MH-60R & ALFS,
Bermuda
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The AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) will equip the US Nay’s new MH-60R multi-mission helicopters, and will serve as their primary anti-submarine sensor system. The new FLASH sonar operates at lower frequency and higher power waveforms than existing dipping sonars, which will increase the opportunities for long-range detections; indeed, the AQS-22 dipping sonar claims 4x area coverage compared to current systems and includes both active or passive sonar modes. Submarine tracking, localization, classification are all covered. A winching system with up to 2,500 feet of cable raises and lowers the sonar, and the complete system also includes active or passive sonobuoys, enhanced shallow water capability via processing improvements, underwater communication and environmental data collection capabilities, and other advanced characteristics.

ALFS is a cooperative venture between Raytheon Corp. and Thales Underwater Systems, which supplies a modified version of its FLASH wide-band sonar. Thales’ Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopters (FLASH) helicopter-borne dipping sonar is widely popular, and has been chosen by the the US (MH-60R), France (NH90 NFH), Norway (NH90 NFH), Sweden (NH90 NFH), UAE (Naval Cougar), and UK (EH101 MERLIN); it is also currently proposed for the German Navy’s NH90.

Contracts involving ALFS include…

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General Dynamics Team
Trimaran LCS Design
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The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is the U.S. Navy’s newest surface combatant class. Optimized for shallow seas and operations within 100 miles of shore, but deployable across the ocean, LCS ships are a centerpiece of the USA’s new focus on littoral warfare. They will help to counter growing “asymmetric” threats like coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines, global piracy, and terrorists on small fast attack boats. They will also perform intelligence gathering and scouting using helicopters and UAVs, offer some ground combat support capabilities, and share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and joint units. Swappable “mission modules,” UAV robot aircraft, and robotic UUV and USV vehicles will give these small ships the specialized capabilities they require for each of these roles – and the quick-replace adaptability they need to keep up.

At present, 2 teams are competing for the final LCS design. The General Dynamics team is offering a futuristic but practical high-speed trimaran based on Austal designs and experience. The Lockheed Martin team offers a high-speed semi-planing monohull based on Fincantieri designs that have set trans-Atlantic speed records. Team Lockheed’s efforts have run into serious trouble, including cancellation of the contract for their second ship. The General Dynamics/Austal team hit the same rocks soon afterward, in part because of the US Navy’s unusual proposal for future business arrangements.

DID places recent developments in context by explaining a bit more about the US Navy’s new surface combatant; detailing the teams, key time line events, and contract awards under the program to date; and providing additional resources and links to complete our in-depth coverage. New material appears in green type. The latest updates include the launch of Austal/GD’s LCS 2 Independence…

• LCS = Standard Equipment + Mission Modules
• LCS: Budgets and Program Structure
• LCS: Designs & Teams
• LCS Controversies
• LCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• LCS Ancillaries: Mission Module & Weapon Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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P-8A: Sonobuoy drop
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Sonobuoys are used to detect and identify moving underwater objects by either listening for the sounds produced by propellers and machinery (passive detection), or by bouncing a sonar “ping” off the surface of a submarine (active detection). They usually float, or have at least some part of them that does. Specialized sonobuoys can also detect electric fields, magnetic anomalies, and bioluminescence (light emitted by microscopic organisms disturbed by a passing submarine); as well as measuring environmental parameters like water temperature versus depth, air temperature, barometric pressure, and wave height.

Sonobuoys are generally dropped from aircraft or helicopters that are equipped with a means to launch them, and electronic equipment to receive and process data sent by the sonobuoy. They can also be launched from ships.

This entry will discuss some of the new sonobuoys in use, and also begin covering related contracts….

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CG-47 modernization
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On Oct 31/07, BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair in San Diego, CA was awarded a $31 million contract to undertake maintenance, repair and modernization of the guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill [CG-52] during its scheduled Depot Modernization. Work is scheduled to take place in San Diego from Feb 13/08 through February 2009. The project, which includes dry-docking and pier-side work, will involve an average of 300 workers a day and include: all-electric modification to replace steam-operated equipment; stainless steel sanitary space upgrades; corrosion control enhancements; tank, underwater hull and freeboard preservation; and extensive weapons, sensor and communication system upgrades.

USS Bunker Hill, a CG-47 Ticonderoga Class AEGIS cruiser, was launched in 1985. The Ticonderoga Class remains critical to American seapower, functioning as the fleet’s most powerful anti-air defense, and contributing substantial anti-ship and anti-submarine combat power to its assigned naval groups. With the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer program reaching prohibitive cost levels at $3 billion per ship, and plans for the CG (X) class in flux, modernizing the Ticonderoga ships via planned upgrades and future possibilities like AESA radars will be critical to the USA’s naval and ballistic missile defense security.

CG-52 at Pearl
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Contract funds in the amount of $21.9 million will expire at the end of FY 2008, and this contract was competitively procured and advertised via the Internet, with 2 proposals received by the US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, D.C. NAVSEA’s ’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center will administer the contract (N00024-08-C-4401). BAE Systems Ship Repair has carved out a strong competitive position in the USA for non-nuclear ship repair, modernization and conversion, with major operations in Norfolk, VA; San Diego and San Francisco, CA; and Hawaii. See also BAE’s Jan 15/08 release.

HMAS Adelaide
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The FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates make for a fascinating defense procurement case study. To this day, the ships are widely touted as a successful example of cost containment and avoidance of requirements creep – both of which have been major weaknesses in US Navy acquisition. The result was a capable 3,600t-4,100t anti-submarine platform, with some secondary air defense and anti-ship capabilities via its SM-1 Standard and RGM-84 Harpoon missiles, that could be bought in large enough numbers to fill the Navy’s needs. The ships’ hull twisting and cracking problems were solved early on, and they proved they could take a hit and stay afloat when the USS Stark was struck by 2 Iraqi Exocet missiles during the Iran/ Iraq war. By FFG-36, the “FFG-7 Flight III (Long)” variant, with an extra 8 feet of length that let it accommodate larger and more capable SH-60 Seahawk helicopters instead of the SH-2 Sea Sprites, was the sole US production version.

The bad news was the flip side of the good news. Very little reserved space for growth (39 tons in the original design), and the standard inflexible, proprietary electronics of the time, made updates problematic. So problematic, in fact, that the US Navy deemed upgrading their electronics, radars et. al. for new communications realities and advanced missile threats to be prohibitively expensive. Instead, they removed the 25 “FFG-7 Short” ships from inventory via bargain basement sales to allies or outright retirement, after an average of only 18 or so years of service. The remaining 30 ships received minor upgrades but had their no-longer standard SM-1 missiles removed – and with them, any air defense role. They do not operate in dangerous areas without cover from high-end AEGIS destroyers and cruisers.

FFG 6 fires SM-1
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Australia’s 6 ships of this class have served alongside Australia’s more modern ANZAC Class frigates, which are undergoing upgrades of their own in hopes that it will help them handle the reality of modern anti-ship missiles. With the SEA 4000 Hobart Class air warfare frigates just a gleam in their eye, the government looked for a way to upgrade their FFG-7 “Adelaide Class” to keep them in service until 2020 or so. Recent reports indicate, however, that this A$ 1.46 billion SEA 1390 project has not gone very well…

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HMS Sutherland
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Brtiain’s Type 23 Duke Class frigates were originally envisioned as pure anti-submarine vessels, to the extent of being planned with no other armament. The 1982 Falklands War quickly put paid to that idea, however, and the Type 23s would end up being commissioned from 1989-2001 and fitted with a main gun, Sea Wolf short range anti-air missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to accompany her torpedoes, decoys, et. al. These changes turned the frigates from specialized sub-hunters into versatile multi-role combatants that play a key role in the British fleet. The Royal Navy is set to continue shrinking in size (see esp. diagram) due to rising ship costs, and even though key platforms like aircraft carriers and amphibious ships may be more capable, the mid-tier combat role filled by frigates is not slated for new construction any time soon. As such, upgrading the Navy’s 13 remaining Type 23s to keep them in service is vitally important to Britain’s future force.

As part of those upgrade efforts, the Type 23 frigates will receive: Sonar 2087 towed sonars, the Royal Navy’s latest and most sophisticated submarine hunting system (Thales UK, GBP 166 million for machines that go ‘ping!’); Upgraded vertical-launch Sea Wolf Block 2 air defence missiles to help counter supersonic anti-ship missiles (BAE Systems Insyte with MBDA, GBP 300 million); an improved 114mm Vickers Mk 8 Mod 1 main gun, capable of firing long-range ammunition; and a reshaped stern to cut fuel use. Upgrades are also being performed during maintenance periods, some of which are significant to the ship’s overall capabilities…

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MU90 Eurotorp
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In December 2005, “Beyond Armaris: Thales “Buys” Minority Stake in DCN” covered the government-prodded merger of Thales naval business with state-owned DCN, to create DCNS. That agreement excluded some naval items like electronics, but it did include Thales’ 24% share in Eurotorp, the European lightweight torpedo consortium that was officially founded in 1993 as a joint venture between DCN International (26%), Thomson-CSF (now Thales, 24%) and Whitehead (now Finmeccanica, 50%).

The DCNS transaction was not concluded until March 2007, and now the Eurotorp consortium has taken the next step by creating a more wide-ranging set of joint ventures in underwater weapons systems. The longer-term goal remains European integration, and the 3 CEOs have said they would consider opening the alliance to other European players at some point….

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FarSounder: Now
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3D sonar firm FarSounder, Inc. in Warwick, RI has receicved a $2 million, 2.75 year grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for work to develop a Forward Looking 3D Sonar System for Navigation and Collision Avoidance for Long Range and High Speed Applications. In order to improve the efficiency and safety of marine cargo transport, FarSounder plans to develop a forward looking navigation and collision avoidance sonar system, providing real-time 3-dimensional location (bearing, range, depth) of obstacles at distances up to 3.2 km (2 miles) for vessels traveling at up to 35 knots.

There is no other technology known to DID that is capable of providing navigation and obstacle avoidance information out to these significant distances and speeds. FarSounder’s release says “this project opens up new possibilities in marine navigation by addressing the economic, safety and environmental problems associated with large vessel operations.” This is true, but the benefits could be just as big for brown-water/littoral ships, submarines, unmanned UUVs, and Special Forces insertion devices (short of the supercavitating “Underwater Express”).

TU-142: headed out?
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In November 2005 article, DID covered India’s $133 million deal for two P-3C Orion maritime-optimized patrol and surveillance planes. As it happens, that deal fell through on grounds of expense, support costs, and timing. Apparently, it would have taken 18-24 months for the US Navy to retrofit the two aircraft to the Indian Navy specifications once the lease had been finalized.

In December 2005, India’s navy floated an RFP for 8 new maritime aircraft. Subsequent statements by India’s Admiral Prakash indicate that they could be looking for as many as 30 aircraft by 2020. Lockheed was invited to bid again, and so were several other firms. The bids were submitted in April 2007. The plan was for price negotiations to be completed by 2007, with first deliveries to commence within 48 months.

India’s Ministry of Defence has extreme problems with announced schedules, but their existing fleet is wearing out, international requests for India’s maritime patrol help are rising, and some action is necessary. DID updates the geopolitical drivers, the current fleet, and the known competitors now that the bids have been submitted and technical evaluations have taken place…

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MH-60S w. AQS-20
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In a September 2005 article, DID referred in passing to several recent advances in US mine detection technologies, including a new AQS-20A mine detecting sonar array, and airborne laser systems mounted to MH-60S helicopters. All of this is in the service of the USA’s new naval emphasis on littoral warfare and accompanying doctrinal changes, which DID has also covered. So, what’s the AN/AQS-20? And how is it also related to a new US ship class, not to mention a new undersea robot?

The latest news involves reliability issues with the AQS-20’s mechanical mechanisms that have stopped its Operational Evaluation…

• The AN/AQS-20, AMCM, and Future Fleet Capabilities
• AQS-20 Contracts & Key Events
  
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