Anthony Cordesman

August 11, 2008

The Navy's procurement policy is in serious disarray. Unrealistic force plans, overoptimistic cost estimates, unrealistic projections of technical feasibility, and inadequate program management have created an unaffordable ship building program, led the Navy to phase out capable ships for new ships it cannot fund, and threaten the US Navy's ability to implement an effective maritime strategy.

Key mission areas such as amphibious lift capability and the number of attack submarines are likely to be affected by funding shortfalls. To compensate for such gaps, the Navy relies on untested and unbudgeted assumptions about extended service life cycles for amphibious ships, cruisers, and destroyers.

The problem starts at a conceptual disconnect between strategy and reality. The Navy's Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower  is a set of concepts that was not linked to any clearly defined force plan, modernization plan, program, or budget. Navy shipbuilding plans are now shaped more as the result of budgetary constraints than as a response to strategic requirements. They seem to be an expression of wishful thinking rather than a realistic strategic guideline for naval procurement.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the execution of the Navy's current 30-year shipbuilding plan would cost an average $25 billion per year, 30 percent above Navy estimates. Cost overruns, such as estimated $1 billion for the CVN-78 aircraft carrier jeopardize the entire program. Overoptimistic cost estimates have led Navy officials to shift funding to the outyears. This will cause a temporary shortfall of carriers and a breach of US law.

Unrealistic cost estimates and doubts about requirements have led to the cancellation of the DDG-1000 guided missile destroyer project. After expenditures of over $10 billion, the program is abandoned at two ships, and the production line of the older Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be reopened. A similar fate has struck the Littoral Combat Ship program, where a threefold cost increase and unrealistic schedules led to the cancellation of appropriations for the next two ships and to consequential rescheduling of the program. The discrepancy between plans, strategy, and reality will further produce a shortfall of nuclear submarines of up to seven boats over twelve years.

This reality-strategy disconnect in the entire shipbuilding program is a case study in failed leadership on the part of the most senior officers and civilians in the Navy. No reforms in procurement, changes in program management, cost analysis, and test and evaluation can begin to compensate for taking hard and realistic decisions at the top, and holding senior flag officers, senior civilians, and the Secretary of the Navy accountable.

The Navy's shipbuilding efforts are - to be charitable - a triumph of hope over experience. The consequence is a loss of credibility with lawmakers and appropriators and a fleet underequipped to meet the strategic requirements.

Hans Ulrich Kaeser, a researcher at the Burke Chair in Strategy, has prepared a report that examines the Naval procurement strategy in detail.  To download the full report, go to:
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080806_naval_equipment_acquisition.pdf

 BANK OF AMERICA AFFINITY ACOUNTS

Washington Post
August 13, 2008
Pg. 2

Navy Commander Is Relieved Of Duty

First P-8A Poseidon Moves From Final Assembly To Preflight

Scheduled To Enter Service With US Navy In 2013

(AERO NEWS 14 AUG 08)

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) and Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) employees gathered this week in Renton, WA to celebrate the completion of final assembly on the first P-8A Poseidon for the US Navy and its move to preflight work.

IDS and BCA are building the P-8A, a military derivative of the 737-800, on a third final assembly production line in Renton, home to commercial 737 production.

"We're proud to have completed final assembly on the first P-8A Poseidon," said Mo Yahyavi, vice president and P-8 program manager for BCA. "Our objective on the P-8 program is to provide the Navy with the world's most advanced maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. BCA and IDS working together as one team will be able to do just that."

IDS will now focus on calibrating the flight-test instrumentation onboard the aircraft before moving it to Boeing Field in Seattle early next year for systems integration and additional testing.

"Program milestones, both big and small, are met daily thanks to our outstanding Poseidon team," said Bob Feldmann, vice president and P-8 program manager. "Since the start of final assembly in late March, the team has met all assembly milestones, including wing-to-body-join and start of the moving line in May, completion of full-power testing and engine installation in June and, most recently, engine run."

Subject: Marines declare UH-1Y operational
Date: 15-Aug-08
News Release Copy: NAVAIR Patuxent River, MD – The Marine Corps’ newest utility helicopters, the UH-1Y, achieved Initial Operating Capability Aug. 8.

Lt. Gen. George Trautman declared IOC at Marine Corps Headquarters, Quantico, Va. for the UH-1Y, by demonstrating that three aircraft have met all flight requirements and are ready for deployment.

“It’s been a long, intense effort to achieve IOC and it has been rewarding for the fleet to reach this milestone,” said John Baronowski, H-1 director of logistics.

After more than one year of training at Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron, HMLAT-303, three UH-1Y helicopters with six pilots and six crew chiefs have reported to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit in preparation for deployment.

“This will be the first MEU deployment with a new type/model/series UH-1 aircraft since 1972. The UH-1Y provides a tremendous increase in capability, safety, and performance over the UH-1N that the Marines are currently using in combat,” said Col. Keith Birkholz, H-1 program manager.

In January 2009, the UH-1Y is scheduled for its first scheduled deployment with the 13th MEU aboard the USS Boxer.

The UH-1Y provides significant increases in range, payload, speed, ballistic tolerance and crash survivability, maintainability and deployability, with reductions in life-cycle costs and the aircraft’s logistics footprint according to the program officials.

Part of the H-1 Upgrades program, the UH-1Y replaces the currently fielded UH-1N. This upgrade will help meet the Marine Corps’ 21st century mission for rotary-wing utility and attack aircraft.

Thanks to John Fry –

Good Bye Buckeye

USS George Washington Gets Its Orders

(SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 16 AUG 08)

SAN DIEGO – The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which has been docked in San Diego for several months while undergoing repairs stemming from a fire, will depart on Thursday for Japan, Navy officials said Friday.

The George Washington will replace the Kitty Hawk, which is scheduled to be decommissioned next year, as the Navy's forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka, Japan, according to Navy Air Forces public affairs.

The Kitty Hawk arrived in San Diego earlier this month to conduct a so-called “cross deck” transfer with the George Washington, during which it took on aircraft and personnel, according to the Navy.

The Kitty Hawk is the Navy's oldest active aircraft carrier and the only one that still operates on conventional power.

The fire believed to have been caused by a cigarette forced the George Washington to dock in San Diego in May to undergo repairs. The fire injured 37 sailors and caused about $70 million in damage.

Pentagon Reports Schedule Slips For Navy's AH-1Z And MH-60s AMCM

(DEFENSE DAILY 19 AUG 08) ... Geoff Fein

Two Navy helicopter programs are each facing schedule slips of up to two years in the most current round of the Pentagon's Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) released Monday.

Bell Helicopter Textron's [TXT] efforts to upgrade a number of UH-1Ns into AH-1Zs is facing a two year slip in schedule from May 2008 to May 2010, according to the SAR.

"Specifically, the Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) Phase I Complete (AH-1Z) slipped...due to unresolved Critical Operational Issues related to the AH-1Z weapons employment. There were no cost changes reported," according to the report.

The latest SAR reports are for the June 2008 reporting period.

During the operational test (OT) phase, evaluators did some tests that were not done in the earlier phase, specifically with the target sight systems, a program official told Defense Daily Monday.

Up to that point, testers had been using refurbished target sight systems (TSS), the official said.

A decision was made to stop OT and wait for manufacture and delivery of new TSS, the official added.

Once they have the new TSS in hand, a new round of developmental and operational tests will be conducted.

The official added that the schedule slip will not impact initial operational capability (IOC) or delivery of AH-1Z.

"They are going to try to get this done and IOC by FY '11," the official said.

Bell is under contract to remanufacture 180 AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters for the Marine Corps and 100 UH-1N Huey utility helicopters into four-bladed AH-1Z and UH-1Y models (Defense Daily, June 26, 2006).

However, the company ran into difficulties that prevented it from meeting the delivery schedules and thrust into question its capacity to execute the program successfully, all of which led to the program's restructure (Defense Daily, Feb. 27, 2007).

On July 18, 2007, three days before stepping down as the Pentagon's acquisition chief, Kenneth Krieg approved a plan to restructure the H-1 upgrade program.

Under the terms of the changes, the H-1 program added a fourth low-rate initial production lot in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and delayed full-rate production until FY 2008, states an information paper on the H-1 Upgrades Program acquisition decision issued on July 18 (2007) by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and initialed by Krieg. (Defense Daily, July 19, 2007).

A SAR was also submitted due to a schedule delay of 20 months for the MH-60S Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) IOC. The schedule slip now takes IOC from July 2008 to March 2010. Additionally, AMCM Interim Process Review (IPR) IV slipped two years from September 2008 to September 2010 due to testing and reliability issues," according to the SAR.

There were no cost changes reported.

Sikorsky [UTC] builds the MH-60S, which will deploy from the Littoral Combat Ship.

In April, reliability issues with a component of AMCM, the AQS-20 sonar's cable winch system, led the Navy to suspend the system's operational evaluation (OPEVAL) while an independent team reviewed the effort.

The Navy told lawmakers in late April that it was de-certifying OPEVAL for the Q-20, as it is known. Raytheon [RTN] makes the sonar.

NAVAIR entered OPEVAL for the AQS-20 on March 18 (Defense Daily, April 30)

Back in 2005, the MH-60S suffered a schedule slip of six months in the IOC of the AMCM mission capability due to problems with the carriage stream towed recovery system (CSTRS), according to the Pentagon's August 15, 2005 SAR (Defense Daily, August 30, 2005).

"Resolution of the issue requires redesign and manufacture of some CSTRS components," according to the report (Defense Daily, August 17, 2007).

CSTRS enables the Q-20 to go from a carriage position on the left side of the helicopter to a position underwater and towed behind the aircraft (Defense Daily, April 30).

CSTRS is a common interface that brought together: Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin [LMT], and CTC, an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development professional services organization.

CTC is developing CSTRS and Lockheed Martin is developing the common console (Defense Daily, June 23, 2005).

The Pentagon also made an initial SAR for the Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDEC) program.

"Recent analysis determined that continued research and development (R&D) funding over the course of the IDECM Blocks 1-3 development has resulted in cumulative R&D funding that exceeds the dollar criteria for a Major Defense Acquisition Program, i.e., Acquisition Category I (ACAT I)," according to the report. "The Navy's request to redesignate IDECM as an ACAT I program was approved in March 2008."

The current baseline for BAE Systems' IDECM is $746 million, according to the report.

The Pentagon also submitted an initial SAR for Northrop Grumman's [NOC] EA-6B ICAP (improved capabilities) III.

Growler Passes Muster Aboard Nimitz-Class Carrier

(JANE’S NAVY INTERNATIONAL 15 AUG 08) ... Gareth Jennings

The US Navy has completed a number of aircraft carrier certification trials of its Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW) aircraft.

The trials, involving one EA-18G (G-1) and one F/A-18F aircraft aerodynamically configured to replicate an EA-18G, took place aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN 69) between 31 July and 5 August.

The navy's EA-18G programme manager, Commander Francis Morley, told Jane's that the aircraft, from Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-23, performed 319 approaches comprising a combination of wave-offs, touch-and-goes and traps. A total of 62 arrested-landings and catapult launches were completed during the week-long trials process.

According to Cdr Morley all of the navy's test objectives were met. The final data analysis and review is still in progress although full shipboard certification is expected. This will include normal shipboard operations, precision approach landing system (PALS) approaches to the deck and aircraft blue water certifications.

Cdr Morley added that with the developmental testing phase of the EA-18G programme nearing completion, the next step - certification for system operational evaluation (OPEVAL) - is planned for later in the third quarter of 2008. The first OPEVAL event will be an operational at-sea testing period by VX-9.

On the same day that the carrier certification trials commenced, the navy announced that the Growler had conducted its first live firing of a Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, California. The firing, which took place on 23 July, represented a critical milestone in the Growler's test programme and marked the first release of any ordnance from type.

From: Air Force Magazine Online

Wednesday August 20, 2008

 A product of... Navy Office of Information www.navy.mil August 20, 2008

USS George Washington Forward Deploys to Japan

“The assignment of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier to the U.S. Navy’s Forward Deployed Naval Forces demonstrates the U.S. commitment to peace and regional security through strengthened capabilities, as well as the U.S. government’s commitment to the defense of Japan in support of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.”

– RADM James D. Kelly, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Japan

USS George Washington (CVN 73) is replacing USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) as the forward deployed aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans and is expected to arrive in Yokosuka, Japan, in late September.

Ensuring security and stability

                        • The forward deployment of USS George Washington improves the U.S. Navy’s ability to contribute to the defense of Japan. As part of the forward deployed naval forces, George Washington enables access to critical sea lanes for the good of all people in the region. The U.S. Navy is committed to protecting regional security interests of the United States and its friends and allies in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

                        • The United States stations the Navy’s most capable ships forward to achieve the best possible response times for maritime and joint force operations.

Meeting commitments and enhancing alliances

                        • Friends and allies in the region will have robust interaction with George Washington through mutual
                     training opportunities, exchanges and port visits.

                        • The United States stands firmly by our commitments as outlined in the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation  and Security with Japan. Forward deployment of George Washington allows the United States to better fulfill that pact with our strategic ally and help protect the people of Japan.

                        • The U.S. Navy greatly values its friendly relations with its host cities in Japan. We cherish the long-standing relationship we enjoy with the city of Yokosuka, and are most grateful for the generous hospitality shown by the city and its people through the years.

U.S. nuclear-powered warships are safe

                        • U.S. nuclear-powered warships have safely operated for more than 50 years without a reactor accident or any release of radioactivity that has had an adverse effect on human health, marine life, or the quality of the environment.

                        • The U.S. Navy conducts monitoring in the harbors frequented by its nuclear-powered warships. This monitoring provides additional assurances that the Navy is protecting people, marine life and the environment.

                        • The George Washington is fully operational following the fire on May 22. There is no connection between the cause of the fire and the nuclear power plant. The suspected cause of the fire was improperly stored flammable liquids that were ignited by improper disposal of cigarettes.

Key Messages Facts & Figures

                        • The forward deployment of George Washington improves the Navy’s ability to contribute to the    defense of Japan and the peace and stability in the Western Pacific.

                        • The U.S. values its friendship with the government and people of Japan.

                        • U.S. nuclear-powered warships are safe and do not have an adverse effect on human health, marine life or the quality of the environment.

                        • Ship’s company: about 2,600

                        • Carrier Air Wing Five will continue to be the forward deployed air wing and will retain its present composition and complement of aircraft.

                        • George Washington is scheduled to arrive in Japan in late Sept.

                        • George Washington replaces USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). Kitty Hawk is scheduled to be decommissioned in early 2009.

                        ==========================================

                        USS George Washington Departs for Japan
Story Number: NNS080821-05
Release Date: 8/21/2008 4:08:00 PM

                        From USS George Washington Public Affairs

                        Towns In Two Counties Planning For New Base

                        (TRI-TOWN NEWS (NJ) 21 AUG 08) ... Dave Benjamin

                        Three United States military bases in central New Jersey — Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base — will soon be formally united as Joint Base McGuire, Dix, Lakehurst.

                        A study is under way to encourage collaborative planning and communication between the base and local communities. The objective is to avoid land-use conflicts and to plan in a manner that supports the military mission and the civilian population.

                        The Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) is sponsored by the Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment and Ocean County.

                        Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst is in Ocean County.

                        Burlington County — which is home to Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base — is also a partner in the study, and elected officials from 10 municipalities in the two counties — Plumsted, Jackson, Manchester, Lakehurst, New Hanover, North Hanover, Wrightstown, Springfield, Pemberton Township and Pemberton Borough — which surround the mega-base are actively participating in the JLUS study.

                        "We are involved in an ongoing study in regard to the consolidation and examination of the three military bases," Jackson's township engineer, Dan Burke, said at the Aug. 4 meeting of the Planning Board. "This is a study to get the consensus of the affected communities and counties on the impact this [venture] will have."

                        Burke said there has been input from state agencies, representatives of the two counties and the U.S. Department of Defense. He said there will be periodic updates placed on the joint base Web site, www.jointbasenj.org, so that members of the public can become aware of what is taking place.

                        He said there will be more information presented to the public as time goes on and said a meeting is being planned for September, with a location to be announced in the near future.

                        Jackson Planning Board member Blanche Krubner said the federal government is in the process of closing military installations elsewhere and may be relocating the work being done at those facilities to the joint base in central New Jersey.

                        On Aug. 15, McGuire Air Force Base Capt. Derek Lee said officials want to involve the community in the planning process as the joint base takes shape. He said it has been confirmed that some services from a base in Pennsylvania will be moved to the new joint base.

                        "Even though we will be a joint base, each respective service will be keeping their missions," Lee said. "You won't see Air Force folks doing things that are traditionally Army specific, like training and deploying soldiers. The responsibility for those services remains with those specific services."

                        In 1985, Congress authorized the Department of Defense to make community planning assistance grants available to state and local governments to help them better understand the military's mission and to incorporate it into their local planning.

                        A significant number of joint land-use studies have been performed around the country. This is the first time a JLUS has been conducted as three military bases are preparing to join together.

From CHINFO -

A Day in the Navy

20 August 2008

            • On August 20th, 331,784 Active Duty, 69,493 Reserve Component Sailors, with 5,799 Reserves mobilized, and 183,911 civilians are serving in the Department of the Navy.  

            • 280 active ships are in service. 137 (49%) including 2 carriers and 1 amphibious large deck ship are underway.  

            • 9,401 Individual Augmentees are deployed on the ground around the world in support of the War on Terror.  

            • The Honorable Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy, arrives in Naples, Italy. During his travels, he will visit Djibouti, Afghanistan and Sweden to engage foreign leaders and visit Sailors and Marines.  

            • The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is in Port Kelang, Malaysia building cooperative relationships with senior officers of the Royal Malaysian Navy and Air Force.  

            • Carrier Air Wing Two, embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), flies 28 sorties providing ordnance on target, command and control, close air and electronic surveillance support to the troops on the ground in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

            • USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and USS Shoup (DDG 86) operate in the Arabian Sea supporting Lincoln’s operations.  

            • Eleven P-3 "Orion" aircraft and more than 120 crew members arrive at Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick as part of hurricane evacuations from NAS Jacksonville. Training and aircraft maintenance continue as Commander Patrol & Reconnaissance Wing Five and NAS Brunswick work together to coordinate berthing, messing, transportation and recreational opportunities.  

            • USS Russell (DDG 59) conducts maritime security operations in the Central Arabian Gulf in support of Combined Task Force 152 to reassure regional nations of our commitment to security.  

            • USS Curts (FFG 38) supports Combined Task Force 158 in the Northern Arabian Gulf, maintaining security in and around the Iraqi territorial waters protecting key sea-based infrastructure.  

            • USS Momsen (DDG 92) provides associated support to Combined Task Force 150, helping to build a lawful maritime order by deterring illicit activities in the maritime arena.  

            • Guided Missile Destroyer McFaul (DDG 74) departs Souda Bay, Crete to deliver humanitarian relief supplies, including blankets, hygiene kits, baby food and infant care supplies, to Georgia as part of the larger United States response to the government of Georgia request for humanitarian assistance.  

            • The U.S. 7^th Fleet staff and crew of USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) are in port Busan, Republic of Korea, participating in exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG). For the first time, the ROK warfighting headquarters serves in the lead role while U.S. headquarters serve in a supporting role in preparation for operational control transfer in 2012.  

            • One hundred years to the day after the U.S. Navy’s Great White Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbor, USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) arrives there to participate in commemoration activities with the Royal Australian Navy.  

            • USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) transits to the Federated States of Micronesia, the final stop in support of Pacific Partnership 2008. Pacific Partnership 2008 brings together host and partner nation civilian and medical personnel and construction teams. The four-month humanitarian and civic deployment aims to strengthen relations in Southeast Asia and Oceania.  

            • Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific leads Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen as they train with regional counterparts in Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism 2008. SEACAT presents participants with realistic situations involving criminal and terrorist threats requiring international coordination. Assets include USS Tortuga (LSD 46), USS Howard (DDG 83), USS Ford (FFG 54), USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC 722), USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50), USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez (T-AK 3010), USNS Cpl. Louis J. Hauge (T-AK 3011) and a U.S. P-3C from VP-16.  

            • USS Rentz (FFG 46) is underway in the Celebes Sea en route to Tawi Tawi as part of a joint/combined training and maritime engagement operation with the Armed Forces of the Philippine Navy. AFP and U.S. Sailors are participating side by side in community relations projects, Project Handclasp events, and subject-matter expert exchanges in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.  

            • The fast-attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) conducts a tactical development exercise with the Italian diesel submarine ITS Salvatore Todaro (S-526) in the Western Atlantic Ocean.  

            • USS Denver (LPD 9) gets underway for the first time after the hull swap with the USS Juneau (LPD 10) to conduct a full ammo onload with a barge and Japanese contractors.  

            • Freedom (LCS 1) is conducting Acceptance Trials, leading to a Nov. 8 commissioning in Milwaukee, Wis.  

            • Pre-Commissioning Unit Green Bay (LPD 20) is onloading more than 1,336 mattresses and approximately 724 supplies, including medical supplies, anchoring gear, computers, exercise equipment and non-perishable food items, in preparation for the ship’s Aug. 29 move aboard.

            • USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) is underway in the U. S. Southern Command area of responsibility conducting counter-illicit trafficking operations in support of U.S. and participating nation drug control programs.  

            • USS Tarawa (LHA 1) leads a 32-ship multinational maritime task force during Fuerzas Aliadas (FA) PANAMAX. The task force includes Sailors from Navy Reserve Destroyer Squadron Four Zero.  

            • Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force personnel are testing the underwater mine detection and avoidance capability and the Tomahawk launching system of USS Virginia (SSN 774) in the Gulf of Mexico.  

            • Maritime Civil Affairs Team (MCAT) 205 Sailors are coordinating with local populations in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and Santa Marta, Colombia, in support of Continuing Promise 2008. International and interagency medical and engineering teams are providing services, to include construction, medical and dental aid, to several locations in Nicaragua.  

            • Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) Two’s Company 23 aboard USNS Grasp (T-ASD 51) deployed for Navy Diver Southern Partnership Station 2008, conducts advanced diver training with divers from Barbados, Saint Vincent, and Granada in Bridgetown, Barbados. The units are part of a 14-member dive detachment made up of U.S. Navy divers from MDSU Two, Underwater Construction Teams One and Two, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit Two, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.  

            • Riverine Squadron Three, deployed to Iraq, trains its third Iraqi police class.  

            • Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Fisher (T-AKR 301) is en route to the U.S. Central Command area of operations carrying more than 124,000 square feet of military cargo, including Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles and up-armored Humvees, destined for U.S. forces operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

            • The Red Wolves of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Eight-Four (HSC-84) are flying combat sorties in support of Combined Joint Special Operations Component (CJSOAC). More than 60 reserve personnel and four HH-60H Helicopters are deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq.  

            • The San Diego Festival of Sail kicked off with a parade of more than 20 tall ships led by the guided-missile frigate USS Vandergrift through the San Diego Harbor.  

                        Whidbey Navy Helicopter Helps In Ice Cave Rescue

                        (SEATTLE TIMES 22 AUG 08)

                        A search and rescue crew from NAS Whidbey Island assisted in yesterday’s rescue of two boys trapped under snow and ice on Snoqualmie Pass.

                        The five-person crew, made up of two pilots, two aviation warfare systems operators and one hospital corpsman, launched from the air station at 6:30 p.m. in Firewood 2, an MH-60S Knighthawk. After a short transit, they were on scene and made a few passes through the area to locate a safe area for pickup.

                        “It was a challenging mission,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nelson Craig, helicopter aircraft commander, in a Navy news release. “The steep canyon walls and 150-foot trees made it a bit more difficult to locate a safe place to put down the hoist, located on the right side of the aircraft, for the litter.”

                        Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Greg Highfill rappelled down to the boys, secured them for travel before hoisting them back into the aircraft for transit to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

US Navy Proposes More UH-1Ys, AH-1Zs Despite Test Phase Setback  

 (FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 AUG 08) ... Stephen Trimble

The US Navy will during September propose adding 69 aircraft to the Bell Helicopter UH-1Y/AH-1Z upgrades programme, despite a recent setback during an operational evaluation of the attack helicopter.

Expanding the programme from 280 to 349 helicopters would allow the aircraft inventory to keep pace with the overall expansion of the US Marine Corps to 202,000 personnel, says Col Keith Birkholz, H-1 programme manager for the Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR) command.

Adding 46 AH-1Zs and 23 UH-1Ys would also mean expanding new-build orders for the attack model, he says. Previously, only the UH-1Y was shifting from a remanufacturing model to an all-new build production line, while only a handful of AH-1Zs would be built from scratch.

The overall programme would grow to buying 226 AH-1Zs and 123 UH-1Ys, with the NAVAIR proposal seeking to increase existing yearly orders, as well as adding to the back-end of the production schedule.

Birkholz says the combined proposal to restructure the programme will be presented for final approval on 17 September to John Young, undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics.

If approved, the new procurement plan would appear as part of the US president's fiscal year 2010 budget request, which still requires approval by the incoming administration.

The proposal comes even as progress for completing the development of the UH-1Y and AH-1Z has diverged.

The UH-1Y achieved initial operational capability on 8 August after completing the second phase of an operational evaluation. The milestone means the first three aircraft can begin preparations for a maiden deployment next January.

The AH-1Z, meanwhile, is now stalled after failing to complete the same evaluation phase due to subsystem breakdowns. System problems plagued the Lockheed Martin target sight system, gun control software and the helmet-mounted sight. "I didn't have a smoking gun that I could fix," says Birkholz.

Because the AH-1Z is not scheduled to reach initial operating capability until September 2011, Birkholz says the aircraft can enter a second operational evaluation in 2009 and still reach the milestone by July 2011.

Although the overall schedule can remain intact, the delay for completing IOC means NAVAIR must ask to extend the low-rate initial production phase slightly beyond the recommended guidelines. That proposal is included in the package that will be considered by Young.

First UH-1Y Detachment Reports To Miramar For Training, AH-1Z Faces Two-Year Delay

(DEFENSE DAILY 26 AUG 08) ... Geoff Fein

Although the Navy's efforts to develop the AH-1Z helicopter are now facing a two-year schedule slip, service officials point out that the UH-1Y just achieved its initial operational capability (IOC) and the first three aircraft are beginning special operations training all in preparation for their first deployment in January 2009.

Yesterday, the first UH-1Y detachment (the first three aircraft), left Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and reported to its Marine Expeditionary Unit at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., to begin special operations capability training, just weeks after achieving IOC, Col. Keith Birkholz, H-1 program manager, told Defense Daily in a recent interview.

The UH-1Y achieved IOC on Aug. 8.

"They will start their work-up period with their first at-sea period in October and then they sail in January '09, which will be the first UH-1Y deployment ever," he said.

The Navy's program of record had been for 100 Bell Helicopter Textron's [TXT] UH-1Ys and 180 AH-1Zs. However, Birkholz noted that at the next Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting on Sept. 17, the Navy will present a new program baseline. That baseline will see an increase of 23 UH-1Ys and 46 AH-1Zs, he added, bringing the total to 123 UH-1Ys and 226 AH-1Zs.

"That is a major change to the program, but that is specifically to meet the Marine Corps '202K grow the force' and the fact that the HMLA community is expanding by two additional squadrons," Birkholz said. The Marine Corps is also converting one of its reserve squadrons into an active duty squadron, he added.

Currently, the Marine Corps has six active duty and two reserve Light Helicopter Attack Squadrons (HMLA).

Birkholz said that as part of the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) 10, Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway is looking to increase the active duty HMLA squadrons to nine and decrease the reserve units to one.

All of the UH-1Ys with the exception of the first one-and-a-half lots (about eight to 10 aircraft), according to Birkholz, will be built new.

The UH-1Y, or Yankee, will replace the three-decade old UH-1N that Marines have been flying since the first helicopter was delivered in 1972 and the last in 1979, he added.

In February, both the UH-1Y and the AH-1Z started operational evaluation (OPEVAL) and both were proceeding on schedule, Birkholz said.

But about April 10, when OPEVAL aircraft were deployed to Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, problems surfaced with the AH-1Z, also known as Zulu, program, Birkholz said.

"At that time the Yankee continued to execute per schedule and finished on time in early May and reported out of test on 27 May," he said. "However, the Zulu had a series of availability issues. It wasn't related to any one system or any one subcomponent, so it's not an easy cut and dry fix. It was a series of small failures that put them behind schedule."

While the AH-1Z was functioning fine and had completed 50 percent of its OPEVAL ...the critical operational issues, the program was starting to lose schedule while the Yankee stayed on schedule, Birkholz explained.

"The head of the Operational Test Force approached myself and my management and said we had two choices--we could continue testing but 'I will not be able to get you a report in support of your 17 September meeting, which means your milestone will slip into the next fiscal year which has some pretty severe acquisition connotations to it...from a budget standpoint, or we can complete the Yankee, support your budget decision and IOC decision with the Yankee and we will incomplete the Zulu and finish that later and still meet the Zulu IOC which is not until 2011,'" Birkholz said.

Birkholz and his team opted to go ahead and "incomplete" the Zulu's OPEVAL and complete the Yankee's OPEVAL.

Birkholz expects to get a full report recommendation on the UH-1Y, which he should sign out this week. "And then we could go to the DAB as scheduled on 17 September and get the contract award this fiscal year.

"If we had slipped into next fiscal year...fiscal year '09...there would have been some severe acquisition and budgetary consequences. So that was an easy decision for us," Birkholz said. "Because we had the time to fix the deficiencies on the Zulu and still meet the IOC for it...that's the genesis of the whole idea of why we split the IOCs and we allowed the operational test force to split the OPEVAL report."

The AH-1Z, which landed on the Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) list last week, will now go into a correction of deficiencies phase, Birkholz said.

"About a year from now we will do another full systems developmental test to verify that we corrected all those deficiencies at the system level, and then probably in January or February of 2010 we will do another OPEVAL on the Zulu to complete the testing," he said. "So the two-year slip reported in the SAR is basically a two-year delay in completion of that one element of the acquisition program baseline (APB), which is OPEVAL complete for the Zulu."

The Navy had four major issues affecting the AH-1Z, Birkholz said.

One issue was the material availability of the target site system (TSS).

"We reused our engineering manufacturing development test articles. We refurbished them in preparation for this OPEVAL Phase II because we were not going to have production TSS ready," Birkholz said. "They were production representative, but they were not new production articles."

These TSS were put on contract in 1999 and delivered in 2001, he noted. And they have been supporting developmental and operational testing for the last seven years. "So they are older articles. I would call them fragile in some cases as far as their ruggedness in being able to deploy."

"All of the deficiencies and fragile pieces we have discovered over the last seven years have been corrected in the production design, but they were not available for the OPEVAL Phase II as scheduled, because we started training for the OPEVAL Phase II, 10 months ago...last October," Birkholz said.

He added that the refurbished system worked great, when it worked. "The problem is the system is not operating properly, [that is] you have a mechanical problem with it and you can't complete the mission."

Another issue occurred with Thales' Optimized Helmet Mounted Sight and Display system (known as TopOwl).

"We had some bore sighting issues. You couldn't get the helmet and the TSS in the aircraft properly bore sighted and what that basically means is that for the Yankee, which has a less stringent accuracy requirement than the attack platform, the Zulu, the Yankee passed with the existing helmet, with the existing hardware. But the Zulu had some issues with bore sight that had to be corrected," Birkholz said.

Thales has delivered new helmets with those corrections, he added.

"Its' already completed its first phase of flight testing, so it was a minor deficiency that didn't require any major redesign, [it] did not require any contractual actions or negotiations. It was done within the existing contract construct."

Another issue the Navy had was with the gun control software, which is the aircraft software. Birkholz said this was the third major area that had some minor deficiencies. "But when you add up the material problems with the TSS, you add up the hardware issues with the bore sight on the [Optimized TopOwl], and then the gun control software, over the time from about April 10 to about May 10, while they were supposed to be cranking out all of their ordnance flights out at Yuma, they just had availability issues that they were not making the right progress."

Navy: Aging P-3s Remain Safe Despite Mishaps

(NAVY TIMES 01 SEP 08) ... Chris Amos

The Navy's traditionally safe P-3 Orion patrol aircraft community has suffered six in-flight mishaps this fiscal year — including its first Class A mishap in at least 10 years. But despite a steady uptick in mishaps, and the December grounding of 39 P-3s because of fears that wing sections could break off in flight, Navy and civilian officials insist the Orion is still safe to fly.

The worst mishap appears to be a late-July incident, detailed on several Internet forums, in which a Patrol Squadron 1 pilot lost control of a P-3 after an engine surged during a training exercise near Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.

The aircraft dropped 5,500 feet, pulling 7 Gs before its pilot re-gained control less than 200 feet from the ground, according to the reports. The aircraft lost 45 rivets, broke a wing spar and bent its airframe; it landed safely at Whidbey with its crew unharmed.

Whidbey spokesman Tony Popp confirmed that a Whidbey-based P-3 was involved in a Class A mishap — an incident that causes at least $1 million in damage to an aircraft or the death of a crew member — in late July, but he declined to describe the incident be-cause a command investigation is ongoing.

A second incident at Whidbey, took place in August, when an electrical fire of unknown origin broke out aboard a P-3 during flight, NAS Whidbey spokes-woman Kimberly Martin said. The fire was extinguished in flight, and the aircraft landed safely. No crew members were seriously injured.

In December, the Navy grounded 39 P-3s — nearly one quarter of the fleet — because an engineering analysis led to concerns that metal fatigue could cause a midair breakup. The flood of bad news might be more surprising if the aircraft weren't so old; the average age of the Orion, the Navy's workhorse anti-submarine and patrol aircraft, is 28; some models are more than 40 years old.

Age, salt, aggressive flying

A former P-3 pilot who declined to be named said the type of flying done by the Orion is as significant as its age.

Because P-3s fly lengthy missions almost entirely over open water, and because they often dive to within 200 feet of the ocean to look for enemy sub-marines, the aircraft are subject to prolonged exposure to saltwater, which accelerates aging. "There are places you can't see very well or get access to," he said. "When you fly very low, you get sea spray. That builds up on the airplane, especially on the surfaces that crew members don't normally reach."

Naval Air Systems Command spokesman John Milliman said the fact that the P-3 is based on a commercial airliner that was not designed for military use could add to structural problems.

"They are yanking it around and doing much more aggressive maneuvering than you normally would with a civilian aircraft," Milliman said.

"It's not just corrosion," the former pilot said. "It's metal fatigue. It's done a great job for a lot of years, but now they are just plain old."

Statistics seem to bear him out. P-3s were involved in six mishaps so far this fiscal year, according to Naval Safety Center spokeswoman April Phillips. De-spite the fact that there were eight last year, all but one were Class C, the lowest level of mishap.

In each of three classes of mishaps, P-3 mishaps rates have increased during the past decade — from zero to 1.23 per 100,000 hours flown for Class A mishaps, and from zero to 1.23 per 100,000 hours flown for mishaps involving a serious injury or between $200,000 and $1 million in dam-ages, know as Class B.

For Class C — mishaps involving $20,000 to $200,000 in dam-ages — the rate has been higher than seven mishaps per 100,000 hours for four of the five most re-cent years. A decade ago, that rate was less than 4 per 100,000 hours flown.

In February, the Navy said it needed $548 million in extra fiscal 2009 funding to fix cracks in P-3 wings and to bolster re-search and development for its replacement, the P-8 multimission maritime aircraft, in hopes of moving up its arrival to the fleet. The funding was the No. 1 item in the Navy's unfunded "wish list," which reflects items not included in the service's bud-get submission.

Navy spokesman Lt. Clayton Doss said the fact that the repair money wasn't in the budget submission doesn't mean the Navy is ignoring the problem. Repairs were put on the list, Doss said, because the budget already had been completed when the extent of the structural issues was discovered.

The Navy has begun installing wing modification kits on 10 of the grounded Orions at its maintenance depot in Jacksonville, Fla. Modifications are expected to take nine to 12 months, and the first Orion will return to the fleet this fall, Doss said.

The Navy is moving forward with plans to replace the outer wings of its grounded P-3s. It has also accelerated its timeline for inspecting every P-3 for structural damage from every 36 months to every 18 months.

'The wing is the most stressed part of the aircraft," said Rob Gross, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, which has been building P-3 variants for the Navy since test flights began in 1959. "Some of the stress analysis we have done has shown that the fuselage is fine. Replacing old wings zeroes out flight hours, removes all flight restrictions and gives the aircraft another 20 to 25 years of service life.

Reliability Issues Continue To Delay Navy's AMCM OPEVAL For MH-60s

(DEFENSE DAILY 26 AUG 08) ... Geoff Fein

Issues with the Navy's MH-60S Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) system has led to a two-year delay in the program and landed the effort on the Pentagon's Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) for this reporting period.

But the Navy points out that the Sikorsky [UTX] MH-60S, or Sierra, is working just fine. Roughly 120 are deployed conducting missions on a daily basis, Cmdr. Spencer Crispell, MH-60S integrated product team co-lead, told Defense Daily in a recent interview.

"We have good success with the aircraft. It's currently performing combat support and armed helicopter missions in the fleet," he said.

In April the Navy took the MH-60S out of operational evaluation for Raytheon's [RTN] AQS-20 due to problems with the cable winch system.

According to Crispell, the Navy was seeing reliability issues with the system and didn't want to send it out into the fleet. An Independent Technical Assist Team (ITAT) made up of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) engineers were brought in to examine the program and make recommendations for a path forward, Crispell said.

"They looked at the design fundamentals, system reliability, maintainability, safety and crew workload. They made their recommendations to us [and] at the [end] of May to PMA- 299...the H-60 program office," he said. "PMA-299 completed its analysis, prioritized the recommendations, and we've recommended a course of action to provide an effective and suitable AMCM weapon system that satisfies budget and schedule constraints."

Although reliability issues stopped the AQS-20's OPEVAL, Crispell pointed out that he has seen the AQS-20 and the integration of AMCM work on the MH-60S.

"We have had success both in training, developmental, and in operational tests," he said. "As a matter of fact we have accrued more than 350 hours of tow time on the H-60S. I've seen this work, it's worked well as a matter of fact."

All the same, Crispell acknowledges that the Navy did see "some reliability concerns that we did not want to field with. Therefore we asked the [ITAT] to look at our system."

During OPEVAL, there were several issues identified, Crispell noted. One was an un-commanded tow hook release, a cable winch broke, a common console video playback froze-up, and there was a power distribution failure, along with some other issues with the tow cable, he added.

Some of the recommendations the ITAT made were:

Increase the cable diameter of the secondary guide winch cable; and

Upgrade some software to prevent video playback from freezing-up.

The MH-60S program also incorporated some lessons learned into its maintenance and light procedures, Crispell added.

"We shortened the tow cable length to allow more for margin on the winch drum to help prevent cable over wrapping," he said. "We also are...combining two winch pendants, which are basically the hand controllers that allow the crew man in the back to control the primary and secondary guide winch. We are combining those two pendants into one pendant. [It will] make it easier for the interface to occur between the air crewman and the carriage stream tow recovery systems (CSTRS)."

CSTRS is a common interface that brought together: Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin [LMT], and CTC, an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development professional services organization. CTC is developing CSTRS and Lockheed Martin is developing the common console (Defense Daily, June 23, 2005).

"We are taking the time to make the changes the ITAT recommended and then we will verify that those corrections actually worked in what we call verification of correction of deficiencies, sometimes called a VCD. Then we will return to operational test," Crispell said. "Right now, we are still engaged in determining the final cost of this effort, but we will get done."

In the meantime, the program will apply the funding budgeted for the completion of OPEVAL to the engineering work required to address the AMCM system reliability issues, he added.

Crispell added that some of the fixes have been completed. "There is an associated timeline with each one of the items."

The program also received a break by a delay in the Littoral Combat Ship's (LCS) schedule. The MH-60S will operate from LCS to conduct mine countermeasure and anti-submarine warfare operations.

But that is not to say the MH-60S can't be operated from other Navy ships, he added. "It is deployed on all types of different ships, on combat logistic force (CLF) ships [and] it's going to be deployed on aircraft carriers beginning in January '09. I believe it is the USS Stennis (CVN-74)."

"The 120 or so aircraft we have deployed right now are on all different variants of ships," Crispell added.

Hangar One Has Too Much History To Be Reduced To Mere Skeleton

(SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS 25 AUG 08) ... John Pastier

Given Silicon Valley's immense wealth, educated population and rich history of embracing technology and innovation, it's surprising that exceptional architecture plays such a minor role in our regional culture. Not only is it in shorter supply than one would expect, but when it does exist, it doesn't always attract the awareness and pride it deserves.

Hangar One at Moffett Field is a good example. This 76-year-old landmark has history, physical impressiveness and groundbreaking design on its side, yet is fighting for its life.

In 2006, its owner, the U.S. Navy, proposed its demolition because toxins in its cladding were seeping into San Francisco Bay. Fortunately, there was enough public support to convince the Navy to rethink that decision, and last month it decided to spare the hangar - or at least part of it.

The Navy now proposes to remove the cladding and leave just the steel skeleton standing, after applying a protective coating. That's better than destruction, but is it enough? Granted, the steel framework is magnificent, and this would be a dramatic sight in the short run. But it's really a stopgap. There is too much history here to be reduced to a mere skeleton.

Hangar One is an immense clear-span structure built to house Navy dirigibles in 1932. Rising out of the Sunnyvale flats, it measures 1,133 feet long, 308 feet wide, and 210 feet high, and is big enough to hold two contemporary giants - New York's Chrysler and Empire State buildings combined. It was a marvel of engineering in its time and is arguably Silicon Valley's most impressive built landmark even today.

The hangar's tapered and curved form is as distinctive as its size. It's a case study in streamlined functionalism, with its metal and glass skin supported by a beautifully complex steel frame shaped to house one of the largest airships in the world without wasted space.

Its primary occupant, the lighter-than-air USS Macon, was lost at sea in 1935; after that it sheltered smaller aircraft. In recent years, it has been vacant, serving only as a visual punctuation to the uneventful suburban development along the Highway 101 freeway.

The main sticking point with preservation is monetary - the Navy doesn't wish to fund a full restoration. Some advocate cladding it with Teflon-coated fabric, somewhat akin to the old airships, but that attempt at economy may be insufficient for a building of such high pedigree.

Two issues need resolution: future use and type of enclosure. Empty space, whether bounded by a skeleton or a fully clad building, would be a lost opportunity.

Its 351,000 square feet of floor space could host multiple uses. It would be easy to mix and match from the following list: a museum and educational center celebrating Silicon Valley's aviation, space and other technological accomplishments; a biodome (the hangar is large enough to create its own fog and rainfall); an environmental education center, a green-building and clean-energy research organization.

Strict preservation would entail replicating the original cladding, but other than the wonderful revolving doors at each end, the skin was not as beautiful as the building's form, scale, and structure. With a more stylish, glassier, high-tech skin embodying green-building principles and designed by a world-class architect, Hangar One could shine as it never did before.

All that's needed is money, and this is an immensely wealthy region. The Navy could be more generous, and local philanthropists and aerospace and computer-industry companies could surely spare enough of their surplus to produce a local icon of global significance.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

The Navy is seeking public comment on Hangar One at a meeting from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at 2120 Walsh Ave. in Santa Clara.

John Pastier was the Los Angeles Times' founding architecture critic and has written about preservation issues since 1969. He lives in San Jose and wrote this article for the Mercury News.