Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
On Display - Four Maru's
MSW crew-mate Alec Cap (bigal07), in his first MSW submission, shares a group of four of his IJN Maru's in 1/700 scale in this "On Display" feature.
Navy Word of the Day - 02/09/10
Continuing on with your Naval education we bring you another installment of MSW’s Navy Word of the Day.
Belgian Navy Orders Thales Sensors
Source: Thales Nederland
Thales Nederland has received a contract for two Seastar and Gatekeeper sensors, that are to be delivered and installed on the two multi-purpose M-class frigates of the Belgian Navy. The modernisation will take place in 2011 and 2013 in the scope of the M-frigates' upgrade programme.
The Seastar and Gatekeeper sensors provide the vessels with the capability to detect small targets encountered during missions, and to counter frontier-running, pollution, drugs trafficking and piracy. The two new sensors will be matched with the tried-and-true SMART-S surveillance radar and the STIR weapon control radar that are on board of the M-frigates.
Based on the cooperation between the Dutch and the Belgian Navy, this contract was already an option in the contract that Thales concluded in 2008 with the Royal Netherlands Navy, and that provided for the delivery of the Seastar and Gatekeeper sensors to the two M-class frigates of the RNLN.
BACKGROUND NOTES:
-- Seastar is a non-rotating active phased array radar for naval surface surveillance. The system automatically detects and tracks asymmetric threats and very small objects such as swimmers and periscopes in all weather conditions. Seastar can also be used for helicopter guidance. Seastar is internationally marketed as Sea Watcher 100.
-- Gatekeeper is a 360° panoramic electro-optical surveillance and alerter system based on IR/TV technology. Designed to counter emerging asymmetric threats down to small boats and swimmers, Gatekeeper increases short-range situational awareness in littoral environments.
Finmeccanica to Supply Naval Systems to the United Arab Emirates Navy
Source: Finmeccanica
Finmeccanica has been awarded a contract to supply naval systems to be fitted onto the two new stealth patrol vessels known as "Falaj 2", which have been ordered to Fincantieri by the United Arab Emirates navy.
Specifically, SELEX Sistemi Integrati has been chosen to supply naval systems and to integrate the combat system. The agreement also includes an option for two further vessels of the same class.
SELEX Sistemi Integrati will provide IPN-S command and control systems, NA 30S fire control systems, KRONOS 3D radar systems and SIR-M secondary radar systems. A key element of the contract is the KRONOS multi-role solid-state 3D radar, designed and completely developed by SELEX Sistemi Integrati and based on the company's experience with EMPAR, the naval radar system used by the Italian navy and by other foreign customers.
The selection of the KRONOS radar systems by the United Arab Emirates represents a great international sales success for this type of radar, which has many competitive advantages over its rivals in the same class.
As part of the contract, SELEX Communications will supply a secure communications system to include both the voice communications component in HF and V/UHF frequencies and the data and messaging component.
Furthermore, each patrol vessel will be fitted with a full stealth version of the Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid naval gun.
Finmeccanica was previously selected by the UAE navy to supply - through its subsidiaries SELEX Sistemi Integrati, SELEX Communications, Oto Melara and WASS - naval and underwater systems for a new Abu Dhabi class ship of the UAE navy.
SELEX Sistemi Integrati is also present in the United Arab Emirates via the joint venture Abu Dhabi Systems Integration (ADSI), which was set up in 2005 in partnership with the local company Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and operates in the fields of defence and homeland security.
ADSI is currently working together with SELEX Sistemi Integrati on the integration of the combat system for Ghannatha class vessels and is also manufacturing the combat system for six Baynunah class corvettes for the UAE navy.
Navy Cyber Forces Established
Source: US Navy
NORFOLK, Va. --- Navy Cyber Forces (CYBERFOR) was established in a ceremony at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek-Fort Story on Jan. 26. Vice Adm. H. Denby Starling II, assumed command of CYBERFOR and continues to serve as commander of Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM).
Commander U.S. Fleet Forces, Adm. J. C. Harvey Jr., presided over the ceremony and described CYBERFOR as a vital addition to the Navy's warfighting capability.
"I'm very proud to be with you on this journey. You have put your very heart and soul into this command," Harvey said. "I think you will write a glorious chapter in the history of this command as you bring it into the 21st century and bring our Navy along with it."
Starling said that cyber space is more than a path upon which information travels. "It is warfighting battle space and supremacy in this battle space will ensure that our ships, aircraft and submarines remain dominant in the age of information warfare," Starling said.
CYBERFOR is the type commander for cryptology, signals intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, intelligence, networks and space disciplines. CYBERFOR will report to Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces.
As the TYCOM, CYBERFOR's mission is to organize and prioritize manpower, training, modernization and maintenance requirements; and capabilities of command and control architecture and networks; cryptologic and space-related systems; and intelligence and information operations activities; and to coordinate with TYCOMs to deliver interoperable, relevant and ready forces at the right time, at the best cost, today and in the future.
CYBERFOR will be headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek-Fort Story in Norfolk, VA. Location in a fleet concentration area ensures CYBERFOR's close linkage with those it supports.
NETWARCOM will conduct network and space operations in support of naval forces afloat and ashore.
Starling recognized that NETWARCOM's people have laid the foundation for CYBERFOR. That work, he said, prepares the Navy to move to the next level of cyber warfare.
"Many of you contributed to the foundation of CYBERFOR and can take great pride and a sense of accomplishment in the work you've done," Starling said. "The work you do now and will continue to do in the future is of vital importance to ensuring we maintain decision superiority."
Starling is confident that CYBERFOR and NETWARCOM will take the steps needed for the Navy to succeed in battle and in cyber.
"We have seen our nation and America's Navy triumph time and again in the face of equally daunting circumstances," Starling said. "We shall do no less."
Wyle Aircrew Performs First In-flight Refueling of Joint Strike Fighter Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing Variant - F-35B
Source: Wyle
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. --- Wyle air crew personnel have become the first aviators to aerially refuel the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant (STOVL) of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) using a probe-and-drogue refueling system during a recent mission at Lockheed Martin's Ft. Worth, Tex. manufacturing facility.
These first aerial refueling missions were performed by Wyle aircrew flying a Navy KC-130 tanker aircraft assigned to the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Twenty (VX-20) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The refueled aircraft, designated the F-35BF-2, represents one of three variants of this fifth generation strike fighter, developed for the U.S. military and eight allied nations.
Two of the first five F-35B aircraft slated for flight testing arrived at Patuxent River in the last quarter of 2009 and Wyle's KC-130 aircrew team will continue to assist with refueling missions as testing progresses.
Wyle has the largest independent flight test team in the world with more than 70 members, including 53 pilots, flying 20-plus types of aircraft from supersonic manned jets to helicopters to unmanned flight systems. Among the aircraft flown by Wyle pilots are the F/A-18, V-22, E-2D, P-3, KC-130 and AH-64D.
For the refueling mission, Wyle's crew included Steve Angay, Craig Homer, Josh Izenour, Jeff Kosich, Chris Loftis, and Bill Smith who support VX-20.
The probe-and-drogue system is used by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and many NATO nations to refuel aircraft in flight. The system uses a flexible hose that terminates in a cone shaped basket extending from an aircraft carrying fuel. The cone shaped basket, or drogue, connects to the probe of an aircraft needing fuel. The fuel is then transferred through the hose from the tanker to the receiving aircraft.
An alternate system, called a flying boom, is used by the U.S. Air Force. This system inserts a rigid flying boom into a receptacle on a receiving aircraft. This is the system employed by the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the aircraft, which was the first variant to be aerially refueled.
In preparing to go to Fort Worth, the Wyle KC-130 aircrew worked with the JSF team to develop test plans, determine aircraft configurations representative of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fleet, and make modifications to the tanker.
"A lot of the initial planning was done by our crew," said Izenour, Wyle's KC-130 mission commander. "These guys did an excellent job of mission planning and interfacing with the JSF team which made the actual mission itself -- the flying part -- go seamlessly. The amount of planning that everyone did on the front side made the execution very, very easy."
The team planned for variables inherent in the initial test evolutions, where fuel was uploaded into the aircraft at 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 feet, at speeds ranging from 200 to 250 knots.
"Since it was the first refuel, we didn't know exactly how the aircraft [JSF] might behave, so we were limited as to how much pressure we could provide to the fuel lines," said Homer. "From an engineering point of view, we had to keep very close track of the [refueling] panel during the tests."
U.S.S. WRIGHT Association
Today’s website is the biography of U.S.S. WRIGHT Association. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1799 - USS Constellation, commanded by Capt. Thomas Truxtun, captures the French warship l'Insurgente.
1943 - The organized Japanese resistance on Guadalcanal ends.
1947 - Carrier USS Wright (CVL 49) is commissioned.
1978 - A new era in naval communications begins with the launching of the first satellite of the Navy's Fleet Satellite Communications System.
1984 - Destroyer USS Moosbrugger (DD 980) fires approximately 150 shells at Syrian artillery positions east of Beirut.
Photo of the Day
U.S. and Thai amphibious assault vehicles speed toward the beach during a simulated amphibious assault as part of exercise Cobra Gold 2010.
Gator
