Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Review - Dragon’s USS Laffey DD-459
Join Jim Adams (goldenpony) for an in-box review of Dragon’s USS Laffey DD-459 in 1/350 scale.. Enjoy.
Navy Moves to Meet Information Age Challenges
Source: US Department of Defense
WASHINGTON --- The Navy is merging its information technology, intelligence and communications operations into one organization to better address Information Age challenges, including threats to computer networks, the Navy's top officer said here yesterday.
“If we as a Navy are to remain dominant in this Information Age or Cyber Age, or whatever moniker you choose to put on it, I think that we have to take advantage of the new opportunities that exist, such as the vast stores of collected data -- information and intelligence that often lie at rest, unrecoverable, unavailable and untapped,” Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said during remarks at a Center for Strategic and International Studies-sponsored event at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Because the Navy must capitalize on its ability to access, filter, analyze and then disseminate information to warfighting commanders for action in real time, Roughead said, it’s consolidating its intelligence directorate, communications networks and related information technology capabilities to form a single new organization: the deputy chief of naval operations for information dominance.
The reorganization is slated for completion by year’s end.
The Navy also is standing up Fleet Cyber Command, Roughead said, to be operated by the reconstituted U.S. 10th Fleet. The 10th Fleet was involved in efforts to thwart enemy submarines during World War II. The Air Force and Army also are standing up organizations that focus on information operations and network security.
Fleet Cyber Command will be a subordinate unit to U.S. Cyber Command, the formation of which was directed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on June 23.
Cyberspace presents “a huge potential vulnerability for us because of our dependence on the electronic world for communications – for everything we do,” Gates said during a Sept. 16 speech at the Air Force Association conference at the National Harbor in Maryland. It is important, Gates said, for the Defense Department and the military services to integrate the different information technology and communications elements “from exploitation to defense,” to achieve unity of effort.
Today’s Navy requires “uninhibited access to assured communication capabilities in cyberspace” to operate, Roughead said. However, he added, ever-present online saboteurs with various allegiances and intent make cyberspace a daily battlefield.
“We must be prepared to operate in cyberspace when it’s denied, and then we must also be able to deny space when it’s required or when it’s appropriate,” Roughead said.
People are key in cyberspace, Roughead said, and that’s why the Navy is moving its information technology, intelligence, information warfare, oceanography and space cadre specialists into a new Information Dominance Corps.
Now numbering about 44,000 officers, enlisted members and civilians, the corps is slated to add 1,000 trained technicians in the near future, Roughead said. Military members will retain their current branches and skill ratings, he added.
The consolidation of information technology, communications, intelligence and other assets moves away from the Navy’s tradition of stove-piped organizations, Roughead said, which “have really caused us to sub-optimize our ability to aggregate combat capability and the movement of information in ways that can maximize the effectiveness of a fleet, of a unit or of an individual.”
Military officials have found that new technology has mitigated concerns that battlefield data collected by unmanned aerial vehicles and other methods in overseas combat zones would be overwhelming to commanders, Navy Vice Adm. David J. Dorsett, director of naval intelligence, told reporters at the Hilton after Roughead’s speech.
U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dorsett said, have successfully employed a series of tools that “enabled operational commanders, down to the brigade and, in several cases, the battalion and that type of level, to get large quantities of information."
Another aspect of this tool set, Dorsett continued, involves systems that can rapidly "fuse, synthesize and make sense of this tremendous volume of data" by overlaying or sorting it according to the category of intelligence, such as technical- or human-based.
"That overlaying then provides clarity and leads to operations against adversaries, insurgents, terrorists,” Dorsett said, noting the system has been “very, very successful” over the past few years.
The Navy is working with other agencies to apply these proven information-technology tools in the maritime security environment, Dorsett said.
“We are using the Navy’s intelligence structure and the Navy’s oceanographers, overlaying information concerning how pirates operate – trends, activities, et cetera – with what the weather looks like over a period of time,” Dorsett said. That information, he added, is shared with U.S. partners to determine where anti-pirate forces need to operate.
“And, what we’ve seen is fairly significant successes in putting forces in the right place -- really over the last few weeks – to counter pirates in their attempts to hijack ships,” Dorsett said.
Navantia Delivers the Frigate F-313 “Helge Ingstad” to the Royal Norwegian Navy
Source: Navantia
Navantia has handed over on September 29th the frigate F-313 “Helge Ingstad” to the Royal Norwegian Navy. The ceremony, that took place at the Fene-Ferrol shipyard, was attended by the Chief of Norwegian Navy, Admiral Haakon Bruun Hansen, and the President of Navantia, Aurelio Martínez Estévez.
The delivery protocol was signed by the Director of the shipyard, Ángel Recamán, and the Director of NDLO, General Trond Karlsen.
After the signature of the protocol and the change of flags, the Chief of Navy inspected the crew, and the crew marched on board. Afterwards the guests had the opportunity to go on board the “Helge Ingstad”.
The frigate F-313 “Helge Ingstad”, named after the famous Norwegian 20th century explorer, is the fourth of a class of five identical F-310 class frigates ordered from Navantia by the Royal Norwegian Navy.
It was launched on November 23, 2007 by its Godmother, Kristin Ingstad Sandberg, great granddaughter of the explorer.
The main characteristics of this ships, equipped with the American AEGIS combat system, are:
Length overall: 12325 m.
Maximum beam: 16.80 m.
Depth to main deck: 9.50 m.
Full load displacement: 5,130 t.
Design draught: 4.90 m.
Crew: 146 people
This programme, signed in June 2000, was at that date the most important international contract in the naval history of Spain, and means full employment for the shipyard until completion of the programme in later 2010.
Boeing Contracts with Parvus to Supply Display Systems for P-8A Poseidon
Source: Parvus Corporation
SALT LAKE CITY, UT --- Parvus Corporation today announced its contract with Boeing to supply the Flight Test Display (FTD) and the Instrumentation Crew station Control Panel (ICCP) for the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Developed for the U.S. Navy, the P-8A is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. The P-8A will begin flight test this Fall and initial operational capability is slated for 2013.
Boeing selected the DuraVIS 4300 from Parvus to serve as the aircraft's ICCP. By combining the proven durability and power of Parvus' DuraCOR mission computer with a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Multi-Function Display (MFD), the DuraVIS 4300 is an ideal solution for presenting flight, sensor, mapping, advisory and other information for the P-8A aircraft. Qualified to MIL-STD-810F, MIL-STD-704E and MIL-STD-461E standards, the DuraVIS 4300 offers exceptional low-temperature operation (-20C) and resistance to shock and vibration profiles that will be experienced by the P-8A.
In addition, Parvus' DuraVIS 3006 was chosen by Boeing to serve as the Flight Test Display for the P-8A. The DuraVIS 3006 is a rugged flat panel 6.5" TFT Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) offering daylight readability and a hardened mechanical design well suited for the high reliability applications of the P-8A aircraft. This extremely compact (1.5" thick) and lightweight (3lbs) unit is packaged in a hardened aluminum housing equipped with flexible mounting options and an anti-glare protective acrylic cover for impact protection and explosive decompression.
"The selection of Parvus DuraVIS products for the P-8A aircraft is a testament to Parvus' proven track record of supplying durable, highly-reliable mission computers and displays for demanding military and aerospace applications," said Les Goodman, president of Parvus. "We are honored to partner with Boeing to supply such a prestigious aircraft with the necessary equipment to provide maximum interoperability in the future battle space."
Destroyer History Foundation
Today’s website is Destroyer History Foundation. The purposes of the Destroyer History Foundation are to perpetuate interest in US Navy destroyer history by preserving and making accessible records, accounts, images and other artifacts that might otherwise be lost when US Navy destroyer veterans pass on. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1797 - USS Constitution is launched at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Mass. The ship is now the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy.
1842 - Commodore Thomas Catesby Jones, commander, Pacific Command mistakenly seizes Monterey, thinking the United States has gone to war with Mexico.
1942 - A British submarine lands Capt. Jerauld Wright and four Army officers at Cherchel, French North Africa, to meet with a French military delegation to learn the French attitude toward future Allied landings.
Photo of the Day
Gunner's Mate Seaman La'kesha Hartsfield, assigned to the weapons department of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), uses an M-14 rifle to shoot a messenger line to the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) during a replenishment at sea.
Gator
