Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



Feature - RMS QE2
It is time to take a stroll around the lido deck as Kostas Katseas [ ANGELEYES ] brings us his Curnad Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1/600 scale.
Feature




Queen Elizabeth 2

Today’s website is the Queen Elizabeth 2. The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she is commonly known was the flagship of the Cunard Line for over 30 years. QE2 made her maiden voyage in 1969. Enjoy.
[url=http://www.qe2.org.uk/[/url]




This Day in U.S. Naval History

1853 - Five Navy ships leave Norfolk, Va., on three-year exploring expedition to survey the far Pacific.
1927 - USS Memphis arrives at Washington, D.C., with Charles Lindbergh and his plane, Spirit of St. Louis, after his non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
1944 - U.S. battleships off Normandy provide gunfire support.
1953 - Navy ships evacuate 20,000 Koreans from West Coast Islands to safety south of 17th parallel.


Raytheon Demonstrates New Submarine Communications Technology for UK Royal Navy
Source: Raytheon Company

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. --- Raytheon Company demonstrated the ability to communicate in real time with a submerged submarine at classified speeds and depths.

This capability, which addresses one of the most significant shortfalls in submarine communications, was exhibited for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy during an at-sea trial of Raytheon's Deep Siren Tactical Paging (DSTP) system.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence reported that Deep Siren demonstrated "the first step toward a transformational capability that will change the way we operate submarines in the future."

The evaluation, which took place during the U.K. Royal Navy's TAURUS 09 deployment, follows U.S. Navy testing conducted in 2008 that culminated with a successful military utility assessment.

Raytheon is also currently working on airborne certification of Deep Siren, which will allow the system's buoys to be deployed via aircraft.

"The Deep Siren system is a vital command and control communications link that provides never-before available capability," said Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems Integrated Communications Systems. "This system once again demonstrated its utility and reliability, proving that we are ready to move forward with production."

The trial validated that DSTP system buoys can be used to communicate with submarines at underwater ranges significantly greater than 100 nautical (115 statute) miles. It also demonstrated that Deep Siren can significantly accelerate the process to communicate with a submarine by passing tactical messages between a commander and submarine in real time. The U.K. Royal Navy used Deep Siren to share contact information with a submarine, providing positions for both friendly and enemy forces.


Argon ST Among Companies Selected for U.S. Navy's Integrated Topside Initiative IDIQ Contract
Source: Argon ST, Inc.

FAIRFAX, Va. --- Argon ST, Inc., a leading systems engineering, development and services company providing full-service C5ISR (command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems and services to a wide range of defense and intelligence customers, today announced that it was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) to provide system development support for the Integrated Topside (InTop) program.

A new initiative by the ONR, InTop aims to integrate topside radio frequency capabilities into multi-functional solutions using common apertures and processing equipment to reduce antenna clutter, mitigate electromagnetic interference (EMI), and reduce radar cross-section (RCS) for U.S. Navy platforms.

Argon is one of several companies approved to provide solutions that support the study, design, fabrication, integration, and test & evaluation (T&E) tasks anticipated for the formulation of Advanced Development Models (ADMs) and subsequent Engineering Development Models (EDM), followed by Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of component systems of InTop systems on various Naval platforms.

The contract, an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with a five-year period of performance, has a maximum value of $500 million. Argon will compete with other awardees for task orders to support the InTop mission.

“With any given ship suite of sensor, weapon and control systems, ship topside architecture and design has more influence over realized ship warfare mission capability than any other ship system or engineering design discipline,” commented Kerry Rowe, President and Chief Operating Officer, Argon ST. “We are honored to have been selected to participate in a program that will define the next generation of U.S. Navy surface ships.”

Terry Collins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Argon ST said, “This award builds on the strong momentum our maritime business has experienced in recent months. We believe we are well-positioned to successfully compete for the upcoming task orders. Our broad industry involvement and experience in creating capable, adaptable and affordable ship sensor designs together with our expertise in emerging system technologies geared towards improved ship capabilities and flexibility are central requirements of the InTop program.”


Photo of the Day



The beautiful Queen Elizabeth 2.

Gator