Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Feature - Building the Sultana
MSW Crewmember Robert Vaglio (RV1963) shares with us a rare build at MSW, a wooden sailing ship the Sultana.
France shows off cutting-edge navy ship in Russia
Source: Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – A cutting-edge French warship sailed into St. Petersburg Monday to show off its capabilities to potential buyers in the Russian navy, whose pursuit of an amphibious assault capacity is frightening some neighboring countries.
Russia's once-mighty navy was severely degraded after the fall of the Soviet Union and it currently has no big ship with the power to anchor in coastal waters and deploy troops onto land.
Russian officials announced this year that they were planning to make their first arms deal with a NATO country by buying a French vessel like the Mistral, a 23,700-ton (21,500-metric ton), 980-foot (299-meter) vessel able carry more than a dozen helicopters able to haul hundreds of troops directly onto enemy territory.
The head of the Russian navy has said that a Mistral-class vessel could put as many troops in Georgia in 40 minutes as the Russian Black Sea Fleet took 26 hours to land during the nations' August 2008 war. Moscow declared the Russian-allied breakaway Georgian territory of Abkhazia an independent nation after the war and sent thousands of troops there. Russia, Georgia and Ukraine all have Black Sea coastlines, as does Abkhazia.
The Mistral docked Monday on the Neva River, about half a mile (1 kilometer) from the Hermitage museum. Russian media reported that the French and Russian navies are planning joint exercises with the ship this week.
Russian media reports have said a Mistral-class ship would cost Russia up to euro500 million ($750 million). Officials in Moscow have expressed interest in buying licenses to build several more in Russia.
"We strongly oppose the sale of such ship to Russia," Nika Laliashvili, a member of the Georgian parliament's defense affairs committee, told The Associated Press. "It poses a serious danger to Georgia."
The Mistral, which was launched in 2006 and first saw service in a Lebanon refugee operation, is one of the two ships of that class in the French navy.
Bruno Daffix, a spokesman for the French Defense Ministry's export and sales agency, described the ship as a "Swiss army knife" of military ships — able to carry helicopters, land forces, hospitals or refugees, among other things.
NATO officials in Brussels would not comment Monday on the possible French navy sale.
The Kremlin has increasingly sought in recent years to reaffirm Russia's global reach and prestige in world affairs. It has sent its warships to patrol pirate-infested waters off Somalia and dispatched a navy squadron to the Caribbean where it took part in joint maneuvers with the Venezuelan navy and made several port calls in 2008.
The Caribbean mission, aimed at flexing military muscles near the U.S. in the tense months after the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, was the most visible Russian navy deployment since Soviet times.
But despite the Kremlin's ambitions, the post-Soviet economic meltdown has left the Russian navy with only a handful of big ships in seaworthy condition and badly crippled the nation's shipbuilding industries.
Russia has only one Soviet-built aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is much smaller than the U.S. aircraft carriers and has been plagued by mechanical problems and accidents.
Russian shipbuilders have opposed the Mistral deal, saying the government should invest in domestic production instead. Navy officials have argued that license production of Mistral-class ships would help modernize Russia's aging industries.
The French Defense Ministry's arms acquisition and sales agency has reported that French exports rose 15 percent in 2008 to euro6.4 billion, thanks in part to sales of the French-Italian built FREMM multipurpose frigate to Morocco and the EC725 Cougar tactical transport helicopter to Brazil.
French military exports are expected to rise to euro6.7 billion this year.
Among France's recent big-ticket sales deals, Brazil has agreed to buy five French Scorpene submarines, one of them with nuclear propulsion, and 50 Cougar helicopters for about $12 billion. All would be assembled in Brazil.
Hunter Killer Sub Astute Arrives at Her Home Port
Source: UK Ministry of Defence
The biggest and most powerful attack submarine ever built for the Royal Navy – Astute – today sailed into her home base on the Clyde.
Measuring nearly one hundred metres from bow to stern, Astute is longer than ten London buses. When fully loaded, she will displace 7,800 tonnes of sea water, equivalent to 65 blue whales.
The Astute submarine has the latest stealth technology, a world-beating sonar system and is armed with 38 torpedoes and missiles - more than any previous Royal Navy submarine. She will be able to circumnavigate the globe while submerged, and advanced nuclear technology means that she will never need to be refuelled.
Astute will be followed in due course by her sister submarines Ambush, Artful and Audacious. These four comprise the first of the expected seven submarines in the Astute Class. The Astute class will carry the potent Spearfish Heavyweight torpedo which can destroy submarines or surface ships, and Tomahawk cruise missiles that can hit inland targets with pinpoint accuracy. The boats will have 50 per cent more firepower than the existing Trafalgar class submarines they will succeed in service.
After touring Astute, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said:
“This is a significant milestone for Astute as she arrives for the first time in her homeport of Faslane. The Astute class of submarines will deliver a step change in capability for defence in terms of anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, protecting the deterrent, providing land attack and intelligence gathering. Astute will now begin a set of sea trials ahead of her full acceptance with the Royal Navy next year.”
First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, said:
“The Astute Class is truly next generation. They are immensely powerful vessels and they will form a key part of our future programme, giving the Royal Navy the versatility and technical excellence needed to operate successfully across the globe.
“Astute is a joint warfighting asset and I look forward to her entry into service, along with that of her six sisters – which include Ambush, Artful and Audacious.”
Commodore Chris Hockley, the Naval Base Commander at HM Naval Base Clyde, said:
“I am particularly pleased and excited at the prospect of welcoming Astute to her home Base today. There has been significant investment and preparations made over several years to prepare us for this occasion.
“The Clyde will become a centre of specialisation for submarines, and, of course, submarine training. With the arrival of Astute I cannot think of a more exciting time to be a submariner.”
BACKGROUND NOTES:
-- HM Naval Base Clyde is the biggest single site employer in Scotland and the biggest military establishment in Scotland. More than 6,000 people are employed directly and an estimated 4,000 more rely on the base economically.
-- Astute’s arrival begins a process that will see HM Naval Base Clyde become the UK’s sole operating submarine base over the next decade. To this end, infrastructure improvements and spends have included:
* £150 million on new single living accommodation for submariners and other associated functions;
* £150 million on a new high tech floating jetty which will eventually service all the Royal Navy’s hunter-killer attack submarines.
NAVAIR Delivers New Mi-17 Helicopters to Afghan National Army Air Corps
Source: US Naval Air Systems Command
NAVAIR, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – NAVAIR delivered four new Mi-17 helicopters to the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC) in Kabul, Afghanistan just sixty-five days after the order was placed.
Four Mi-17 helicopters, the first new helicopters Afghanistan has ever received, were ordered on July 30. The first two were delivered Sept. 3; the second pair of Mi-17s was delivered Sept. 16.
“The people on our Afghanistan team have consistently stepped up to the plate and delivered vitally needed equipment to the Afghan armed forces as quickly as possible,” said Capt. James “Walleye” Wallace, Program Manager, Tactical Airlift, Adversary and Support Programs, PMA-207. “This delivery is another example of the superb leadership and ingenuity that this team displays on a daily basis.”
The Navy International Programs Office was a key partner in acquiring the Mi-17s for ANAAC.
"The Mi-17 acquisition was an extremely challenging non-traditional acquisition from contract award to helicopter delivery. In this, the NAVAIR Afghan team performed superbly, delivering these non-Western aircraft within a record 35 days from the contract being awarded into Afghanistan,” said Eugene Chan, Country Program Director - Afghanistan / Iraq, Navy International Programs Office.
The four Mi-17’s will provide combat airlift, logistical and medical evacuation support to Afghan forces and government officials.
“I have to thank our Afghanistan aircraft team, the Cherry Point Fleet Support Team (FST), NAVAIR Contracting, Legal, Finance, Logistics, the NAVAIR International Programs Office, and the Navy IPO for their dedicated work. Lt. Cmdr. Sid Lodhi, General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) and the Cherry Point FST exposed themselves to the real world challenges faced by our troops on a daily basis while they were performing the final acceptance inspections on these Mi-17s,” said Rich Senkel, Deputy Program Manager, Foreign Military Sales, PMA-207. “The four Mi-17s were bought new from the manufacturers in Russia through a contract with Defense Technology, Inc. The Mi-17 contract was competitively sourced and DTI won the competition.”
The four Mi-17s have less than ten hours of flight time each, said Senkel, just enough to accomplish the Functional Check Flights after delivery to Afghanistan. One of the pilots who flew the FCFs said that these were the smoothest flying helicopters he’d ever flown.
“Although a non-standard platform and a stranger to the Department of Defense acquisition and sustainment community, the Mi-17 is a familiar, robust, and easy to maintain helicopter that is without argument, the most visible and active symbol of emerging Afghan airpower,” said Wallace. “PMA-207 accepted the challenge to deliver the non-Western aircraft and within 17 days we developed the plan, reviewed the proposals and awarded the contract.”
The PMA-207 Afghanistan team is leaning forward to support the mission of the Combined Airpower Transition Force (CAPTF) to build a strong, capable, and sustainable ANAAC that meets the critical security requirements of Afghanistan added Wallace.
NAVAIR's PMA-207 manages the cradle to grave procurement, development, support, fielding and disposal of the Navy's Tactical Airlift, Adversary & Support Program Systems.
Texas Seaport Museum
Today’s website is Texas Seaport Museum. The museum is home of the celebrated 1877 tall ship ELISSA. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1852 - Commodore Matthew Perry sails from Norfolk, Va., to negotiate a treaty with Japan for friendship and commerce.
1964 - USS Princeton (LPH 5) completes seven-day humanitarian relief mission to South Vietnam which suffered damage from typhoon and floods.
1969 - HS-4 from USS Hornet (CVS 12) recovers Apollo 12's all-Navy crew of astronauts, Commanders Richard Gordon, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean, after moon landing by Conrad and Bean.
Photo of the Day
French Mistral-class amphibious helicopter carrier, the Tonnerre.
Gator
