Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Navy Word of the Day
Ahoy Shipmates!
Continuing on with your Naval education we bring you another installment of MSW’s Navy Word of the Day.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Navy Word of the Day
WW1 Warships Campaign
Ahoy mates! The World War I Warships campaign will be kicking off on May 15. If you haven’t signed up, please do. We would love to have you. If you have signed up, time to dust off those kits and get ready to start building.
Campaign HQ
HMS Dreadnought
Today’s website is HMS Dreadnought. From the Naval Historical Center website, here is a look at the ship that started it all, the HMS Dreadnought. Enjoy.
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1780 - Fall of Charleston, SC; three Continental Navy frigates (Boston, Providence, and Ranger) captured; and one American frigate (Queen of France) sunk to prevent capture.
1846 - U.S. declares war against Mexico.
1975 - SS Mayaguez seized by Khmer Rouge and escorted to Koh Tang Island.
1986 - Destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD 971) deters an Iranian Navy attempt to board a U.S. merchant ship.
BAE Systems, General Dynamics Submit Final Proposal on U.S. Navy Electronic Warfare System to Defeat Sophisticated Maritime Threats
Source: BAE Systems
HUDSON, N.H. --- BAE Systems and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems have submitted their final proposal to provide the surface-ship electronic warfare (EW) system for the U.S. Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 2 upgrade competition.
The next-generation SEWIP Block 2 system is designed to defeat increasingly sophisticated maritime threats by intercepting and classifying threat radars, particularly those on anti-ship cruise missiles. The BAE Systems and General Dynamics Sea Lightning team will seamlessly integrate EW open architecture capabilities with the Navy’s latest generation combat direction and management systems.
“Sea Lightning provides the foundation for electronic warfare in the maritime environment,” said Greg Smith, vice president of information dominance systems for BAE Systems. “It was born from the need to better protect Navy surface ships against the evolving cruise missile threat and will provide the Navy the capability they’ve asked for.”
“Our solution leverages the best electronic warfare capabilities of both BAE Systems and General Dynamics,” said Mike Tweed-Kent, vice president and general manager of integrated combat systems for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. “Our team is prepared to provide the Navy with the best technology upgrades at a lower cost and a shortened execution schedule.”
The SEWIP Block 2 will upgrade the Navy’s AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic support measures system. The AN/SLQ-32(V) provides early warning of enemy threats and initiates decoy engagements to defeat attacks by guided weapons. SEWIP Block 2 will upgrade the system’s receiver, antenna and combat system interface. The Navy is expected to award a contract in 2009.
MoD Announces the Way Forward for Naval Bases
Source: UK Ministry of Defence
Each of the UK's three naval bases will continue to play a vital role in supporting the Royal Navy, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said today as he announced the results of a review to seek ways to optimise the services they provide.
The review was undertaken to ensure that the Royal Navy has the best infrastructure in place to support its ships, submarines and new aircraft carriers. The principal decisions of the review are:
-- Faslane Naval Base will become the dedicated home for the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines - including the Future Deterrent - with the last attack submarine leaving Devonport in around 2017 on current plans;
-- The first and most complex war-fighting variant of the Royal Navy's planned next generation of frigates, named the Future Surface Combatant, will be based in Portsmouth from entry into service to maximise the benefits of basing them alongside the Type 45 destroyers and Aircraft Carriers;
-- Devonport is the dedicated home of the amphibious fleet and survey vessels and subject to final approval a force of Royal Marines' landing craft and the associated RM personnel will transfer there. It will retain its world class sea training capability, Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST);
-- Subject to commercial negotiations the majority of surface ship major refits will go to Devonport once work on the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers starts to increase. Some major refit work will occasionally be done at Portsmouth to retain skills;
Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said:
"Each of our naval bases has a strong future under the plans we have laid out today. We have undertaken an extensive review to ensure that we match the infrastructure in place at the Naval Bases to the needs of the Royal Navy of the future. The review has identified changes that will align the way in which we provide that support, reducing overheads and excess infrastructure by developing the specialisations at each of the bases - and we're confident these changes will lead to savings of several hundreds of millions of pounds.
"We hope that today's announcement provides clarity and removes uncertainty for our people, our industrial partners and the wider community. We are committed to giving our service personnel adequate notice of any relocation, therefore no base porting changes will take place for five years."
Vice Admiral Andy Mathews, Chief of Materiel Fleet at MOD Defence Equipment and Support said:
"We need to optimise the support provided in all three naval bases to meet the Royal Navy's current and future operational needs. We are working closely with our industrial partners to develop plans that will ensure stability for naval personnel, civil servants, our industrial partners and for the broader communities, while delivering the best value for money for defence."
The entire Royal Navy fleet of more than 80 warships and submarines are based at three UK naval bases: the Clyde in Scotland, Portsmouth in Hampshire and Devonport in Plymouth.
BACKGROUND NOTES:
1. These decisions have been taken as part of a review; the evolution of the Naval Base Review which concluded in 2007 that all three Naval Bases should be retained yet optimised.
2. The youngest three Trafalgar class submarines, HMS Trenchant, HMS Talent and HMS Triumph, will relocate to Faslane incrementally, while the remaining four submarines of the class will continue to be base ported in Devonport until the end of their service lives.
3. The entire Royal Navy fleet of more than 80 warships and submarines are based at three UK naval bases: the Clyde in Scotland, Portsmouth in Hampshire and Devonport in Plymouth.
4. MOD will look carefully at further less complex variants of the FSC and consider the optimal base porting for these vessels taking into account similarities with existing classes. This work will inform the decision about whether there is any case to change the base porting of the Type 23 frigates.
5. No decisions on the location of submarine dismantling work will be taken until a Strategic Environmental Assessment and public consultation have been completed later this year.
F-35 Lightning II Brings 5th Generation Capabilities to the Navy
Source: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
WASHINGTON --- A Lockheed Martin executive said Friday that the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II will help meet the challenges of future forces across the range of military operations.
"The F-35 was designed to operate and survive in high-threat battlespace defined by advanced surface-to-air missile systems, and while outnumbered by top-of-the-line 4th generation fighters - a distinct probability for future combat scenarios faced by naval aviators," said Steve O'Bryan, vice president of Lockheed Martin F-35 Business Development. "The F-35 will incorporate the most advanced net-enabled mission systems, sensor and communications suite ever fielded in a fighter aircraft. It will be a key node in the kind of information-collection and distribution networks so valuable to sea, land and air forces today and in the future."
Speaking Friday at a U.S. Navy League media luncheon at the Lockheed Martin Fighter Demonstration Center in Crystal City, Va., O'Bryan noted that, "The character of warfare isn't static - it isn't simply about lethality or a better sheaf of thunderbolts. In recent conflict we've seen wider distribution of forces and capabilities across more complex environments. This has highlighted the increased value of information exchange and collaboration - functions that the F-35 is designed to participate in and to enable." The luncheon preceded the Navy League Sea Air Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md., May 4-6.
O'Bryan pointed to the pillars of the F-35 program - affordability, survivability, lethality and supportability - and highlighted the F-35's value proposition. "As a 5th generation fighter, the F-35 is redefining the term 'multi-role fighter' by combining unprecedented situational awareness, net-enabled systems, sensor fusion, advanced sustainment, stealth and fighter performance in an affordable and supportable package. These next-generation capabilities will maintain the U.S. Navy as the premier sea force for decades to come.
"The key to affordability is the commonality of the tri-variant design of the F-35, with two interchangeable engines, a sustainment tool set and a common avionics system and air frame," O'Bryan said. "The F-35 provides 'best value' in a package that not only deters hostilities and ensures national sovereignty, but enhances interoperability among the services and allied nations.
"The F-35 will be flown by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as our closest allies. This, combined with the unmatched interoperability of the F-35, will be essential to link the 1,000-ship Navy and the 100-wing Air Force," O'Bryan added.
The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter. Three F-35 variants derived from a common design, developed together and using the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.
Photo of the Day
SMS Moltke underway.
Gator
