Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



On Display - Japanese Cruiser Myōkō

Crew-mate Kym Knight (Rab) shares another of his IJN masterpieces, this time the Japanese Cruiser Myōkō in this "On Display" feature.




Tempo Takes Toll on Navy, Marine Equipment
Source: US Department of Defense

WASHINGTON --- The Navy and Marine Corps are performing at top level and maintaining high morale, but the high operational tempo is seriously overtaxing equipment and vehicles, service leaders told Congress this week.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway provided overviews of the Navy and Marine Corps during hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee today and the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. Both hearings addressed the Defense Department’s proposed fiscal 2011 budget.

Mabus outlined the operational tempo and accomplishments of the two services, beginning with the 15,000 Marines “at the forefront of our nation’s defense” in Helmand province, Afghanistan. That number will grow to 20,000 this spring, he said.

“It is a testament to the responsiveness and combat capability of the Marine Corps that the first troops to depart for Afghanistan in the wake of the president’s Dec. 1 announcement [for a plus-up of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan] were 1,500 Marines from Camp Lejuene,” the secretary said.

To date, 73 percent of Marines have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and the tempo has increased dramatically in recent years, Conway said. In 2002, the number of Marines who had deployed for at least 120 consecutive days over two years was 4,845; as of last month, the number was 100,760.

While morale remains high among deployed Marines, Conway said, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have accelerated wear and tear on equipment and, in effect, degraded readiness. Of particular concern, he said, is that equipment left at home stations cannot sustain adequate training for other contingencies.

“Equipment stocks are at an all-time low,” Conway said. “Our ability to perform and train for deployment and our ability to respond to an unknown threat is greatly hindered until this is addressed. We cannot wait for the guns to fall silent in Afghanistan to address this critical issue.”

The Navy has 12,000 sailors on the ground in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility and 9,000 sailors at sea supporting combat operations, Mabus said. Outside the combat theaters, the Navy maintains a ballistic missile defense force of cruisers and destroyers routinely deployed to the Mediterranean, Arabian Gulf and Western Pacific regions to maintain deterrence, a mission that will be expanded, Mabus said. The Navy leads 24 nations combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and closely supports the Coast Guard-led counternarcotics effort with 13 nations in the Caribbean.

The Navy and Marine Corps are conducting training in Africa, South America and the Pacific; have treated more than 110,000 patients aboard the USNS Comfort and the Fleet Auxiliary USNS Richard E. Byrd; and have been the front-line humanitarian response for natural disasters in Indonesia, the Philippines, American Samoa and Haiti, Mabus said.

“The Navy and Marine Corps are flexible, responsive, and everywhere that our nation’s interests are at stake,” he said. “I have been constantly inspired by the high morale, courage and commitment to serving our country displayed by every one of them as they conduct our missions.”

Full funding of the services’ $160.7 billion budget request is necessary to prevail in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent future conflicts, prepare for contingencies and preserve and enhance the all-volunteer force, Mabus said.

The budget request includes funding for nine new ships, including two additional Virginia-class submarines, two destroyers in the restarted Arleigh Burke line, a lower-cost version of the Mobile Landing Platform, and two Littoral Combat Ships, among others. On the aviation side, the request would fund 206 aircraft, including F-35 joint strike fighters, MH-60R’s and P-8A’s for maritime patrol, MH-60S’s for logistics support, H-1 variant helicopters and MV-22 Ospreys for the Marine Corps. The budget also funds 564 new tactical vehicles for the Marines, and development of the Navy Unmanned Combat Aerial System and Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAV.

“I continue to focus on ensuring our Navy is properly balanced to answer the call now and in the decades to come,” Roughead said. “Last year, I stated our risk was moderate trending toward significant because of the challenges of fleet capacity, increasing operational requirements and growing manpower, maintenance and infrastructure costs. This risk has increased over the last year as trends in each of these areas have continued.”

In the last decade, the Navy fleet has decreased by 30 ships, or about 10 percent, and active duty end strength dropped 13 percent, while operational demands have grown, Roughead said. Due to the high ops tempo, “we are consuming the service life our fleet at a higher than expected rate,” and longer deployments with shorter dwell times [at home stations] is stressing sailors and families and increasing maintenance requirements, he said.

“Regular maintenance of our ships and aircraft, and training and certification of our crews between deployments is essential to our ability to sustain our force,” the admiral said. “For our Navy, continuous reset translates into decades of service for each ship and aircraft, a significant return on our investment.”

Mabus listed as Navy and Marine Corps priorities as taking care of service members, civilian staff and their families; treating energy consumption as an issue of national security, improving acquisitions and optimizing unmanned systems.


RiverHawk to Build Two Ships for Iraqi Navy
Source: US Department of Defense

RiverHawk Fast Sea Frames, LLC, Tampa, Fla., is being awarded a $70,140,000 firm-fixed-price letter contract for the detail, design, and construction of two offshore support vessels and associated equipment and services for the Iraqi Navy.

This contract involves Foreign Military Sales to Iraq.

Work will be performed in Houma, La., and is expected to be completed by December 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $47.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This contract was not competitively procured based on the terms of a Foreign Military Sales case which the Government of Iraq specified RiverHawk Fast Sea Frames, LLC, as the source for this effort.




Kaman Aerospace Aims to Provide Unmanned Helicopter to U.S. Marine Corps
Source: Forecast International

HARTFORD, Conn. - The U.S. Marine Corps is looking to acquire an unmanned helicopter to perform battlefield resupply missions to remote bases. Kaman Aerospace is competing for this contract against competitors such as Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing.

Kaman is months ahead of its rivals. Now, an unmanned version of the K-Max will deploy to Afghanistan later this year. If its performance is good, Kaman could win a production contract.

Kaman is teamed with Lockheed Martin. The Marine Corps Systems Command put out a Request for Proposals for an unmanned resupply helicopter in 2009. Kaman and Lockheed Martin won a $860,000 contract to demonstrate K-Max's ability. Kaman later received another $3.2 million development contract.

There are three K-Max helicopters available for immediate conversion. Production of an unmanned resupply helicopter may not occur in any significant number. The K-Max concluded a successful demonstration for the Marines in February at a Utah testing site.

Boeing is offering a version of its A160 Hummingbird unmanned helicopter to the Marine Corps. The A160 is lighter and faster than the K-Max. Boeing received $500,000 to demonstrate the Hummingbird's capability. Sikorsky's bid is based on a modified version of its Black Hawk transport helicopter.




The Gamewardens of Vietnam Association

Today’s website is The Gamewardens of Vietnam Association. Enjoy.

This Day in U.S. Naval History

1865 - In the largest amphibious operation of the war, Union forces capture Fort Fisher, N.C.
1943 - The Numbered fleet system is established.
1957 - Airship ZPG-2 lands at Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., after an 11-day non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
1966 - River Squadron 5 is established in Vietnam.


Photo of the Day



The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) performs maneuvers off the coast of South America.

Gator