LPD-17 cutaway
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LPD-17 San Antonio Class amphibious assault support vessels are a new class of ship which is just entering service with the US Navy. Much like their predecessors, their mission is to embark, transport, land, and support elements of a US Marine Corps Landing Force. What changes are the capabilities and technologies incorporated to perform that mission. This new ship class includes significant internal technology and design upgrades, and is designed to operate accompanying platforms like the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle amphibious armored personnel carrier.

Navy sources note that the 9 scheduled ships of this class (reduced from 12) are slated to assume the functional duties of up to 41 previous ships. Ships to be replaced include the USA’s older LSD-36 USS Anchorage Class dock landing ships (all decommissioned as of 2004, LSD-36 and LSD-38 transferred to Taiwan) and its LPD-4 USS Austin Class ships (12 built and serving, LPD 14 Trenton now India’s INS Jalashva). The San Antonio Class ships may also replace 2 classes of ships currently mothballed and held in reserve status under the Amphibious Lift Enhancement Program (ALEP): the LST-1179 Newport Class tank landing ships, and LKA-113 Charleston Class amphibious cargo ships.

Welcome to Norfolk…
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Replacing that many existing ships is already a very tall order. While its design incorporates notable advances, the San Antonio Class has also had its share of teething problems. So, too, has the New Orleans shipyard to which most of this contract has been assigned. Teething issues are not uncommon in new ship classes, but the number of serious issues encountered in this ship class have been higher than usual. The initial ships have been criticized for sub-standard workmanship, and costs are almost twice the originally promised amounts at over $1.5 billion per ship.

This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the San Antonio Class, detailing the ships’ unique features and capabilities as well as its program innovations and issues. We’ll also include an updated list of related contracts awarded throughout the program’s history. As has become DID custom, the most recent additions are highlighted in green type. Now, over 2 1/2 years after the initial ship of class was delivered and accepted, the San Antonio Class has reached Initial Operational Capability, and Raytheon continues to get electronics contracts to equip new ships of class…

• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Capabilities and Features
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Project & Timelines
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Process & Issues
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Contracts and Events (1996-Present) [updated]
• Appendix A: Additional Readings & Sources – LPD-17 Ship Class
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources – News and Views
  
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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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P-8A Poseidon
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Many people would contend that the P-3 Orion is the greatest maritime patrol aircraft ever flown. These aircraft entered service in 1959 and will continue to serve past 2011. Modifications to their equipment have sharpened their capabilities, and even given them a land-attack and surveillance role. In service with 15 countries, the Orion is a great success – but it’s a very old success, and a replacement is needed.

The P-8A has emerged from the P-7 LRAACA program that was begun in 1988. That program originally envisaged an improved P-3G design, but program cost overruns and interest in opening the competition to commercial designs led to cancellation in 1990. The successor MMA program was begun in March 2000, and Boeing beat Lockheed’s “Orion 21” for the contract with a design based on the ubiquitous 737 passenger jet.

Filling the P-3 Orion’s shoes will be no easy task. What missions will the new P-8A Poseidon face? What do we know about the platform, the project team, and ongoing developments? Will the P-3’s level of global customer coverage give its successor a comparable level of export opportunities? Australia has already signed on, but has the larger market shifted in the interim?

This is DID’s FOCUS Article concerning the P-8A Poseidon Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, and it will be updated as events and contracts are announced. In the latest news, India may be about to join the program…

• The Controversy: Turboprop, or Turbofan Jet?
• P-8A Poseidon: Platform & Capabilities
• The P-8’s BAMS Companion: Kicking It Up a Notch
• P-8A Poseidon: Program & History
• P-8A Poseidon: Contracts & Events [updated]
• News & Analysis: India’s Interest, and Broader Export Potential
• Additional Readings & Sources: Platforms & Program Background
• Additional Readings & Sources: News & Updates
  
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PA2 Concept, June 2006
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Throughout most of the Cold War period, France maintained two aircraft carriers. That changed when the FNS Foch, the last Clemenceau Class carrier, was retired in November 2000 (it will now serve the Brazilian Navy as the Sao Paolo). As Strategis notes, France has lacked the capacity to ensure long-distance air coverage during the FNS Charles de Gaulle’s maintenance cycles or during other periods when the carrier is not available for active duty (approximately 35% of the time). In 2015, the ship will be taken out of service for an extensive maintenance overhaul. Despite a slippage in initial construction dates from 2005 to 2007-2008, the French still hope to take delivery by 2014 so the the new ship can be operational by the time their sole operational aircraft carrier goes off line for repairs.

The project has been awarded to the “MPOA2” (Maitrise d’Oeuvre Porte Avions No 2) consortium composed of DCN and Thales, and is now proceeding in cooperation with the UK. The design was originally though to be for a ship of about 58,000t, but detailed design work has pushed it up into the 74,000t range, fully 72% larger than the FNS Charles de Gaulle. Unlike the problematic nuclear-powered de Gaulle, however, the PA2 will be a conventionally-powered ship with an all-electric power system driven by Rolls Royce gas turbines.

The latest development is a statement that once again casts doubt on the PA2’s future – a future likely to be decided by French President Sarkozy himself…

• PA2: The Design & Acquisition Program
• PA2: Developments and Updates [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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LHD 8 construction
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LHD 8 Makin Island is under construction in Pascagoula, MS as the last ship of America’s Wasp Class amphibious assault carriers. While many of its characteristics are similar to its sister ships, there are also differences. For one thing, it will be a no-steam, all electric ship, including electric propulsion, all driven by 2 GE LM2500+ gas turbines and 6 diesel-electric generators. Other features will include central machinery control using fiber optics, upgraded communications systems including tele-medicine, structural modifications required to host and service the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and self-defense improvements including the SSDS Mk 2 Mod 3A unified combat system controlling Phalanx Block 1B guns, RIM-116B RAM short-range missiles, and RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles.

The keel was laid in February 2004, but all these changes meant that about 67% of the previous line drawings, and 75% of the test procedures, needed to be modified for Makin Island. Then Hurricane Katrina hit the in-progress ship hard. The labor pool also took a hit, with up to 1/3 of the Gulf Coast personnel leaving the area and the company. The pool of electrical professionals was especially hard hit, with 55-60% of the LHD 8’s current labor force under the 4-5 year threshold for experienced workers.

Even so, Katrina hit in August 2005. Which is why Northrop Grumman was surprised at the slowness of its integration and testing progress during final construction in 2008, as part of the ship’s preparation for sea trials. That led to a comprehensive review and audit – and a bill of $320-360 million to fix the ship, which will be footed by Northrop Grumman…

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Watchkeeper 450
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Britain has given the green light to the Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program. The initial August 2005 contract award to Thales UK was worth around GBP 700 million, and the program expected to create or sustain up to 2,100 high-quality manufacturing jobs in the UK. The Watchkeeper platform is based on Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450 UAV platform, and executed via a joint venture.

Watchkeeper will be an important system, working as the likely medium-range mainstay within a complementary suite of manned (vid. ASTOR Sentinel R1) and unmanned (Buster, Desert Hawk, MQ-9 Reaper) aerial Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition Reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems. This will make it a core element of the UK Ministry of Defence’s Network-Enabled Capability strategy.

The latest update to this FOCUS Article includes the phase-out of the old and unloved Phoenix drones, and a flight hour milestone on the front lines for the early-deployment version…

• Watchkeeper: Rationale & Concept
• Watchkeeper MK450: The Platform
• Watchkeeper: Team and Program
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Galileo concept
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Large space projects with long lead times can be politically perilous. The USA’s Transformation Satellite Network (TSAT) aims to create a system that can deliver fiber cable class bandwidth to or from any point on the globe, using lasers as the space transmission backbone. Funding and technical progress issues have pushed the project back from its originally intended date of 2008-2009 to likely operation in 2014 or so – and doubts are emerging re: the entire $20+ billion project.

Across the Atlantic, the European Union is cooperating with China and other outside investors to replace the USA’s free Global Positioning System service with an alternative under their own control. Organizational issues and shortfalls in expected progress have pushed the “Galileo” project back from its originally intended operational date of 2008 to 2014 or so – and doubts have manifested in Europe re: the entire project, even as security issues around Chinese involvement and their forthcoming COMPASS satellite system persist.

The EU has decided to press on, however, and has gained initial-stage approval for its plan to finance the program with tax dollars instead of the expected private investments. Mindful of the pitfalls in this approach, however, they have decided to raid other EU accounts for over EUR 3 billion (about $5.35 billion) in funds, rather than asking for more money from member states. This has not gone over well in all quarters. Britain’s multi-party Parliamentary Transport committee, for example, released a stinging report that recommended scrapping Galileo unless key deliverables are met. The EU’s structure allowed it to brush those objections aside, however, and the organization is well on the way to approving the new arrangements and beginning to issue contracts. Meanwhile, key technical protocols are released for discussion, a second satellite is planned for launch in April 2008, and an influential American think-tank raises security and policy concerns that could have broad impacts on transatlantic defense industry relationships.

• What Is Galileo?
• “Eppur, Si Bloccare”: Trials & Tribulations
• Contracts and Key Events
• Appendix A: The EU Proposal – Going Forward ( ? )
• Appendix B: Additional Readings
• Appendix C: Additional Readings – The Security Dimension
  
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SH-2G: rocky shoals
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In 1997, Australia signed an $A 667 million contract with Kaman to purchase 11 upgraded SH-2G (A) “Super Seasprites,” with modernized avionics. This compact helicopter design was thought to be well suited to operation from the RAN’s ANZAC Class frigates, and even from patrol boats with helicopter decks. The first helicopter was unveiled in 2003, but by 2005 up to 40 deficiencies had been identified including inability to operate in bad weather and low-light conditions, and inability to meet Australian airworthiness certification standards. Placing modern avionics into a 1960s airframe proved challenging indeed; the helicopters were restricted to “passenger and supply transport in good weather” in 2005, then grounded in May 2006.

The project is now 6 years behind schedule, costs have risen over 50% to $A 1.1 billion (currently about $900 million) for 11 helicopters, and the program is being used as a case study in the Australian Defence College’s leadership and ethics course. It’s estimated that at least $A 45 million more and 29 months of work would be required to make them serviceable, with full operational status unlikely until at least 2010. Other SH-2 operators include New Zealand (from its ANZAC frigates), Egypt, and Poland.

In 2007, Australia’s Liberal Party government elected to continue the Super Seasprite program – but their successor Labor government has reversed that decision, and come to an interesting agreement with Kaman…

• The May 2007 Continuation
• Super Seasprite: Issues and Dilemmas
• Program Updates [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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CGC Sanibel
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On Sept 16/05, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman joint venture Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) completed the preliminary design review for the 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRC). “The FRC is being designed to provide the Coast Guard with a state-of-the-art patrol craft that is capable of conducting simultaneous missions,” said ICGS Deepwater’s FRC program manager Mike Duthu.

In February 2006, however, the Deepwater Program ‘temporarily’ suspended design work on the FRC-A program due to technical risk. That suspension remains in place, and it soon became clear that Congress was unwilling to fund further FRC design work. In August 2006, National Defense magazine was reporting that the Coast Guard was looking at off-the-shelf patrol ships instead. On March 14, 2007, the Coast Guard announced that it had terminated ICGS’ responsibilities for the Deepwater Fast Response Cutter-B off-the-shelf acquisition, and reassigned the project to the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate. They expected to release a formal RFP for the 12 FRC-B patrol boats in May 2007, but that didn’t happen until the summer. FRC-A remains in limbo.

More than 2 years after the Coast Guard asked ICGS to accelerate the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program timeline by more than 10 years to hasten replacement of their rapidly deteriorating Island Class patrol vessels, the Coast Guard is still waiting for replacements of any type to arrive. The 30-year old patrol boats soldier on, less the 8 “upgraded” ships whose hull cracking has made them unfit for service. Another 41 Island Class vessels still ply US and international waters.

What happened? What will happen next? DID reviews, including a GAO report that seems to indicate the end of the FRC-A program, and an RFP for off-the-shelf FRC-B cutters to finish in 2008…

• Behind the Programs: The Modernization Imperative
• Down on the Islands: The Suspended Modernization
• Not-So Fast Response: The Catch With Composite Cutters
• March 2007: What Next?
• Program Updates & Contracts [new]
• Additional Readings: Background
• Additional Readings: News, Official Reports & Statements
  
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NH90: TTH & NFH
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The NH90 helicopter emerged from a NATO requirement that created NATO’s own helicopter development and procurement agency in 1992 and, at almost the same time, the consortium to build the hardware – NHIndustrie (62.5% EADS Eurocopter, 32.5% AugustaWestland, and 5% Stork Fokker). It was originally developed to fit between light naval helicopters like AW’s Lynx and Eurocopter’s Panther, and medium-heavy naval helicopters like the European EH101. A quick look at the NATO Frigate Helicopter design showed definite possibilities as a troop transport helicopter, however, and soon the NH90 project had branched into 2 versions, with more to follow. The nearest equivalent would be Sikorsky’s popular H-60 Seahawk/ Black Hawk family, but the NH90 includes a set of innovative features that give it some distinguishing selling points.

While battlefield damage to composite airframes can be more difficult to repair in the field, the combination of corrosion-proofing, lower maintenance, greater troop or load capacity, and the flexibility offered by that rear ramp have made the NH90 a popular global competitor. Orders currently stand at 507 machines, on behalf of 14 nations. This is DID’s FOCUS Article, offering an in-depth look at the multi-national NH90 program, its customers, and its chronology from 1995 to the present day.

During that time, the NH90 has become a sales success – but as many business people discover the hard way, success can be almost as dangerous as failure. NH Industries has had great difficulty ramping up production fast enough to meet promised deliveries, which has left several buyers upset at their lack of operational helicopters. Finland has announced a settlement in this regard, Australia’s deliveries seem to be on track so far, and Germany has just added a contract for key mission control software, and a Finnish government report re: their NH90 program’s problems…

• The NH90 Platform(s)
• The NH90 Production Program
• Contracts & Key Events, 1995-present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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