Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
On Display - USS Baltimore CA68
Armorama Crewmember Stefan Halter (DANGEROO) shows us his skills with the USS Fletcher 1/350 scale.
EADS North America's TRS-3D Radar Selected Again for U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship
Source: EADS North America
ARLINGTON, VA --- EADS North America has received a contract from Lockheed Martin to supply its TRS-3D radar for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship. As part of a recent Department of Defense award, Lockheed Martin will construct up to 10 Littoral Combat Ships through 2015. Under the terms of its contract, EADS North America will deliver the first radar unit to Lockheed Martin for installation in 2012.
The TRS-3D is a standard naval multimode surface and air surveillance and target acquisition radar. Designed for the complex littoral environment, it provides excellent performance over both land and water, minimizing clutter interference in order to more effectively detect multiple surface and air targets simultaneously. Supported by its highly flexible design, the TRS-3D radar integrates with a variety of shipboard systems and C4ISR suites to provide surveillance, weapon fire control and helicopter detection and guidance.
"The TRS-3D is the perfect radar for light combatants operating in littoral waters," said Sean O'Keefe, CEO of EADS North America. "It can perform multiple functions without adding unnecessary weight, making it suitable for a wide range of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard missions."
EADS North America already has delivered two TRS-3D radars to Lockheed Martin for the first and third Littoral Combat Ships, USS Freedom and Fort Worth. USS Freedom completed its maiden deployment in 2010, which included the successful interception of drug vessels in the Caribbean. Installation of the radar on the Fort Worth will take place in April at the Marinette Marine Shipyard in Marinette, Wis.
As the Navy's newest class of warship, the agile Littoral Combat Ship is designed specifically for a variety of missions in coastal waters that are often too shallow for larger ships. The ship will primarily be tasked with countering threats from submarines, surface vessels, and mines, as well as anti-piracy and humanitarian missions.
In addition to the U.S. Navy's fleet, EADS North America also is providing the TRS-3D radar to the U.S. Coast Guard for its fleet of National Security Cutters, of which three are in operation and two more are in the process of integration.
Rusty Ships, Boats that Don't Fit Leave Minister All At Sea
Source: Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Defence has spent $40 million on small boats that do not fit on to its amphibious ships - which are riddled with rust anyway and may never sail again, leaving a hole in operating capacity which may have to be plugged at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The announcements came on a black day for Defence procurement. The Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, also revealed that a trouble-plagued naval helicopter project is under review.
Mr Smith and the Defence Materiel Minister, Jason Clare, refused to condemn the hierarchy of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), which buys everything from salt shakers to submarines, but said there were serious ''institutional'' problems within Defence.
Mr Smith said the LCM Watercraft project had been axed because the boats could not be launched from the amphibious transport ships HMAS Manoora and Kanimbla.
''That was not a project with which Defence covered itself with glory,'' he said. ''At a cost of some $40 million to the Australian taxpayer, this is precisely what we are seeking to avoid in the future.''
He said the Manoora, which has been docked alongside the Kanimbla in Sydney for the past four months, will be decommissioned, despite the Chief of Navy, Vice-Admiral Russ Crane, saying last year that every effort would be made to get it back to sea as soon as possible.
The two ships were riddled with rust when bought for a bargain price from the US Navy in the mid-1990s, and further problems have been discovered. Mr Smith would not guarantee the Kanimbla would take to sea again.
He said their fate meant a bridging solution was needed between now and 2015, when two huge ships called Landing Helicopter Docks will become operational.
Andrew Davies, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the watercraft debacle was ''stretching credulity''.
''I'm just shaking my head at some of this. Where to begin?'' Dr Davies said. ''Watercraft that don't fit the ships they were supposed to fit, and the ships are being retired anyway? It's probably just as well that events have required a rethink of the amphibious capability, given the way it was going, but the process that has got us here is less than stellar.''
Also in Mr Smith's sights is the troubled MRH90 helicopter, 46 of which were ordered to replace the Black Hawk and Sea King helicopters. The project has been dogged by engine problems, delays and a lack of spare parts. Mr Clare said yesterday it will be the subject of a review.
Mr Smith said he had complete confidence in the chief executive of the DMO, Steve Gumley.
Battle of Elizabeth City
The Battle of Elizabeth City was fought on February 10, 1862, on the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, during the American Civil War. Participants were vessels of the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, opposed by vessels of the Confederate Navy's Mosquito Fleet; the latter were supported by a shore-based battery of four guns at Cobb's Point (now called Cobb Point), near the southeastern border of the town. The battle was a part of the campaign in North Carolina that was led by Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and known as the Burnside Expedition. The result was a Union victory, with Elizabeth City and its nearby waters in their possession, and the Confederate fleet captured, sunk, or dispersed.
USS Sargo
Today’s website is the USS Sargo. Enjoy.
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1862 - Union gunboats destroy Confederate ships during a victory in the Battle of Elizabeth City.
1900 - The first naval governor of Guam, Commodore Seaton Schroder, is appointed.
1960 - USS Sargo (SSN 583) surfaces at the North Pole.
Diorama Idea of the Day
A great water reference, the French navy anti-air frigate Cassard (D 614) approaches the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) during joint exercises.
Gator
