Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Community Build Session 5
Just a friendly reminder, Session 5 of our "MSW Community Build" is nearing the end, make sure that you have your monthly progress photos uploaded and posted in your "BLOG" by 11/1/08, which will then close this session of the event!
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1814 - Launching of Fulton I, first American steam powered warship, at New York City. The ship was designed by Robert Fulton.
1955 - Ships of the 6th Fleet join U.S. military aircraft in evacuating American citizens from Egypt, Israel and Syria when war breaks out in the Middle East.
1980 - USS Parsons (DDG 33) rescues 110 Vietnamese refugees 330 miles south of Saigon.
1989 - A pilot making his 1st carrier landing and four others are killed when his plane crashes on the flight deck of of the training carrier Lexington (AVT 16) off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
CSC Receives $172 Million U.S. Navy Task Order to Provide Operations, Maintenance and Logistical Support Services
CSC announced today that the U.S. Navy has awarded the company a task order extension to continue providing operation, maintenance and logistical support services for the Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE). The contract has a one-year base period and four one-year options, bringing the estimated total five-year contract value to $172 million.
The task order was awarded under the Naval Sea Systems Command SEAPORT-Enhanced contract vehicle, originally awarded to CSC in 2004. This contract was awarded to CSC during the company's second quarter fiscal year 2009.
Under the terms of the agreement, CSC will provide comprehensive services to SCORE, the Navy's premier live-fire, multi-warfare training complex. Services include maintaining the entire range complex, including tracking instrumentation and target resources, as well as planning, briefing, conducting, analyzing and debriefing for more than 1,800 training events per year. CSC's technical services will support the SCORE mission to improve the combat readiness of Pacific Fleet air, surface and submarine units in all warfare areas.
"The SCORE range is critical to the combat readiness of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, and CSC's full range of operational, maintenance and logistical training services keeps range systems in a total state of readiness," said James W. Sheaffer, president of CSC's North American Public Sector line of business. "We are proud to continue our 23-year strategic partnership with the Navy by integrating high-technology applications and operations support to ensure combat readiness."
The Range Operations Center is located in San Diego, Calif., at the Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility, Naval Air Station, North Island. The range covers 100,000 square miles off the coast of San Diego, centering on San Clemente Island (Adversary Island).
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions & Services, Global Outsourcing Services and the North American Public Sector. CSC's advanced capabilities include systems design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 90,000 employees and reported revenue of $17.1 billion for the 12 months ended July 4, 2008.
Russian warship en route for anti-piracy mission off Somalia
A missile frigate from Russia's Baltic Fleet arrived at the port of Aden in Yemen on its way to join an international naval group fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia, the Russian Navy said.
"After water and food replenishments, the warship will carry out measures to protect shipping in the coastal waters of Somalia where sea pirates are active. In particular, the Neustrashimy frigate may escort passenger and merchant vessels," the Russian Navy said, adding that the warship had the right to use force, including weapons, against pirates.
The Neustrashimy (Fearless) frigate is to join an international naval group, which has surrounded a Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, after it was seized by Somali pirates on September 25. The Faina, which was carrying tanks and heavy weapons, has a crew of 17 Ukrainian nationals, two Russians, and one Lithuanian on board.
The Faina's Russian captain died of a heart attack after the vessel was seized. The pirates holding the ship have demanded an $8 million ransom, and have threatened to kill the hostages if a military operation is launched against them.
The Neustrashimy's armament includes SS-N-25 Switchblade anti-ship missiles, SA-N-9 Gauntlet SAM, a 100-mm gun, torpedoes and depth charges. The frigate also carries a Ka-27 ASW helicopter.
Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, which has no effective government and no navy to police its coastline. Somali pirates have seized around 30 ships so far this year off the coast of the east African nation.
Raytheon, U.S. Navy Demonstrate Unmanned Aircraft System Capability for Submarines
Raytheon Company and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport, demonstrated an unmanned aircraft system capability for submerged submarines Sept. 10.
The program, called Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities, simulated the submarine launch of a specialized UAS for collection of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information in a complex littoral environment.
"SOTHOC provides submerged submarines with the ability to use unmanned aircraft systems and will increase commanders' situational awareness and provide clarity to a fogged battlespace picture," said Ken Pedersen, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Advanced Programs. "In future demonstrations, we will deploy a UAS from an actual submerged submarine and evaluate its performance in the maritime interdiction mission."
During the demonstration, two submerged launch vehicles were deployed over the side of a surface ship. The vehicles descended to 80 feet, reverted to positive buoyancy, floated to the surface, stabilized in variable sea states, aligned into the wind, and then launched an inert representative UAS at precise orientation and velocity.
"The SOTHOC program is a government-industry partnership that complements organizational strengths to develop, integrate and test a capability that will provide a significant increase in warfighter performance," said Mark A. Rodrigues, department head, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport, Platform Payload Integration Department. "This capability will be a keystone for real-time situational awareness at significantly increased ranges."
Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.
Photo of the Day
Flight deck and squadron personnel participate in a foreign object debris inspection aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).
Gator
