BULLHORN #27
12 August 2008
ANAers!!!
First, a great article about the
importance of aircraft carriers, forwarded by our President,
VADM Bob Dunn:
"This
is one analyst's take on the importance of aircraft
carriers." Bob.
*************
Aircraft Carriers Are
Crucial
(HERITAGE FOUNDATION 31 JUL 08) ... Mackenzie Eaglen
On May 22, a serious fire broke out on the Nimitz-class
aircraft carrier George Washington as it sailed to
relieve the forward-deployed Kitty Hawk in the western
Pacific Ocean.
It might take all summer to repair the ship, so the
planned decommissioning of the Kitty Hawk is on hold.
Instead, it's now one of 40 ships from the United
States, Chile, Canada, South Korea, Australia and Japan
taking part in this year's Rim of the Pacific exercise.
In an age of guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency
operations, many U.S. officials appear content to
overlook the importance of conventional weapons such as
the aircraft carrier. That's a serious mistake.
For any U.S. president, the aircraft carrier embodies
the ultimate crisis management tool. Continuously
deployed throughout the globe, carrier-strike groups
give our military unparalleled freedom of action to
respond to a range of combat and non-combat missions.
The recent George Washington incident only further
emphasizes the significance of maintaining a robust
carrier fleet, one large enough to meet all
contingencies and "surge" in crises, no matter what may
happen.
Carriers can move large contingents of forces and their
support to distant theaters, respond rapidly to changing
tactical situations, support several missions
simultaneously, and, perhaps most importantly, guarantee
access to any region in the world.
In a time when America's political relationships with
other countries can shift almost overnight, aircraft
carriers can reduce America's reliance on others --
often including suspect regimes -- for basing rights. A
carrier's air wing can typically support 125 sorties a
day at a distance up to 750 nautical miles. They also
operate as a hub in the strike group's command, control,
communications and intelligence network, playing an
increasingly larger role in controlling the battlespace
at sea.
Whether in a direct or support role, carriers have taken
part in almost every major military operation the U.S.
has undertaken since the Second World War. They also
serve as first-rate diplomatic tools to either heighten
or ease political pressure. When tensions with North
Korea or Iran increase, a carrier, or sometimes two, is
sent to patrol off their coast. And when an election
takes place in a nascent democracy or country central to
U.S. interests, a strike group typically is sailing
offshore.
In March, when Taiwan held important presidential
elections that will chart the future of that country's
relationship with China, both the Kitty Hawk and Nimitz
trolled nearby to ensure a smooth transition of events
and deliver a psychological message of U.S. interest.
And at a time when policymakers expect to spend less on
defense and where the services' lists of unfunded
requirements continues to mount, we'll likely call on
the aircraft carrier to perform an expanded array of
duties, ranging from humanitarian relief to
counterinsurgency support and temporary basing for
Special Operations Forces.
As the Navy assumes responsibility for humanitarian
missions in places such as Africa and South America, it
will rely on aircraft carriers to provide immediate
relief following natural disasters. During Operation
Unified Assistance, following the December 2004 tsunami
and during relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina,
for instance, they placed a central role.
For these enduring reasons, both the Congress and the
Navy must work to ensure that a sufficient number of
aircraft carriers remain in operation. During the Reagan
years, the Navy maintained 15 carriers. In FY 2006,
Congress required the Navy maintain at least 12
carriers.
However officials allowed this number to drop to 11 --
the current number -- in the FY 2007 budget to
accommodate the retirement of the John F. Kennedy.
Although the Kitty Hawk is expected to begin
decommissioning in the coming months, it will be
replaced later this year by the George H.W. Bush (CVN
77), the last of the Nimitz-class line.
To maintain 11 carriers, the Navy will have to procure
seven CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carriers
between 2009 and 2038. Under current plans, however, a
shortfall to 10 carriers is projected to occur between
November 2012, when the Navy decommissions the
Enterprise, and September 2015, when the Gerald R. Ford
is expected to be commissioned.
In reality, this projected three-year gap will be
longer, perhaps much longer. Not only will it take an
additional 30 months for the Ford to become
operationally ready to deploy after commissioning, but
in all likelihood construction delays will push back the
planned commissioning date even further. The result
could be a five- or six-year period where the Navy has
only 10 carriers.
Yet in the past half-century, carrier levels have never
fallen below 12 ships. It's no surprise that a recent
RAND report concluded that "this gap will severely
strain the navy's ability to meet the forward-presence
requirements of theatre commanders."
Nevertheless, this year the Navy again asked Congress to
waive the legislative mandate of 11 carriers to
accommodate the upcoming six-year gap. The House Armed
Services Committee, already having acknowledged that "a
reduction below 12 aircraft carriers puts the nation in
a position of unacceptable risk," chose wisely to reject
the Navy's request.
The committee further directed the Secretary of the Navy
to submit a report by next February reviewing potential
options, including either returning the retired John F.
Kennedy to service or maintaining the Kitty Hawk until
the completion of Gerald Ford. Officials should also
consider accelerating the delivery of the Ford to the
2013-2014 timeframe.
In the meantime, the Navy should take two additional
steps to help surge aircraft carrier capacity.
The Navy has structured its Fleet Response Plan to
uphold its goal of a "6+1 fleet" -- in which at least
six carriers are deployed (or able to deploy) within 30
days, and a seventh can be deployed within 90 days.
Under the current plan, the Navy uses a 32-month
operational cycle consisting of one six-month
deployment.
Each carrier, then, is deployed for only a limited time
within a cycle. Yet with fewer ships and more needs,
aircraft carrier capacity is stretched to its limit. As
the RAND report suggested, the Navy should consider
extending the Fleet Response Plan to a
42-month/two-deployment cycle. This would allow the Navy
to project power while also meeting the full
requirements of the "6+1 fleet" plan.
The Navy also should look to homeport additional
carriers in either Hawaii or Guam. For the past decade
the only carrier home-ported outside the continental
United States has been the Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka,
Japan. From California, it can take two weeks for a
carrier strike group to travel to East Asia and three
weeks to reach the Persian Gulf. Shaving off this time
by positioning a carrier in Guam, for example, would
allow ships to respond more quickly to unforeseen
crises.
It's time to give aircraft carriers their due. They're
not weapons platforms from a bygone era, but rather
flexible tools of national security that can offer a
vast array of capabilities. Congress was correct to stop
the Navy from reducing the carrier fleet below the
already-low level of 11 carriers. Now it must be
prepared to back up its foresightedness by funding
whichever option the Navy determines best for managing
the looming Enterprise/Ford shortfall. When the question
is, "where are the carriers?" we need to ensure the
answer is, "plentiful, and ready to serve."
Mackenzie Eaglen is Senior Policy Analyst for National
Security at The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org).
Please
remember, our membership/recruiting brochure is on
the web site at
http://www.anahq.org/Membership.htm
REUNIONS –
Remember, we will have a
booth at the TAILHOOK Reunion – please drop by!!
VFA-11 RED RIPPERS 80TH
ANNIVERSARY REUNION
www.vfa11.navy.mil
8/15/2008 through
8/17/2008 Oceana, VA
POC: LTJG Derek "Jobu"
Corbett derek.corbett@navy.mil
VR57 30 Year Anniversary
8/23/2008 through
San Diego, CA
POC:CDR Dave Wojtkowski
davidwojtkowski@navy.mil
Patron Six Blue Sharks
Assn (VP-6)
9/4/2008 through 9/7/2008
Everett, WA
Details:
All members who served in the Squadron 1943-1993 are invited
to attend.
POC: H. Brunstad (360) 249-5829
hbmjbrunsta@aol.com
D. Masters (949) 587-1087 dmasters@comline.com
Tailhook Reunion
http://www.tailhook.org/
9/4/2008 through 9/7/2008
Sparks (Reno), NV
reunion events and
registration http://www.tailhook.org/TH08Registration_2Apr.pdf
(800) 322-4665 (858) 689-9223
thookassn@aol.com
VMF-232 Squadron Reunion
1955 thru 1959
www.VMF-232.com
9/25/2008 through
9/27/2008 San
Francisco, CA
Crown Plaza Foster
City Hotel, Book your reservations early. Call 1 800 972
3124 or Book Online Use the code VMF for the discounted
room rate.
POC: Neal Henderson (760) 739-1011
Tommy Tinker (808) 889-5584
Congratulations
!!! to the
new Commanding Officer of the Gateway Squadron in St. Louis,
MO:
CDR James J.
Naumann, Jr., USN (Ret)
13915 Reflection
Ct #619
Growler Conducts First Live AMRAAM
Firing
(JANE’S DEFENCE WEEKLY 04 AUG 08) ...
Gareth Jennings
The US Navy (USN) announced on 31 July
that the Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW)
aircraft had conducted its first live firing of a Raytheon
AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).
The firing, which took place at the
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake,
California, on 23 July, marks a critical milestone in the
Growler's test programme and marks the first release of any
ordnance from the EA-18G.
As part of the integrated test and
evaluation of the aircraft the Growler test team, comprising
both developmental and operational testers, executed a
successful shot demonstrating a self-contained air-to-air
capability. Currently, the incumbent Grumman EA-6B Prowler
aircraft has to rely on escort aircraft to provide this
capability.
For the test, the aircraft first jammed
the threat systems located at China Lake's Echo range before
engaging a Northrop Grumman BQM-74E target drone. Airborne
chase cameras as well as optical trackers on the target
drone confirmed safe weapon separation followed by a close
pass to the target drone, scored by range personnel as a
hit.
In addition to the EA-18G test team,
the live firing called upon the services of Boeing
maintenance and test personnel, VX-31 ordnance, the Point
Mugu and China Lake AMRAAM project team, and China Lake
range safety and range control.
On 3 June the USN's Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-129
'Vikings' took delivery of the first fleet EA-18G at
Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island in Washington
State. The EA-18G will replace the EA-6B - which has
been in service since 1971 - as the USN's primary EW
platform. The navy plans to have completed conversion of
all 10 of its operational Prowler squadrons to the
EA-18G by the end of 2013.
WINTER: World's Economy Depends Upon A Strong Navy
(WASHINGTON TIMES 07 AUG 08) ... Donald S. Winter
(Secretary of the Navy)
America is a nation at war, and our
Navy and Marine Corps are focused on achieving victory in
Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever terrorist enemies may be
found. Given this focus, we must examine the full range of
implications of today's war.
Our nation's maritime strategy
reaffirms the use of seapower to influence actions and
activities at sea and ashore, and adds to the core
applications of naval warfare. Where tensions are high or
where there is a need to demonstrate a commitment to
security, we will aggregate forces to limit conflict or
deter major war.
Our maritime forces will also be
positioned and tailored to support humanitarian operations,
counterpiracy efforts, and the training of partner nations.
These new core capabilities move us to adopt persistent
global presence as a key tenet of our strategy. The
increasing desire for presence is one of the driving factors
in decisions on fleet size and fleet composition.
I remain concerned that the value of
presence is underappreciated. The world is a far more
connected and interdependent globe today than it was in
years past. Nations have moved away from the idea that they
must have economic self-sufficiency and have largely
recognized the value of trade.
Goods are globally sourced, and nations
are dependent on suppliers for the necessities of life from
every continent: energy resources from Africa and South
America as well as from the Middle East; raw materials from
South America, Africa and Australia; finished products from
China, and food stuffs from North America. Of this world
trade, fully 90 percent of it is transported by sea.
We can no longer afford to focus our
attention on only a few specific areas or choke points. For
much of the 20th century, the United States and Great
Britain — as the preeminent seapowers of the day —
maintained freedom of the seas by focusing on three major
chokepoints — Suez, Panama and Gibraltar.
Those days are gone.
With today's global economy, maritime
security has a major claim on our attention. Minor shocks
and interruptions to the flow of trade at sea can have
dramatic, instantaneous effects that reverberate worldwide.
Safeguarding this source of food, energy and goods is
critical to the world's economy. Global conditions and
trends have driven us to put a higher premium on maritime
security around the globe and the need to increase our
worldwide presence. We cannot maintain global maritime
security by ourselves. We will need to form maritime
partnerships.
We are advocating more cooperation
among nations that share a common stake in international
commerce, safety, security and freedom of the seas. Maritime
partnerships and cooperation will promote global maritime
security. However, even if we achieve great success in
establishing partnerships, we will need to increase presence
to develop and maintain those partnerships.
We are tasked with executing many
missions, and each mission has an impact on our future
fleet.
We must prevail in the Global War on
Terror.
We must deter and dissuade threats from
potential peer competitors.
We must be capable of winning the
high-end wars that we hope never to have to fight.
Certainly, these are priorities about
which there is very little disagreement. The hard part is
calculating the risks associated with each, and deciding
what levels of risk are acceptable. Whether looking at the
strategic or operational environment, the Department of the
Navy must balance risk daily. While we must plan for
high-end contingencies, we must carry out today's operations
on the low end, in support of the war on terrorism, and for
enhanced maritime cooperation.
These multiple requirements compel us
to develop a portfolio of combatant ships. We need aircraft
carriers, amphibious ships, submarines and other large
combatants - but we also need smaller, less expensive
warships. Not every crisis requires an aircraft carrier's
supremacy. A range of ship types allows us to better match
ship capabilities and size to missions. Smaller ships are
more appropriate to some missions, while also being better
suited for engagement with the navies of our maritime
partners. Moreover, the inclusion of these smaller, less
expensive ships in our portfolio allows us to increase our
fleet size within our budget. Our 30-year shipbuilding plan
provides for a range of high-end- to lower-end-capability
ships, and will give us the number of ships we need to
support global presence.
Given the long lead times necessary in
shipbuilding, the American people must support shipbuilding
in peacetime, years before threats come fully into view.
That means that we must invest now in
the Fleet.
Peace has never been the natural state
of mankind - it must be defended and preserved. Let us go
forward and work to defend peace through a strong Navy and
Marine Corps.
Donald S. Winter is secretary of the Navy. This essay
is adapted from a speech delivered at the Naval War
College in Newport, R.I. on June 17, 2008.
A-4 To Grace NAS Gate In
Stockdale’s Honor
(NAVY
TIMES 06 AUG 08) ... Gidget
Fuentes
SAN DIEGO —
War veterans will join Navy officials and local dignitaries
on Saturday at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado,
Calif., to dedicate a Vietnam-era jet in honor of the late
Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale.
The restored
A-4C Skyhawk jet will soar from a pedestal over a small park
at the air station’s main entrance at 3rd Street and Alameda
Boulevard. Rear Adm. Len Hering, who commands Navy
Region-Southwest, and Capt. Anthony Gaiani, Naval Base
Coronado’s commander, will attend the 10 a.m. ceremony.
The main
gate, which last year was expanded with extra lanes and
separate entry and exit gates, bears the name of Stockdale,
who died July 5, 2005, at his Coronado home.
Stockdale,
one of the military’s longest-held prisoners of war from the
Vietnam War, received the Medal of Honor for his leadership,
resistance and sacrifice as the senior naval officer in the
POW camps.
The jet
bears the tail number of the A-4C jet that then-Cmdr.
Stockdale — bureau No. 151134 AH 352 — piloted from the
aircraft carrier Oriskany when he was shot down Sept. 9,
1965, the day he was captured and became a prisoner of war.
It is painted in the gray color scheme of Navy Attack
Squadron 192, nicknamed the “Golden Dragons.”
Stockdale,
who commanded Carrier Air Wing 16 when he was captured, was
released Feb. 12, 1973, and went on to serve as president of
the Naval War College and later authored several articles
and books. In 1992, he was a vice presidential candidate
with Texas executive H. Ross Perot in a very short political
career.
Restoration of the A-4 Skyhawk was supported by
donations from the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.
Kitty
Hawk Makes Last Visit To North Island
(SAN
DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE 07 AUG 08) ... Steve Liewer
CORONADO – Veterans who served on the aircraft carrier Kitty
Hawk during its long history and families of current sailors
welcomed the ship Thursday as it arrived at North Island
Naval Air Station around noon.
“It's
good to see her coming back home, finally,” said Manny
Corral of El Cajon, who served on the Kitty Hawk in the
early 1980s. “She holds a lot of memories for a lot of men
out here.”
The
vessel had spent a decade overseas, running missions out of
the 7th Fleet headquarters in Yokosuka, Japan. It stopped at
the base in Coronado as part of its voyage to Bremerton,
Wash., where it will be decommissioned. It is the Navy's
oldest active ship.
Although the 47-year-old Kitty Hawk was named for the North
Carolina dunes where the Wright Brothers flew the first
motorized glider, it spent the first three-fourths of its
career out west in San Diego.
The
ship is expected to remain for the rest of August to turn
over gear and sailors to the carrier George Washington,
which will replace the Kitty Hawk next month in Japan. The
changeover has been delayed by two months because the George
Washington suffered a fire and is undergoing repairs at
North Island.
Tom
Fahy's most searing Kitty Hawk memory is the flash of an
atomic blast in 1962. He was 20 years old at the time,
assigned to a heavy attack fighter squadron.
One
day, he and other Kitty Hawk crew members were ordered onto
the deck.
Officers told them to turn their backs and put their hands
over their faces. Those measures didn't block out the fierce
white light from the blast.
“It was
like daylight,” said Fahy, now 66 and living in Coronado.
“It was the greatest thing that ever happened in my Navy
career.”
Sergio
Frost of Otay Mesa remembers a tight-knight crew that seemed
to revel in its tasks when he took over as command master
chief – the ship's senior enlisted sailor – in 1987.
“People
worked together, they helped each other,” said Frost, 65.
“They'd polish the brass, and they'd be humming.”
The
Kitty Hawk's milestones include its combat missions during
the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
San
Diego Welcomes Back
Kitty Hawk
(KGTV
(SAN DIEGO ABC) 07 AUG 08) ... Broadcast Clip
SAN
DIEGO -- The oldest active aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy
and the only one operating on conventional power will make a
stop in San Diego Thursday to transfer its crew to another
ship.
The USS
Kitty Hawk, which is scheduled to be decommissioned next
year, will conduct a so-called "cross deck" transfer with
the George Washington, which has been docked at Naval Air
Station North Island since May.
The
Washington was originally expected to meet up with the Kitty
Hawk in Japan this month but plans were changed due to a
fire aboard the nuclear- powered carrier.
The May
22 fire raged through an area seven stories tall. Sparked by
unauthorized cigarette smoking near improperly stored oil
containers, the blaze injured 37 sailors and caused $70
million in damage, according to the Navy.
Capt.
David Dykhoff was relieved of command as skipper of the USS
Washington, as was his executive officer, Capt. David Dober.
The
George Washington is scheduled to begin sailing toward a new
home, Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, on Aug. 21. It is
expected to arrive in September.
The
Kitty Hawk was commissioned in 1961 and is the only
conventionally fueled aircraft carrier still in active
service. Navy officials have said the Kitty Hawk will be
decommissioned next year near the time that the new George
H.W. Bush will be commissioned.
Until
then, the Kitty Hawk, which saw service in the Vietnam War,
will be the Navy's second oldest commissioned vessel after
the USS Constitution, which is more than 200 years old.
Kitty
Hawk Aircraft Fly Into History
Air
Wing Five Closes The Book On Carrier’s Flight Deck
(NAVY
TIMES 07 AUG 08) ... Mark D. Faram
It was
down to the wire Wednesday onboard the aircraft carrier
Kitty Hawk as 53 aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Five flew
off the ship for the final time.
Most of
the wing’s aircraft had already left the ship earlier in the
day, but two aircraft — an F/A-18 Hornet from Strike Fighter
Squadron 102 and an EA-6B Prowler from Carrier Tactical
Electronic Warfare Squadron 136 — had maintenance issues and
needed parts from off the ship.
A final
launch was scheduled for after 5 p.m., when the C-2A
Greyhound “COD” from Detachment Five of Fleet Logistics
Support Squadron 30 was due to return to the ship.
As it
happens, the COD was late. But when it finally landed, the
maintenance crews grabbed their parts, and the race was on
to see who would make the sundown deadline for launch. It
would be close.
In the
meantime, Capt. Todd Zecchin, the Kitty Hawk’s commanding
officer, climbed into the right-hand seat of the COD and was
shot off the ship as the co-pilot to VRC-30’s Lt. Cmdr. Mark
A Nicholson.
At
7:01p.m., Zecchin and Nicholson brought the C-2A back onto
the flight deck, catching the No. 3 wire for what would be
Kitty Hawk’s 407,511th and final arrested landing.
“It was
a real joy and a great honor to have been able to get my
first trap on the Kitty Hawk and the ship’s last all at the
same time,” Zecchin said afterward. “It’s something I’ll
never forget.”
Zecchin,
who will decommission the Kitty Hawk at the end of January
in Bremerton, Wash., was also the final commanding officer
of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, but during his
command, the ship was no longer certified to have fixed-wing
flight ops, though he’d had numerous traps on the ship
earlier in his career.
It
almost appeared as though the final catapult launches might
have to wait until Thursday morning as the Cmdr. John Kurtz,
the ship’s air boss, came over the ship’s flight deck
announcing system.
“For
those of you keeping track, we’ve got 20 minutes left to
make these launches,” he said.
Near
Elevator 4 on the starboard side, Prowler No. 503 was the
first to get the necessary parts installed tested. Very
quickly, the maintenance crews had the aircraft buttoned up
and the engines turning and moving onto Catapult 3 abreast
the island. A few minutes later, Lt. Cmdr. Billy Fraser, Lt.
Kumar Sankara and Lt. j.g. Dan Peel shot off the catapult
and headed to shore.
Meanwhile, the COD was next to go, and Nicholson made that
catapult shot with co-pilot Lt. Robert J. Deneau.
Now it
was just Hornet 104 that had yet to launch, and the air
boss’ 20-minute deadline had come and gone.
The
maintenance crews were still buttoning up side panels as
pilot Lt. Cmdr Jeremy Andrew and weapons officer Lt. j.g.
David Robinson climbed into their aircraft and began to fire
it up. A thumbs up later, they taxied to Catapult 3. Shooter
Lt. Dustin Hendrix got the signal to launch, and at 7:53
p.m., the final aircraft left the Kitty Hawk.
“Launch
complete,” Kurtz announced with little fanfare as Hornet 104
climbed out of sight and headed to shore.
But the
celebration had just begun. It had been a light-hearted day
on the deck.
Traditionally, all the ship’s shooters use a final catapult
shot to launch off their boots at the end of a deployment.
That didn’t happen today. Immediately after the final
launch, the steam was blown off. But not to be left in the
lurch, the group removed their boots anyway, headed to the
aft end of the flight deck and heaved their boots into the
ocean manually.
As Air
Wing Five’s aircraft headed to shore, they, too were making
history. It has been 35 years since the complete wing has
landed in the U.S. They left in 1973 on the aircraft carrier
Midway and have called Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, home
ever since. Their stay in the U.S. will be a short one, as
they are due to fly onto the nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier George Washington shortly after the ship leaves port
Aug. 21.
It’s
not totally over yet for the Kitty Hawk, though. Its
remaining aircraft, the helicopters from Helicopter
Anti-submarine Squadron 14 and Light Helicopter
Anti-submarine Squadron 51 Detachment 3 are scheduled to fly
off the ship Thursday, just prior to Kitty Hawk’s San Diego
homecoming.
The final statistics for the ship’s
flight deck have the bow catapults, No. 1 and 2 at 165,433
and 99,190 shots respectively. On the waist, Cat 3 ended its
career at 100,085 — the only waist catapult in the Navy to
achieve more than 100,000 — while Cat 4 finished its career
at 83,592.
Though the catapults themselves have
fired a total of 448,301 times during their lifetime, Kurtz
said that number also takes into account what are called
“no-load” shots where no aircraft are attached. The arrested
landing number, however, is an exact count of landings on
the ship, he said.
=====================================
EMALS Catapult For CVN-78 Proceeding
Through Testing, Appears Back On Track
(DEFENSE DAILY 08 AUG 08) ... Geoff
Fein
Testing on the giant motor generator that
will be used to power the electromagnetic aircraft launch system
(EMALS) on the Navy's next- generation carrier, the Gerald R.
Ford, should wrap-up testing next month at General Atomics'
Tupelo, Miss., facility, a Navy official said.
The 90,000-pound motor that is placed deep
inside the aircraft carrier as workers are building the
structure has completed more than 6,700 out of 10,000 planned
cycles, Capt. Randy Mahr, program manager for aircraft launch
and recovery equipment, told Defense Daily in an interview
earlier this week.
"That reduces the risk that the motor
generator has any fundamental problems. And then we will go and
start putting some of those components on order for the ship,"
he said.
After several concerns surfaced late last
year, the Navy faced the potential of seeing EMALS terminated.
The issues surrounding the EMALS program
became so troublesome toward the end of 2007 and beginning of
2008 that, as recently as a few months ago, Navy Secretary
Donald Winter had been briefed on whether EMALS should be
terminated, according to a source. In the end, the direction to
the program was to continue forward.
General Atomics builds EMALS.
Last year, as EMALS was preparing for its
critical design review (CDR), the decision was made to break up
the review into multiple design reviews, Mahr said. "That led up
to a major system review that happened last November."
EMALS got through the design reviews in
pretty good shape, Mahr noted, but officials did identify some
unaccounted risk.
"The biggest risk that they identified last
fall, in November...going through CDR, was with the ability to
manage production, control risk, and get it onboard CVN-78,"
said Mahr, who jointed the program in April 2008.
"We did go back and re-plan the test and
evaluation program.
Instead of being just technically driven,
it is now equally driven by the schedule," he said.
That was done to reduce the risk in making
the "buy decisions" for the ship, Mahr said.
As the Navy pursued that front, they also
brought in Northrop Grumman [NOC] Shipbuilding as a partner on
EMALS, he added.
Originally, PMA 251 (Aircraft Launch and
Recovery Equipment) and General Atomics were writing the
schedule to do technical, Mahr said.
"Now...we have Northrop Grumman
Shipbuilding as a partner in that test and evaluation schedule
and we are managing the test and evaluation in order to meet the
needs of the end user," he added.
Mahr acknowledges that in the end it was
all very hard, but the Navy and its industry partners came up
with a better product.
"And the Navy fully supported the funding
issues to make all of this work and we are doing that while
holding on to the CVN-78 schedule," he said.
The Navy requested a $37 million increase
for EMALS in FY '08, a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
spokeswoman said.
EMALS is the catapult system for the ship,
in essence making EMALS and CVN-78 tied together, Mahr said. The
system will only go on new construction aircraft carriers
beginning with CVN-78. It will not be retrofitted onto any
Nimitz-class ships, he added. "Everything from the Ford-class
forward will have EMALS."
The Navy began to examine that arrangement
more closely and questioned whether the technology was viable,
Mahr said.
"They brought in what is now known as the
production assessment review. They had some SES engineers from
NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command), NAVAIR, General Atomics and
Northrop Grumman come in and take a look at the program...the
technology, what the individual risks were for the major
subsystems, and how those were going to play against the CVN-78
production schedule," Mahr explained.
That review lasted until about February
2008. At that point, officials began doing some out briefs, he
added.
In parallel with those briefings, a
Government Accountability Office report was published that said
many of the same things the Navy later acknowledged--that the
schedule had slipped, there was an increase in the production
risk relative to the ship, and there was probably some funding
issues, Mahr said. "Those pieces all came out at the same time."
Another issue was that the relationships
between the Navy and General Atomics became a bit strained, Mahr
said.
"Through that, as you can imagine, there
was a lot of self- assessment going on. There was a lot of what
could have been perceived as non-constructive criticism. Both
the Navy and General Atomics took some efforts to adjust their
management and teaming," he added.
"On the General Atomics side, they brought
in a very experienced manager and he came in and looked at his
contractor team and made the decision from last fall to this
spring to align them much more closely to what NAVAIR
traditionally looks for...systems engineering orientation,
fiscal orientation, so we look at spend plans together, we look
at cash flow issues...he aligned his team and General Atomics
much closer to the Navy," Mahr said.
On the Navy side, the decision was made to
take the program, which had been under NAVAIR's Air 1.0
organization, and move it into the Program Executive Office
Tactical (PEO T) aircraft.
"They did that for a couple of reasons,"
Mahr explained. "PEO T has all the other aircraft programs and
we have a lot of experience in PEO T managing large complex
integration programs like [EMALS]."
So as efforts were occurring to adjust the
management and look at all the technical issues, the Navy also
began looking at risk to CVN- 78, Mahr said.
The Navy decided to alter the way it was
managing EMALS, Mahr said.
When buying components for CVN-78, one of
the challenges Mahr noted was that the Navy was managing the buy
on behalf of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding from General Atomics.
Mahr is managing EMALS for PEO Carriers
(PMS 378). He would buy everything from General Atomics for both
development and production.
Mahr would then pass those components along
to PMS 378, which would then, in turn, hand those parts off to
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.
"That's a fairly long road to go to get to
what we really need to do, which is minimum schedule risk and
equipment into the yard," Mahr said.
"So the Navy made the decision in the
spring to take production responsibility for CVN-78 and let the
two contractors handle that," Mahr added. "They are very good at
that, they know how to work together, they know how to do
production."
Mahr is still managing all the development,
but the production piece, which was one of those risk items the
program identified last fall, has been handed over to the two
contractors to figure out how to make that work, he said.
So Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding will buy
the production EMALS components directly from General Atomics.
The money still flows from PMS 378, but instead of flowing
through Mahr's program office, it now goes directly to the
shipbuilding contract, he said.
"In a risk perspective, that basically got
the Navy from being the middle man between two contractors,"
Mahr said. "It took a while to come to that. But at the point we
are at right now, the risk relatively for production is not as
high...not from a technical perspective, it's more from a
schedule perspective."
========================================================================
AARGM Scores Successful Test, Readies For
Milestone C
(DEFENSE DAILY 08 AUG 08)
Alliant Techsystems [ATK], the U.S. Navy,
and the Italian Air Force this month successfully completed
another missile firing of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation
Guided Missile (AARGM) at the Naval Air Weapons Station China
Lake, the company said yesterday.
The missile test firing was the first of
two "Operational Assessment" firings supporting Milestone C Low
Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision later this calendar
year, according to ATK.
AARGM was launched off-axis at medium
altitude from an F/A-18D Hornet aircraft. In the
operationally-realistic scenario, AARGM successfully
demonstrated capability against sophisticated counter-ARM
(anti-radiation missile) measures, discriminating the air
defense system target in a cluttered environment and guiding to
lethal range, ATK said.
During the profile, AARGM used its
precision navigation to stay clear of designated impact
avoidance zones, a key feature employed to prevent engagement of
sensitive, neutral, or friendly regions. The firing demonstrated
the weapon system's maturity and provided critical data in
support of the upcoming Milestone C LRIP decision, the company
added.
ATK participated in the test in partnership
with the Navy's Integrated Test Team, led by the Direct and Time
Sensitive Strike Program Office (PMA-242). The team also
includes members from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons
Division-China Lake, the Naval Air Systems Command, and the
Italian Air Force, according to ATK.
With this recent firing, AARGM has achieved
10 successful live fires and numerous captive carry flights
against a wide array of targets, ATK said.
AARGM is a supersonic, air-launched
tactical missile that will be integrated on the F/A-18 C/D,
F/A-18 E/F, EA-18G and Tornado IDS/ECR aircraft. The missile is
also designed for compatibility with the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, EA-6B Prowler and U.S. and Allied F-16 Falcon aircraft.
Its advanced multi-sensor system, including a Millimeter Wave (MMW)
terminal seeker, advanced digital Anti-Radiation Homing (ARH)
receiver and a GPS/INS, is capable of rapidly engaging
traditional and advanced enemy air defense targets as well as
non-radar time-sensitive strike targets. The AARGM MMW seeker
can operate in concert with the ARH to counter RF shutdown
tactics, or in a stand-alone mode to guide to non-emitting time
sensitive targets. AARGM is a network-enabled weapon that will
directly receive tactical intelligence information via an
embedded receiver and transmits real-time Weapon Impact
Assessment (WIA) reports before impact. AARGM, the successor to
the U.S. Navy AGM-88 HARM system, is a U.S. and Italian
cooperative major acquisition program with the U.S. Navy as the
executive agent, ATK said.
====================================================
Fleet Composite Squadron 6
Deactivates
Story Number: NNS080808-12
Release Date: 8/8/2008 3:23:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Coleman Thompson,
Fleet Public Affairs Center Atlantic
NORFOLK (NNS) -- Fleet Composite Squadron (VC) 6 was
deactivated Aug. 7, in a ceremony held on Naval Station
Norfolk.
Established in 1952 as Utility Squadron 6, VC-6 was
originally designed to provide aerial target services for
U.S. Naval forces in the Atlantic Ocean. After changing
their name, the Firebees of VC-6 expanded their mission to
include providing airborne reconnaissance and real-world
threat simulations.
In 1958, VC-6 established a detachment in Dam Neck, Va., to
provide surface and aerial target services for the Dam Neck
Gunnery School, specializing in the BQM-74E Aerial Target
Drone. Another detachment was later created in Patuxent
River, Md., in 1986, to develop an experimental Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. This later developed into the
Pioneer UAV system, the nation's only 'forward from the sea'
UAV.
"I'm sad to see it go, but the members of VC-6 are going to
move on and continue to support the fleet," said Personnel
Specialist Seaman Paul Richards. "I'll be taking the VC-6
pride and dedication to all my commands in the future."
"It is all about the people, the relationships you make, the
spirit and camaraderie," said Cmdr. Gary Deal, VC-6
commanding officer. "That type of spirit is not just going
to affect my Navy career, it's going to affect my life."
VC-6 provided support in the Persian Gulf for Operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and their UAV detachments
supported combat operations in Kosovo and Iraq. The squadron
also supported the war on terrorism.
"The squadron has a tremendous legacy of operational
accomplishments which are inspiring," said Deal.
The ceremony celebrated the various accomplishments of the
squadron and highlighted the Firebees' history of providing
quality service to the fleet.
Commander,
2nd Fleet Changes Command
NB: VADM
Williams is a submariner – Dutch
Release
Date: 8/8/2008 3:33:00 PM
From
Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs
NORFOLK (NNS) -- Second
Fleet changes command aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight
D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) at Naval Station Norfolk Aug. 8.
Vice Adm. Melvin G. Williams, Jr. relieved Vice Adm. Marty
Chanik and assumed the responsibilities as Commander, U.S.
2nd Fleet and Director, Combined Joint Operations from the
Sea Center of Excellence.
The change of command also served as a retirement ceremony
for Chanik after 35 years of naval service.
Chanik assumed command of 2nd Fleet in November 2006,
training and equipping four Carrier Strike Groups and three
Expeditionary Strike Groups to deploy in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Maritime Security Operations.
During his tenure, Chanik equipped 2nd Fleet to serve as a
Maritime Headquarters with a Maritime Operation Center (MOC)
bringing unprecedented clarity and coordination to maritime
battlespace, and accomplished 2nd Fleet's certification as a
Joint Task Force headquarters.
"Recently 2nd Fleet has been designated as a ready Joint
Task Force Headquarters," said Chanik. "We've worked hard
over the last year on getting and maintaining that
qualification and working on the leading edge about how to
man, train, equip and sustain as a Joint Task Force."
Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Adm. Jonathan W.
Greenert presided over the ceremony, praising Chanik's
efforts, and welcoming Williams.
Chanik addressed Williams by saying "Mel, you've got a great
team here and I have no doubt with your leadership that you
will take this team to even greater heights and move them
forward."
Williams comes to 2nd Fleet from Director, Force Structure,
Resources and Assessment (J8) on the Joint Staff. He is a
1973 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of
Newport, R.I.
"As we move forward and continue to accomplish our mission
with excellence as our standard, today and in the future, in
the Atlantic and globally we're going to move ahead where
Adm. Chanik laid the foundation," said Williams to the 2nd
Fleet staff.
Guest speaker Adm. Robert F. Willard spoke about the
importance of family in Chanik's naval career.
"So much of our careers take place away from our families,"
said Willard. "I think it's terrific that everyone is here
to celebrate this monumental career and departure."
Chanik was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his
accomplishments.
During his 35-year career, Chanik has served with
distinction at sea and ashore. Chanik has amassed more than
4,800 flight hours and 850 carrier arrested landings. At
sea, he has commanded Fighter Squadron 84 (VF 84), the
"Jolly Rogers," USS Camden (AOE 2), USS Enterprise (CVN 65),
and Carrier Group 3 aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).
Ashore, he served at the Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top
Gun) as an instructor in graduate level tactics; on the
staff of the Chief of Naval Operations as Head, Aviation
Plans and Requirements and, later, as the Director,
Programming Division; and as the Deputy Commander, Joint
Task Force Southwest Asia.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star,
Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Navy
Commendation Medal with Combat "V," and various service and
campaign awards.
Indian Navy
Fleet To Grow To 160-Plus By 2022
(INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE 09 AUG
08)
New Delhi - The
Indian Navy aims to expand its fleet to more than 160 ships, the
majority of them indigenously-built, by 2022, navy chief Admiral
Sureesh Mehta has said.
Delivering a
talk on the Future Vision of the Indian Navy here Friday, Mehta
said the Indian shipbuilding industry has a very sound base and
most of the future platforms will be built in the country.
"We have great
ambitions in warship building. Currently 38 vessels,
including one aircraft carrier, three frigates, six
submarines, one landing ship, and four anti-submarine vessels
are under development," Mehta said.
"Induction of
new aircraft including MiG-29K fighters, maritime reconnaissance
aircraft, airborne early warning and control systems (AWACs) and
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is in the offing," he said.
Seeking policies
that favour indigenous shipbuilding, the navy chief underlined
that the country's indigenous ships are small by global
standards and that only 10 percent of ships owned by India are
Indian-built.
"By 2022 the
Indian navy will have a fleet of 160-plus ships, three aircraft
carriers and 400 aircraft of different types. Extensive
satellite surveillance and networking will be there," Mehta
added.
Currently
India has only one aircraft carrier - INS Viraat.
Besides, the
navy is looking forward to a greater network centricity to keep
track of all the vessels in the fleet and can be instrumental in
faster deployment of platforms.
The navy chief also called for greater engagement of
regional and extra-regional navies and space-based
surveillance of the maritime battle space.
A
product of... Navy
Office of Information www.navy.mil 703.697.5342 August 11, 2008
Fleet
Response Plan (FRP)… Enabling the Maritime Strategy
“FRP
maintains a structured, deliberate process which ensures
continuous availability of trained, ready Navy forces to support
global Combatant Commander requirements."
– Rear Adm.
Mark H. Buzby, Deputy Chief of Staff for Global Force Management
and Joint Ops, U.S. Fleet Forces Command
Since
implementation in 2003, the Fleet Response Plan (FRP) has
transformed the Navy’s ability to provide flexible, global
maritime presence essential to successfully executing the
Maritime Strategy. By focusing training milestones on attaining
core competencies earlier in training cycles, combined with
adjusting manning processes to ensure consistent maintenance
manning levels able to support surge operations, the U.S. Navy
has consistently provided mission-ready forces to support the
key tenets of the Maritime Strategy.
FRP
Mission
• Provide
ready Navy forces to meet Combatant Commander requests for
forces in support of our nation’s maritime security.
• Enable
a Navy which has the capacity, the capability, and equally
important, the balance across a range of mission areas to
operate as a global Navy.
Enabling
the Maritime Strategy
• Forward
Presence - postures the Navy, coupled with personnel tempo (PERSTEMPO)
management, to meet more complex and increasing demands
supporting multiple Carrier Strike Group exercises such as
Valiant Shield in the Pacific.
•
Deterrence - maximizes our deployability in the War on Terror
using forward based and forward deployed forces.
• Support
Sea Control - increases our ability to support global maritime
campaigns and operations with forces certified for mission
needs.
• Power
Projection - provides ready Navy forces to integrate and operate
with joint/combined and special operation forces.
•
Maritime Security - engages with partner nations across the
spectrum of operations such as USS George Washington’s (CVN 73)
participation in Partnership of the Americas.
•
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response - delivers rapid,
unparalleled maritime capabilities in time of crises, providing
compassionate assistance in efforts such as the non-combatant
evacuation for U.S. citizens in Lebanon in 2006 and humanitarian
and disaster relief efforts provided by USS Kearsarge (LHD 3)
following Tropical Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh in November 2007.
Key Messages
Facts & Figures
•
FRP has
successfully transformed the Fleet’s readiness levels to sustain
a global maritime presence, tailored to specific needs.
• FRP
stresses force agility embodied by rapid-deployment
capabilities.
• FRP
increases operational availability and generates more forward
presence and surge capability on short notice.
•
FRP
currently enables six of the Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers be
available for deployment within 30 days and one more available
in 90 days.
• FRP’s
PERSTEMPO levels are achieved by the CNO balancing Quality of
Service for Sailors and meeting Combatant Commanders'
operational needs globally.
• FRP
construct optimizes Navy ability to provide forces to
support the Maritime Strategy by providing full spectrum
range of options to national leadership.
Departing 6th Fleet Commander Sees Role For
Europe, Africa
(STARS AND STRIPES 12 AUG 08) ... Sandra
Jontz
NAPLES, Italy — The nation can’t afford to
lose sight of the importance the European theater plays in world
security, Vice Adm. John "Sandy" Winnefeld Jr., said
Monday moments after relinquishing control of the U.S. Navy’s
6th Fleet.
"I think the challenges [for my successor]
are to continue the momentum, to make sure that the Navy and the
nation really do understand the increasing importance of this
theater, both Europe and Africa," said Winnefeld, who leaves
after a year in command.
"We’ve had a very good example lately of
the challenges in Europe, with the Russians who basically
exhibited aggression of a nature that we’ve not seen them do,"
he said, referring to violence that erupted Friday between
Russia and Georgia in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Winnefeld — whose next assignment will
be in the plans office of the Joint Chiefs — touted his
sailors’ progress in Africa as a "huge operational success,"
through the Navy’s Africa Partnership Station, a mission to
strengthen U.S.-African ties and impart seafaring knowledge to
participating African nations.
"I think that the challenges will grow as
the theater continues to grow in importance. Our nation is
starting to understand how important Africa is," he said.
Vice Adm. Bruce Clingan, who pinned
on his third star Monday, replaces Winnefeld after being
director of Warfare Integration/Senior National Representative
on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon.
He now also becomes deputy commander of
Naval Forces Europe, Joint Force Maritime Component commander
Europe, commander Strike and Support Forces NATO, and Allied
commander Joint Command Lisbon.
Vice Admiral James A. ""Sandy"" Winnefeld, Jr.
Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet
Commander, Allied Joint Command Lisbon
Deputy Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe
Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander, Europe
Commander, Striking and Support Forces NATO
 Vice
Admiral Winnefeld graduated in 1978 with high honor in Aerospace
Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and
received his commission from the Navy Reserve Officer Training
Corps program. After designation as a naval aviator, he served
initial tours with Fighter Squadron 24, the Navy Fighter Weapons
School (Topgun), and Fighter Squadron 1.
His subsequent sea tours include service as Commanding Officer
of Fighter Squadron 211, Executive Officer of USS John C.
Stennis (CVN 74), and Commanding Officer of USS Cleveland
(LPD 7). As Commanding Officer of USS Enterprise (CVN
65), he led “Big E” through her 18th deployment, which included
combat operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation
Enduring Freedom immediately after the terrorist acts of Sept.
11, 2001. As Commander, Carrier Strike Group TWO/Theodore
Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, he led Task Forces 50, 152, and
58 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and maritime
interception operations in the Persian Gulf.
His shore tours include service as an action officer in the
Joint Staff Operations Directorate, as Senior Aide to the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Executive
Assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. As a flag
officer he has served ashore as director, Warfare Programs and
Transformational Concepts, United States Fleet Forces Command
and as Director of Joint Innovation and Experimentation at
United States Joint Forces Command.
Vice Admiral Winnefeld graduated with highest distinction from
the U.S. Naval War College off-campus program. He is a recipient
of the Admiral William J. Crowe Award as Joint Staff Action
Officer of the Year and the Vice Admiral William W. Behrens, Jr.
award as the honor graduate of his Navy nuclear power school
class. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal,
the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious
Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, and
five Battle Efficiency awards.
Rear Admiral Bruce W. Clingan
Director, Warfare Integration/Senior National Representative
(N8F)
 Rear
Admiral Bruce W. Clingan is a native of Lafayette, Ind., but was
raised in Bellevue, Wash. He graduated from the University of
Washington and holds a Masters of Science from the University of
Southern Calif. He received his commission through the NROTC
program in June 1977.
Designated a Naval aviator in May 1979, Rear Adm. Clingan flew
F-14 Tomcats with Fighter Squadron 124, Fighter Squadron 114,
and Fighter Squadron 211, completing deployments aboard USS
America (CV 66), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS
Kitty Hawk (CV 63), and USS Nimitz (CVN 68). He
commanded Fighter Squadron 11, and after completing the nuclear
power program, served as Executive Officer of USS Abraham
Lincoln (CVN 72). Subsequently, he commanded the 6th Fleet
flagship USS LaSalle (AFG 3) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN
70).
Ashore, Rear Adm. Clingan served as an F-14 Flight Instructor at
Fighter Squadron 124, where he helped Naval Air Systems Command
and Grumman Aerospace Corporation develop the F-14D Super Tomcat
as a member of the Aircrew Systems Advisory Panel.
Rear Adm. Clingan’s first Joint assignment was in Europe, as a
member of the Operations and Readiness Branch, Supreme
Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, where he helped negotiate
various North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Spanish Coordination
Agreements.
After selection to flag rank, Rear Adm. Clingan joined United
States Central Command, serving as Deputy Director of Operations
from April 2002 to May 2004 during Operations Enduring
Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Rear Adm. Clingan assumed
command of Carrier Strike Group 3/ Carl Vinson Strike
Group in June 2004 and served as CTF-50/152 during an extended
deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
Rear Adm. Clingan began his tour of duty on the staff of the
Chief of Naval Operations in September 2005 as Deputy Director,
Air Warfare Division (N78B), followed by assignments as
Director, Air Warfare Division (N88) and Director, Warfare
Integration/Senior National Representative (N8F).
Rear Adm. Clingan’s personal decorations include the Defense
Superior Service Medal (two awards), the Legion of Merit (four
awards), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal,
the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal (two
awards) and various service and campaign awards.
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