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



Review - Flyhawk Takao PE/Resin Upgrade Set
MSW Crewmember D.T. (DR_WHO2) brings us an in-box review of Flyhawk Models 1/350 IJN Takao Premium Detail Set.
Review


"What If" Campaign at Armorama
Armorama is launching a “What If” campaign that looks to be quite fun. Upon first look, ships will be included.
Campaign




Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

Today’s website is the Tybee Island Light Station. The Tybee Island Light Station is one of America's most intact Light Stations, having all of its historic support buildings still on its five acre site. Enjoy.
Website




This Day in U.S. Naval History

1797 - Naval Regulations passed by Congress.
1800 - First convoy duty; USS Essex escorts convoy of merchant ships from East Indies to U.S.
1801 - U.S. squadron under Commodore Dale enters Mediterranean to strike Barbary Pirates.
1850 - Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy.
1851 - Naval Academy adopts four year course of study.
1911 - Trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1. The designer, Glenn Curtiss, makes first flight in Navy's first aircraft, A-1, at Lake Keuka, N.Y., then prepares Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, for his two solo flights in A-1.
1914 - Prohibition of alcohol begins in the Navy.
1916 - Establishment of informal school for officers assigned to submarines at New London, Conn.
1946 - First of two detonations, Operation Crossroads nuclear test.
1951 - Responsibility for the Government of Trust Territories transferred from Navy to Department of Interior.
1972 - Date of rank of Rear Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely Jr., who was first U.S. Navy admiral of African-American descent.


Ministry Of Defence: Type 45 Destroyer
Source: House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts

Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: "The Type 45 destroyer is an impressive and sophisticated piece of air defence naval weaponry, based largely on new technology. Our Committee saw for itself just how advanced the ship is in terms of manoeuvrability and speed. But the risks to the successful delivery of the Type 45 were poorly judged.

"Persistent over-optimism and underestimation of the technical challenge, combined with inappropriate commercial arrangements, led to burgeoning costs and serious delays.

"It is encouraging though to hear that the Department appears to be applying the lessons from the Type 45 project and its actions to turn the project around to its programme to procure the two aircraft carriers.

"HMS Daring, the first of the six Type 45s, will not now enter service until the end of 2009, over two years late and £1.5 billion over the original budgeted cost. What is disgraceful is that it will enter service with not one of its main anti-air missiles having been fired from the ship - and it will not be fully operational until 2011. The fleet of Type 45s will not have their full capability until well into the next decade. As a result, the existing Type 42 destroyers are having to be patched up and kept in service for longer.

"In the Committee's view, there are two deeply worrying implications for the UK's air defence capability. One is our having to rely for a number of years on ageing vessels designed and built for the Cold War. The other is that, even when the full complement of six Type 45s is fully operational, this number of new destroyers falls short of the 12 originally planned and then eight subsequently proposed, making it very difficult for the MOD to meet its requirement of having five ships at sea at any one time."

Mr Leigh was speaking as the Committee published its 30th Report of this Session which, on the basis of evidence from the Ministry of Defence, examined capability provided by the Type 45 Destroyer, the reasons for the cost increases and delays on the project, and the lessons learnt for the Carrier project and support contract.

The Type 45 Destroyer is being procured to form the backbone of the Royal Navy's air defence capability for the next 30 years, and will provide a very impressive capability compared to the Type 42 Destroyers which is it designed to replace. There have been a number of problems on the project, meaning it will enter service over two years late and £1.5 billion over its original budget.

The Department has had to extend the life of the Type 42 Destroyers for longer than originally planned as a result of the delays to the Type 45. These ships are increasingly expensive to maintain, provide a more limited capability than the Type 45 and are more vulnerable to the most up to date threats from a modern enemy.

The Department originally planned to buy 12 ships. However, because of reduced threat, revised planning assumptions and an intended improved network capability, this number shrunk to eight and eventually just six. Despite this, the Department's requirement to have five ships at sea at any one time remains unchanged. It will be more challenging for the Department to meet this requirement with only six ships.

The problems on the Type 45 project result from the Department's failure to take sufficient account of the technical risks involved in such a complex project in its estimates of the likely costs and timescales to deliver, or in the commercial construct which it agreed, which led to a poor relationship with industry. Following a far-reaching review of the project, the contract was renegotiated in 2007, and there have been no further cost increases or delays since then.

Although the Type 45 will enter service in 2009, it is a disgrace that it will do so without a PAAMS missile having been fired from the ship, and will not achieve full operational capability until 2011. Other equipments and capabilities which will enhance the ship's ability to conduct anti-air warfare operations will not be fitted until after the ship enters service in some cases.

It is essential that the Department learns the lessons from both the failures and successes on this project, and applies them to its other programmes such as the Carrier, if it is to avoid a repeat of the cost overruns and time delays that have been a feature of so many of its major Defence projects. The Department also needs to apply the lessons in taking forward its longer-term support arrangements for the Type 45, which have yet to be finally agreed.


Lockheed Martin Installs Next Evolution of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System on Cruiser USS Lake Erie
Source: Lockheed Martin

MOORESTOWN, N.J. --- Lockheed Martin installed the latest evolution of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System – which includes a new ballistic missile defense signal processor, Aegis BSP – on the cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70). Over the next year, USS Lake Erie will complete a series of tests, leading up to full certification of the system upgrade by the U.S. Navy in early 2011.

The Aegis BMD 4.0.1 system represents the next incremental capability upgrade that has been the hallmark of Aegis and its “build a little, test a little, learn a lot” systems engineering philosophy. The upgrade’s new Aegis BSP processor improves the system's ability to detect, track and target complex ballistic missiles and their associated countermeasures. The addition of BMD 4.0.1 also integrates the new Standard Missile-3 Block IB missile in late 2010.

“The signal processor is a major technical advance for Aegis BMD before it merges with the Navy’s Aegis Modernization Program’s fully open architecture, multi-mission combat system,” said Orlando Carvalho, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Surface/Sea-Based Missile Defense line of business. “The continued Aegis program emphasis on systems engineering excellence supports the Navy’s desire to expand BMD capability to additional cruisers and destroyers, and grow missile defense capability to pace the threat.”

While USS Lake Erie begins advanced testing with Aegis BMD 4.0.1 to support 2011 certification timeline, the other U.S. Navy Aegis BMD-capable ships are now installing the recently-certified Aegis BMD 3.6.1 version that adds the capability to defeat short-range ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere in their final (terminal) stage of flight to the existing exo-atmospheric capability. The ongoing develop-test-field process provides incremental enhancements that continue to build on each other and move new capability to the fleet faster. Three additional U.S. East Coast-based Aegis-equipped ships also will receive Aegis BMD 3.6.1 to perform ballistic missile defense by early 2010.

The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States’ Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Currently, a total of 20 Aegis BMD-equipped warships – 18 in the U.S. Navy and two in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force – have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and track missions.

The Aegis Weapon System is the world’s premier naval defense system and the sea-based element of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System. Its precision SPY-1 radar and integrated command and controls system seamlessly guides the interceptor and uplinks target track information to the missile for terminal homing. Its ability to detect, track and engage targets ranging from sea-skimming cruise missiles to ballistic missiles in space is proven and unmatched. The Aegis BMD Weapon System also integrates with the BMDS, receiving track data from and providing track information to other BMDS elements.

The 91 Aegis-equipped ships currently in service around the globe have more than 950 years of at-sea operational experience and have launched more than 3,500 missiles in tests and real-world operations. In addition to the U.S. and Japan, Aegis is the maritime weapon system of choice for Australia, Norway, South Korea and Spain.

Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, including the first operational hit-to-kill missile defense system, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3). It also has considerable experience in interceptor systems, kill vehicles, battle management command, control and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as radar and other sensors that enable signal processing and data fusion. The company makes significant contributions to nearly all major U.S. Missile Defense Systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.




Assessments Needed to Address V-22 Aircraft Operational and Cost Concerns to Define Future Investments
Source: Government Accountability Office

As of January 2009, the 12 MV-22s (Marine Corps variant of the V-22) in Iraq successfully completed all missions assigned in a low threat-theater of operations—using their enhanced speed and range to engage in general support missions and deliver personnel and internal cargo faster and farther than the legacy helicopters being replaced.

Noted challenges to operational effectiveness raise questions about whether the MV-22 is best suited to accomplish the full repertoire of missions of the helicopters it is intended to replace. Additionally, suitability challenges, such as unreliable component parts and supply chain weaknesses, led to low aircraft availability rates.

MV-22 operational tests and training exercises identified challenges with the system’s ability to operate in other environments. Maneuvering limits and challenges in detecting threats may affect air crew ability to execute correct evasive actions. The aircraft’s large size and inventory of repair parts created obstacles to shipboard operations.

Identified challenges could limit the ability to conduct worldwide operations in some environments and at high altitudes similar to what might be expected in Afghanistan. Efforts are underway to address these deficiencies, but some are inherent in the V-22’s design.

V-22 costs have risen sharply above initial projections—1986 estimates (stated in fiscal year 2009 dollars) that the program would build nearly 1000 aircraft in 10 years at $37.7 million each have shifted to fewer than 500 aircraft at $93.4 million each—a procurement unit cost increase of 148 percent.

Research, development, testing, and evaluation costs increased over 200 percent.

To complete the procurement, the program plans to request approximately $25 billion (in then-year dollars) for aircraft procurement. As for operations and support costs (O&S), the Marine Corps’ V-22’s cost per flight hour today is over $11,000—more than double the targeted estimate.


Photo of the Day



The fast-attack submarine USS Chicago (SSN 721) returns to Naval Station Pearl Harbor after a six-month deployment in the western Pacific Ocean.

Gator