The Naval Aviation Enterprise was
established to maximize Naval Aviation warfighting
capabilities by optimizing rsources within the Navy and
Marine Corps. From our Naval Aviation Leadership:
The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE)
A Warfighting Partnership
>“It's
about collaborating, sharing and enhancing our business
practices. Not to turn the Navy into a business, but to
understand the business of the Navy so that we remain
the most effective and efficient Navy in the world."
--
CNO Admiral Gary Roughead, March 2008
>“Naval
Aviation is a key element of our nation’s combat
forces. The Naval Aviation Enterprise will ensure that
we are able to provide those combat-ready forces to
support our national security needs now and through
2015 and beyond."
--
VADM Tom Kilcline, Commander Naval Air Forces , July
2008
>“We
are a nation at war. As leaders and full share
Enterprise partners, we must sustain the warfighting
ethos that wins our nation’s wars.”
- LtGen George Trautman, Deputy Commandant for
Aviation, USMC
The NAE is a warfighting partnership in which
interdependent issues affecting multiple commands are
resolved on an enterprise-wide basis. The NAE enables
communication across all elements of the enterprise,
fosters organizational alignment, encourages
inter-agency and interservice integration, stimulates a
culture of productivity, and facilitates change when
change is needed to advance and improve. Working
together optimizes the use of existing resources,
manages the costs associated with generating readiness,
and harnesses change as a positive force within our
Navy and Marine Corps.
The processes that drive Naval Aviation readiness and
costs span a number of commands, among them:
-
Commander, Naval Air
Forces (CNAF)
-
Deputy Commandant, US
Marine Corps Aviation (USMC AVN)
-
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
-
Commander, Naval Air Force, Atlantic (CNAL)
-
Commander, Naval Air
Forces Reserve (CNAFR)
-
Naval Education &
Training Command (NETC)
-
Naval Sea Systems
Command (NAVSEA)
-
Naval Supply Systems
Command (NAVSUP)
-
Naval Inventory
Control Point (NAVICP)
-
Commander, Naval
Installations Command (CNIC)
Joint Commands, such as the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA),
also impact readiness and cost.
The vision of the NAE is
to "Efficiently deliver the right force, with the
right readiness, at the right time – today, and in the
future."
This vision drives the NAE toward the construct of
single process ownership, vital toward establishing a
culture of cost-wise readiness and providing improved
materiel management, more balanced logistics support
and higher availability through faster turnaround
times. Essential to achieving cost-wise readiness is
understanding our total force cost structure, managing
cost reductions, and making sound investments as a
cohesive enterprise.
The mission of the NAE is to "Support
Combatant Commanders and the Fleet by providing
combat-ready Naval Aviation forces which are fully
trained, properly manned, interoperable, well
maintained and combat-sustainable."
We will measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the
NAE by the single Fleet-driven metric of "Naval
Aviation forces, efficiently provided and ready for
tasking now and in the future." This metric is the
standard against which we measure our ability to
deliver the things we value:
-
warfighting first. The NAE is all about warfighting
readiness
-
cost-wise readiness – tied to the demands of our
Fleet operators
-
improved time on wing – buying less but better
equipment that stays on the aircraft longer
-
greater speed/reduced cycle time – aircraft and
components spending less time in maintenance
-
reliability – better quality
-
reducing total cost, and
-
implementing process efficiencies.
-
http://www.cnaf.navy.mil/nae/main.asp?ItemID=1245
The Naval Aviation Enterprise
publishes a quarterly newsletter, The AIR PLAN. There
are now two; both are available at our ANA web site
Special Articles page at http://www.anahq.org/articles/index.htm
ANA IN ACTION
The ANA Whidbey Island Squadron joined The PBY
Memorial Foundation (PBYMF) to commemorate Pearl Harbor
Day at their third annual joint luncheon. Following
lunch and remarks by organization representatives,
attendees shared recollections of where they were and
what they were doing when they heard the news about the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
The Grampaw Pettibone Squadron in Orange County, CA
Junior Sailor of the Quarter
Naval Weapons Station Chiefs, MAC Palamara(left)
and GMAC
Uhler(right) join GPS OPS Ray LeCompte in
commending MA2
Arellano and MA1 Hough at Gramps’ November
Luncheon.
F-35
To Become Electronic Attack Aircraft
(AVIATION WEEK 30 NOV 08) ... David A. Fulghum
After years of debate about the future of tactical,
airborne electronic attack for the U.S. Air Force and
Marine Corps, it appears the F-35 will become the
next-generation, digital warfare aircraft for both
services.
The platform most in demand in combat today is some
kind of electronic attack (EA) aircraft, say military
operational experts. So the pressure for more aircraft
and advanced capabilities is already an operational
reality. But the basic question of who does what for
whom and to whom remains unanswered.
"Who will provide electronic fires to ground troops in
contact?" mused Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Davis,
program executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II.
"That's a core mission area for the Air Force, Navy and
Marines. Delivering electronic fires will be at the
heart of what F-35 does. [But] the decision about how
this [and other EA aircraft will be used in the
electronic fires arena has not been made."
Despite the vagaries, Davis says, "There is no doubt in
my mind that eventually this airplane will fulfill the
[EA] role of the EA-6B Prowler."
But development of a specialized electronic attack
variant will not take the classic approach that
produced the Air Force's EF-111 Raven or the Navy's
EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler.
While there's still nothing in the order book, top
joint program officials say studies are underway that
would add advanced electronic weaponry to the aircraft
through the use of exterior pods and antenna arrays.
Those add-ons are being designed in parallel efforts
such as the Next-Generation Jammer program, and they
are aimed at taking advantage of the F-35's inherent
connectivity and enhancing the EA capabilities already
tucked into the aircraft's interior.
"[The F-35 has] to be interoperable with 80 different
platforms and trade 140+ different kinds of information
from the ground, ships and aircraft," Davis says. The
role of EA aircraft would add at least one more
capability to its 23 missions.
Davis hinted at the compatibility of electronic
emissions and stealth. "The F-35 is specifically
designed to take advantage of lessons learned from [the
first stealthy strike aircraft,] the F-117," he says.
"Unlike the F-117, the ability to share tactically
important information is built into the F-35 [without
compromising its] stealth."
But the aerospace industry is not united in the view
that the F-35 is the single answer to next-generation,
airborne electronic attack. Some specialists worry the
F-35 will be short of electrical power and payload
space with virtually no room to add systems into its
packed interior. The options are to put jammers and
additional power supplies in the weapons bays to stay
stealthy or put them on the exterior and revert to a
stand-off jamming role.
"Every design has its limitations," says a senior
electronics industry official with long experience in
electronic warfare. "No one aircraft is going to answer
all the problems facing airborne electronic attack."
The Growler has two engines, two generators, can
produce additional electrical power and could carry the
Next Generation Jammer (NGJ), EW specialists note. The
NGJ offers a capability for longer-range standoff
jamming, is being designed for carriage in a pod with
its own ram-air turbine power source and would be
available for many platforms.
"I
would bet that the EF-35 also will carry the Next
Generation Jammer," the EW specialist says. "But if
it's in an external pod, [the extra radar reflectivity]
will give away the aircraft's location. Yet, if you put
the guts of an NGJ into the weapon bays of a
single-engine single-generator aircraft in order to
maintain all-aspect stealth, you are rapidly going to
run out of available power to run it."
There also are questions about designing operational
concepts for the F-35.
"If the aircraft has to maintain all-aspect stealth,
then how can you do the necessary jamming for a close
air support mission or an F-35 strike package from
either in close or at standoff range?" the specialist
asks.
"And electronic attack is one area where size does
matter," he says. "[Despite two false starts,] an EB-52
carrying large-aperture, active electronically scanned
array radar with the output of an electronic techniques
generator routed through it [such as jamming, false
targets, power surges, etc.] can be a very long-range
electronic weapon. So, in addition to strike aircraft
and bombers, tankers and 737-type aircraft [such as the
Navy's E-8 Poseidon, Army and Navy Aerial Common Sensor
and Air Force tanker] are also possible platforms for
the Next-Generation Jammer. Finally, unmanned aircraft
of the Global Hawk and Reaper size could have the
necessary size, power and payload."
But will the services get together soon on a common EW/EA
plan? The answer is "yes," but they will be reluctant
participants because of divergent operational and
budgetary needs.
"The budget will be the driver of the solution," the
senior electronics industry official says. "They will
run out of options before long." And that formula of
pressing operational needs and shrinking defense
budgets leads back to considering the JSF as a single
solution. It is a position which the Marine Corps has
already embraced and the Air Force appears to favor.
All three current versions of the Joint Strike Fighter
will carry active electronically scanned array (AESA)
radars with EW capabilities (primarily self-protection
and electronic surveillance) and EA capabilities (the
offensive use of false targets, network attack,
advanced jamming, algorithm-packed data streams and
other techniques) as part of the baseline aircraft
delivered to the military.
As
designed now, the F-35's combination EW/EA/AESA system
allows it to penetrate well-defended targets while
suppressing the ability of enemy radars to detect,
exchange information about and threaten a mutually
supporting group of F-35s.
"We're not bringing in a package that is designed to
bring down electronic fires for a widely spread strike
force," Davis says. "It's focused on getting a small
force of F-35s in and out of a target area with no
assistance. It involves anything that would be a threat
in suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses
missions."
While self-protection, penetration and strike are
primary roles for the F-35, it also will have to
provide support for the Marines and soldiers on the
ground, particularly those in contact with the enemy.
"The F-35's data collection, integration and
information sharing capabilities will transform the
battlespace of the future and will redefine the close
air support mission," Davis contends. But modern close
air support will demand the delivery of those
electronic fires, on demand for a forward air
controller, just as aircraft now deliver bombs, rockets
and cannon fire.
To
deliver electronic fires as do the EA-6B or EA-18G
"would require the addition of [advanced jamming] pods
and additional EW arrays," Davis says. Right now, "We
are not a wide-area, standoff EW jammer. Our jamming
system is designed to get the aircraft into and out of
the target area. Can you use it for other things and
expand [the EA] capability? Most definitely."
The Marines are now working on delivering electronic
fires from EA-6B Prowlers newly modified with the ICAP
III EA system that provides jamming, silencing as well
as breeching and exploiting enemy communications and
signals networks. The Navy has the advanced EA-18G
coming into service that will be able to attack an even
more sophisticated target set when it upgrades from
ICAP III to the still nascent NGJ.
Electronic attack is just one of the advanced missions
expected to emerge from the F-35 program. Davis says
planners are looking at three notional capabilities
associated with unmanned aircraft: sharing data and
information with unmanned aerial systems, helping
unmanned platforms with targeting and weapons
employment and linking a series of UAVs with a series
of F-35s to expand attack capabilities.
"There's no doubt
you could [field those capabilties] if you chose
to," Davis says. "Who controls who, and who offers
what data, is what we are looking at."
Lockheed Martin F-35 Development Phase Cost May
Increase By 40%
(BLOOMBERG 28 NOV 08) ... Tony Capaccio
A
new analysis of the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter program projects its development phase
may cost 40 percent more than budgeted through 2015.
The phase might cost at least $3.96 billion more than
the $9.8 billion planned for fiscal 2010-2015 and last
two years longer, according to team of Pentagon, Air
Force and Navy cost analysts.
The F-35, the world’s most expensive weapons program,
has already grown $66.8 billion since 2000 over its
projected cost, and this new forecast concerns top
Pentagon officials.
“Our job is to make this thing not happen,”
Undersecretary for Acquisition John Young said. He and
F-35 program manager Major General Charles Davis, in
separate interviews, praised the assessment as a
credible, cautionary document.
Congress through Sept. 30 has approved $44.3 billion
for a program now estimated to cost $298.8 billion.
Planned production would increase to 125 planes in 2015
from 17 this year.
The 18-page assessment is based on past aircraft
programs, such as Lockheed’s F-22 in which flight
testing, engineer staff cuts and software verification
all came slower than planned.
The F-22 is a troubling precedent, Davis acknowledged.
“Right now, the program is ahead or tracking to
everything that says we won’t repeat” the F-22
problems, Davis said. “But time will tell.”
The fiscal 2010 budget includes about $476 million that
the assessment recommended as a contingency fund to
“significantly improve the probability of not extending
the test program,” Young said.
Most Challenging Phase
The Pentagon wants to build as many as 2,458 fighters
to replace F-16s, A-10s and AV-8B Harrier aircraft.
Foreign partners including the U.K. plan to buy a
minimum of 646 jets.
The plane’s 12-year, $40.5 billion development period
is entering its most challenging phase. This includes
expanding the number of test-flight aircraft to nine
from two, proving out millions of lines of software
code, finishing design of the three different models
and refining manufacturing processes at Lockheed’s Fort
Worth, Texas, plant and its subcontractors.
Young ordered the assessment, and it was completed in
September. Among the variables considered was whether
Congress would force the Pentagon to buy a backup
engine from a team of General Electric Co. and Rolls
Royce Group Plc.
The Pentagon for three consecutive years has rejected
congressional direction to buy a second engine. With a
second engine, the potential cost increase could be as
high as $5 billion.
Production Costs
The study also estimated that production through 2015
might require $11.6 billion more than the $81.5 billion
planned, or about 14 percent, if Lockheed experiences
major production inefficiency. This also could result
in cutting the program by 105 planes, it said.
Lockheed spokesman John Kent in an e-mail statement
said the cost estimate “is overly conservative in the
areas of engineering staffing, software development,
production spans, and flight test productivity.”
“Our software
productivity is on track and is far better than the
programs used by the Joint Estimating Team to
predict future performance,” Kent said. “We are
tracking closely to the headcount projections while
retiring risks at a rapid pace, delivering
development aircraft off the line, and conducting
flight testing.”
Lockheed Presidential Helicopter Gets $500 Mln More
(REUTERS 26 NOV 08) ... Tim Dobbyn
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin
Corp $500 million in additional funds to support
development of a new presidential helicopter, the
Defense Department said on Wednesday.
There have been concerns over the escalating cost of
the VH-71 helicopter program but the Pentagon decided
to stick with the Lockheed aircraft after a program
review early this year.
Lockheed and European partner AgustaWestland, a unit of
Italy's Finmeccanica won the contract in 2005.
The Lockheed team beat Sikorsky Aircraft, the United
Technologies Corp unit that makes the current H-3 and
H-60 helicopters used by the Marine Corps to carry the
president.
Navy spokesman Cmdr. Cappy Surette said the contract
had been modified to reflect rising costs reported by
Navy officials in March 2008. This raised the ceiling
cost on the contract and added $89 million in
additional funds to continue engineering and design
work on the program.
Surette stressed
the Navy was committed to moving forward with an
executable schedule on the prorgram, while
maintaining a balance between cost and capability.
Smaller Squadrons, More UAVs Part Of Orion-Poseidon
Changeover
(NAVY TIMES 08 DEC 08) ... Andrew Tilghman
When the Navy brings the P-8 Poseidon into service in
late 2012, the maritime patrol fleet will begin a
transformation — shifting to new locations, forming
smaller squadrons and gearing up a supplemental fleet
of large-scale unmanned aircraft.
The Navy on Nov. 21 unveiled plans for basing the new
squadrons of P-8s, which will replace aging P-3C Orions.
As the service shutters Naval Air Station Brunswick,
Maine, it will add two squadrons to NAS Jacksonville,
Fla., and one to NAS Whidbey Is-land, Wash. Marine
Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, will keep its number of
squadrons at three.
The Navy disclosed the new basing plans in a mandatory
environmental impact statement, which considered the
effect of basing decisions on local residents.
The new squadrons will be smaller in both number of
aircraft and personnel. Between 2012 and 2019, a total
of 84 P-8s will replace 120 P-3Cs, resulting in a
decrease of 36 aircraft and about 1,451 personnel,
according to the report.
Each squadron will be drawn down from eight P-3Cs to
six P-8s. The lower numbers are made possible because
fewer people are needed to maintain the newer air-craft
and unmanned planes will take over some patrol
missions, said Rick Keys, who works in the aviation
division of Fleet Forces Command. Specifically, large
unmanned aircraft from the Broad Area Maritime
Surveillance pro-gram will be supplementing the P-8s.
The BAMS squadrons will be based alongside the P-8
squadrons.
Navy officials in December are expected to decide where
to base the 68 BAMS aircraft that are expected to join
the fleet starting in 2015, said Capt. Bob Dishman,
project manager for Persistent Maritime Unmanned
Aircraft Systems at Naval Air Systems Command.
The Navy is eager to speed up the transition from the
aging P-3C fleet to the P-8. Last year, the Navy
grounded 39 P-3Cs — roughly one quarter of the fleet —
citing "structural fatigue" and fears that wing
sections could break off in flight.
In
September, Navy officials announced plans to move up
the target date for initial operational capacity for
the first P-8 squadron from late 2013 to early fiscal
2013.
To
accommodate the two new squadrons at NAS Jacksonville,
the Navy is building a new aircraft hangar, according
to the EIS.
To
house the new squadron at Whidbey Island, the Navy will
have to construct several new buildings, including a
hangar, a logistics support facility and a storage
facility. Some existing buildings will be demolished in
the process, according to the EIS.
The P-8 is uses a
Boeing-made 737 airframe and is equipped with
upgraded systems for maritime patrol force
missions.
Plans To Bring A Navy Aircraft Carrier To Wilmington
Put On Hold
(WECT
(NBC WILMINGTON, NC) 03 DEC 08) ... Debra Worley
WILMINGTON, NC- Plans to bring the Navy aircraft
carrier, USS Kitty Hawk to Wilmington have been put on
hold.
Wilbur Jones with the Kitty Hawk concept team says
they'll suspend their efforts to relocate the ship for
at least two years.
The Chief of Naval Operations decided to hold the ship
in reserve until its replacement is commissioned in
2015.
The group realized any work to relocate the ship now
would be a waste of time and money.
They plan to
re-evaluate the plan in 2011.
First
VH-71 Pilot Production Arrives For Testing At NAS Pax
River
(DEFENSE DAILY 04 DEC 08)
The first production VH-71 presidential replacement
helicopter arrived last month at Naval Air Station
(NAS) Patuxent River, Md., and will undergo two months
of tests before systems installation work begins,
according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The helicopter, called pilot production one (PP-1),
arrived at NAS Pax River from manufacturer
AgustaWestland. PP-1 will undergo two months of ground
vibration testing before flying to Lockheed Martin
Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., for installation of
the mission systems, communications suite, and
presidential interior and exterior livery, Lockheed
Martin said.
"It's the fifth VH-71 helicopter to join the program,
and a significant milestone because it's the first of
five pilot production aircraft to begin testing. These
pilot production aircraft will be delivered to the
HMX-1 squadron after completion of a comprehensive test
program," Jeff Bantle, Lockheed Martin VH-71 vice
president and general manager, said.
Four test aircraft are already part of the VH-71
presidential helicopter program's first phase, or
Increment One. Two of these test helicopters are in
flight testing with an integrated test team, made up of
Navy, Marine Corps and industry pilots, while the other
two are being integrated with mission systems. Four
more pilot production helicopters are expected to
arrive over the next six months, the company said.
Lockheed Martin
Systems Integration-Owego is the prime contractor
and systems integrator for the VH-71 program with
overall responsibility for the program and aircraft
system. AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is
the principal subcontractor and has responsibility
for the basic air vehicle design, production build,
and basic air vehicle support functions.
Command
releases report examining the future
U.S. Joint Forces Command releases Joint Operating
Environment 2008 – a strategic framework that forecasts
possible threats and opportunities that will challenge
the future joint force.
(NORFOLK, Va. – Dec. 4, 2008) -- U.S. Joint Forces
Command released a report today outlining a strategic
framework that forecasts possible threats and
opportunities that will challenge the joint force in
the future.
USJFCOM released the
Joint Operating Environment 2008 (JOE 2008) to
describe the future operational environment and its
implications on the structure and function of the joint
force.
According to command leaders, JOE 2008 is a narrative
for decision-makers and is intended to spark
discussions with the widest set of national security
and multinational partners about the nature of the
future international environment and its potential
military requirements.
“The JOE discusses operational-level trends and
contexts that will be drivers of future change,” said
Navy Rear Admiral John M. Richardson, plans and
policy director for USJFCOM. “The nature of conflict
and war will remain the same, but the character will
change. We won’t get this 100 percent right, but the
discussion and engagement of senior leaders is more
important than the final product. So we need to do
this, and we need to try to get it ‘more right’ than
the enemy.”
JOE 2008 examines trends and disruptions in the
geopolitical and military landscape, such as:
•
Demographics
• Globalization
• Economics
•
Energy
•
Food
•
Water
•
Climate Change and Natural Disasters
•
Pandemics
•
Cyber
•
Space
These trends form the context for exploring the
following types of scenarios: Competition and
Cooperation Among Conventional Powers, Potential
Challenges and Threats, Weak and Failing States, The
Threats of Unconventional Power, Proliferation of
Weapons of Mass Destruction, Technology, The Battle of
Narratives, and Urbanization.
JOE 2008 contributes to USJFCOM's central mission to
develop a vision for how our military forces will
conduct future operations and test this vision in the
most realistic and challenging ways possible.
“At USJFCOM we balance support to current operations
with shaping the future joint force – looking out for
the combatant commander eight to 25 years out. There
are many ‘futures’ documents out there. JOE 2008 is
unique in that it focuses on the implications for the
future joint force,” Richardson said.
Richardson provided an example of how the JOE is
intended to be used to provide context for the future
joint force.
“One context that JOE 2008 discusses is the
proliferation of technology that will enable
long-range, precision weapons for much more affordable
prices. This will give many more of our enemies the
ability to challenge our access to the global commons,”
said the admiral. “What are the implications of this
for the joint force? We think that this will challenge
access, and even the application of joint power in
serious ways.”
“Perhaps the most important conclusion of the JOE 2008
is that we will continue to face an extremely adaptive
and creative enemy. The human element of joint
operations will not be replaced by technology,”
according to Richardson. “We are almost certainly
going to be surprised. Our goal is not to eliminate
surprise; that is impossible. But we can hopefully
contribute to building a joint force that is powerful
and agile enough to prevail with minimal regrets.”
……………………………………………………….
S-3’s Swan Song: ISR Over Iraq
Viking Wraps Up Service Life With Surveillance Duty
(NAVY TIMES 06 DEC 08) ... Andrew Tilghman
History books will show that the Navy’s S-3 Vikings
stayed in the fight until the end.
In
the twilight of the aircraft’s five-year sundown phase,
the Viking has been flying vital missions over Iraq,
helping to meet the secretary of defense’s urgent call
earlier this year for additional intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance assets in the Middle
East.
The last operational squadron, Sea Control Squadron 22,
deployed in July to a large airbase inside Iraq, where
it provides real-time aerial images for troops on the
ground.
The squadron is slated to return to Naval Air Station
Jacksonville, Fla., in mid-December, marking the end of
the airframe’s final deployment. The last plane
officially will retire in January.
“They were not scheduled for this deployment. At this
point, they would have been transferring the aircraft
into the boneyard,” said Cmdr. Chris Schenck, the chief
staff officer for Sea Control Wing, Atlantic Forces.
The assignment came about after an announcement in
April, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a rare
public demand for the service branches to provide more
ISR aircraft for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It
was “like pulling teeth,” Gates said.
At
the time, the Navy had few ISR assets to spare. The
Navy’s main ISR planes, P-3 Orions, faced serious
problems. Nearly 25 percent of its aging fleet was
grounded in December 2007 and remained in the depot
because of fears that the wings would break off in
flight.
So
the Navy turned to its last S-3 Viking squadron.
“Secretary Gates said, ‘Hey, can we get some additional
ISR capacity into theater, and what can we get
quickly?’ We stood up and said, ‘Here are the S-3s,’ ”
said Lt. Sean Robertson, a Navy spokesman at the
Pentagon.
The S-3s — known as “Hoovers” because of their loud
engine noise — still have at least several years of
life on their airframes. But the Navy made the decision
to retire the S-3 in 2004 after the aircraft’s core
missions — submarine hunting and then in-flight
refueling — migrated to other airframes.
The remnant of the S-3 community in Florida was eager
to prepare the squadron for the unexpected deployment.
“When that call came out, we immediately told them, ‘we
can do it’ — there was no hesitation,” said Chief
Warrant Officer 3 Gary Owens, an assistant maintenance
officer with the wing.
A
key element to preparing the squadron’s four aircraft
was outfitting with them with ISR equipment, including
some high-resolution sensors that were previously
attached to the Navy’s F-14 Tomcats, Owens said.
Extending the S-3s’ service life any further was not an
option because the Navy had shut down the S-3 depot,
its fleet replacement squadron and terminated most of
its contract support, Robertson said.
“We had these four Viking aircraft, we deployed them in
July, and we deployed them for six months, knowing that
they were going to come back and decommission,”
Robertson said.
Originally joining the fleet in 1974 and designed for
anti-submarine warfare, the S-3’s mission focus shifted
in the 1990s as the perceived threat of Soviet-era
submarines faded. Its primary mission became aerial
refueling, but newer F/A-18E/F Super Hornets now offer
an alternative for carrier-based tanker runs.
The Navy hopes to save money and manpower by cutting
the number of distinct airframes in each carrier air
wing. That will reduce the supplies and maintenance
teams needed for deployments.
“With the newer systems that are coming out on the
F/A-18 Super Hornet, there’s a lot of redundant
capability,” Schenck said. “I would say the retirement
of this aircraft, that decision was made on an overall
resource management strategy.”
The S-3 was briefly thrust into the news in May 2003,
when a Viking carried President George W. Bush onto the
carrier Abraham Lincoln — the only use in history of
the call sign “Navy One.”
But as more Super Hornets joined the fleet, the Navy
began retiring S-3 squadrons in 2004.
“Its mission just went away,” said John Pike, a defense
expert at GlobalSecurity.org in Washington. “You’re
sitting there with a perfectly fine airplane that —
apart form hauling the president out there to say
‘mission accomplished’ — doesn’t do a whole lot of
things. It’s unclear what problem it solves.”
Richard Aboulafia, a defense analyst with the Teal
Group in Virginia, said the S-3 could help meet the
combatant commands’ appetite for more ISR assets — but
at a significant cost to the Navy.
“The aircraft could easily have another 20 years left,”
Aboulafia said. “This is a very good ISR platform.
Plugging that ISR gap would be a great enabler — if
only it would be affordable. The sad truth is, there is
a budget pinch.”
It’s unclear whether the Navy will provide U.S. Central
Command with any ISR aircraft to replace the S-3
squadron that will decommission.
“This was a bonus,”
Robertson said of the last Viking mission. “We
said, ‘we can give you something extra to use for
these six months.’ ”
Congress To Take Up Proposal In January
Navy To Reprogram $43 Million To Avoid JSF Carrier
Variant IOC Delay
(INSIDE THE NAVY 08 DEC 08) ... Dan Taylor
Due to funding cuts, the Navy will ask Congress for
permission to reprogram $43 million to the Joint Strike
Fighter program to avoid a delay of up to six months in
the initial operational capability of the sea service’s
carrier variant aircraft, according to Marine Brig.
Gen. David Heinz, JSF deputy program executive officer.
The Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Appropriations Act deletes
advance procurement money for three of the four carrier
variant aircraft budgeted, a cut that would result in
up to a six-month delay in the aircraft’s current FY-15
IOC, Heinz told Inside the Navy Dec. 2 at his office in
Arlington, VA. The program has been fighting to avoid
any further delays to the aircraft, which would
exacerbate a projected strike fighter gap of about 125
Navy and Marine Corps aircraft in the 2017 time frame
between when legacy F/A-18 Hornets start retiring and
the follow-on JSF enters service.
The Navy has drafted a request to Congress to reprogram
$43 million to cover the amount cut from the bill. The
request is currently being reviewed by the comptroller
of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Heinz said he is confident that Congress will sign off
on the reprogramming action and that the move will keep
an IOC delay from happening.
“I
don’t think there was any malice in the [lawmakers’]
decision,” he said. “For my money today, I have no
reason to believe I have to start that contingency
planning because I do believe [the action] will be
approved.”
Congress is not likely to take up the reprogramming
action until January, the general added. Heinz declined
to provide the source for the funds. JSF program
spokeswoman Cheryl Limrick said the source was
“predecisional and not releasable.”
The initial cut in funding would mean the Navy would
not be able to acquire early necessary materials for
the aircraft, thus pushing back the build schedule and
keeping the service from having the required number of
airplanes and trained pilots to meet the operational
test in FY-14, Heinz said.
If
and when Congress approves the measure, “I’ll be able
to make the advance procurement award along with the
contract award for the other aircraft at about the
February time frame,” he said.
The planes will be delivered as part of the fourth low
rate initial production (LRIP) of JSFs.
In
the meantime, the program is gearing up for first
flight of the carrier variant aircraft in November
2009. The original plan was to fly the aircraft in
October, but a manufacturing error at a plant in the
United Kingdom that forced the program to scrap a
bulkhead has delayed the schedule by about a month, the
general noted.
“We have since corrected the manufacturing problem,” he
said. “This is one of those first-of-variant type
problems that you run into where a programming error on
one of the milling machines caused me to damage a
bulkhead that we could not correct, so we ended up
having to reproduce that bulkhead -- that set me a
month behind.”
Heinz said he believes he can accommodate a one-month
slip so that it will not have a significant impact on
the program’s schedule.
Before the first
flight, the first ground-test aircraft, CG-1, is
scheduled to undergo loads testing sometime in the
summer, he added.
Va.
Senators Try New Tack On Plan To Move Carrier
(NORFOLK VIRGINIAN PILOT 09 DEC 08) ... Dale Eisman and
Louis Hansen
Virginia's senators have crafted an unusual argument to
slow the potential move of an aircraft carrier to
Florida - they accused the Navy's bureaucracy of moving
too fast.
In
letters to two environmental agencies, Sens. John
Warner and Jim Webb expressed "serious concern" that
the usually deliberate service skipped a key review of
endangered species before issuing a final report on
Mayport Naval Station.
The Navy announced on Nov. 21 that it wants to spend at
least $565 million to move a nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier to Mayport, near Jacksonville, Fla., to
disperse the fleet for strategic and security reasons.
A move would likely mean one less carrier based at
Norfolk Naval Station, costing the region as many as
11,000 jobs and $650 million a year.
But the Navy report did not include a full review of
protected species such as the North American right
whale and Florida manatee, the Virginia lawmakers said.
"Both species are particularly susceptible to ship
strikes, which could increase should the Navy homeport
a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Mayport," the
senators wrote on Friday to officials at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Webb and Warner requested a meeting this month with
officials at those agencies to discuss the Navy's
actions. The environmental reports are expected to be
completed and submitted to the Navy by Dec. 30. Navy
Secretary Donald Winter is expected to announce a
decision on Mayport by Dec. 31.
Lt. Sean Robertson said the Navy has been working
closely with the two agencies throughout the process.
"The Navy fully intends to complete consultations prior
to the final decision," he said.
Kimberly Hunter, a spokeswoman for Webb, said the
senators think "it's becoming more apparent that the
Navy is trying to fast-track this process and in doing
so is leaving out some valuable insights that we need
before making this decision."
The Navy's determination to announce a decision by Dec.
31 "seems to reinforce the idea that this was run on a
political timeline," Hunter added.
The Virginia lawmakers have suggested that the
administration wants to put the carrier relocation in
motion before President George W. Bush leaves office
Jan. 20. A new carrier named for the president's
father, former President George H.W. Bush, is
considered likely to be assigned to Mayport.
Webb and Warner appealed last month to Defense
Secretary Robert Gates to step in and block any action
on the issue until after President-elect Barack Obama
takes office. Gates referred the request to Winter, who
has not yet responded, Hunter said.
Frank Roberts, director of the Hampton Roads Military
and Federal Facilities Alliance, said the Navy failed
to consider many effects of large-scale dredging and
aircraft carrier operations. "It's inadequate," he
said.
Virginia officials
expect to submit more formal criticisms to the Navy
before a decision is made, he said.
Navy Seeks To Demonstrate Autonomous Aerial Refueling
For UCAS By 2013
(DEFENSE DAILY 10 DEC 08) ... Geoff Fein
The Navy is looking to demonstrate autonomous refueling
of its planned Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS),
according to a presolicitation notice published earlier
this month.
According to the Federal Business Opportunities notice
(N0001908UCASD01), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
intends to contract on a sole source basis with
Northrop Grumman [NOC] to modify the company's X-47B
UCAS contract to support demonstration of an autonomous
aerial refueling (AAR) capability by 2013.
"The X-47B air vehicle is the only relevant carrier
suitable unmanned air system in existence capable of
demonstrating AAR. Further, the X-47B design is capable
of accommodating both [Navy]-style and [Air
Force]-style refueling physical and electronic
interfaces required for AAR including a capability to
accept fuel. [Northrop Grumman], as the sole designer,
developer and manufacturer of the X-47B, is the only
responsible source with the requisite knowledge,
technical expertise and experience capable of
satisfying the government's needs by 2013 within the
allocated budget," according to the solicitation.
The primary goal of the Navy UCAS program is risk
reduction of critical technologies needed to support a
future milestone decision.
The AAR demonstration for the Navy UCAS-D stems largely
from that goal, Capt. Martin Deppe, Navy UCAS program
manager, said in a statement.
"The intent is to leverage ongoing Air Force and Navy
technology development work associated with AAR and
UCAS-D in order to achieve a relevant unmanned air
system (UAS) AAR demonstration," Deppe said.
"Incorporating this AAR demonstration into the UCAS-D
program takes advantage of previous and current work to
include the aerial refueling and precision GPS
provisions in the CV suitable X-47B air vehicle design.
The Navy has not yet decided to procure an operational
UCAS system beyond the demonstration but, from a
theoretical perspective, incorporating AAR capability
into a carrier-based UAS unleashes an ability to
exploit the range and persistence potential of an
unmanned system by allowing it to remain airborne much
longer than the limits of human endurance, according to
Deppe.
"That said, a refuelable UAS launching from the carrier
flight deck could significantly increase the standoff
of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) from potential
anti-access threats, allow an earlier response to
emerging tasks, and significantly extend loiter time on
an ISR or weapons-ready orbit thus improving the
response options of warfighting commanders and the
national command authorities," he said.
"This is also in
keeping with the direction of the Quadrennial
Defense Review published in 2006 to 'Restructure
the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS)
program and develop an unmanned longer-range
carrier-based aircraft capable of being
air-refueled to provide greater standoff
capability, to expand payload and launch options,
and to increase naval reach and persistence,'"
Deppe added.
'Big
E' Maintenance Bill Climbs To $474 Million
Shipyard Officials Say
Refurbishing The Carrier's Systems Will Extend Its Life
In The Navy To 2013.
(NEWPORT NEWS DAILY NEWS 10 DEC 08) ... Peter Frost
NEWPORT NEWS - The bills keep adding up for the "Big
E." The U.S. Navy announced Tuesday that it will fork
over an additional $12 million to Northrop Grumman
Shipbuilding for "emergent and supplemental" work on
the country's oldest and first nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier, the USS Enterprise.
That brings the total cost of a scheduled 16-month
maintenance period for the ship to $474.9 million,
about 5 percent higher than its initial $453.3 million
price tag.
In
late September, Northrop received another supplemental
contract for $9.6 million to build various replacement
units on the carrier.
The Enterprise, which arrived at the Newport News
shipyard in April, is scheduled to be re-delivered to
the fleet in September 2009.
It's not uncommon for substantial Navy repair projects
to require additional funding, as shipyard workers and
engineers discover more problems than expected after
the ships arrive in the yard for full inspection.
These inspections "found that additional work, not
covered under the base contract, was required on some
of the ship's tanks and piping systems," said Jennifer
Dellapenta, a Northrop spokeswoman.
While in Newport News, workers will clean, paint and
preserve the ship's aging hull and interior tanks;
repair and replace valves, pipes and pumps in the
ship's nuclear propulsion plant; and make other general
repairs to extend the ship's life until at least 2013.
Some members of Congress have suggested that the Navy
attempt to extend the ship's life until at least 2015,
when the next-generation carrier, Gerald R. Ford, is
expected to be complete. But, so far, the Navy hasn't
endorsed such a plan.
The Enterprise was
built in Newport News and commissioned in 1961.
Murtha: U.S. Defense Spending Will Dip
(DEFENSE NEWS 10 DEC 08) ... William Matthews
