US Navy

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(Jan. 26, 2013) Huntington Ingalls Industries celebrated significant progress today as the 555-metric ton island was lowered onto the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The 60-foot long, 30-foot wide island was the 452nd lift of the nearly 500 total lifts needed to complete the aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy Huntington Ingalls Industries/Released)

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Des sonars d'hélicoptères Seahawk de l'US Navy en maintenance à Brest



Le site Thales de Brest va effectuer de la maintenance sur des sonars d'hélicoptère de l'US Navy. C'est ce qu'indique l'avis d'attribution d'un marché de 8,8 millions de dollars passé entre le ministère de la défense américain et Thales Communication Inc., une filiale du groupe basée à Clarksburg dans le Maryland.
Le marché porte sur la maintenance de six systèmes de sonars à basse fréquence aéroportés destinés à équiper les hélicoptères de lutte anti-sous-marine H-60 Seahawk. 54 % des travaux seront réalisés à Brest, le reste aux États-Unis, à Clarksburg et Johnstown, en Pennsylvanie. Ils doivent être achevés pour le 1^er novembre 2015.
Comme l'indiquait récemment le quotidien Ouest-France, 250 systèmes de sonars trempés Flash ont été commandés à Thales par le ministère de la défense américain. Ces sonar Flash sont aujourd'hui entièrement assemblés et testés à Brest.

http://www.lemarin.fr/articles/detail/items/des-sonars-dhelicoptere-seahawk-de-lus-navy-en-maintenance-a-brest.html

LRASM next generation anti-ship missile interview at AUSA 2013

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Le P-8A Poseidon bientôt en opération  

Le 07/11/2013 à 12:32   | Par Guillaume Steuer  



Le P-8A Poseidon, avion de patrouille maritime dernier cri développé pour remplacer les P-3 Orion, devrait connaître son premier déploiement opérationnel « au cours des prochains mois ». Aucune précision supplémentaire n’est apportée, et l’US Navy n’a pas encore officialisé ce déploiement prochain.

En février dernier, les marins américains indiquaient toutefois que six appareils pourraient être déployés « dans le Pacifique Ouest » en décembre 2013, peut-être au Japon, à Guam, voire aux Philippines. A ce jour, rappelle Boeing, douze appareils de série ont été livrés à l’US Navy, le dernier en date ayant rejoint la base navale de NAS Jacksonville (Floride) le 25 octobre. Un appareil devrait encore être livré avant la fin de cette année.

Pour l’heure, 37 appareils ont fait l’objet de commandes fermes par l’US Navy au titre de quatre contrats séparés (LRIP). La cible d’acquisition globale reste fixée à 117 unités mais devra être confirmée par de nouveaux contrats.

Parallèlement, les livraisons de la version P-8I à la marine indienne se poursuivent. Huit appareils ont été commandés, et le premier d’entre eux avait été formellement intégré à l’inventaire de New Delhi en mai 2013. Deux avions supplémentaires doivent théoriquement être livrés avant la fin de cette année.

http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/le-p-8a-poseidon-bientot-en-operation.html

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La marine américaine, secouée par un vaste scandale de corruption  

 Ouverture cette semaine par un tribunal américain d’une audience sur un vaste scandale de corruption au sein de la U.S. Navy, portant sur des millions de dollars de frais excédentaires pour l'entretien de  navires américains dans des ports asiatiques.

Parmi les responsables visés : deux hommes d'affaire basés à Singapour, un commandant de la marine américaine et un enquêteur de haut rang de la U.S. Navy.
L’accusation évoque également une atteinte à la sécurité militaire. Un tribunal fédéral américain de San Diego en Californie, site de plusieurs bases navales, organise vendredi une audience préliminaire au procès du commandant Michael Misiewicz, de l’enquêteur Jean Béliveau, et des entrepreneurs Leonard Francis et Alex Wisidigama. Tous devront répondre d’accusations de complot pour commettre un acte de corruption. Tous ont plaidé non coupable.

Selon l’accusation, la société Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), basée à Singapour, a offert aux responsables de la marine des cadeaux, dont des rendez-vous avec des prostituées, des voyages de luxe et des billets de concert.

En retour, Misiewicz aurait orienté, selon les procureurs, des navires de la U.S. Navy basés au Japon vers certains ports en Indonésie, en Malaisie et en Thaïlande. GDMA aurait alors facturé des millions de dollars à la marine américaine pour des vivres, du carburant, l’évacuation des déchets, et autres services. Ces fonds auraient été illégalement perçus par le biais de fausses factures et de faux tarifs.

Quant à Béliveau, cet enquêteur est soupçonné d'avoir fourni à Francis, le patron de GDMA, des informations internes sur l’enquête, qui a duré trois ans, pour le prévenir et l’aider à préparer sa défense.

De l’avis des experts, jamais la marine américaine n’a connu un scandale d’une telle ampleur. D’autant que Misiewicz est également accusé d'avoir livré des renseignements secrets à Francis sur les mouvements des navires de guerre prévus dans la région, des mois à l'avance, même si aucun des accusés n'a été inculpé d'atteinte à la sécurité nationale. Les quatre accusés encourent jusqu'à cinq ans de prison s'ils sont reconnus coupables. Mais cette affaire de corruption pourrait prendre de l’ampleur, vu que d’autres responsables de la U.S. Navy auraient accepté des cadeaux de Francis.  

http://www.lavoixdelamerique.com/content/la-marine-americaine-secouee-par-un-vaste-scandale-de-corruption/1784682.html

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Un porte-avions de nouvelle génération pour l'US Navy

Le 08/11/2013 à 15:35  | Par Duncan Macrae

Malgré le climat budgétaire maussade, c’est demain samedi que l’US Navy réalisera un nouveau pas vers le renouvellement de sa flotte de porte-avions avec la cérémonie de baptême du tout nouveau USS Gerald C. Ford (CVN 78). Et c’est la fille du 38e président américain, Susan Ford Bales, qui aura l’honneur de casser une bouteille de « vin mousseux américain » (selon Reuters) sur la coque du futur fleuron devant un parterre d’invités de marque, dont l’ancien secrétaire à la Défense Donald Rumsfeld.

Outil indispensable de la projection de puissance américaine, le CVN 78 a toutefois un prix – 12,9 Md$ selon les dernières estimations. C’est 25 % de plus que prévu, mais l’US Navy s’est engagée à réduire la facture pour les exemplaires suivants, dont la construction est déjà en cours.

Tête de série de sa classe, le nouveau navire à propulsion nucléaire impressionne d’abord par sa taille, même s’il n’est pas plus grand que les porte-avions de l’actuelle classe Nimitz, dont il reprend le même dessin de coque. Mais il intègre surout une série d’innovations censées assurer une capacité opérationnelle bien supérieure à la génération actuelle.


Parmi les nouveautés, on peut signaler :

L’utilisation de catapultes électromagnétiques (système EMALS pour Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) plus légers et plus puissants que le système traditionnel à vapeur et mieux adaptés aux drones.

Des chaudières nucléaires plus puissantes avec un cœur dont l’autonomie est égale à la durée de vie du navire, évitant ainsi des opérations lourdes de rechargement.

Un pont d’envol redessiné, avec un îlot plus petit (et plus furtif) positionné plus en arrière de façon à dégager une zone d’opérations plus importante.

Autres points forts : l’USS Gerald C. Ford devrait être capable de faire décoller ses avions à une cadence plus rapide (160 sorties par jour, 25 % de plus que la classe Nimitz) et il devrait nécessiter un entretien réduit de 30 % (jusqu’à 12 ans entre grandes visites, ce qui se traduira par une économie éstimée à 4 Md$ sur la vie du navire).

Le nouveau porte-avions en chiffres :

• Propulsion : deux réacteurs nucléaires A1B Longeur : 333 m
• Largeur du pont d’envol : 78 m
• Déplacement : environ 100 000 t
• Vitesse : plus de 30 noeuds
• Equipage : 4539 (un millier de moins que la génération actuelle)
• Parc aérien : plus de 75 avions
• Constructeur : Newport News, filiale de Huntington Ingalls Industries

L’USS Gerald C. Ford, c’est aussi : 3 millions de mètres de cables électriques et 1,2 million de mètres de fibre optique. Et le confort à bord n’a pas été oublié. Grâce à des réserves d’eau plus importantes, l’équipage aura désormais le droit de faire couler l’eau pendant toute la durée de la douche, précision apportée par le contre-amiral Thomas Moore, cité par Reuters.

Le nouveau porte-avions doit entrer en service en 2016. Selon l’écheancier actuel, il sera suivi de l’USS John F. Kennedy (en 2020) et de l’USS Enterprise (2025).

http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/un-porte-avions-de-nouvelle-generation-pour-l-us-navy.html

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LCS Surface Warfare Package Completes Live-Fire Test

POINT MUGU RANGE, Calif. – The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface Warfare Mission Package successfully completed the second phase of its developmental testing, Naval Sea Systems Command announced in a Nov. 7 release.
USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) conducted the testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Point Mugu range off the coast of California Oct. 1-25. The objective of the testing was to prove the performance capabilities for surface warfare missions, validate recent upgrades and correct problems found in previous testing.
Preliminary analyses of the results indicate that overall test objectives were achieved, and the ship and mission package operated as expected.
“The achievement of this at-sea test milestone demonstrates that the surface warfare package meets its requirements,” said Capt. John Ailes, program manager for mission module integration for the Program Executive Office for Littoral Combat Ships. “It also shows the significant progress that the mission modules program has made toward providing an affordable surface warfare capability.”
The test events demonstrated the ship’s ability to detect, track and simulate engagement of air and surface threats. The final exercise was a live-fire event, where the ship demonstrated the ability to defend itself against several attacking speed boats. These boats were identified as a threat by the ship’s helicopter, which passed the information to the ship. Fort Worth then successfully engaged all targets with both the 30mm and the 57mm gun weapons systems, which reduced the attacking boats to smoking hulks.
The Initial Operational Test and Evaluation for the surface warfare mission package will be conducted in early 2014, and will be the final step in achieving initial operational capability.
The surface warfare mission package is designed to defeat small boat threats and also provides the capability for the ships to conduct maritime interdiction operations. The package consists of two 30mm guns, two 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boats, an MH-60R helicopter, a 19-person surface warfare detachment, and a 23-person aviation detachment.
The LCS’s permanent 57mm gun, and its speed and maneuverability, coupled with the 30mm guns of the surface warfare mission package, provide the LCS a significant advantage over small boat threats.

http://seapowermagazine.org/stories/20131107-lcs.html

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USA: deux amiraux de la Navy sanctionnés pour des soupçons de corruption
 

WASHINGTON, 09 nov 2013 (AFP) -    

L'US Navy a interdit l'accès à ses informations classifiées à deux amiraux soupçonnés de corruption, un nouveau scandale pour l'armée américaine qui a déjà eu à faire face à plusieurs affaires de ce type récemment, selon un porte-parole du Pentagone vendredi.

Au total, trois hauts gradés de la marine ont été arrêtés dans le cadre de cette affaire de corruption qui impliquerait plusieurs membres très haut placés de la Navy.

Le vice-amiral Ted Branch, directeur du renseignement naval, et le contre-amiral Bruce Loveles, directeur des opérations de renseignement, ont été interdits au moins temporairement de consulter les documents classifiés "en raison d'une enquête en cours à leur encontre", selon un communiqué d'un porte-parole de la Navy, l'amiral John Kirby.

"Il a été jugé prudent de les suspendre étant donné la nature sensible de leurs affectations actuelles, ainsi que pour protéger la bonne marche de l'enquête", a ajouté M. Kirby.

Les deux amiraux sont soupçonnés "de comportements déplacés" qui remontent à la période préalable à leur affectation actuelle. Les gradés américains auraient été en contact avec un homme d'affaires malaisien, Leonard Francis, qui cherchait à passer des contrats de plusieurs millions de dollars avec la marine américaine concernant l'approvisionnement des navires en patrouille en Asie notamment.

Cependant, il n'a pas été précisé si les officiers visés ont fait fuiter des informations confidentielles.

Le Pentagone a déjà eu affaire à plusieurs scandales impliquant des hauts gradés ces derniers mois. Atterré par ces récents scandales, le plus haut gradé américain, le général Martin Dempsey, supervise actuellement une réforme de la formation des généraux qui fait une plus grande place à l'éthique.

http://www.marine-oceans.com/actualites-afp/6484-usa-deux-amiraux-de-la-navy-sanctionnes-pour-des-soupcons-de-corruption  

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 le CNO redoute l'impact du séquestre budgétaire à long terme sur l'exécution de la directive stratégique de défense


WASHINGTON — The Navy’s top admiral spelled out in unprecedented details Nov. 7 the harsh impact of continued sequestration on future Navy force structure and its ability to meet its mandated presence around the world.
In his prepared statement for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations (CNO) , said the Navy’s fiscal 2014 budget submission would allow it to execute “with acceptable risk” the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance (DSG) that called for the rebalancing of forces to the Asia-Pacific region, while maintaining presence in Europe and the Middle East.
The reduced funding levels required under sequestration through 2021 “will prevent the Navy from executing the DSG,” Greenert said in his text.
The long-term Navy budget as offered would build the fleet from 285 today to 295 in 2020, he said. That would increase the number of deployed ships from 95 to about 115, including growing from 50 in the Pacific now to 60, “consistent with the DSG’s direction to rebalance to that region.”
That expanded fleet also would allow the Navy to meet the DSG missions, including to sustain its support for “partner nations” in the Middle East with about 30 ships and continued deployed presence of a carrier strike group (CSG), amphibious ready group (ARG), ballistic missile defense (BMD) capable destroyers, and attack submarines.
Those would be augmented by an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), patrol coastal and mine countermeasure ships based in the Persian Gulf. The patrol and mine ships would be replaced later in this decade by Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with surface warfare or anti-mine mission packages, he added.
Support for Europe would be evolved by basing four BMD destroyers in Rota, Spain, and deploying Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV), a Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship, an AFSB and other surface combatants.
JHSVs and LCSs would allow “innovative, low-cost” presence in Africa and South America, the text continued.
The statement went on to explain how that force structure and presence would enable the Navy to meet its mission to counter terrorism and irregular warfare, deter and defeat aggression, project power “despite anti-access/area-denial challenges” — such as those posed by China and Iran — operate effectively in space and cyber space, and defend the homeland and support civil authorities, the CNO said.
But, the impact of continued sequestration funding levels would mean “the Navy of 2020 would not be able to execute the missions described in the DSG.” It would mean a fleet of only 255-260 ships, with one to two fewer CSGs and ARGs, Greenert’s statement said.
That would mean a deployed presence at or below 95 ships, no increased presence in the Pacific, and decreased presence in the Middle East, including two to three month gaps in carrier coverage each year.
The Navy would carry out the commitment for four BMD ships in Rota, and provide some presence in Europe with deployed JHSV, MLP, AFSB and some combatants, and would support innovative “small footprint” presence in Africa and South America with one LCS, one JHSV in each region and an AFSB in AFRICOM’s area, the text said.
Greenert’s listing of multiple possible AFSB presences conflicts with the current plans to build only two of those ships, one of which has not been funded.
Greenert warned that the ability to deter and defeat aggression would be reduced by having only nine or 10 CSGs and ARGS, instead of the 11 each that are planned, and having only one of each ready to deploy in response to a crisis, instead of the three ready groups planned.
He also detailed many other reduced or slowed acquisition and capability improvements, particularly in anti-submarine warfare, the installation of four Air and Missile Defense Radars in warships, instead of seven, 30 fewer carrier-based F-35Cs, and less improvement in the air warfare capabilities.
The constraints of sequestration funding “would compel Navy to request relief from several program mandates and force structure capability limits, in order to sustain and build a fleet with a balance of ship types,” Greenert concluded. The “force structure” limits could refer to the congressional mandate to maintain 11 active aircraft carriers.

http://www.seapowermagazine.org/stories/20131108-sequestration.html

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Publiée le  9 nov. 2013  

On runway 24 of U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland, a part of Boeing Harpoon missile history was recently witnessed when four of the proven Harpoon Block IC cruise missiles were uploaded onto a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet to undergo a rigorous flight test over the Atlantic Ocean. The test verified flight characteristics with the quad load-out; a Harpoon first.

 

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Steering Problem Keeps LCS Freedom in Port




WASHINGTON — Another relatively minor problem is keeping the US littoral combat ship Freedom from meeting a scheduled commitment during its deployment to Singapore.
This time, a steering indicator is malfunctioning, delaying the ship’s scheduled Monday departure from the Changi naval base in Singapore. Freedom is to take part in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises in Brunei, the last in a series of international exercises before the ship returns to its homeport of San Diego.
“Technicians currently do not expect this problem to significantly affect Freedom’s deployment schedule,” said Lt. Cmdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Western Pacific logistics group in Singapore. “We are confident that the right combination of technical assistance, maintenance and parts support are in theater now to address this issue.”
The indicator malfunction was revealed Sunday as the ship was going through steering checks, Doss said. There had been no problems when the same checks were run two days previously, he added.
The problem affects the indicators for the port steerable waterjet.
“If the indicator is not functioning properly, bridge watchstanders cannot tell whether the waterjet is responding to steering commands,” Doss said. “Though less optimal, manual steering control is possible at a local control panel.”
Doss would give no estimate for how long repairs could take.
“The ship has requested technical assistance to replace the damaged feedback cable,” he said. “While Freedom could get underway with the starboard drive train, there are no plans to do so until repairs are accomplished.”
The latest issue, he said, is not related to a different problem reported on Oct. 21 when a discharge pipe from a motor lube oil cooler in the starboard steerable waterjet hydraulic system suffered a half-inch rupture. “That system was repaired and the starboard drive train is fully operational,” Doss said.
A series of apparently non-related engineering issues has nagged at the ship throughout its deployment, which began March 1. Freedom has met most of its operational commitments, although some problems have either caused the ship to return to port, or remain at Changi while repairs are made.
While Doss would not discuss specific dates for Freedom’s schedule, the Brunei Navy reported that ceremonies marking the beginning of the CARAT exercises with the US were held Nov. 5 at Muara.
Freedom is expected to return to San Diego in December, shortly before Christmas.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131110/DEFREG03/311100015/Steering-Problem-Keeps-LCS-Freedom-Port

Time Lapse: Keel Laying to Christening of America's Next Carrier

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US Navy celebrates delivery of 3,000th Tactical Tomahawk missile



The U.S. Navy marked a significant milestone Nov. 5, as the service joined defense contractor Raytheon Missile Systems in celebrating the delivery of the 3,000th Tactical Tomahawk (TACTOM) missile.
TACTOM, also known as Tomahawk Block IV, is a deep-strike, long-range cruise missile often used for land-attack warfare and employed from U.S. Navy surface combatants and U.S. Navy and United Kingdom Royal Navy submarines.
“More than 40 years ago, few could have imagined the viability of a long-range cruise [missile] with the precision and lethality to achieve strategic objectives,” said Capt. Joe Mauser, program manager for the Tomahawk Weapons Systems Program Office (PMA-280), in videotaped remarks included at a ceremony in Tucson-Ariz., where Raytheon Missile Systems is based. “Over the past three decades, Tomahawk has evolved, but remained a key component of combat operations with over 2,000 combat shots.”
The TACTOM missile is capable of loitering over a target area in order to respond to emerging targets or, with its on-board camera, provide battle damage information to warfighting commanders. TACTOM can also provide an on-scene commander with the flexibility to attack long-range fixed targets or support special-operations forces with a lethal, responsive, precision weapon system.
“To get to this point was no accident,” Mauser said. “Rather, it is a direct reflection of the skill and dedication that each member of this incredible team has brought forward. This is an incredibly complex weapon requiring the unique talents of diverse vendor base and the discipline to bring it all together in Tucson to deliver a reliable and effective weapon to the fleet. And yet it consistently happens like clockwork, as evidenced by years of early deliveries and high quality.”


http://www.asdnews.com

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USS George Washington, Marines sent to Philippines for Haiyan relief efforts



http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/philippines/uss-george-washington-marines-sent-to-philippines-for-haiyan-relief-efforts-1.252375

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Navy Restarts X-47B Carrier Testing




The U.S. Navy has a begun a second set of sea-trials for its Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft onboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) about 60 nautical miles off the Virginia coast.

USNI News was onboard the carrier to observe testing on Sunday.
The day was off to an inauspicious start when aircraft — Salty Dog 502 — suffered from a communications malfunction during what was supposed to be its first test sortie of the day. The malfunction, the cause of which must still be determined, prevented the controllers from advancing the aircraft’s engine throttle settings past idle.
“What is important here is to understand that an X-aircraft is an experimental aircraft,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons. Glitches are all but unavoidable with developmental systems.
However, after about two hours, the NAVAIR and Northrop testers decided to try again—this time successfully launching the X-47B from the Roosevelt’s port catapult at around 3 p.m.
As a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet chase aircraft roared overhead, the unmanned aircraft climbed to 1000ft above the sea, making a left-turn about four to five miles upwind of the ship to enter the carrier’s traffic pattern. Effectively flying in large oval pattern, the X-47B then came around for a “wave-off” overflying the ship. Later during the same sortie, it made a successful trap onboard the ship at 3:46.
The X-47B had a better day on Nov. 9, when it made two wave-offs, two traps and six “touch-and-go” landings onboard the carrier, Winter said.
In any case, NAVAIR has 11 days at sea during this period onboard the Roosevelt, Winter said. While Nov. 11 is a non-flying day, the rest of the week is open for further testing.
“The priority goal of this period is to obtain both navigation and air system performance data in more stressing conditions than were experienced in the last AIRDET on the George Bush last summer,” said Capt. Beau Duarte, Naval Air Systems Command’s program manager for Unmanned Carrier Aviation program during a press conference on Nov. 7.
One of the changes from the previous set of tests is that it will not just be the flight deck crew and landing signals officers who will be able to command the X-47B via digital messages, the carrier’s tower will also be able to use digital signals to wave-off the unmanned aircraft. Duarte said that the capability has always been resident in the X-4B’s software, but was not used previously. Other changes to the aircraft are various minor software tweaks, he added.
Wind speeds—between 28 and 36 knots — were higher than on the original July 10 tests where the X-47B made the two first-ever successful arrested landings onboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). Additionally, the winds were varied along the ship’s axial line, Duarte said. Particular attention is being paid to how the X-47 deals with winds have interacted with the carrier’s island superstructure—known in naval parlance as a burble. “We’re very interested in the touchdown landing points of the vehicle compared to the planned touchdown points,” he said.
The (UCAS-D) unmanned carriers program is designed to explore the feasibility of operating an unmanned aircraft in the harsh carrier environment as a risk reduction effort for the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) effort.
“Our focus through the next Fiscal Year 2014 is to continue to operate the X-47 focused on that technical risk reduction and maturation of technologies and exploration of CONOP [concept of operations]—understanding how our sailors are going to use this,” Winter said.
There is funding in the fiscal year 2014 budget to keep the carrier digitization and X-47B control hardware installed onboard the Roosevelt active for the duration of the fiscal year, Winter said. That would allow the Navy to take advantage of any further availabilities the Roosevelt might have later in the year. “That will all be driven by the availability of that aircraft carrier, which has a lot of other demands outside of the test domain,” Winter said. “So we have the resources to do this again if it’s available.”
Winter said that the Navy would probably undertake no more than two further carrier trials for the X-47B this fiscal year. Overall the Navy has allocated about $20 to 25 million to keep X-47 operations funded this year. NAVAIR is working with the service’s leadership to identify further “funding opportunities” for the remainder of the fiscal year—but nothing is definite just yet. The service will have to make a decision in the summer of 2014 as to whether the X-47B will continue to fly in fiscal year 2015.
Originally, the Navy had intended to retire the two X-47B demonstrators after the July 10 carrier landings, however after an outcry from many on Capitol Hill and within the defense community, the service has changed course. “There was an appreciation for the continued value in technical terms, in CONOPS maturity terms, to keep utilizing the X-47 on how we go forward,” Winter said. “What we have is an opportunity to tackle some of the technology concerns for our UCLASS program of record.”
Those technology concerns are not on the air vehicle itself, but rather the digitization of the carrier and the technical specifications of the control systems—the network, algorithms, hardware and software that actually operate the entire system. Winter said that the Navy also wants to learn more about how sailors will operate an unmanned vehicle at sea.
The Navy is also reconsidering its decision to not use the X-47B to test autonomous aerial refueling capability. “That is an objective,” Duarte said. “We are working within our funding possibilities that we are identifying for the remainder of this year and for the future to see if there is the resources to support achieving those objectives with the air vehicle.” The Navy had earlier decided to use a substitute business jet instead of using the X-47 for the air-to-air refueling tests—but the priority is future carrier detachment, Duarte said.

http://news.usni.org/2013/11/11/navy-restarts-x-47b-carrier-testing

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Navy Shifts Plans to Acquire a Tougher UCLASS




The U.S. Navy appears to have shifted its position on the requirements for its next generation carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Navy officials told USNI News.
Instead of developing the planned Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) to only conduct operations in uncontested airspace, the service will instead pursue a design that can be adapted over time to operating against higher threat levels.

“As a system, what we want to do as an affordability initiative is to ensure that the air vehicle design upfront has the growth capability without major modifications to go from permissive to contested [environments],” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons during an interview with USNI News on Nov. 10.
“Specific proposals and the designs that are given back to the government, those will be informing us of how much of that permissive to contested and the air refueling provision actually shows up in their designs.”
Nor has the aerial refueling disappeared from the UCLASS requirements. “Air refueling provisions are still part of the requirements,” Winter said.
The Navy is open to suggestions from the four contenders on the UCLASS survivability requirements. The four potential contractors—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems—each have their own concepts on how to achieve the Navy’s “crawl, walk, run” growth path for the UCLASS low observability goals.
“Some are modular, some are fill, some are others, so there is a whole spectrum of traditional design growth paths,” Winter said. “We have to wait to see what industry proposes.”
The Navy’s immediate goal is to get at least some UCLASS aircraft onto the carrier deck as soon as possible. The top level requirements call for the a UCLASS system to operate two orbits at a tactically significant distance from a carrier at 24 hours a day for seven days a week and to provide a light strike capability, Winter said. At this point, those top-level requirements are “solid”.
“The plan here is to provide an early operational capability that will be verified and validated for a light strike permissive environment,” Winter said. “What we will ensure is that the design of the system does not preclude what we call capability growth to be able to operate in contested environments.”
The requirements and the acquisition strategy for the Navy’s first operational carrier-borne unmanned aircraft have been mired in controversy after the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC)—lead by Adm. James Winnefeld—altered the requirements for the program during a Dec. 18, 2012 meeting. The revised requirements relaxed several key attributes for the aircraft, much to ire of those—including former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead — who favor an aircraft capable of performing the penetrating strike role.
Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congressional committees and some in industry are unhappy with the Navy’s decision to develop, build and field up to 24 UCLASS aircraft – enough to equip four carrier air wings – by fiscal year 2020, before a formal Milestone B decision to enter engineering and manufacturing development. However, the Navy’s shifting position might potentially change some minds.
Though the actual “warfighter” requirements have been finalized, the detailed technical specifications for the UCLASS have been delayed.
“That draft request for proposal is in the final approval stages of our senior leadership authorities,” Winter said on Nov. 7 during a press conference. “We anticipate that being released by the middle of December.”
The draft RFP had been anticipated for a September release—but was likely delayed because the Navy was taking another look at the UCLASS requirements and acquisitions strategy in wake of criticism.
Industry will have a chance to review the draft and offer feedback. “In that industry day, we’ll have conversions with the industry partners that have reviewed the draft RFP to answer their questions and understand their concerns and opportunities,” Winter said.
NAVAIR will then review and update the draft RFP with industry feedback and issue the final version of the document. After Navy leadership approves that new version of the document, the final RFP will be released in the second quarter of fiscal year 2014. “That’s the current timeline,” Winter said. “With that, we’ll go into our source selection activity to down-select to a single air vehicle vendor.”
A contact award is anticipated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, Winter said. “From that point we’ll be able to determine the exact timeline or schedule for the UCLASS program because we will have picked the specific air vehicle.”
Currently, Winter said that the Navy only has a rough estimate of when the UCLASS will achieve its early operational capability. “Right now, we’re estimating 2019 to 2021,” Winter said.
Winter noted that the draft RFP is for the air vehicle segment only—the Navy is the lead systems integrator for the overall UCLASS effort.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics are all hoping to secure contracts to build the UCLASS—which is one of the few new start programs anticipated in the near future. The four companies each received a $15 million fixed-price contract for a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) assessment for the UCLASS in August. The companies have largely spent their own money developing UCLASS concepts based on their own interpretations of the Navy’s requirements—which has caused some consternation especially after the JROC altered the programs requirements.

http://news.usni.org/2013/11/12/navy-shifted-plans-acquire-tougher-uclass

Citation :

Hydroid asked to repair and upgrade Navy's fleet of MK 18 unmanned underwater vehicles



INDIAN HEAD, Md., 11 Nov. 2013. U.S. Navy officials are asking Hydroid Inc. in Pocasset, Mass., to repair and upgrade the Navy's fleet of MK 18 Kingfish unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), as well as to help train Navy personnel to use the unmanned submersibles.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head, Md., are awarding Hydroid a $26.2 million contract to handle the UUV work. The contract was announced Friday.
The Navy's MK 18 UUV is a variant of the Hydroid REMUS 600, which Hydroid developed originally developed through funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., to support the Navy's UUVs with extended endurance, increased payload capacity, and greater operating depth.
The REMUS 600 can dive to depths of nearly 2,000 feet, and can operate on one battery charge for as long as 24 hours. The UUV is for mine countermeasures; harbor security; debris field mapping; search and salvage; scientific sampling and mapping; hydrographic surveys; environmental monitoring; and fishery operations. REMUS is short for Remote Environmental Measuring Unit S.
The torpedo-shaped REMUS 600 UUV is nearly 13 feet long and two feet in diameter. The unit weighs 622 pounds. It has dynamic focus side look sonar (SLS), a Neil Brown conductivity and temperature sensor (CT), WET Labs beam attenuation meter (BAM) optical sensor, Imagenex 852 pencil beam sonar for obstacle avoidance, and a WET Labs ECO fluorometer and turbidity measurement sensor.

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2013/11/hydroid-kingfish-uuvs.html

Citation :

L'US Navy prépare un SNA type Virginia pour le prochain Ice Exercise (ICEX) en Arctique en 2014

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — A Navy admiral based in Connecticut says the submarine force is planning its next Arctic exercises for the spring of 2014.
But Rear Adm. Kenneth Perry said in an interview Tuesday that there is some uncertainty over whether they will take place due to budget pressures in Washington.
The submarine force has been conducting exercises under the ice every few years to test and assert its capabilities in a region with frigid water and acoustics that present challenges unlike any other ocean.
Perry is the Groton, Conn.-based commander of all U.S. attack submarines based on the East Coast. He said one of the Virginia-class attack boats in Groton is being prepared for the next Ice Exercise.

Citation :

Navy Activates Hospital Ship Mercy for Philippines Disaster Relief



The Navy is activating the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) to the Philippines as part of the ongoing U.S. disaster effort following Super Typhoon Haiyan, according to a Navy statement provided to USNI News.
“If ordered to deploy, Mercy would get underway in the next several days and could arrive in the Philippines sometime in December, joining other U.S. Pacific Fleet units already supporting Operation Damayan,” according to the statement.
It takes about five days to ready the ship for deployment and if given the order to deploy it would arrive in the region sometime in December, according to the service.
Mercy 69,000-ton ship is manned by a crew of civilian mariners and more than a 1,000 military medical personnel.
Mercy — if deployed — will join almost a dozen other U.S. Navy ships heading toward the region.
Aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) and partial carrier strike group (CSG) are slated to late Thursday local time. The CSG is also accompanied by the supply ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE-10). The Navy has also activated two amphibious warships and elements of the 31^st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Okinawa.
Activation of Mercy is latest U.S. move in aid effort, now called Operation Damayan. On Thursday U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) created a Joint Task Force (JTF) to coordinate the relief effort.
JTF-505 will be led by Lt. Gen. John E. Wissler, the commander III Marine Expeditionary
Force (MEF) on Okinawa, according to a Thursday release from PACOM.
“Lt. Gen. Wissler and his staff will depart Okinawa in the coming days as the command and control element for U.S. military support to the disaster relief efforts in the Philippines,” according to the release.
At least 580,000 people have been displaced following the landfall of Haiyan primarily near the islands of Samar and Leyte.

http://news.usni.org/2013/11/14/navy-activates-hospital-ship-mercy-philippines-disaster-relief

Citation :

US Navy soon to declare initial operational capability of P-8A Poseidon aircraft


The US Navy is set to declare initial operational capability (IOC) of the Boeing-built P-8A Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
Reuters cites sources familiar with the programme as saying that the US Navy will deploy the first aircraft in December 2013, following the IOC decision.
The aircraft is based on Boeing's 737-800 commercial aircraft and is armed with weapons such as torpedoes, depth charges and Harpoon anti-shipping missiles.
A navy official said that the decision will also allow the US Navy to commission the first squadron of the P-8A aircraft this winter for operational missions.
"This programme milestone supports navy plans and operational force structure for the maritime patrol community," the official said.
Fitted with upgraded APS-137D(V)5 maritime surveillance radar and signal intelligence SIGINT system, the anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft can support broad-area, maritime and littoral operations.
Declining to comment on the expected decision, Boeing spokesman Chick Ramey said an announcement would be made very soon.

"We have been working hand-in-glove with the navy to help prepare for the first fleet deployment," Ramey said.
The Boeing-led team for the P-8A Poseidon programme includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation.
The aircraft is capable of cruising at a speed of 333km/hr over the sea at a low-altitude of 60m and can fly at a high-altitude at nearly 926km/h using two CFM International CFM56-7B27A high-bypass turbofan engines.
The US Navy is considering procurement of 117 P-8A aircraft to replace its existing turbo-prop P-3 Orion fleet.

http://www.naval-technology.com/news/newsus-soon-to-declare-poseidon-aircraft

Citation :

USA: la Marine annule ses contrats avec une société soupçonnée de corruption  
     
WASHINGTON, 14 nov 2013 (AFP) -  

La Marine américaine a mis fin à ses liens commerciaux avec une société spécialisée dans l'avitaillement des navires dans les ports asiatiques à la suite de soupçons de corruption impliquant plusieurs haut-gradés, ont affirmé jeudi des responsables de l'US Navy.

Le patron de cette société basée à Singapour, Leonard Francis, est au centre d'une vaste enquête sur des soupçons de corruption de responsables logistiques de la Marine afin de privilégier sa société Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA).

"Nous avons mis fin à tous les contrats actifs, sous-contrats, ordres d'exécution et de livraison avec GDMA", a précisé à l'AFP un responsable de la Marine.

Au total, trois contrats pour un montant total de 196 millions de dollars et un quatrième de 7,5 millions ont été dénoncés, selon elle.

GDMA se charge notamment d'approvisionner les navires en escale en nourriture, eau et carburant, de fournir des remorqueurs ou encore de récupérer les eaux usées et les ordures.

L'enquête du NCIS, les limiers de la Marine, a conduit à ce stade à l'inculpation ou à la suspension du service de six militaires, dont des responsables de la logistique de l'US Navy, ainsi que du patron et du numéro deux de la société.

Parmi les marins mis en cause figure le commandant Jose Luis Sanchez, chargé de la logistique auprès de la VIIe flotte, responsable du Pacifique. Il est soupçonné d'avoir perçu 100.000 dollars et bénéficié des services de prostituées et de voyages payés par Leonard Francis, notamment contre des informations sur les mouvements de navires, dont certains sont classifiés.

La justice américaine l'accuse également d'avoir aidé à la surfacturation des prestations de GDMA.

La semaine passée, ce sont deux officiers de haut rang, le vice-amiral Ted Branch, directeur du renseignement naval, et le contre-amiral Bruce Loveless, directeur des opérations de renseignement, qui ont été inquiétés. Leur rôle n'a pas été précisé mais la Navy a annoncé la suspension de leur accès aux informations classifiées le temps de l'enquête.

La Marine craint que l'affaire continue de prendre de l'ampleur. "Nous pensons que d'autres officiers et peut-être des civils employés par la Navy risquent d'être impliqués dans le scandale", a admis le porte-parole de l'US Navy, le contre-amiral John Kirby.

http://www.marine-oceans.com/actualites-afp/6538-usa-la-marine-annule-ses-contrats-avec-une-societe-soupconnee-de-corruption  

Citation :

Etats-Unis: un drone percute un croiseur lance-missiles



Un drone défectueux a percuté le croiseur lance-missiles américain USS Chancellorsville au large de la Californie, faisant deux blessés, rapportent dimanche les médias occidentaux.
L'incident s'est produit lors des manœuvres visant à tester le système de combat du croiseur. D'après les données provisoires, le drone, appartenant aux forces navales américaines, a subi un problème en vol avant de tomber sur le pont du bâtiment militaire. Deux marins se trouvant à bord du navire ont subi des brulures.
Suite à l'incident, le croiseur a mis le cap sur la base navale de San Diego pour évaluer les dégâts infligés au navire.

http://fr.ria.ru/defense/20131117/199806250.html

Citation :

USS Freedom (LCS 1) Gets Underway From Singapore For Final Time

SINGAPORE (NNS) -- USS Freedom (LCS 1) departed Singapore's Changi Naval Base, Nov. 16, for the final time as part of her maiden overseas deployment to Southeast Asia.

Freedom has used Singapore as a logistics and maintenance hub since arriving there April 18. Though Freedom is departing Singapore, she is expected to remain in the region over the coming weeks before beginning the transit back across the Pacific Ocean to her homeport in San Diego.

"We greatly appreciate the hospitality and warm welcome Singapore extended to Freedom during this first rotational deployment, and especially the Republic of Singapore Navy's support when the ship was at Changi Naval Base," said Rear Adm. Cindy Thebaud, commander of the U.S. Navy's Logistics Group Western Pacific.  

Over the past several months, Freedom has worked with many regional navies that operate comparable-sized ships during a series of port visits, exercises, and exchanges. These engagements directly support the Asia-Pacific rebalance and further reinforced cooperation and interoperability among the Navy's partners and allies throughout Southeast Asia.  

As many senior Navy officials noted recently, the maritime crossroads and vital waterways that connect Southeast Asia to the global economy are exactly where the Navy needs to be present, now and well into the future. Rotational deployments of littoral combat ships will help the Navy sustain presence, expand access to vital waterways and interact with littoral regions in unprecedented ways.
USS Freedom's first rotational deployment to Southeast Asia began March 1, when the ship departed San Diego and commenced a Pacific Ocean transit that included port visits in Hawaii, Guam and Manila. Since arriving in Singapore April 18, Freedom has participated in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX), two phases of the bilateral naval exercise CARAT with Malaysia and Singapore, and the multinational exercise Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT). During port visits, Freedom hosted thousands of dignitaries and visitors from throughout Southeast Asia.

Prior to getting underway, Freedom accomplished repairs to the feedback cable in the port steerable waterjet which delayed her participation in exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Brunei. All wajerjets are now functioning normally, and Freedom still expects to conduct a brief port visit in Brunei as part of the exercise.

"As we've said before, lead ships are difficult. One of the main reasons for this deployment was to push the ship and crews hard, and to identify areas that required improvement," said Thebaud. "We did just that, and as expected, had some challenges. That said, Freedom's crews rose to the challenges again and again, and I cannot say enough about their perseverance, dedication and skill both operating and sustaining the ship while rotationally deployed for the first time."

Fast, agile and mission-focused, littoral combat ships are designed to operate in near-shore environments and employ modular mission packages that can be configured for surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare.

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=77696

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USS Fort Worth Launches First UAV, Demonstrates LCS Capability

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) conducted dynamic interface operations on the Point Mugu Test Range Nov. 5-13 with the Navy's Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) known as the MQ-8 Fire Scout.

Although Fire Scouts have been used in the fleet onboard frigates, LCS is the first platform designed from the keel up to integrate and operate these unmanned helicopters.

"Everything from the consoles in MCC (Mission Control Center), the displays, and antennas to the flight deck and UCARS were made for us to interface with Fire Scout" said Lt. Mike Chesnut, the combat systems officer for LCS Crew 104, "The Juggernauts", who are currently the "on-hull" crew for Fort Worth.

UCARS is the UAV Common Automated Recovery System, a present day "tractor beam" that locks on to the Fire Scout from miles away and brings it safely on deck without human intervention.

The Fire Scout, replete with the most modern electro-optical and infrared cameras, can extend the ship's senor range and greatly increase maritime awareness by relaying information back to the ship via data link.

"It's exciting to integrate new technology with LCS. That's what this platform is about, flexibility and innovation," said Cmdr. Kendall Bridgewater, Fort Worth's executive officer.

Fort Worth is scheduled to deploy next year with "The Mad Hatters" of HSM-35, Det. 1, the Navy's first "composite" Air Detachment which will include both a manned SH-60R helicopter as well as unmanned Fire Scouts

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=77663

Citation :

Le drone ayant frappé l'USS Chancellorsville serait un BQM-74 et non un MQ-9 Reaper comme annoncé par Mer et Marine

LOS ANGELES - A Navy guided missile cruiser returned to San Diego after it was struck by a malfunctioning aerial target drone during training off Southern California, causing two minor injuries. Investigators will now assess the damage and determine what went wrong.
Lt. Lenaya Rotklein of the U.S. Third Fleet said the accident on the San Diego-based USS Chancellorsville happened Saturday afternoon while the ship was testing its combat weapons system off Point Mugu.
She told 10News they were tracking the drone, which was remotely controlled from Point Mugu, at the time. The drone, which came from a training and testing facility at Point Mugu, flew out to do exercises with the ship.
Rotklein said the drone -- which was 13 feet long, 1 foot in diameter and had a wingspan of nearly 6 feet -- hit the ship's left, or port, side.
She said two sailors were treated for minor burns after the ship was struck.
Investigators at Naval Base San Diego are assessing the damage and determining why the drone malfunctioned. The ship had departed last Tuesday to do exercises.
Rotklein said the drone was being used to test the ship's radar. She had no immediate information on whether the drone has malfunctioned before.
About 300 crew members were aboard the ship.
Rotklein identified the aerial drone as a BQM-74 series, manufactured by Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. She said the Navy makes frequent use of the unmanned aircraft in testing for combat and weapons systems. According to the company website, the drones can simulate enemy missiles or airplanes.

Navy: Malfunctioning drone strikes San Diego-based USS Chancellorsville, injures 2 sailors

Citation :

Making the Cut: Reducing the SSBN Force



A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report – Options For Reducing the Deficit: 2014-2023 – proposes reducing the Navy’s fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines from the 14 boats today to 8 in 2020. That would save $11 billion in 2015-2023, and another $30 billion during the 2030s from buying four fewer Ohio replacement submarines.
The Navy has already drawn its line in the sand, insisting that the current force level of 14 SSBNs is needed until 2026 and that the next-generation SSBN class must include 12 boats.
But the Navy can’t afford that, nor can the United States, and the Obama administration’s new nuclear weapons employment guidance – issued with STRATCOM’s blessing – indicates that the United States could, in fact, reduce the SSBN fleet to eight boats. Here is how. 
New START Treaty Force Level
Under the New START treaty the United States plans to deploy 640 ballistic missiles loaded with 1490 warheads (1,550 warheads minus the 60 weapons artificially attributed to bombers that don’t carry nuclear weapons on a daily basis). Of that, the SSBN fleet will account for 240 missiles and 1090 warheads (see table below).
The analysis for the new guidance – formally known as Presidential Policy Decision 24 – determined that the United State could safely reduce its deployed nuclear weapons by up to one-third below the New START level. But even though the current posture therefore is bloated and significantly in excess of what’s needed to ensure the security of the United States and its allies and partners, the military plans to retain the New START force structure until Russia agrees to the reductions in a new treaty.
Yet Russia is already well below the New START treaty force level (-227 launchers and -150 warheads); the United States currently deploys 336 launchers more than Russia (!). Moreover, the Russian missile force is expected to decline even further from 428 to around 400 missiles by the early 2020s – even without a new treaty. Unlike U.S. missiles, however, the Russian missiles don’t have extra warhead spaces; they’re loaded to capacity to keep some degree of treaty parity with the United States.




Making The Cut
The table above includes two future force structure options: a New Guidance option based on the “up to one-third” cut in deployed strategic forces recommended by the Obama administration’s new nuclear weapons employment guidance; and an “Alternative” posture reduced to eight SSBNs as proposed by CBO.
Under the New Guidance posture, the SSBN fleet would carry 690 warheads, a reduction of 400 warheads below what’s planned under the New START treaty. The 192 SLBMs (assuming 16 per next-generation SSBN) would have nearly 850 extra warhead spaces (upload capacity), more than enough to increase the deployed warhead level back to today’s posture if necessary, and more than enough to hedge against a hypothetical failure of the entire ICBM force. In fact, the New Guidance posture would enable the SSBN force to carry almost all the warheads allowed under the New START treaty.
Under the Alternative posture, the SSBN fleet would also carry 690 warheads but there would be 64 fewer SLBMs. Those SLBMs would have “only” 334 extra warhead spaces, but still enough to hedge against a hypothetical failure of the ICBM force. In fact, the SLBMs would have enough capacity to carry almost the entire deployed warhead level recommended by the new employment guidance.
The Navy’s SSBN force structure plan will begin retiring the Ohio-class SSBNs in 2026 at a rate of one per year until the last boat is retired in 2039. The first next-generation ballistic missile submarine (currently known as SSBNX) is scheduled to begin construction in 2021, be completed in 2028, and sail on its first deterrent patrol in 2031. Additional SSBNXs will be added at a rate of one boat per year until the fleet reaches 12 by 2042 (see figure below).




The Navy’s schedule creates three fluctuations in the SSBN fleet. The first occurs in 2019-2020 where the number of operational SSBNs will increase from 12 to 14 as a result of the two newest boats (USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) and USS Louisiana (SSBN-743)) completing their mid-life reactor refueling overhauls. That is in excess of national security needs so at that time the Navy will probably retire the two oldest boats (USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) and USS Alabama (SSBN-731)) eight years early to keep the fleet at 12 operational SSBNs (this doesn’t show in the Navy’s plan).
The second fluctuation in the Navy’s schedule occurs in 2027-2030 when the number of operational SSBNs will drop to 10 as a result of the retirement of the first four Ohio-class SSBNs and the decision in 2012 to delay the first SSBNX by two years. As it turns out, that doesn’t matter because no more than 10 SSBNs are normally deployed anyway.
The third fluctuation in the Navy’s schedule occurs in 2041-2042 when the number of operational SSBNXs increases from 10 to 12 as the last two boats join the fleet. This is an odd development because there obviously is no reason to increase the fleet to 12 SSBNXs in the 2040s if the Navy has been doing just fine with 10 boats in the 2030s. This also suggests that the fleet could in fact be reduced to 12 boats today of which 10 would be operational. To do that the Navy could retire two SSBNs immediately and two more in 2019-2020 when the last refueling overhauls have are completed.
To reduce the SSBN fleet to eight boats as proposed by CBO, the Navy would retire the six oldest Ohio-class SSBNs at a rate of one per year in 2015-2020. At that point the last Ohio-class reactor refueling will have been completed, making all remaining SSBNs operationally available. A quicker schedule would be to retire four SSBNs in 2014 and the next two in 2019-2020. That would bring the fleet to eight operational boats immediately instead of over seven years and allow procurement of the first SSBNX to be delayed another two years (see figure above).
Reducing to eight SSBNs would obviously necessitate changes in the operations of the SSBN force. The Navy’s 12 operational SSBNs conduct 28 deterrent patrols per year, or an average of 2.3 patrols per submarine. The annual number of patrols has decline significantly over the past decade, indicating that the Navy is operating more SSBNs than it needs. Each patrol lasts on average 70 days and occasionally over 100 days. To retain the current patrol level with only eight SSBNs, each boat would have to conduct 3.5 patrols per year. Between 1988 and 2005, each SSBN did conduct that many patrols per year, so it is technically possible.
Moreover, of the 10 or so SSBNs that are at sea at any given time, about half (4-5) are thought to be on “hard alert” in pre-designated patrol areas, within required range of their targets, and ready to launch their missiles 15 minutes after receiving a launch order. A fleet of eight operational SSBNs could probably maintain six boats at sea at any given time, of which perhaps 3-4 boats could be on alert.


Finally, reducing the SSBN fleet to eight boats seems reasonable because no other country currently plans to operate more than eight SSBNs (see table). The United States today operates more SSBNs than any other country. And NATO’s three nuclear weapon states currently operate a total of 22 SSBNs, twice as many as Russia. China and India are also building SSBNs but they’re far less capable and not yet operational.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The Navy could and should reduce its SSBN fleet from 14 to eight boats as proposed by CBO. Doing so would shed excess capacity, help prepare the nuclear force level recommended by the new nuclear weapons employment policy, better match the force levels of other countries, and save billions of dollars. There are several reasons why this is possible:
First, the decision to go to 10 operational SSBNs in the 2030s suggests that the Navy is currently operating too many SSBNs and could immediately retire the two oldest Ohio-class SSBNs.
Second, the decision to build a new SSBN fleet with 144 fewer SLBM launch tubes than the current SSBN fleet is a blatant admission that the current force is significantly in excess of national security needs.
Third, the acknowledgement in November 2011 by former STRATCOM commander Gen. Robert Kehler that the reduction of 144 missile tubes “did not assume any specific changes to targeting or employment guidance” suggests there’s a significant over-capacity in the current SSBN fleet.
Fourth, it is highly unlikely that presidential nuclear guidance three decades from now – when the planned 12-boat SSBNX fleet becomes operational – will not have further reduced the nuclear arsenal and operational requirement significantly.
Fifth, reducing the SSBN fleet now would allow significant additional cost savings: $11 billion in 2015-2023 (and $30 billion more in the 2030s) from reduced ship building according to CBO; completing the W76-1 production earlier with 500 fewer warheads; $7 billion from reducing production of the life-extended Trident missile (D5LE) by 112 missiles; operational savings from retiring six Ohio-class SSBNs early; and by reducing the warhead production capacity requirement for the expensive Uranium Production Facility and Chemistry and Metallurgy Research facilities.
Sixth, reducing the SSBN fleet would help reduce the growing disparity between U.S. and Russian strategic missiles. This destabilizing trend keeps Russia in a worst-case planning mindset suspicious of U.S. intensions, drives large warhead loadings on each Russian missile, and wastes billions of dollars and rubles on maintaining larger-than-needed strategic nuclear force postures.
Change is always hard, but a reduction of the SSBN fleet would be a win for all.

http://blogs.fas.org/security/2013/11/ssbnreduction/

Citation :

Navy Prepares Fleet for More Arctic Missions




The Navy is accelerating research and technology programs aimed at preparing the fleet to operate in the Arctic.
Navy leaders had been preparing to increase the services’ Arctic presence by the mid-2030s, but they are now accelerating the timetable to the mid-2020s due to the warming of the waters and the rapid pace of melting ice.
Rising water temperatures means less ice in the Arctic, creating a circumstance wherein more open waterways will emerge. As a result, the Navy is putting the final touches on a new Updated Arctic Road Map designed to help the service achieve a more Arctic-capable fleet.

The Updated Arctic Road Map is aimed at paving the way toward creating the investments and technologies needed to ensure the Navy can weather the rigorous challenges of the Arctic environment.
The Office of Naval Research has worked on gear designed to remove ice from the superstructure of a surface ship using special ice-resistant paint for ships. The Navy is also designing heating elements into the superstructure of the ship itself, said Adm. Jonathan White, Navy Oceanographer and Navigator.
The Navy is working on strengthening the hulls of some ships to ensure that they are more ice-capable as well as assessing the prospects of adding more basing infrastructure in the region, White explained.
“What aircraft can I operate up there during the day? How do I get fuel to them? We want to start to make smart decisions now that lead to an Arctic-capable force in a little over ten years,” White said.
The Navy, which says it is most likely to use amphibious assault ships or destroyers in Arctic waterways in the future, says it is working on technologies designed to make it more possible for ships to operate in the harsh Arctic conditions.
An assessment done by the Navy’s Task Force Climate Change determined that the rate of melting has increased since the time of this report. In fact, the Navy is thinking it will need to prepare for a larger Arctic presence by the mid 2020’s, White said.
Although the thinning of the Arctic ice was reported by Navy submarines in the 1990s, there have been considerable changes to the Arctic environment since that time, said Robert Freeman, spokesman for the oceanographer of the Navy.
Getting ready for possible Arctic missions is not without a wide-range of challenges, White and Freeman explained. There is not as much bandwidth, apparatus or infrastructure to support communications networks in the Arctic – and there are very few ports and bases for logistical support.

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/11/18/navy-prepares-fleet-for-more-arctic-missions/

le plus long/gros contrat que j´ai vu,$5,300,000,000 pour 914 contractors
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=5168

Citation :

21st Century Aircraft Carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Takes First Voyage

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Nov. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division launched Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) into the James River for the first time on Sunday. The first-of-class aircraft carrier was moved to the shipyard's Pier 3, where it will undergo additional outfitting and testing for the next 28 months.

Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Moved to Pier 3 Gerald R. Ford has been under construction in Dry Dock 12 since November 2009 and was moved about one mile south to the shipyard's Pier 3 with the assistance of six tugboats. The ship will be moored at Pier 3 to complete outfitting and testing. Habitability spaces, such as berthing and mess areas, will be completed, and distributive, mechanical and combat systems, such as catapults and radar arrays, will be tested. The ship is scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Navy in 2016.

"The ship's launch is always significant for her shipbuilders," said NNS Rolf Bartschi, NNS' vice president of CVN 78 carrier construction, "but I think it's an extra special experience this time because of Ford's unique qualities as the first ship of the class, and thanks to the close relationship shipbuilders have developed with CVN 78's sponsor, Susan Ford Bales. This milestone provides an opportunity for the shipbuilding team to reflect on all of the hard work that has been accomplished to ready the ship for launch, and I could not be more proud of our shipbuilding team."

http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com

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GAO finds Navy ship-to-shore communications lacking

The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship lacks the robust communications systems needed to transmit critical data to support facilities ashore, according to an unreleased congressional audit, the latest in a succession of troubles for the $34 billion shipbuilding program.
The lightly manned vessel relies on ship-to-shore communications to help crews monitor the ship's condition, perform repairs and order medical supplies, the Government Accountability Office said in its latest review of the LCS. The audit found that the communications systems lack the necessary reliability, speed and bandwidth.
The communications deficiencies add to criticism of the vessel, which is intended to be small, speedy, and adaptable for patrolling shallow waters close to shore in areas such as the Persian Gulf and South China Sea.
The program to build a total of 52 ships in two versions made by Lockheed Martin and Austal has faced an expanding list of questions about their manning, mission, firepower, defenses and survivability even as projected construction costs have soared and the Pentagon faces automatic budget cuts of about $500 billion over a decade.
"Until communications systems and bandwidth concerns are fully addressed," the fleet's ability "to share information with shore support facilities may be limited and could reduce the ship's operational availability," according to the report, dated Sept. 9 and labeled "For Official Use Only," that was obtained by Bloomberg News.
The GAO audit was based on an assessment of issues raised in four internal Navy reports last year.
Lt. Caroline Hutcheson, a Navy spokeswoman, said "a lot of effort is made in evaluating how to improve the Littoral Combat Ship," and the GAO's recommendations "have been part of detailed discussions as the Navy assesses the program."
The Navy's LCS Council, formed last year to review the program, "is addressing the ships' communications systems," Hutcheson said in an e-mail.
While the vessels have overcome early flaws, such as cracks and corrosion, according to the GAO, they face continued questions including their ability to survive a hit from antiship missiles.
Even in its surface warfare role, when all its weapons systems are working as intended, the vessel "is only capable of neutralizing" small fast-attack boats, like those Iran has, and it "remains vulnerable to ships" with antiship cruise missiles that can travel more than five miles (8 kilometers), according to a March 2012 Navy report.
Navy officials also have questioned the practicality of the ships' need to return to port to swap out modules tailored for duties such as surface warfare, countermine operations and antisubmarine missions.
An improvement plan issued by the LCS Council "included action items intended to address almost all" of 170 recommendations in the four Navy reports, the GAO said. The reports identified issues "such as insufficient manning of ships leading to crew fatigue," according to the auditing agency.
Senators debating the annual defense authorization bill may weigh the new 52-page report in considering whether to restrict funding for the next 28 vessels that the Navy may request in fiscal 2015. A previous report by the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found the Navy was buying vessels faster than it could test their design and performance.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., "is working to reach an agreement with other members on an amendment that would subject the LCS program to more scrutiny and performance-based benchmarks," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in an e- mailed statement.
Canceling the remaining 28 vessels would save as much as $18 billion from 2016 to 2023, the Congressional Budget Office said last week in a menu of possible ways to meet deficit- reduction goals.
Although the vessels will operate with crews of 40 to 50 — one-fourth to one-fifth smaller than other warships — their sailors must carry out the same administrative, operational and support functions. That means the ships must transmit to their home base in San Diego a myriad of data constantly to assess their readiness, identify requirements for preventive maintenance and perform other functions from deployments around the world.
The Navy hasn't fully tackled one major system's "insufficiency to handle LCS's constant data flow needs" and isn't "investigating or investing in communications system bandwidth and data redundancy that would mitigate system failure," the GAO found.
Navy officials acknowledged the importance of reliable ship-to-shore communications in their response to the GAO, saying effective monitoring of the vessel's maintenance data "prevented a catastrophic system failure" that "allowed the Navy to take mitigating actions and avoid significant costs."
The Navy is buying a steel-hulled version of the LCS made in Marinette, Wisc., by Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, as well as an aluminum trimaran version being built in Mobile, Ala., by Henderson, Australia-based Austal.
The first LCS to be deployed, the Lockheed-built USS Freedom, is scheduled to return late next month from a deployment to Singapore intended to assess the vessel's manning and maintenance concepts and its bandwidth sufficiency. It's currently under way to the Philippines to help in disaster relief after Typhoon Haiyan.
The nine-month deployment has been marred by breakdowns, including trouble with a cable in its waterjet steering system that's been corrected.
"One of the main reasons for this deployment was to push the ship and crews hard, and to identify areas that required improvement," Rear Adm. Cindy Thebaud, commander of the U.S. Navy's Logistics Group Western Pacific, said in an e-mail.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/11/gao-finds-navy-shiptoshore-communications-lacking

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Navy's Zumwalt destroyer important for Asia-Pacific

BATH, MAINE — The biggest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy will play an important role in the Pacific Ocean as the U.S. refocuses attention on the region, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told shipbuilders and sailors on Thursday.

With the stealthy-shaped Zumwalt serving as a backdrop, Hagel said the ship’s assignment to San Diego after it joins the fleet in 2016 “sends an important sign” about U.S. commitment to the Pacific region as the military bolsters its presence in response to Asia’s growing economic importance and China’s rise as a military power.

“It represents an important shift in our balance and assets and focus and America’s interest in the Asia-Pacific,” Hagel said. “We’re not retreating from any part of the world.”

Hagel spoke to crew members, shipbuilders and other naval personnel after touring the 610-foot-long Zumwalt, which is due to be christened in the spring at Bath Iron Works.

Afterward, he traveled to Canada’s Nova Scotia for a security conference.

The Zumwalt, which is far larger and heavier than current destroyers, was designed for shore bombardment and features two 155mm guns that fire rocket-propelled warheads, along with missiles and other weapons.

Originally envisioned as a “stealth destroyer,” the ship features a composite deckhouse that hides radar and antennas along with sharp angles that deflect radar signals. Its unusual wave-piercing hull was designed to minimize the ship’s wake.

Despite its larger size, the high-tech ship has so much automation that the crew size will be nearly halved from existing destroyers. Its gas turbine generators will produce 78 megawatts of electricity, enough to light up a small city — and to provide a platform for future weapons.

The Zumwalt’s big price tag — more than $3.5 billion — nearly caused the Navy to scuttle the program before reducing the number of ships to just three.

Despite its cost, the program seems to be on time and on budget for the time being, a rarity in an era of routine cost overruns and delays in new military programs.

On Thursday, Hagel praised the shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary, and addressed budget uncertainties created by sequestration that have left many of the 5,500 shipbuilders worrying about shipbuilding cuts and job security.

“We’re going through a difficult time but we’ll get through it,” he said.

Capt. James A. Kirk, the ship’s skipper, said afterward that the ship’s big guns and missiles provide a powerful strike capability. He said he’s looking forward to sailing down the Kennebec River and out to sea.

Asked about its ship’s unusual look, Kirk said it’s a “magnificent-looking” vessel.

“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever done,” he said.

http://www.militarytimes.com

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AAC and US Navy demonstrates advanced mine hunting capability


Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC), a joint venture between DRS Technologies and Thales, and the US Navy have successfully demonstrated advanced mine-hunting capabilities off the coast of Camp Pendleton, California, US.
During the at-sea demonstration, conducted as part of the 2013 Fleet Experimentation (FLEX) Unmanned Systems (UxS) campaign, the T-SAS system detected all exercise mines with increased area clearance rates.
The system also provided automatic target recognition (ATR) sonar processing, enabling operators to conduct real-time detection and classification of exercise mines while eliminating the need for post-mission analysis.
In coordination with the US Navy Mine and Antisubmarine Warfare Command (NMAWC), the US Naval Warfare Development Center (NWDC) had requested industry participation for a mine warfare capabilities demonstration intended to enhance large geographic area search or automate detection and classification of undersea mines and maritime IED.

T-SAS provides game-changing capability to the US Navy with increased area clearance rates and reduced the overall mine warfare detect-to-engage timeline.
The high-resolution SAS sensor, when combined with ATR processing, offers improved probability of correct classification and dramatically reduced false alarms for fleet operators.
An upgraded version of the TSM 2054 side scan sonar, the AAC T-SAS system can be towed from both manned and unmanned vessels.
The 2013 FLEX UxS campaign plan aims to identify potential solutions to address the highest priority operational needs of the US Navy fleet, according to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR).

http://www.naval-technology.com/news/newsaac-us-mine-hunting-capability

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Complex Repair Under Way On Submarine Montpelier




WASHINGTON — More than a year after a collision that tore off the upper rudder and damaged the hull, the submarine Montpelier remains under repair at Newport News Shipbuilding, Va. The work, envisioned early on as needing only a few months, turned out to be much more extensive, and the ship isn’t expected to be returned to full service until April.
The work has involved completely rebuilding the rudder assembly and replacing a large chunk of the pressure hull over the engine room.
“I can’t recall another collision that directly impacted the aft control surfaces,” Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, the deputy commander for undersea warfare at the Naval Sea Systems Command, said during an interview Nov. 18. “This repair has been a lot of things that we haven’t done before.”
The Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine was on maneuvers with the cruiser San Jacinto off the northeast Florida coast when, on Oct. 13, 2012, she was struck by the cruiser’s bow while rising to periscope depth. The sub tried to dive back down, but the stern was smacked by the cruiser’s large underwater sonar dome.
“There were actually two significant impacts between the San Jacinto and the Montpelier,” explained Jabaley.
“The first was on the aft starboard side of the engine room, causing a fairly significant dent in the pressure hull” — the portion of the submarine containing the crew, reactor and operating machinery.
“Then there was a bounce away, then a second impact in the vicinity of the rudder. That separated the upper rudder and knocked the lower rudder out of alignment, such that the lower rudder was scraping against the non-pressure hull when it was operated.”
The impact also caused a crack in the non-pressure hull, an area consisting largely of ballast tanks and free-flooding spaces.
No damage was suffered by the ship’s nuclear reactor, the Navy said.
Divers inspected the collision damage while the sub was at Kings Bay, Ga., and initially it appeared only a few months would be needed to repair the Montpelier, which had been scheduled to deploy soon after the exercises.
But when the submarine entered drydock some weeks later at Newport News, the true scope of the damage became more visible.
“Once in drydock it became apparent there was a significant dent in the pressure hull,” Jabaley said. “And there were two areas of additional damage in the non-pressure hull.” Together, “it resulted in significant growth in the scope of the repair work we had to do.”
The dent was relatively shallow — not even three inches deep at most — but it was serious.
“The strength of a submarine in terms of resistance to sea pressure, or events in a shock environment, such as a mine or torpedo detonation, comes from circularity,” Jabaley said. “We have tight specifications to make sure the pressure hull is as close to perfectly circular as possible. In this case, the dent was almost three inches deep, greatly exceeding our requirements. So it demanded full-scale replacement of a large segment of the hull in order to certify the ship for further operations.
“That’s not an easy task to cut that piece out, put another piece in and restore it to conditions of circularity.”
The dent was about 12 feet by six feet, but the shipyard cut out a section about 17 and a half feet by 11 and a half feet. “You have to go well beyond the dent to make sure you’ve captured everything,” said Jabaley.
Compounding the repairs was the location of the dent — just outside the densely-packed engine room, filled with complex machinery.
“This was in a place in the engine room where there was a ton of interference,” Jabaley said. “All this stuff adjacent to the hull had to be protected — removed in many cases — to allow this huge section of the pressure hull to be removed. Then a replacement section had to be fabricated and reinstalled.”
The veteran submarine engineer said he couldn’t recall a similar submarine repair job.
Fixing the rudder assembly presented a different set of challenges.
“The rudder is arranged with a big yoke in the middle for the propeller shaft to go through,” he said. “We had to remove the [propeller] shaft in order to repair the rudder. It wasn’t as simple as the top piece came off, let’s replace the top piece. We had to completely remove the components.”
Rather than fabricate a new rudder, the needed parts were taken off a decommissioned sister ship, the Salt Lake City.
The non-pressure hull near the rudder also needed repair.
“Completely restoring the rudder — a complete rudder assembly, including fabricating new parts, harvesting parts from another submarine, putting it all together and making it work within the tolerances required both for hydrodynamic performance, control of the ship, acoustic performance, all of the very strict requirements we levy upon ourselves, is a difficult task,” Jabaley said.
While the initial repair contract was for $32 million, the final tally is expected to come in around $60 million, he said.
The Montpelier, commissioned in 1993, is projected to have a service life of 33 years, taking her to 2026. When repaired, the ship is expected to carry out seven full deployments over its remaining 12-year life span.
Repairs to the San Jacinto were simpler, and completed in only a few months. The cruiser deployed in July and was recently operating in the Red Sea.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131121/DEFREG02/311210019/Complex-Repair-Under-Way-Submarine-Montpelier