Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Karl Dönitz Instalment 3
Join MSW Crewmember Louis Carabott [loucar] as he brings us the "Den ensomme Nordens Dronning", ”The Lonely Queen of the North.". Enjoy.
U.S. Navy Awards Raytheon $93 Million Contract for Standard Missile-6
Source: Raytheon Company
TUCSON, Ariz. --- Raytheon Company won the first of several planned low rate initial production (LRIP) contracts to build Standard Missile-6 systems for the U.S. Navy.
The $93 million contract includes the production of missiles and delivery of spare parts and missile containers. Delivery will begin in early 2011.
"Standard Missile-6 has been on budget and on schedule since the program started in 2004," said Frank Wyatt, vice president of Raytheon's Naval Weapon Systems. "LRIP clears the way for delivery to the warfighter of this integral weapon system."
SM-6 will meet the U.S. Navy's requirement for an extended-range anti-air warfare (AAW) missile. The system will provide a defensive capability against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles.
"When combined with future integrated fire control, SM-6 will provide the U.S. Navy with an extended battlespace capability against over-the-horizon AAW threats," said Wyatt. "By taking full advantage of the Standard Missile family's kinematics, SM-6 provides signal processing and superior guidance and control capabilities."
SM-6 also allows the use of active and semi-active modes and advanced fuzing techniques.
C-Series Combat System from Terma to the Royal Thai Navy’s Landing Platform Dock
Source: Terma A/S
LONDON --- Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) awarded Terma a contract for the delivery of a C-Series combat system for the Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN) Landing Platform Dock (LPD)
Terma has been contracted to supply a combat system and a combat management system for this LPD. The combat system provides excellent surveillance and identification (both air and surface) as well as control of guns for self-protection, and the combat management system ties the system together in a fully integrated solution. The delivery includes the C-Flex, C-Search and C-Fire modules.
These three modules are all part of Terma’s C-Series naval combat system portfolio. C-Flex is the combat management system and the natural nucleus of C-Series. It will provide the RTN with a complete command and control capability in terms of situational awareness, multiple sensor management, monitoring features and threat evaluation operated from the multi function consoles on board.
C-Search is a radar and sensor suite. On Thailand’s new vessel, the system will consist of a SCANTER 4100 air and surface surveillance radar combined with an IFF system that provides identification to the air tracks of the radar.
C-Fire is the fire control system. Although the main purpose of the vessel is to provide aid and assistance to people who need it, it is essential that the LPD has the capability to defend itself. The Thai LPD will have three guns installed – one 76 mm and two 30 mm –controlled by C-Fire from the C-Flex multi function consoles.
The C-Fire Electro Optical (EO) Director has an inbuilt thermal imager, a TV camera, and an eye-safe laser range finder, and it is easily trained to a track from the situation display or manually by a joystick in the console. The EO Director can then be used for surveillance and identification of certain tracks. Upon hostile actions encountered by any surface or air target, C-Fire can go into engagement mode, and the operator can fire any of the ship’s three guns at the target. In case of hostile actions from both a surface and an air target, the system can engage both targets using the SCANTER 4100 radar for tracking the surface target and the EO Director for tracking the air target.
The combination of C-Flex, C-Search, and C-Fire makes up a 100 % integrated solution, which means that all subsystems can be operated from any one of the three consoles on the ship.
Three combat system modules have been put together to form a complete combat system for the Thai LPD. A Terma C-Series combat system can be designed to suit the needs of any client. In this case, the modules have been put together to create a system providing excellent surveillance and self-protection in addition to having a full set of command and control functionalities even for a small solution with three multi function consoles. Additionally, the contracted configuration allows for easy future expansions of the combat system.
In 2008, Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) was contracted to build a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) vessel for the Royal Thai Navy (RTN). The LPD is a multi-role and multi-purpose ship specifically designed to provide the RTN with a strengthened capability in situations of natural disasters such as floods and tsunamis. The vessel will thus provide support to naval missions such as sea transportation, support operations, civil search and rescue missions, and disaster relief programs.
Terma is a leading Denmark-based defense, aerospace and security company. The company realized 2008/09 sales of approximately USD 200 million and employs approximately 1,300 people worldwide. Terma A/S is headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark and maintains subsidiary facilities and operations in a number of European countries, Singapore, and in the U.S.
Next Generation Minehunting Tools Delivered
Source: US Navy
WASHINGTON --- The U.S. Navy took delivery of the next generation of the AN/AQS-20A Minehunting Sonar and the AN/AQS-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) from Raytheon Company at the company's facility in Tewksbury, Mass. Sept. 2.
AN/AQS-20A Minehunting Sonar detects, localizes and identifies bottom, close-tethered and volume mines, and AMNS re-acquires and neutralizes the mines. These 'next-generation' tools represent a significant step forward in outfitting and sustaining tomorrow's mine countermeasures fleet.
"I am particularly pleased with the progress the AN/AQS-20A team has made," said Capt. Paul Siegrist, program manager for Unmanned Maritime Vehicles. "I am looking forward to an aggressive testing schedule leading to a successful operational evaluation."
The AN/AQS-20A Minehunting Sonar is towed underwater at various depths to scan forward, peripherally and below the host vehicle to detect sea mines. The system uses sonar and electro-optical sensors to provide high-resolution images of mines and mine-like objects, as well as high precision location information. It can be towed by a helicopter or the Remote Minehunting System.
AMNS is deployed from the MH-60S multimission helicopter to locate and destroy underwater anti-shipping mines detected by the AN/AQS-20A Minehunting Sonar. The system consists of a helicopter-based control console, as well as a launch and handling system equipped with four unmanned, neutralizer vehicles that destroy mines via remote control from the operator in the helicopter.
"The advancements of the AN/AQS-20A bring our minehunting capabilities to the next level," Siegrist said. "The flexibility and adaptability of the system allows us to effectively deploy from both the MH-60S helicopter and also from the Remote Minehunting System, extending our ability to ensure the safety of the fleet."
Developmental and operational testing of the AN/AQS-20A Minehunting Sonar and AMNS began in 2002. Under current contracts, Raytheon will deliver a total of 20 AN/AQS-20A systems by January 2011 and five AMNSs by December 2009.
Program Executive Office, Littoral and Mine Warfare is an affiliated Program Executive Office of the Naval Sea Systems Command, which designs, delivers and maintains the systems, equipment and weapons needed by the warfighter to dominate the littoral battle space and provide the warfighter 'assured access.'
Her Majesty's Colonial Steam Sloop Victoria
Today’s website is Her Majesty's Colonial Steam Sloop Victoria. The Victoria was Australia's first War Steamer, landed a naval brigade during New Zealand's first Taranaki War, and took part in the search for lost explorers Burke and Wills in north Australia. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1944 - USS Narwhal (SS 167) evacuates 81 Allied prisoners of war that survived the sinking of Japanese Shinyo Maru from Sindangan Bay, Mindanao.
1946 -Lockheed P2V Neptune, Truculent Turtle, leaves Perth, Australia, on a long-distance non-stop, non-refueling flight that ends October 1.
1959 - USS Kearsarge (CVS 33), with Helicopter Squadron 6 and other 7th Fleet units, begins six days of disaster relief to Nagoya, Japan, after Typhoon Vera.
Photo of the Day
The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) conducts flight deck certification with an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Sea Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22.
Gator
