Weapon System.

“An 11-missile RAM launcher assembly replaces Phalanx’s 20 mm gun. SeaRAM combines RAM’s superior accuracy, extended range and high maneuverability with the Phalanx Block 1B’s high resolution search-and-track sensor systems and reliable quick-response capability,” according to Raytheon’s website.

Hill said this extra fire power is important to the surface warfare community’s new

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y if each ship, regardless of its mission, is upgunned, a potential opponent cannot overlook any ship in the fleet when calculating its next move. Hill said distributed lethality brings the emphasis back from defensive to offensive operations – which would be true of the four destroyers, who could now go after an enemy ship if needed rather than stay focused on the BMD mission solely.

They are starting with the four Rota, Spain, forward deployed Burkes. I hhope they extend this upgrade to many more.

I would rather see them keep the on Phalanx and add the SeaRAM as an additional defensive measure as opposed to replacing.

 

[Jura The idiot]

this is interesting:
Navy Set to Install Hybrid Electric Drives in Destroyer Fleet Staring Next Year

Next year the Navy will begin installing a hybrid electric drive (HED) system on 34 Flight IIA Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers in a bid to lower the fuel costs of the ships, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) told USNI News in a statement.
The system, which will marry an electric motor to the ships’ main reduction gear to drive the ship at low speeds, promises to save the service thousands of barrels of fuel in over a ship’s deployment.

Earlier this year L-3 — the company was awarded contract in 2012 to develop the technology — delivered two pre-production HED systems for testing ahead of the first installation in the Burkes in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2016 after research and development testing is done, NAVSEA said.

The almost $50 million program, to date, follows the lead of the U.K. Royal Navy which used a similar scheme to drive its Type 23 Duke-class frigates.

While the Burke’s four LM-2500 gas turbines are highly efficient at top speeds, the efficiency decreases at lower speeds, wasting more fuel.

Utilizing a preexisting quill drive in the main reduction gear, the HED motor is capable of turning the drive shaft and propelling the ship at speeds less than 13 kts. That speed range would work well with missions like ballistic missile defense or maritime security operations.

“HED will provide DDG-51 commanding officers with an additional propulsion option at low speeds. Lowering the rate of fuel consumption during low speed operation increases mission effectiveness through greater time on station,” read the statement from NAVSEA.
“In an operational context, using HED 50 percent of the time increases time on station by as much as 2.5 days between refueling.”

NAVSEA began investigating the HED concept for destroyers around 2008, when oil prices were at $174 a barrel said NAVSEA’s Glen Sturtevant in an interview with Jane’s Defence Weekly in 2010.

The service tested the concept on USS Truxtun (DDG-103) under a research and development contract with General Atomics using a DRS Technologies permanent magnet motor in 2012 before selecting L-3 to outfit the Flight IIA ships.

Following the first two ships in FY 2016, NAVSEA plans to outfit four ships with the HED capability a year.

source:

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[Jura The idiot]

...

This is not meant against you Jura, rather against such a comment be the blogger.

I'm fine, Jeff, now I also went through the discussion below that blog and it appears the blogger (Navy-Matters blogspot)

probably wanted more from that test, since it's close to a half of a million for the drone

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and one million a pop ... but he also would've liked to shoot supersonic targets like

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so, yeah, maybe he doesn't know what's the procedure

 

[Brumby]

I'm fine, Jeff, now I also went through the discussion below that blog and it appears the blogger (Navy-Matters blogspot)

probably wanted more from that test, since it's close to a half of a million for the drone

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and one million a pop ... but he also would've liked to shoot supersonic targets like

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so, yeah, maybe he doesn't know what's the procedure

I also read the discussions on that site. I think the emphasis and distinction being made was that this is a functional test rather than a combat effectiveness test because of the lack of realistic conditions like adverse atmospheric conditions and or it is subject to ECM. I think it is interesting to note that LCS-4 is the second vessel with LCS 2 being commissioned in Jan 2010 - basically an initial test 5 over years after the commissioning of the first vessel. Is this normal procedure?