Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Review - Campaign Leader Tutorial
Ted Hayward brings us a first look review at AFV Club's 1/350 scale I-19 Japanese Submarine. Enjoy.
Textron Marine & Land Systems and L-3 Communications Team on Ship-to-Shore Connector
Source: Textron
NEW ORLEANS --- Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, has teamed with L-3 Communications to pursue the Navy’s next generation landing-craft, the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), and to further develop the Navy’s contract design using its proven detailed design-to-prototype build practices.
The SSC program, estimated by the Navy to have a value of $4 billion, provides for the construction of up to 80 hovercraft to replace the aging Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) fleet. These craft provide the primary over-the-horizon, ship-to-objective amphibious lift capability, as well as the capability to move across the beach carrying heavy payloads for military and humanitarian operations.
Textron Marine & Land Systems is proposing to be the prime contractor, shipbuilder, and test facility; L-3 Communications is proposing to design, build, outfit, integrate, test and deliver various craft modules, as well as provide integrated lifecycle support and logistics.
The partnership unites Textron Marine & Land Systems’ technical expertise and high-rate precision manufacturing with L-3 Communications’ advanced maritime integration capabilities. This unique skill set, along with the more than 55 years of combined air cushion vehicle (ACV) experience of the team is in line with the needs of sailors and soldiers. Since the delivery of the first LCAC in 1984 by Textron Marine & Land Systems, both L-3 Communications and Textron Marine & Land Systems have delivered all of the Navy’s LCAC Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) craft in support of the Navy’s operational readiness.
“Our team will be focused on taking the Navy design and ensuring a low risk transition to production,” said Textron Marine & Land Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager Tom Walmsley. “No one has the proven knowledge and expertise that our two companies possess on such a unique platform. We look forward to providing the lowest risk best value solution for the U.S. Navy.”
The Navy’s SSC Specification Development is scheduled to continue for another year, with an anticipated release of a request for proposal of the Detailed Design and Construction of the lead craft in late 2010.
First LCS Mission Package Support Facility to Open
Source: US Naval Sea Systems Command
PORT HUENEME, Calif. --- The Program Executive Officer, Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW), Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) and the Littoral Combat Ship Class Squadron (LCS CLASSRON) will unveil the Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Package Support Facility (MPSF) during a ceremony at Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Oct. 16.
The 42,400 square-foot MPSF will service the Navy's projected initial mission packages to be employed by LCS ships. Mission package maintenance and integration within the facility will be conducted by contractors secured by the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules Program Office (PMS 420).
"The MPSF is a great first step in the advancement of Navy surface combatant lifecycle support philosophies. As the Navy moves towards multipurpose ships with modular design, it only makes sense that our maintenance and support activities adapt," said Program Executive Officer, Littoral and Mine Warfare, E. Anne Sandel.
LCS is a revolutionary new warship, designed for littoral warfare missions in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), surface warfare (SUW) and mine warfare (MIW). At the heart of the LCS Program is the MP, a focused-mission, warfighting capability embarked on an LCS to optimize its capability against the identified threat. After a mission is completed, the MP is disembarked and restored for future use in any LCS. Individual elements, called Mission Systems, and support equipment, together form a Mission Module (MM). One or more MMs along with the crew and support aircraft form an MP.
This new MPSF plays an integral role in the support of the Navy's LCS fleet by providing a central hub and single-stop facility to store, deploy, upgrade and maintain the systems and elements that comprise the Mission Packages (MP). As the primary responder for all seaframe-embarked MPs, the MPSF will address afloat maintenance issues and provide technical support for Mission Module detachments.
"The MPSF is another example of the revolution that has begun to alter the Navy's traditional life-cycle support approach for surface combatants." said Capt. Mike Good, program manager for LCS Mission Modules Program Office. "The MPSF is a first-of-a-kind, cutting-edge facility designed to support these first-of-kind assets."
Using Distance Support, the MPSF will have a virtual presence to provide round-the-clock services for all deployed Mission Modules. The facility will also respond to operational demands to reconfigure Mission Packages embarked on an LCS Seaframe rapidly. The LCS MM Program has established this essential facility to support Littoral Combat Ships homeported in and operating from San Diego.
The decision to establish the MPSF at NBVC was based upon a naval facilities feasibility study which found that repurposing the existing NBVC building to support the requirements of the LCS MM program was not only the most cost-effective solution, but also allowed the Navy to meet important milestones in the LCS program schedule.
Other benefits of utilizing existing infrastructure included access to the NSWC PHD deep-water port facilities, Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu air transportation, direct access rail transportation into the building, support container repair and refurbishment facilities at Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center, and engineering/technical resources available at local naval activities.
"The MPSF is an outstanding example of this transition," Sandel said. "Our business case analysis identified this location and when the study was reviewed, it was clear that the facility was uniquely suited to the LCS Program. At that point, the advantages to standing up the MPSF at Naval Base, Ventura County were obvious. Everything we needed was there — the cost was reasonable and a strong, local management team was already in the vicinity. We look forward to our partnership with the LCS CLASSRON and the Warfare Centers to ensure that the warfighters have the capabilities that they need to fight and win."
MPSF Operation will engage several commands and activities. The LCS Class Squadron in San Diego is operationally responsible for the MPSF; PEO LMW and PMS 420 provide the government technical and program management oversight for the MPSF; and NSWC PHD runs the facility and is responsible for operational day-to-day management. Mission Module maintenance and integration within the facility will be conducted by several entities, including other Naval Warfare Centers and the LCS Mission Modules Program industry partners.
U.S.S. Saratoga Association
AToday’s website is the U.S.S. Saratoga Association. The purpose of the U.S.S. Saratoga Association is to perpetuate and honor the memory of two great fighting ships. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1814 - Launching of Fulton I, first American steam powered warship, at New York City. The ship was designed by Robert Fulton.
1955 - Ships of the 6th Fleet join U.S. military aircraft in evacuating American citizens from Egypt, Israel and Syria when war breaks out in the Middle East.
1980 - USS Parsons (DDG 33) rescues 110 Vietnamese refugees 330 miles south of Saigon.
1989 - A pilot making his 1st carrier landing and four others are killed when his plane crashes on the flight deck of of the training carrier Lexington (AVT 16) off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
Photo of the Day
A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Myoko (DDG 175) in a joint missile defense intercept test with the Missile Defense Agency in the Pacific Ocean.
Gator
