Ahoy mates and welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Let’s see what going on today.
Feature – USS Massachusetts, July 1944 Refit
MSW Crew-mate Dave Hill (DaveHill) send us his first MSW submission, a fantastic build of the USS Massachusetts after her refit in July 1944 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, in this MSW Build Feature!
Feature
On Display - "SSGN K-186 “Omsk”
Take a look at Rui Matos' (skipper) great new "On Display" feature of the SSGN K-186 “Omsk”.
On Display
Ozmods Now Takes PayPal
You can now use PayPal to purchase Ozmod’s and Scaledown products. As in the past, all major credit cards also accepted.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1926 - Navy brings relief aid to Miami after a severe hurricane.
1936 - Squadron 40-T, based in the Mediterranean, established to protect U.S. interests and citizens around Iberian peninsula throughout the Spanish Civil War.
1941 - U.S. Navy ships escort eastbound British trans-Atlantic convoy for first time (Convoy HX-150). Although the U.S. Navy ships joined HX-150, which left port escorted by British ships on 16th, the official escort duty began on 18th.
1947 - National Security Act becomes effective.
Navy Awards $5 Billion Contract for Future Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford
The Navy awarded a $5.1 billion contract to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News Sept. 10 for the detail design and construction of the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the lead ship in the Navy's newest class of aircraft carrier.
Under this contract, Northrop Grumman will complete the detail design and construction of CVN 78, which includes engineering; integration; related development efforts including drawing and work package development; advanced planning; design weight estimate; lifecycle support products and related logistics data; production planning; test and evaluation; further definition of initiatives to reduce CVN 78 class total ownership costs; and data necessary to support construction of CVN 78.
"This is an exciting day for the CVN 78 Program Office and for the Navy," said Capt. Brian Antonio, CVN 78 program manager in the Program Executive Office for Aircraft Carriers.
"When USS Gerald R. Ford is delivered to the fleet in 2015, it will bring superior warfighting capability and meaningful quality-of-life improvements for Sailors, in addition to greatly reduced lifecycle costs. Most important, CVN 78-class carriers will be able to adapt and evolve to defend this nation and our allies well into the 21st century," he said.
CVN 78 is the Navy's first major investment in aircraft carrier design in more than three decades and features many improvements over the 1960's Nimitz-class design. CVN 78 includes a new flight deck with an improved weapons handling system, advanced arresting gear, a completely re-engineered electro-magnetic aircraft launch system, new and simplified nuclear propulsion plants, a new electrical power generation system and reconfigurable design architecture.
"Together, these improvements provide transformational warfighting capabilities and enable reduced manning, ultimately reducing the total ownership cost of each Ford-class carrier by approximately $5 billion over the life of the ship," said Antonio.
CVN 78 was officially named Gerald R. Ford by the Secretary of the Navy in January 2007 and will be constructed in Newport News, Va. The keel is scheduled to be laid in late 2009, and the ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. The Navy plans to build 11 Ford-class aircraft carriers, and construction of Ford-class aircraft carriers is projected to continue through 2058.
Russia's Pacific Fleet holds live firing drills in Far East
A naval task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet has started scheduled exercises involving live firing in the Sea of Japan, a fleet spokesman said on Monday.
"For the next few days the warships will conduct a series of training exercises, which mainly involve live firing at simulated targets," the source said.
He said the Admiral Vinogradov and Marshal Shaposhnikov large ASW ships will practice on Monday AA artillery and SAM firing at a target drone.
"During the next stage of the exercise, the ships will fire anti-ship missiles at a surface target," the source said.
The current drills are the third in a series of combat training exercises conducted by the Pacific Fleet in the past month. Two previous exercises off Russia's Far East coast involved over 50 warships and submarines, along with naval aircraft and naval infantry.
Russia also announced last week that strategic submarines from the Russian Pacific Fleet would conduct test launches of ballistic missiles at the Kura test site in Kamchatka on September 15-20.
SCG Topaz to Arrive India for Extended Refit
Topaz, the frontline patrol ship of the Seychelles Coast Guard proceeded to India on 06 Sep 08 for major repairs and dry-docking. The ship was seen off by representatives of the SCG and the Indian Naval Advisor (Technical). An Indian Naval Warship waiting outside the territorial waters of Seychelles took her undertow.
Seychelles Coast Guard Ship Topaz is scheduled to arrive in Indian waters on the morning of 13 Sep 08. This is the ship's first port of call after the Indian Govt gifted her to the SCG in Feb 2005. The ship is a potent Fast attack craft and was earlier commissioned in Indian navy as INS Tarmugli 09 Mar 2002. The ship is on its way to Visakhapatnam where the ship's refit would be conducted. It is estimated that the ship's refit including the dry-docking will cost approximately USD 4 million.
The ship will undergo major repairs on its underwater and above water hull including shafting and propellers. Major overhauls would also be undertaken on its Main Engines, Diesel Generators, AC Plants, HP Air Compressors and other auxiliaries.
The ship, with a complement of four officers and thirty-three sailors and a maximum speed of 27 knots, is tasked to detect, locate and destroy fast moving surface craft, bearing terrorist groups engaged in anti-national activities and also for anti-smuggling, fisheries protection and search and rescue (SAR). The ship is also capable of mobilizing a Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of up to a garrison of 35 men at short notice.
Maritime concerns of littoral states in the IOR range from apprehensions about illegal EEZ exploitation to the most dreadful concerns such as terrorist attacks on maritime assets. The Indian Navy appreciates that smaller littorals within the IOR are inadequately equipped to face such serious security challenges. Therefore, the Indian Navy is continuously engaged in a process of mutual cooperation with IOR littorals for enhancing maritime security in the region. The latest initiative in this direction is the IONS movement that proposes all IOR countries to discuss issues on a common platform and share concerns collectively and individually.
Vought to Provide Wings for U.S. Navy BAMS Maritime Surveillance Aircraft
Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. said today that it will supply the wings for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s platform aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s new Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) program.
“We are honored to be a part of a vital aircraft program that supports and protects our nation,” said Dennis Orzel, vice president, Vought Integrated Aerosystems Division. There are about 70 people in Dallas and 20 in Milledgeville, Ga., who work on Vought’s Global Hawk program.
Vought has been on the Global Hawk program since May 2001, responsible for the wing fabrication, assembly and structural testing. The company built two prototype and nine production wing sets under its initial contract with Northrop Grumman for the original Block 10 version. Vought has delivered 14 wings for the Block 20 version of Global Hawk – the RQ-4N’s platform. The Block 20 version features an increased wing span of approximately 15 feet, allowing it to carry more fuel and fly longer missions than its predecessor.
Vought uses commercially available graphite and epoxy materials, including high modulus unidirectional tape, in the fabrication of the Global Hawk wing. The RQ-4 wing is 130.9 feet long, weighs about 4,000 pounds and is the longest wing ever delivered from Vought’s Dallas facility.
Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4N, a maritime derivative of the RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle, will be the platform for the BAMS UAS suite of maritime surveillance sensors and communications systems. When operational, the BAMS UAS will play a key role in providing commanders with a persistent, reliable picture of surface threats, covering vast areas of open ocean and littoral regions.
Pentagon Contract Announcement
Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $358,694,214 modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-fee multi-year contract (N00019-07-C-0001) for five additional CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft to the current multi-year V-22 production contract.
Pursuant to the Variation in Quantity clause, this procurement will bring the number of CV-22 aircraft on this contract from 26 to 31.
Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pa., (50 percent); Fort Worth, Texas, (35 percent); and Amarillo, Texas, (15 percent), and is expected to be completed in Oct. 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Photo of the Day
The Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) steams through the Atlantic Ocean.
Gator
