ASDS
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In a program that began with great promise but soon spiraled out of control, Northrop Grumman has been building the ASDS “Advanced SEAL delivery System” mini-subs, the successors to the previous SDV (SEAL/Swimmer Delivery Vehicle) carried on US Benjamin Franklin Class (SSBN-640) attack submarines.

Unlike the SDV, which is flooded and requires SCUBA gear, the 16 Navy SEALs, MARSOC, or other covert action personnel in an ASDS can arrive at their mission drier, warmer, and less fatigued[1]. The ASDS was meant to be launched from the converted SSGN Ohio Class Special Ops/Land Strike submarines, and also from Virginia Class (SSN-744) submarines, from the improved Los Angeles Class SSN-688I subs Charlotte [SSN 766] and Greeneville [SSN 772], or from the well decks of amphibious assault ships like the LHD Wasp Class or LPD-17 San Antonio Class. The new mini-sub also fits in a C-17 Globemaster or C-5 Galaxy aircraft for rapid transport to an appropriate launch platform.

In the end, however, technical, reliability, and 400% cost overrun issues proved nearly insuperable. The ASDS has been canceled for all intents and purposes; all that’s left is Kenneth Krieg’s April 6, 2006 acquisition decision memorandum directed the Navy and SOCOM to establish an ASDS-1 improvement program to boost the performance of the existing sub, and complete its operational testing. Which limps on, still, as the ARIP…

• The ASDS Program & Its Mission
• ASDS: Taking on Water
• Updates: To Davy Jones’ Locker – and Back Again?
• Appendix A: DID Op/Ed, December 2005
• Appendix B: Additional Readings and Sources
  
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The US military’s JTRS program began in the late 1990s as an attempt to unify its underlying communications infrastructure. The idea was to create a family of radios for troops, vehicles, ships, et. al. that all shared a similar underlying architecture, could use Internet Protocol for data, and was a “software-defined” platform that relied on software rather than hardware to handle communication protocols. This would eliminate the Iraqi war phenomenon of multiple radios in each vehicle, in order to let the troops inside talk to various services et. al. It would also make the equipment far more “future proof,” by allowing in-place upgrades to extend compatibility with American and foreign systems, add new communications waveforms, et. al.

The program was visionary – and very ambitious. Ongoing requirements creep was thrown into the mix, and the result was major delays and cost overruns that eventually led to the complete restructuring of the program. Contracts. The part of the program that aimed to create radios for aircraft and ships has seen development contracts issued to Team Boeing (Boeing, BBN Technologies, Harris, L-3 Communications, Milcom Systems Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins) and to Team Lockheed (Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon) back in 2004, with an extension in 2006 that brought the totals to about $75 million each.

We now have a winner, subject to the usual caveats concerning possible contract award protests…

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SSN Barracuda cutaway
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In December 2006, France’s Defence Ministry awarded a contract for nuclear-propelled fast attack submarines to state-owned warship builder DCN and nuclear energy group Areva-TA. The contract’s total value could be as high as EUR 7.9 billion, and it is set up as an initial EUR 1.0-1.4 billion contract (reports vary), followed by 6 options (tranches conditionnelles) to cover development, production and through-life support during their first years of operational service.

The companies will supply 6 SSN Barracuda submarines between 2016-2027. The latest development is a technology transfer from the International Space Station….

• Replacing the Rubis: The Barracuda Class SSN
• The Barracuda SSN Program
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

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The UK’s Parliamentary Defence Committee has released its 2007-08 Session report that looks at the UK’s new merged Defence Equipment & Support organization (formerly DPA and DLO), and assesses Britain’s major procurement programs. The “Tenth Report of Session 2007-08, Defence Equipment 2008, HC 295” offers conclusions on a number of fronts, beginning with this general philosophy and then moving on to specific programs:

“We note that the MoD is preparing advice to Ministers about the defence budget for the three years 2008-09 to 2010-11 and that the MoD acknowledges that there are likely to be cuts or delays to projects in the Equipment Programme. The MoD needs to take the difficult decisions which will lead to a realistic and affordable Equipment Programme. This may well mean cutting whole equipment programmes, rather than just delaying orders or making cuts to the number of platforms ordered across a range of equipment programmes. While it is the natural inclination of all governments and departments to avoid bad news by “moving programmes to the right” rather than by cutting out an entire capability which has many supporters, such an approach can cause in the long run more financial and operational damage than confronting the perennial problem of an over-ambitious Equipment Programme. A realistic Equipment Programme will give confidence to our Armed Forces that the equipment programmes that remain will be delivered in the numbers and to the timescale required, and will also allow industry to make informed investment decisions.”

With respect to individual programs and issues…

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SRV1 on Harstad
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A new submarine rescue system, owned jointly by France, Norway and the UK, has completed trials off the coast of Norway. The “SRV1” system is managed by the UK MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support team on behalf of the 3 nations. When in service it will be managed by In Service Submarines Integrated Project Team, and based at Faslane on the Clyde. Like its predecessor, the “SRV1” can be loaded into aircraft for fast response. Once it is declared operational, the existing LR5 rescue submersible and Scorpio remotely operated vehicle will leave operational service, and SRV1 will provide future rescue capability at an expected whole-life cost of GBP 157 million over 30 years.

The system consists of a free-swimming rescue vehicle with an A-frame portable launch and recovery system, a transfer-under-pressure facility to safely decompress personnel from a pressurised submarine, and an intervention system for survey and rescue preparation…

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future SSN 777
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General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. in Groton, CT received a not-to-exceed $324.9 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-03-C-2101) for long lead time material associated with the FY 2009 Virginia Class submarine [SSN 784] and its FY 2011 counterpart [SSN 787)] This contract covers long lead-time material for steam and electric plant components; the main propulsion unit and ship service turbine generator set; components that are critical to maintaining the submarine component industrial base; and miscellaneous Hull, Mechanical and Electrical system components to support ship construction of SSN 784 and SSN 787.

Work will be performed in Groton, CoT and Quonset Point, RI (7%); Newport News, VA (7%); Sunnyvale and South El Monte, CA (50%); Coatesville, York, and Cheswick, PA (5%); Linden, Philipsburg, and Florence, NJ (5%); and at various sites throughout the United States (26%), and is expected to be complete by Mar. 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC issued the contract.

Note that SSN 784 will be the first Virginia Class Block III fast attack submarine with the new bow design, covered in “Virginia Block III: The Revised Bow”. An earlier long-lead contract for this boat was also covered in “$270M for SSN 784 Propulsion Long-Lead Items.”

Broadside delivered
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The US Navy’s 313-ship fleet plan has been in question for some time; indeed, the Pentagon Office of Force Transformation was projecting a possible 40% budgetary shortfall through 2022 when it released its “Alternative Fleet Architecture Design study [PDF format, see also related CRS report]” in 2005. Rising costs in several key naval programs, and budget realities, have sharpened those questions. During a recent House Armed Services Seapower & Expeditionary Forces subcommittee hearing, the Navy found itself under fire from both sides of the political aisle, up to and including public and pointed expressions of disbelief in the Navy’s shipbuilding plan.

Rankling minority member Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD]:

“From Fiscal Years 2008 to 2009, the Navy has reduced the number of ships to be procured by approximately 25 percent – one quarter of the ships the Navy planned to build last year are gone. The long term shipbuilding plan still speaks to a 313-ship Navy, as does the Chief of Naval Operations, but it’s time we started facing facts. The Navy will never get there without either top line relief or a significant change in the mix of platforms. The Navy’s shipbuilding plan is based on the assumption that over the next thirty years the shipbuilding account will nearly triple in size. Do our witnesses really think this is realistic? How can you? If it’s not – and I tell you it’s not – then the only other alternative is to look at the mix of platforms.”

Subcommittee chair Rep. Gene Taylor [D-MS] was even sharper in his criticisms:

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Scorpene construction
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Infodefensa relays a Negocios newspaper report [Espanol] that Navantia has submitted its S-80 Class currently under development for Spain, in response to an Indian Navy RFP for a follow-on submarine purchase. The purchase would follow India’s 2005 contract for 6 Scorpene Class submarines, and is expected to allocate almost EUR 3 million (about $4.5 billion) to buy another 6 submarines.

Infodefensa adds that bids for the follow-on contract have also been submitted by France’s DCNS (likely the Scorpene AIM-2000, or possibly the in-development Marlin Class), Russia’s Rubin (Advanced Kilo Class, note the recently returned Kilo refit, though), and Germany’s HDW (likely the Type 214).

Thanks to DID subscriber Pedro Lucio for his tip and translation assistance. Interestingly, the Negocios article also says that the Government of India had asked Navantia for a proposal to supply up to 7 modern frigates, but Navantia’s leadership decided not to respond after carefully analyzing the requirements, and taking into account its order book for the next few years. See “India Issues RFI for “Stealth Frigates” for more background on that topic. Navantia is currently building frigates for Spain, Norway, and Australia.

Basic Nuclear Propulsion
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Several navies around the world currently use nuclear propulsion in at least some ships and submarines: The USA has had an all-nuclear submarine fleet for over 50 years, a policy that dates back to Adm. Hyman Rickover. As our readers were quick to point out, Britain’s sale of its SSK Upholder Class to Canada (as the problem-plagued Victoria Class) made them an all-nuclear fleet as well. China, France and Russia also use naval nuclear propulsion, and India is currently working to join this club via its SSN program. On the surface, France’s trouble-plagued FNS Charles de Gaulle joins America’s USS Enterprise and its Nimitz Class carriers.

The saga of the Charles de Gaulle serves as a reminder that adapting nuclear propulsion technology to the small spaces of a submarine, or fitting them to a surface warship, is no trivial feat. Much can go wrong, even in nations that have used nuclear naval propulsion for some time. On the flip side, advances in design can offer significant benefits. The new nuclear plants in America’s Virginia Class and Seawolf Class, and Britain’s new Astute Class, fast attack submarines, and the USA’s forthcoming CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carriers, sport new reactor designs that will save billions over the life of each ship by eliminating the standard mid-life reactor refueling.

This FOCUS article covers related American contracts since the beginning of FY 2006, and will be updated and backdated as circumstances allow. Note that all contracts noted here are awarded by The US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC, and that completion date or other additional information are provided for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts as a matter of official policy. Other contracts related to maintenance, however, may show completion dates.

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S-80 cutaway, labeled
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DID has covered SSK Scorpene Class submarines before, most notably via the $3.5 billion deal India signed for 6 submarines – some of which were subsequently upgraded to AIM-2000 orders with MESMA Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems alongside their diesel-electric drives. The Scorpene is a collaboration between DCN and Navantia, and has been ordered by Chile (2), Malaysia (2), and India (6).

Navantia is also building its own design for the Spanish Armada. Spain’s new submarines will be larger boats with AIP systems as standard gear and other important modifications, and have been given the designation S-80. The latest news is a contract to QinetiQ – the S-80 is becoming an interesting Spanish/ British affair.

This article will cover the S-80 submarines and the contracts associated with the Spanish Armada’s orders, including subsidiary contracts for related systems. DID especially appreciates the efforts of reader Pedro Lucio to keep us up to date on this subject. Muchas gracias! Others who wish to help as well should email tips, over here @defenseindustrydaily.com…

• S-80 Submarines: Program & Schedule (i.e. Continue reading…)
• S-80 Submarines: Contracts & Events [updated]
• S-80 Stats
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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