Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
GD Wins $118M for Successor SSBN Studies
Source: U.S Department of Defense
General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded an $118,161,229 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-2100) to exercise options for continued engineering, technical services, concept studies and design of a common missile compartment for the United Kingdom Successor SSBN and the Ohio Replacement SSBN.
This contract action exercises an existing option that provides for continuation of common missile compartment design, common missile compartment concept studies, ship concept studies, engineering, and technical services, and whole ship integration engineering and concept studies to determine key ship attributes that impact common missile compartment design.
Additionally, this contract action will support completion of studies and design work including completion of a preliminary design review, a missile tube critical design review, and a missile module critical design review.
Work will be performed in Groton, Conn. (89 percent); Newport News, Va. (7 percent); Quonset, R.I. (3 percent); and Newport, R.I. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Two Corvettes are Operational
Source: Kockums AB
Two of the Visby corvettes, HMS Helsingborg and HMS Härnösand, are now operational with the Royal Swedish Navy, as part of the Third Naval Warfare Flotilla, based in Karlskrona. Built by Kockums, they significantly enhance the Swedish Navy’s capability.
“With their stealth technology, the Visby corvettes are the right concept for the future, given the environment in which we shall be operating, namely the littoral zone. The ships will form the core of the Swedish Navy for years to come. And they have attracted considerable international interest,” states Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad, Inspector General of the Royal Swedish Navy.
The ships are built for service with Sweden’s rapid reaction force, designed primarily to operate in the Baltic, although also on international missions in the littoral zone. Featuring full stealth capabilities, these vessels are difficult to detect either with radar or other sophisticated detection technologies, offering numerous tactical advantages. They are constructed of carbon fibre.
It is also possible to exit the stealth mode, perhaps on an international mission where a temporary need to demonstrate some military muscle arises, after which the ship can ‘disappear’ again.
The Swedish Navy has always operated in the littoral zone, an area in which it is specialised. Similar coastal waters exist in all parts of the world, of course, precisely those areas where maritime traffic is most intense.
The Visby concept has generated a lot of attention, and naval experts the world over are following developments with keen interest.
2011 Budget Highlights Need for Rotorcraft, Reapers, Growlers & Joint Strike Fighter
Source: Lexington Institute
A draft overview of the defense department's fiscal 2011 budget request highlights a handful of weapons programs as key to current and future military operations. The document was leaked last week, but media reports have only mentioned a small portion of its content.
The chapter of the overview describing technology investments includes three sections on weapons -- enhancing capabilities for current conflicts, enhancing capabilities for future conflicts, and missile defense.
Under the heading of enhancing capabilities for current conflicts, the budget overview cites the need to bolster special operations forces and develop improved cyber skills; however it only cites six specific weapons programs as high-priority investments:
-- The UH-60 Blackhawk, MH-60 SeaHawk, CH-47 Chinook, and V-22 Osprey rotorcraft (good news for Sikorsky, Boeing & Textron).
-- The MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft derivative of the Predator (good news for General Atomics).
-- The EA-18G Growler electronic warfare derivative of the carrier-based Super Hornet (more good news for Boeing).
Under the heading of enhancing capabilities for future conflicts, the budget overview describes the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as the department's "most important" tactical aircraft program, allocating more that $10 billion in 2011 to development and production while calling for termination of the plane's alternate engine (good news for Lockheed Martin and primary engine builder Pratt & Whitney, bad news for alternate engine company General Electric).
It also calls for pressing ahead with the KC-X aerial refueling tanker and terminating the C-17 cargo plane (good and bad news for Boeing), and describes naval shipbuilding plans to build two submarines, two Burke-class destroyers, two Littoral Combat Ships and one amphibious assault ship (good news for General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman).
The section confirms termination of the Army's Future Combat Systems program but states an intention to move ahead with next-generation ground vehicles (bad news for Boeing, probably good news for General Dynamics and BAE Systems).
Finally, it reiterates plans to replace the canceled Transformational Satellite Communications program with additional AEHF satcoms (good news for Lockheed and Northrop).
The section on missile defense does not cite any specific programs other than confirming a restructure of the Airborne Laser program (probably bad news for Boeing), but the description of the "new missile defense approach" is clearly good news for the Aegis combat system (Lockheed), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Lockheed) and Standard Missile (Raytheon).
In general, defense companies have little reason to be unhappy with the 2011 investment plan. The Obama Administration is funding weapons programs much more heavily than conservative critics had predicted.
However, some of the companies -- most notably Boeing, General Electric and Northrop -- will need to lean heavily on their Washington offices to win congressional restoration of major programs targeted for death or deferral. I should note that Raytheon and Northrop Grumman make out better in the budget overview than the above description might suggest, because they supply so much content to programs on which they are not the lead contractor.
USS Constellation Museum
Today’s website is the USS Constellation Museum. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1800 - USS Constellation, commanded by Capt. Thomas Truxtun, captures French vessel la Vengeance.
1862 - USS Hartford, commanded by Capt. David G. Farragut, departs Hampton Roads for Mississippi River campaign.
1894 - Sloop Kearsarge, commanded by Cmdr. Oscar F. Heyerman, wrecks without loss of life on Roncador Reef off Central America.
1991 - Coalition naval operations continue in the Gulf War with an attack on the Al Kalia naval facility. One Iraqi Exocet-capable patrol craft is hit directly with two laser-guided bombs, while a second U.S. aircraft launches a string of twelve 500-pound bombs across another patrol boat. The bombs also strike several buildings on the pier, generating several secondary explosions.
Photo of the Day
The United States Coast Guard Cutter Taney (pronounced TAW-NEY) was the last Pearl Harbor attack ship on active service. Retired on 30 September 1977 after 41-yrs of duty, this proud vessel is today a living museum, docked in Baltimore's Inner Harbor at the foot of historic Federal Hill.
Gator
