Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
On Display – 1/35 PT-596
Here is the latest naval project from Ed Sarao (liberator). Enjoy another great built of the Italeri 1/35 PT-Boat.
On Display
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
Today’s website is the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. More than just a collection of artifacts, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is a premier cultural attraction for the Atlantic Seaboard and one of the finest, most innovative maritime facilities in the nation. Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1813 - USS Essex takes the Peruvian corsair ship Nereyda, marking the first capture by the Navy in the Pacific.
1898 - Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt proposes the Navy investigates the military application of Samuel Langley's flying machine, beginning naval aviation.
1915 - F-4 (SS 23) becomes the first American submarine casualty, sinking off the coast of Honolulu.
Providing Anti Air Warfare Capability: the Type 45 Destroyer
Source: UK National Audit Office
The project to replace the UK’s ageing Anti Air Warfare capability, which is currently provided by the Type 42 destroyer, has suffered significant delays of over two years and costs have escalated to some £6½ billion, up by nearly 30 per cent from initial estimates of £5 billion. More recently, the project has progressed well, with key milestones, such as completion of sea trials, being met, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office.
The problems arose because of over-optimism about what could be achieved, inappropriate commercial arrangements and, in the early stages, poor project management. The MOD has taken action to resolve these problems and in 2007 reviewed and renegotiated the ship contract with BAE Systems which subsequently merged with VT to become BVT. Since then, there have been no further cost increases or delays to the project.
The MOD has extended the service life of the older Type 42s because of the delay in bringing the Type 45 destroyers into use. The Type 45 destroyers will provide much more capability than the Type 42s. In addition to being able to engage multiple hostile aircraft or missiles simultaneously, they will have better accommodation for personnel, more fuel efficient engines and be able to operate the Lynx, Merlin and Chinook helicopters.
The Type 45 destroyers will be equipped with the new Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) which is being developed jointly between the French, Italian and British governments. Daring, the first ship of class, will enter into service with the PAAMS system performance having been tested elsewhere but before the missile is first fired from a destroyer the following year.
As part of the MOD’s plan to fit a number of equipments incrementally on ships after they have come into service, the full capability of the Type 45 will not be available until the middle of the next decade. These include the final elements of PAAMS, communications equipments and the Co-operative Engagement Capability which provides a clearer picture of the battle space and has a current target date of 2014 for installation.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said today:
"The early years of the Type 45 destroyer project were beset by problems. The Ministry of Defence is currently controlling costs and timescales successfully; but it now needs to focus on installing the other equipment the ships need to obtain their full capability and on getting to grips with developing an effective support solution to be ready in time to support these destroyers."
Defence Minister Quentin Davies has today commented on the National Audit Office (NAO) report "Providing Anti Air Warfare Capability: the Type 45 destroyer."
Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies said:
"The NAO rightly acknowledges the progress made with the Type 45 destroyer programme. Key milestones, such as completion of sea trials have been met ahead of schedule. These are complex, sophisticated warships and where problems arose in the early stages MOD gripped the issue, renegotiated contracts where required and got the programme on track - the first of these impressive destroyers, HMS Daring, sailed into Portsmouth, her future base port in January this year.
“I have been following this programme closely since my appointment, and I am pleased to be able to say that progress with both building and sea trials is currently going very well. Four ships are in the water (Daring, Dauntless, Diamond and Dragon) while the other two vessels (Defender and Duncan) are well under construction and the powerful SeaViper missile system has undergone two successful test firings. These ships will form one of the essential pillars of the Royal Navy in the 21st Century."
The first in Class, Daring, is due to enter service in late 2010 and the remaining vessels will enter service progressively through to the middle of the next decade.
BACKGROUND NOTES:
1. Designed primarily to provide air defence protecting forces against enemy aircraft and missiles, the Type 45s are extremely versatile and able to undertake a broad range of missions from combat to humanitarian assistance. They will be able to carry a significant number of extra personnel, such as troops or evacuated personnel, on board. Top quality accommodation has been fitted so the crew can live and work in comfort and they also have their own hospital facilities, complete with operating table.
2. The six ships:
a) HMS Daring was launched in February 2006 and completed her contractor sea trials in September 2008. She was handed over to the MoD from the shipbuilder BVT on 10 December 2008 and set sail from the Govan dockyard on the Clyde on January 16 2009 for the journey down to Portsmouth arriving at her base in Portsmouth 28 January 2009.
b) Dauntless was launched in January 2007 and completed her first set of sea trials on 12 December 2008.
c) Diamond was launched in November 2007 and her first set of sea trials are scheduled to begin in summer 2009.
d) Dragon - was launched in November 2008 and her first set of sea trials are scheduled to begin in 2010.
e) Defender and Duncan - both vessels are still being built and are due to be launched in late 2009 and late 2010 respectively.
3. Sea Viper, formerly known as PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System) is a Maritime area air defence system composed of the Sampson radar, which is immensely powerful and sophisticated. The system is designed to deal with multiple simultaneous attacks by the most advanced anti-ship missiles in existence or envisaged.
Navy Will Offer Up Carrier & Air Wing In Quadrennial Review
Source: Lexington Institute
The word within the Pentagon is that the White House wants to collect 6-8 "scalps" -- major program kills -- in this year's Quadrennial Defense Review. Some of the cuts are already being considered as defense secretary Robert Gates rewrites the 2010 budget. You can expect to hear a lot of rumors about which programs are being targeted between now and when the Pentagon releases details of its budget request in April.
But while most of the military services are scrambling to protect programs, at least one is getting ready to offer up a signature weapons system. The Navy will propose removal of one aircraft carrier and air wing from its posture, dropping the number of carriers to the lowest number since 1942.
Of course, today's carriers make World War Two carriers look like toys. With nuclear propulsion, supersonic fighters, and over four acres of deck space, they are the biggest warships in history. But at any given time some are being repaired, some are being replenished, some are in training and some are in transit; if the fleet is cut to ten then maybe half a dozen will be available for quick action on any given day. Congress didn't think that was enough, so it mandated in law that at least eleven carriers must be maintained in the force.
But with big bills coming from the Obama Administration and other items like healthcare costs pressuring Navy budgets, the service has repeatedly sought relief from that requirement. This year's quadrennial review is the likely venue for another such bid.
The issue is coming to a head now because the pace of new carrier commissionings is not keeping up with the rate of retirements. Kitty Hawk, the last carrier in the fleet powered by fossil fuels, was removed from the force last summer after nearly 50 years of service. The Navy plans to decommission the nuclear-powered Enterprise in November of 2012, leaving the fleet with only the ten flattops of the Nimitz class for three years, until the next-generation Ford class of carriers debuts in September of 2015. Going to ten isn't supposed to happen under present law, but since the service hasn't made budgetary provisions for maintaining the Enterprise and its crew until the Ford class arrives, it looks like ten carriers will be the total number in the fleet.
In the current budget environment, once the Navy gets used to having ten carriers, that's probably where it will stay. Navy insiders think the service will decide to forego the refueling of the Lincoln, which is scheduled for 2012. And when the decision to stay at ten is formalized, the service can also move to eliminate one of its carrier wings. That step would cut the Navy's projected shortfall in strike aircraft by half.
So billions of dollars are saved by skipping the refueling, cutting the purchase of aircraft, and eliminating the need to sustain 6,000 personnel associated with ship operations and air-wing support.
There's only one problem with all this. It reduces the nation's capacity to project power from the sea at the same time access to foreign bases is becoming doubtful. And why is such a move necessary? Because the Obama Administration has decided to stick with Bush-era plans to grow the size of ground forces by 92,000 personnel, and the Navy must pay part of the bill for that.
Yet the administration is getting ready to depart Iraq, which was the main reason for increasing the size of ground forces in the first place. There are precious few other places where the warfighting scenarios for the next QDR suggest a big ground force will be needed. Most of the scenarios envision reliance on air power for the big fights of the future -- the kind of air power delivered by carriers.
So cutting carriers to build a bigger ground force doesn't make much sense.
Sea King Helicopter Celebrates 50th Anniversary of First Flight
Source: US Naval Air Systems Command
NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, Patuxent River, Md. --- The H-3 Sea King helicopter community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the aircraft’s historic first flight March 11.
The Sea King is a twin-engine, all-weather, amphibious helicopter used for numerous roles that include anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, search and rescue, transport, communications, airborne early warning and executive transport.
“The Sea King was the Jack of all trades and master of all,” said Capt. James “Walleye” Wallace, Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft (PMA-207) program manager. “It’s saved thousands of lives, protected fleets of ships, recovered astronauts and has flown the President of the United States from 1961 to today.”
The Sea King was built in four countries, the United States, England, Italy and Japan and is operated by more than 20 countries around the world. More than 1,500 military and commercial versions have been built worldwide.
Currently, there are three Sea Kings still in the Navy inventory, all based here for search and rescue missions.
“Once the Sea King is finally retired from U.S. Navy service, it will still continue to serve for years to come,” said Wallace. “We’ve received many queries from countries wanting to buy our retired Sea Kings for their own fleets.”
PMA-207 continues to support many active H-3 Sea King Foreign Military Sales customers around the world.
Photo of the Day
The Los Angeles-class submarine USS Annapolis (SSN 760) is on the surface of the Arctic Ocean after breaking through three feet of ice during Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2009.
Gator
