Coping With The Great American SSN Shortage
The U.S. Navy is facing a temporary SSN (nuclear attack submarine) shortage, and there is no solution that will not involve some pain. The problem is that new Virginia class subs cannot be built quickly enough to replace all the Cold War era Los Angeles class boats that have to retire. Even that will be delayed, at least for 16 Los Angeles class subs, that will get enough refurb to keep them at sea for up to two more years. Meanwhile, many of the shipyards used to build all those Los Angeles class boats, were discarded as part of the Peace Dividend for winning the Cold War.
The shortage will begin in 2022, when the number of SSNs will fall below 48. The bottom will be in 2028, when only 41 SSNs will be available, and the shortage won’t end until 2034. While keeping boats at sea more than six months per cruise will insure that all current requirements (that need about ten boats at sea at any given time) are met, the navy won’t be able to meet its wartime need for 35 boats. Keep in mind that a certain number of boats are always laid up for upgrades, maintenance or repairs. And some of this work can be speeded up, or even put aside, to get boats to sea in wartime, or a major crises.
Keeping existing boats at sea for longer cruises also comes with a cost. For each additional day (beyond six months) you keep a crew at sea, a certain percentage of them will not stay in the navy. Those long months at sea are hard on the families, and sailors as well. Too much of that, and more of them leave. For submarine crews, the most highly trained, with the highest standards, in the navy, this is no small problem.
There are other ways around the problem. The navy and the shipyards have found ways to built SSNs more quickly. Currently it takes 70 months to build a Virginia. But in the next few years, that will be coming down to 60 months. For the navy, the worst solution is to change war plans, and peacetime use patterns of SSNs, and adapt to a smaller number of attack boats. The navy would rather not think of this, but politicians often do, so the navy must.
Israel in Talks to Buy Another Submarine from Germany
Israel has broached the idea of buying a sixth discounted submarine from Germany as part of a military build-up designed to signal strength in the face of Iranian nuclear ambitions, officials said.
Israel has three of the Dolphin-class diesel submarines, with two more on order from Kiel shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and due by 2012. The vessels are widely believed to have been deployed with nuclear cruise missiles. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who visits Berlin with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will ask the Merkel government to underwrite another Dolphin sale, aides said.
Dolphins cost some $700 million but those in Israel’s fleet came at a deep discount from Germany, which is devoted to the security of a Jewish state founded in the wake of the Holocaust.”We are in a dialogue about a sixth submarine, but no decision has been made yet. There are tough budgetary issues to deal with,” a senior Barak aide told Reuters. The German Economy Ministry would not say whether a Dolphin sale would be under discussion during Monday’s discussions, and added that the question of state aid was not for it to decide.
A second Israeli source with knowledge of the talks said that Netanyahu, who has described the prospect of an Iranian bomb as a mortal danger, wanted to expand the submarine fleet. The Israelis have hinted at pre-emptive strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its nuclear project, but many analysts believe the limitations of force would compel the Netanyahu government to adopt a more deterrent posture.”Five submarines are sufficient, but of course we could use more. Our ideal number would be nine — enough to ensure we have the necessary assets at sea to cover all relevant threats and targets,” the Israeli source said. Armed with just 10 torpedo tubes — which can also be used to launch cruise missiles — the Dolphins would be of meagre use for any conventional Israeli assault on Iran.
STRATEGIC DEPTH
Israel does not discuss its own nuclear capabilities. There is further speculation over whether Israeli cruise missiles would be able to reach Iranian facilities from the Mediterranean sea, where the Dolphins routinely patrol from their Haifa dock.”I remain unconvinced — unless the Israelis have managed to replicate Tomahawk, which would be an extraordinary achievement,” said Stephen Saunders, editor of Jane’s Fighting Ships, referring to a U.S.-made, long-range and nuclear-capable cruise missile that Washington has refused to supply to Israel.
A bigger Dolphin fleet could allow Israel the option of basing some in its Red Sea port of Eilat, providing a short-cut to the Gulf. An Israeli submarine crossed the Suez Canal for an exercise off Eilat last July, the first such deployment. Iran denies seeking the bomb but its leaders’ Holocaust denials and vituperation against Israel have stirred war fears. While condemning the rhetoric from Tehran, Germany maintains some $5.7 billion in annual exports to Iran — to many Israelis’ chagrin.
German opposition parties, including the Social Democrats (SPD), have voiced misgivings about weapons exports to crisis areas, but the last two Dolphin sales were approved while the SPD was part of a previous coalition government. There is also domestic support for keeping production going at HDW, a branch of parent company ThyssenKrupp, given the lack of foreign clients for new diesel-powered submarines.
U.K. MOD Awards Contracts for Aircraft Carriers
Contracts worth £333M ($543 million) have been awarded by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) to companies across the United Kingdom to help to build the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.
U.K. MOD has awarded $543 million contract for building Elizabeth class aircraft carriers
Five sub-contracts have been awarded to suppliers from Glasgow to Portsmouth for equipment to be installed on the ships and services for their assembly, bringing the total value of sub-contracts awarded so far on the programme to almost £1.1bn.
These contracts and sub-contracts represent the vast majority of the equipment orders for the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers and demonstrate the progress made on the programme to date.
The two future aircraft carriers will form the cornerstone of the UK’s naval capability and will be the largest, most capable and powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. They will be a highly versatile and potent joint defence asset, able to meet the widest range of tasks around the world throughout their expected service life of around 50 years.
China to Take Naval Forces to Another Level
An assessment of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) – PLA(N) – inadvertently released by the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) suggests that over the next 10-15 years China will build a naval force increasingly equipped for maritime security missions and humanitarian relief operations well beyond its traditional operating areas around Taiwan and the South China Sea.
At the same time, ONI assesses that the PLA(N) will continue to modernize its warfighting capabilities to shape a balanced maritime force commensurate with a shift from a strategy of coastal defence to a more forward-leaning naval strategy of offshore defence.
The report, entitled ‘A Modern Navy with Chinese Characteristics’ and dated August 2009, was briefly placed on an open source website by the ONI in November 2009 before being withdrawn from public view. However, in that time a copy of the document was downloaded by the Federation of American Scientists and remains accessible on its website.
According to the ONI, the development of the PLA(N) over the past decade goes well beyond the introduction of new equipment. Its report states: “Recognizing that it takes more than technology to create a capable navy, China has also actively pursued the modernization of its doctrine, organization, and training with the ultimate goal of developing a professional force. While much work remains, trends in recent years indicate the PLA(N) is beginning to ‘operationalize’ its modern force, taking on new and more challenging missions.
More Missile Frigates For India
A spokesman from Russia’s Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad said that the last two of three Krivak III-class (known as the Talwar-class in India) guided missile frigates being built for India will exit drydock by year’s end, RIA Novosti reports.
Three frigates – INS Teg, which exited drydock last November, INS Tarkash and INS Trikand – were commissioned for $1.6 billion U.S. in July 2006, and will add to India’s current complement of three Talwar vessels, INS Talwar, INS Trishul, and INS Tabar. The new frigates feature a reduced cross-section – which imparts a measure of stealth – and will be armed with the BrahMos cruise missile, which was jointly developed by Russia and India, a 100mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, and an anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Aluminum Glitters Inside 2nd Littoral Combat Ship Variant
MOBILE, Ala. – Inside and out, the new USS Independence is like few other warships put into service by the U.S. Navy. The severe angles of the unpainted aluminum trimaran give way inside to a spacious interior covered by aluminum-foil-like fire protection cladding.
The relatively few interior working spaces in the pyramidal superstructure are connected by wide passageways and stairwells – not ladders – reflecting the design’s origin as a commercial ferry. Unusually for a naval ship, some stairwells even turn corners, as in a landlocked building.
The vast flight deck that tops the after third of this 417-foot-long ship is almost 90 feet wide and is the biggest ever fitted to a surface combatant. The large hangar features two roller doors, has great interior height and is able to house two H-60 helicopters. On the starboard side of the hangar, a vehicle elevator leads down to the mission bay, the ship’s primary payload area.
The mission bay is one of the key features of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) concept, which envisions a ship able to move at speeds of more than 45 knots that can take on extra equipment tailored to specific missions such as anti-surface or anti-submarine warfare, all packaged into mission modules. The Independence design, adapted by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works from a high-speed commercial ferry design from the Australian firm Austal, features a hull described variously as a three-hull trimaran or a monohull supported by outriggers. Either way, the configuration has never before been used for a U.S. warship.
The mission bay is about the width of six highway traffic lanes, split into thirds fore-and-aft by steel supports. The space would seem to have no trouble simultaneously housing two of the planned mission modules.
During a January 4 visit to the Independence, shipyard workers from Austal USA swarmed the ship, even though the Navy took delivery December 18 and the commissioning ceremony is to take place on January 16. Rear Adm. James Murdoch, the Navy’s LCS program manager, acknowledged work will continue past the commissioning date, including, for example, work on the stern doors at the rear of the mission bay and on the overhead cradle system that will be used to launch and recover waterborne vehicles.
“Those will be tested in the future, after sailaway from the yard,” Murdoch said.
Although the Independence began initial sea trials in early July and has been underway numerous times – at speeds up to 46 knots – those voyages were crewed by civilian mariners hired by shipbuilder Austal USA. The ship’s two Navy crews – Blue and Gold – are eager to take the ship to sea, said Cmdr. Curt Renshaw, commanding officer of the Blue Crew. But much of the ship’s equipment still needs to be certified for operation, he said, and sailors will then need to be qualified. That means the ship likely won’t get underway manned by a Navy crew until late February or more likely March.
The Navy was keeping a tight lid on visits to the ship but relaxed those rules after the ship’s delivery. A small group of reporters was among the first media to get a good look inside the ship.
The wide bridge area on the O4 level is surrounded on three sides by large windows more akin to a cruise liner than a gray warship. The ship control stations are in the center, up close to the glass: side-by-side seats and consoles for use by the officer of the deck and the readiness control coordinator or junior officer of the deck. The two watchstanders can use either left or right seats according to preference. Each has a multifunction joystick that is also the ship’s helm.
Between the two positions are controls for the two gas turbines and two diesels that each power a steerable water jet. A fifth control operates a drop-down azimuthing bow thruster. Sitting between the two and behind them is a third seat for a tactical awareness coordinator – essentially, Renshaw said, a third set of hands on the bridge who can handle a variety of duties. The commanding officer has his seat in the traditional forward starboard corner location.
The area behind the control positions is filled by Interior Communications Center No. 1 (ICC1), a combat information center-like set of consoles complemented by a similar ICC2 below on the O1 level. Although the ICCs have interchangeable functionality, ICC1 on the bridge will be used primarily for ship-related functions such as self-defense, navigation and the engineering watch, while ICC2 will be dedicated for use by the mission module detachments. A curtain can close off ICC1 from the bridge watch.
The ICCs also function as the ship’s central damage control and machinery control centers, and the ship’s internal computer network allows laptop control from dozens of drops throughout the vessel. With the right access codes, for example, any laptop connected to the network can control the ship, including engineering and navigation functions.
No exterior bridge wings are provided; as a high-speed ship, the Independence is meant to be handled from inside. Toward the rear of each side of the bridge, there is a large roll-down window from which a sailor can stick his head out to peer forward or aft or down to the water. A set of halyards leads to a bar just outside the window, and an aluminum flag bag for signal flags lies just inside. Forward, all anchor- and line-handling arrangements are inside the bow.
The narrow bow forward of the bridge – not meant to be regularly accessed while the ship is underway – features an enclosure for the future Non-Line-of-Sight surface-to-surface missile battery and, ahead of that, an automatic 57mm gun mount. Forward of the gun, the deck drops off precipitously to the prow, which is not visible from the bridge. Video cameras on the bow and around the ship give the watch a topside view.
Two machinery rooms in the central hull each contain a General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine and MTU 8000 diesel. The outer hulls carry little gear and are mostly void space, Renshaw said. Two damage control stations are provided, both on the port side at each end of the mission bay. A small boat deck on the port quarter carries one rigid-hull inflatable boat.
The mess deck and wardroom share a common galley, and individual berths – though not the staterooms – are large and roomy, big enough for a sailor to sit up, stretch his arms and work on a fold-down tray table that can hold a laptop. The big, double-high racks are designed to give way to triple-highs should the need arise to increase berthing space.
On sailaway, the Independence is expected to head to Norfolk, Va., for more tests and trials before eventually going westward to its future homeport of San Diego, Calif.
There are many similarities and dissimilarities between the GD’s Independence design and that of the first LCS, Freedom, from Lockheed Martin. Sometime this spring or summer, the Navy will choose one of the designs as the basis for 51 more LCS ships.
Taiwan To Buy Perry-Class Frigates From USA
Taiwan plans to buy eight second-hand Perry-class frigates from the United States despite improved ties with once-bitter foe China.
The deal with the United States would add to the existing Taiwanese inventory, as it already has eight Perry-class frigates built on the island. The island hopes to arm them with a version of the advanced Aegis Combat System, which uses computers and radar to take out multiple targets, as well as sophisticated missile launch technology, the Taipei-based China Times said.
The defense ministry said in a reaction to the report that aging frigates now serving the navy needed to be phased out, but that it had not yet decided on the type of vessels that would replace them.
“The overall strategy of the armed forces will be taken into consideration as the defense ministry evaluates the plan,” it said in a statement, adding that the budget would be another factor to be weighed.
The United States designed the Perry-class frigates in the 1970s and most remain in service, equipped with various forms of modern technology. The deal would add to Taiwan’s existing inventory, as it already has eight Perry-class frigates built on the island.
The China Times report came less than a week after the U.S. said it had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan as part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.
When unveiled in 2008, the package triggered strong protests from Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back by force if necessary.
The United States is the leading arms supplier to self-ruled Taiwan, even though it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou came to power in 2008, promising to boost trade ties and allowing in more Chinese tourists.
Over 20 Years Later, Navy Destroyer Design Breaks Record
Cruising through the darkness in rough seas, the USS Ross encountered a rogue wave that smashed into the destroyer’s bow, sending a shudder along the entire ship that knocked sleeping crew out of their bunks and damaged the sonar housing. As alarms sounded, sleepy sailors scrambled to shore up the leak.
“We cracked the hull and kept on going like it was nothing,” retired sailor Jonathan Staeblein, of Hagerstown, Md., recalled. In fact, the 510-foot destroyer was never out of service for repairs during any deployment in the three years he served aboard as an electronic warfare technician.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers such as the USS Ross and USS Cole, which survived a terrorist suicide bombing in Yemen, have proven to be durable workhorses in the U.S. Navy.
Over the 22 years since construction of the first one began at Bath Iron Works, the ship has steamed into the record book: The destroyer’s production run has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer and frigate in U.S. Navy history. The only warship in production for longer was the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, author and analyst.
Thanks to a decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Arleigh Burke destroyer production will continue for at least a few more years. The defense budget signed by President Barack Obama in December includes money for the first of at least three more ships. There’s talk of many more being built.
At Bath Iron Works, along the banks of the Kennebec River, there are three of the ships in various stages of production.
“They’re fast and they move. And they’re a lot of fun to drive,” said Lt. Cmdr. Robert J. Brooks, executive officer of USS Wayne E. Meyer, a Bath-built destroyer commissioned in October.
Retired Rear Adm. Michael K. Mahon, the Navy’s former deputy director of surface warfare, said the ships run no risk of being outdated any time soon. “It’s the envy of the world,” said Mahon. “Every surface warship officer in every navy in the world would love to command an Arleigh Burke.”
The original warship was conceived during the Cold War, when Bath Iron Works was abuzz with shipbuilders pounding, grinding, welding, plumbing and wiring ships at a furious pace to meet President Ronald Reagan’s audacious goal of a 600-ship Navy. Shipbuilders toiled long hours working elbow-to-elbow in a haze created by welders inside steel hull segments that were sweltering in the summer and cold in the winter.
The number of Bath shipbuilders peaked at 12,000 by the time the USS Arleigh Burke was commissioned on July 4, 1991. Some Bath shipbuilders have spent virtually their entire careers doing nothing by making Arleigh Burke destroyers.
Gil Rines, a welder, joined Bath Iron Works as construction was beginning on the first ship. Since then, he has raised two children and become a grandfather. The shipyard changed hands and is now owned by General Dynamics. The number of shipbuilders has dropped to 5,500.
But one thing remained a constant: The shipyard kept churning out Arleigh Burke destroyers, more than 30 of them. The same ships are also built at Northrop Grumman’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., which has churned out more than 20.
“It’s a great ship. That’s why the Navy stuck with it,” said Rines, a third-generation shipbuilder.
The 9,500-ton ships can easily top 30 knots while simultaneously waging war with enemy ships, submarines, missiles and aircraft. Their combat system, called Aegis, uses powerful computers and a phased-array radar to track more than 100 targets — the exact number is classified.
They’re also the only surface warships in the Navy’s arsenal that can be sealed off to withstand a biological, chemical and nuclear attack. The latest improvements are software upgrades and SM-3 missiles that allow the Aegis system to be used for ballistic missile defense. An Aegis-equipped cruiser built by Bath Iron Works shot down a failed satellite in 2008. Several Aegis destroyers and cruisers are now equipped with the upgraded system.
The Navy originally envisioned building 29 of the ships, but has since extended the line to 62 ships through 2011. With the continued production, there will be at least three more, keeping shipbuilders in Maine and Mississippi busy while the Navy decides whether to build more Burkes, or to build something else.
The Navy’s decision is partly budget-driven. Burkes are less costly to build than the next-generation stealth destroyer, which the Navy and defense contractors spent 10 years designing.
Burkes currently cost about $1.2 billion apiece; the stealthy, and much larger, DDG-1000 Zumwalt will cost more than double that. In the end, the Navy decided to truncate production to just three Zumwalts.
Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, gives credit to the Navy for scaling back the costly Zumwalts and focusing on the tried-and-true Burkes.
The DDG-51 Arleigh Burke, he said, is now in a rare class of military systems that’s so durable and versatile that it continues for generations, like the C-130 Hercules cargo transport, an airplane that first went into production in 1957.
“The fact that the Navy can’t come up with something better than the DDG-51 isn’t necessarily bad news,” he said. “It may be commentary on how good the DDG-51 is.”
Indian Navy to Receive Nuclear Submarine in Spring 2010
The nuclear attack submarine Nerpa has been formally inducted in the Russian Navy for subsequent leasing to the Indian Navy next spring.
The submarine was commissioned on Monday after the successful completion of final sea trials. The ceremony was held at the Amur shipyard in Bolshoi Kamen (Big Rock) on the Pacific coast. The commissioning of the submarine coincided with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to the region, but it was not clear whether he was present at the ceremony.
The Nerpa was to be initially leased to the Indian Navy in mid-2009, but its delivery was delayed due to a fatal accident killing 20 crewmen and technical staff following the release of lethal Freon gas in the sleeping quarters, while on trial sailing in the Sea of Japan.
Before the submarine is commissioned as INS Chakra in March, the Indian crew would undergo training and sailing together with Russian specialists and servicemen.
The submarine is being leased to the Indian Navy for 10 years under a $ 650 million deal.
The 12,770-ton Nerpa, an Akula II class nuclear powered attack submarine, is rated one of the world’s deadliest and quietest warships.
According to the former Russian envoy to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, India’s indigenous nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, launched in July, has been designed after Russia’s Akula II submarines.
Nerpa is the second Russian submarine India has leased in the past 20 years.
According to earlier media reports, an Indian crew is expected to arrive in January for joint pre-delivery sailing with the Russian naval crew to be followed by independent sailing under the supervision of Russian instructors.
Stealth Corvette Comes Into View
After a decade of development, testing and extended sea trials, Sweden has put two of its Visby class “stealth” corvettes (HMS Helsingborg and HMS Härnösand) into service on December 16th.
With a hull made of carbon fiber material, and topside surfaces shaped to deflect radar, the Visby is hard to spot electronically. Travelling at less than 22 kilometers an hour (13 in rough seas), the Visby is practically invisible to radar.
The 650 ton ships are armed with a 57mm gun, plus eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles, as well as anti-submarine torpedoes, mines or depth charges. The crew is small (43), but the ship can move fast (about 70 kilometres an hour) in all kinds of weather. The Visby had radar, sonar and thermal imaging equipment. The ship is 240 feet long, 34 feet wide with a draft of less than 3 metres.
Propulsion is via waterjets, which makes the ships harder to detect by submarines. The Visby ships can also carry a helicopter, and is equipped with hull mounted and towed array sonars for hunting Russian subs off the Swedish coast. Marport C-Tech was a major supplier of sonar equipment to the Visby class corvettes.
Five Visby class ships have been built, and all will be in service within three years.
Many foreign navies have shown significant interest in the Visby technology.
