Latest update (Feb 6/12)

Basic Nuclear Propulsion
(click to expand)

This DII Spotlight article covers American nuclear propulsion industrial base contracts since the beginning of FY 2006. The USA has had an all-nuclear submarine fleet for over 50 years, a policy that dates back to the visionary Admiral Hyman Rickover. On the surface, America’s aircraft carriers became an all-nuclear fleet with the retirement of the USS Kitty Hawk [CV 63], and FY 2008-09 spending legislation pushed the US Navy to use nuclear power in its future CG (X) cruisers and new amphibious ship classes. At present, however, carriers are the only nuclear-powered American surface ships on the drawing board.

The civilian nuclear sector has seen major advances over the last 2 decades, and so has the military sector. The commitment to a nuclear fleet includes funding for those technical advances, as well as work to maintain both the reactors on board American ships, and the industrial base that supports them. This DID Spotlight article covers those efforts:

• Nuclear Naval Propulsion Around the World
• American Contracts (FY 2006 – Present) [updated]
• Additional Readings
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Latest update (Feb 6/12)

LHA-R/NAAS Concept

Modern U.S. Navy Amphibious Assault Ships project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) / Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). LHA/LHD are a key element of the Seapower 21 doctrine pillars of Sea Strike and Sea Basing, transporting, launching, and landing elements of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) via a combination of LCAC hovercraft, amphibious transports and vehicles, helicopters, and aircraft.

Designed to project power and maintain presence, LHA-Replacement (LHA-R, aka. LH-X and now the America Class) large deck amphibious assault ships will replace the LHA-1 Tarawa Class. They are based on the more modern LHD Wasp Class design, but initial ships will remove the LHD’s landing craft and well deck. While its LHA/LHD predecessors were amphibious assault ships with a secondary aviation element, it’s fair to describe the LHA-R (now New Amphibious Assault Ship) as escort carriers with a secondary amphibious assault role.

• America Class Ships: 21st Century Escort Carriers [updated]
• The LHA-R Program [updated]
• America Class: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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CAMM-M/ Sea Ceptor

Britain’s Royal Navy currently uses Seawolf missiles as the primary air defense system for its Type 23 frigates. They’re updated versions of a missile that was used during the 1981 Falklands War, but modern threats demand more. Britain also needs to equip its Type 26/27 Global Combat Ship frigate replacements, and could use an option that raises the number of air defense missiles carried by its Type 45 air defense destroyers.

The answer to all of these problems is being developed as one component of Britain’s GBP 4 billion, 10-year “Team Complex Weapons” partnership with MBDA. It’s a quad-packable, intermediate-range air defense missile with its own active radar guidance, which re-uses a number of features and technologies from British fighter jets’ AIM-132 ASRAAM short-range air-to-air missile. Not only will it serve on British ships, but it’s set to field as an Army air defense missile, and may even fly on future British fighters.

AGS fires LRLAP

Guns for DDG 1002. (Jan 31/12)

As costs rose and missions proliferated, it was easy to forget that the original rationale for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class centered around naval gunfire support for troops ashore. Heavily armored US battleships with massive 16-inch (406 mm) guns once performed extremely well in this role, as their volkswagen-weight shells gave enemies pause. While USS Iowa was brought back into service during the Reagan era, she was decommissioned again in 1990. That left America with a floating museum in Los Angeles, and a gap in its options.

While European manufacturers are fielding guided, long range adaptations of existing 127mm/54 and 76mm shells, the Zumwalt Class will be getting an entirely new Advanced Gun System that fires the same 155mm shells used by field artillery ashore. The goal was to combine the wide range of available 155mm shell options with extra-long range, GPS precision guidance, and rapid fire…

• The AGS/LRLAP System
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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Gowind Family

In October 2010, Malaysia’s Boustead received a letter of intent from their government for 6 “second-generation patrol vessels.” Now South Africa’s DefenceWeb reports that DCNS and its local submarine & surface ship partner, Boustead Naval Shipyard, have won a contract worth $2.8 billion to supply 6 Gowind family ships to Malaysia, which will be the type’s 1st paid order. Deliveries are expected to run from 2017-2020, if all goes well.

To win, DCNS reportedly beat Dutch firm Damen, whose scalable SIGMA ships have been purchased by neighboring Indonesia; as well as TKMS of Germany, who supplied Malaysia’s 6 existing MEKO 100 Kedah Class OPVs and its 2 Kasturi Class light frigates. What’s less certain so far is the Gowind ships’ exact configuration, and equipment set…

• The RAND Corporation published a report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on what it would take to sustain a competitive military aircraft industry in the US. It comes with plenty of charts on research and procurement spending by contractor and by program, with historical context going back to 1980 and projections into 2025. Among the sustainment scenarios the research firm looked at: resuming production of F-22s for export, and starting a new bomber.

• Wired: “The Defense Department’s networks, as currently configured, are ‘not defensible,’ according to the general in charge of protecting those networks.” Among other threats, malware that targets DoD smart cards.

• The US Army is pausing its Enterprise Email migration until it has finished turning it into a formal acquisition program with the Army Acquisition Executive as its milestone decision authority (MDA), then reported to Congress.

• Preserving technical documentation across decades, from old-school 2D printed blueprints to CAD computer files in various formats is proving to be a headache because of physical deterioration, skill loss and fast digital obsolescence. Libraries around the world have been working on long-term preservation methodologies for years individually and together through organizations such as the OCLC, but they don’t face the same operational obligations.

• US, Israel postpone “Austere Challenge” missile defense exercise.

• The USA’s 2nd Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 4 Coronado) is christened.

• Over at HII, they’re touting a naval “Patrol Frigate 4921” that could be based on the US Coast Guard’s frigate-sized Legend Class National Security Cutters. They’ll need a customer, though.

• The British Armed Forces are about to go through their 2nd tranche of personnel reduction of up to 400 people in the Navy, 900 in the Air Force and 2,900 in the Army.

• Canada’s Ottawa Citizen: “The deputy minister of Defence approved a $374,000 renovation to his executive suite just three weeks after the department circulated a business plan highlighting the need to save money and eliminate the jobs of at least 2,100 civilian public servants…”

FNS Tonnerre [BPC 2],
during sea trials

From contract to delivery, 2009-2012. (Jan 14/12)

In December 2008, reports surfaced that France intended to accelerate production of its 3rd Mistral Class LHD amphibious assault and command ship, as part of a EUR 2.3 billion defense component of France’s economic stimulus package. That deal was finalized on Apr 10/09, and production of the 3rd ship of class is now complete. It is expected to enter service as FS Dixmude in 2012.

Cost figures were not released initially, but the use of commercial cruise ship standards and civilian yards reportedly allowed France to field the first two 21,300t Mistral Class LHDs for about EUR 660 million. By 2010, it emerged that Dixmude would be delivered for about 10% less, or EUR 300 million. That would make each Mistral Class LHD just 25% of the price for a single American 22,700t LPD-17 San Antonio Class amphibious assault and command ship…

• BPC 3: A Different Construction Approach
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
• Appendix A: The Mistral Class LHDs [updated]
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MK 41s in action

Systems for new US destroyers. (Jan 10/12)

The naval MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) hides missiles below decks in vertical slots, with key electronics and venting systems built in. A deck and hatch assembly at the top of the module protects the missile canisters from the elements, and from other hazards during storage. Once the firing sequence begins, the hatches open to permit missile launches of various types. It is also being adapted for land use, as part of the USA’s plan to forward-deploy ballistic missile defense in allied countries.

The Mk.41 is the most widely-used naval VLS in the world, in service with the US Navy and with many countries outside the United States. Lockheed Martin is the system’s prime contractor, and BAE Systems Land & Armaments also makes components and canisters for the MK 41 system. In September 2011, however, the US Navy assumed the role of final integrator…

• The MK 41 Family of Systems
• MK 41 VLS Contracts, FY 2006 – 2011 [updated]
• Additional Readings
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Scarborough, Trials

As 2011 came to a close, Brazil’s buy of 3 in-stock Offshore Patrol Vessels from BAE, with an option to license-build 5 more, has the potential to cast wide ripples.

Brazil has very extensive coastal responsibilities, a sizable Marine Corps, and a Navy whose frigates are either British designs, or former British ships. That navy is expanding, as Brazil moves to protect key assets like its deep-water oil production, but British shipbuilders will face stiff competition. Other key Brazilian suppliers like France’s DCNS will be bidding, alongside naval shipbuilders around the world. The OPV purchase is certainly another piece of the naval puzzle for Brazil, alongside its future submarines. Is it also another piece of the puzzle for BAE?

• The Ships
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
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67% of the fleet

Guns for DDG 1002. (Jan 31/12)

The prime missions of the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer are to provide naval gunfire support, and next-generation air defense, in near-shore areas where other large ships hesitate to tread. There has even been talk of using it as an anchor for action groups of stealthy Littoral Combat Ships and submarines, owing to its design for very low radar, infrared, and acoustic signatures. The estimated 14,500t (battlecruiser size) Zumwalt Class will be fully multi-role, however, with undersea warfare, anti-ship, and long-range attack roles.

True, or False?

That makes the DDG-1000 suitable for another role – as a “hidden ace card,” using its overall stealth to create uncertainty for enemy forces. At over $3 billion per ship for construction alone, however, the program faced significant obstacles if it wanted to avoid fulfilling former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s fears for the fleet. From the outset, DID has noted that the Zumwalt Class might face the same fate as the ultra-sophisticated, ultra-expensive SSN-21 Seawolf Class submarines. That appears to have come true, with news of the program’s truncation to just 3 ships. Meanwhile, production continues. DID’s FOCUS Article for the DDG-1000 program covers the new ships’ capabilities and technologies, key controversies, associated contracts and costs, and related background resources…

• Zumwalt Class: Program and Participants
• DDG-1000 Key Technologies and Features
• DDG-1000 Issues and Controversies
• Zumwalt Class: Contracts and Key Events, 1998 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
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