International Naval News & Discussion

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Austin
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Austin »

Astute class seems to have all kind of sensors on the sides , The size of Flank Array Sonar is huge covers the entire submarine ! :shock:
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Singha »

i believe thales or marconi supplies a large distributed control system and sensors for these astutes.

regardless of british claims I would still take a few well honed used 688i boats over the astutes ... they are likely to be reliable and techniques fine tuned over a very large fleet. used 688i were a good bet for australia but they want to subsidize the french for 50 years so who can stop them
Austin
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Austin »

^^ They were not offered the 688I any ways so you cant complain there , There was a choice of opting for German or French subs for better or worse they went for French.
chola
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by chola »

We should post chini related stuff in international threads. Do not give lizard pride of place in their own threads. No more postings in China headlined threads, please.
Last edited by chola on 03 May 2017 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
chola
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by chola »

Possible new chini carrier aircraft.

http://www.popsci.com/j-31-stealth-figh ... -prototype

China's J-31 stealth fighter gets an improved prototype—and a potential future on a carrier
More government funding may be on the way.
By Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer May 1, 2017

Image
J-31 V2
The J-31 fighter second prototype has been increasing test flights in April 2017, with rumors of more government funding and a third prototype on the way.

brar_w
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

Philip wrote:Incidentally,Boeing has dropped out of the USN air-launched naval anti-ship missile,sending Harpoon to Davey Jones' Locker.Terriobly inferior to even the Swedish dart what?

No it has not. Boeing has backed out of the Ship Launched OTH missile competition specifically for the LCS because the RFP requires a weapon that requires a level of maturity and milestone that their intended offering (Harpoon-ER) does not yet meet given where it is in terms of its testing. This would have forced them to offer a lesser capable variant of the Harpoon that would have had half or less range than the other two competitors and would not be a wise investment for this competition. Essentially, the version of the Harpoon currently in testing with NAVAIR could not be offered for the surface launched competition because of where it stands in terms of maturity. To quote Boeing's cruise missiles program lead -
"What it was going to force us to do was take so much capability out of the weapon system that we would be providing [Naval Sea Systems Command] a lesser capability than we are producing for [Naval Air Systems Command]," Rutherford said in a May 4 interview.
The Harpoon ER and other block II++ enhancements continue to get tested at Boeing and will be fielded by the USN as part of its air launched inventory along with other weapons such as the LRASM. It was very clear from the start of this particular program that the USN was not interested in fielding a weapon that required some level of developmental testing..They wanted something already operational and the only real option in this class was the NSM and perhaps the LRASM if they were willing to wait an extra few months. Contracting laws and the need to competitively acquire the weapon meant that they had to create a competition allowing both Boeing and Lockheed to offer their respective sollutions..

This was and is for Raytheon-Kongsberg to loose and is not going to be a particularly large contract (around 40 OTH fire control suites) since the main anti-surface warfare weapon contract that everyone is preparing for in the US is the OASuW Increment 2 where the requirements are still being finalized but could well ask for a dual use weapon with a range requirement well in excess of 1000 km (LRASM, LRASM-XR, TLAM territory). This particular OTH weapon competition is not for a VLS and the USN is not going to put a pure sub 1000 km anti-ship missile in a VLS
Last edited by brar_w on 05 May 2017 15:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Pentagon clears Navy's Air and Missile Defense Radar for initial production

The Defense Department has blessed the Navy's $5.9 billion project to develop and field a next-generation, surface warfare radar to transition from engineering and manufacturing development to low-rate initial production, a key milestone in the effort to upgrade the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer fleet.

On April 29, James MacStravic, the Pentagon's acting acquisition executive, presided over a milestone C review of the Air and Missile Defense Radar program and granted the Navy's request to proceed with initial production, Christianne Witten, a service spokeswoman, told Inside Defense May 3.

On May 1, the Navy exercised a $327 million contract option for low-rate initial production for a first batch of the new S-band radars, the latest action on a potential $1.6 billion contract the government awarded Raytheon in 2013.

"This modification will provide for the first three Air and Missile Defense Radar low-rate initial production units, including non-recurring engineering efforts in support of production," according to the contract announcement.The AMDR -- in development for the next variant of the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the DDG-51 Flight III -- will be the most powerful sensor of its kind in the Aegis fleet. The Flight III upgrades also give the destroyers increased shipboard power production -- to support the larger radar -- and hull enhancements.

Dubbed the SPY-6, the AMDR program is developing a suite that includes a new S-band radar capable of both ballistic missile defense and air defense as well as an X-band radar, the SPQ-9B.

The Government Accountability Office, in a March report on select major weapon systems, found AMDR's four critical technologies "are nearing maturity," including: digital beamforming, transmit/receive modules, multimission scheduling and discrimination software, and distributed receivers/exciters.

"Progressing to production is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication from our AMDR team of experts across Raytheon, the Navy, and our world-class suppliers. In just over three years of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase, we've gone from a technology demonstrator to a technically mature, highly advanced, functioning radar," Raytheon's Tad Dickenson, director of the Air and Missile Defense Radar program, said in a May 3 statement. "Production begins today -- which brings us one day closer to delivering this needed, and unprecedented, integrated air and missile defense capability to the Navy."
Next step would be to hold the AMDR-X competition which also has a GaN AESA requirement to replace the SPQ-9B.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Raytheon set to begin delivery of initial SPY-6(V) radars; Jane's Defence Weekly; 5-May 2017


The US Navy awarded Raytheon a USD327.14 million contract for the first low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), known as SPY-6(V), for the Flight III DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.

Raytheon will initially deliver three radars, with the first set for 2019. The second and third systems will be delivered in 2020. All SPY-6(V) system deliveries will follow the USN's shipbuilding plan for the Flight III destroyers, Tad Dickenson, director of the Air and Missile Defense Radar programmes for Raytheon, told Jane's on 4 May.

The US Department of Defense announced the contract award on 1 May.

Following delivery of the first nine radars, USN will conduct another LRIP competition, Dickenson said.

"Following that, a few years in the future, will be full-rate production. That will be competed. That is what the original source selection laid out," he said.

The Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) mode is currently at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii.

"We have to complete DT3 (developmental testing 3) so we still have a couple of BMD (ballistic missile defence) tests to finish, anti-air warfare, electronic protection, and surface testing that will go through to the end of July; that is the plan right now," Dickenson said.

Once those tests are completed, the EMD system will be moved to Lockheed Martin's Moorestown, New Jersey, facility for further combat system integration and testing.

With the EMD phase just about completed, Dickenson said there were some lessons learned from the effort.

"We do design for manufacturing and assembly where we find there are more producible ways to do things, for example circuit card [assembly]," he said.

The desire was to have the circuit cards assembled completely by machine.

"There were places where we did DFMA (design for manufacture and assembly) where the design is still the same, using the same electrical design, but we changed mechanical 'producability' just slightly to allow fully 100% automated production," Dickenson added. "Those changes have been implemented. That lowers the cost to meet our LRIP target cost."

Although both the EMD and LRIP systems are the same design and architecture, a few changes were made to the LRIP systems to account for component obsolescence and end-of-life parts, Dickenson said.

A good case in point is that Raytheon has commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) servers in the background; Dickenson said they are running next-generation X86 servers-type COTS servers.

"The overall front end, all the GaN (gallium nitride) is the same architecture, the same design. The intent in EMD was to build a production representative system. It lowers the risk going into production," he added.

The SPY-6(V) will replace the AN/SPY-1D radars that have been the system of choice for the USN destroyer fleet.

SPY-6(V) will be able to conduct simultaneous and continuous integrated air and ballistic missile defence.

Raytheon is also using technology developed for the navy's SPY-6(V) to develop the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR), a long-range air surveillance radar for aircraft carriers and large deck amphibious ships.

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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Aditya G »

http://cimsec.org/role-cruisers-promoti ... time/28866
...

Unfortunately, the experience of both WWI and WWII showed that submarines alone were not enough in war time; furthermore, it showed they are only really useful in wartime. In ‘peacetime’ they are good for intelligence gathering, Special Forces operations, and practicing for war. Submarines are so limited in conducting presence operations because they are by their very nature stealth units, and the visibility required for presence goes against this fundamental attribute. Furthermore, due to the physical and technological sensitivity of their hull coats and sonic signatures, even port visits to the closest of allies are fraught with potential risks that are more sensibly avoided. The use of submarines in the presence mission, therefore usually comes at the point of it becoming focused towards ‘conventional’ deterrence16 – rather than just overt presence.

...
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

What is the USN's CNO alluding to? Intriguing statement. We've seen in the recent past rail guns,laser weapons, and UCAVs emerge from the shadows.
last week,a super-secret US spy shuttle returned after a couple of years in space. Could this be linked? I think so. I feel that the US now has an enhanced networks system of targeting enemy sites in real time using all its surveillance assets esp. space. allied to the latest revolutionary weaponry being developed/inducted,including cyberwarfare. It my have also made a major breakthrough in sub detection/communications which would give it the advantage in undersea warfare.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/10 ... al-warfare
Chief Of Naval Operations Alludes To A New Shadowy Revolution In Naval Warfare
CNO Richardson thinks he's on the cusp of some type of monumental transformation in the way America fights on the high seas, but he can't tell us what it is exactly.

BY TYLER ROGOWAYMAY 16, 2017

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson is making a big push for more ships, and wants to change the way ships are designed and procured. But that is nothing really new, what is new is a somewhat cryptic statement made by the admiral about some major revolution in naval warfare that seems to go beyond what has been discussed openly by Navy officials in the past.

Richardson told reporters the following on Monday:

“My sense is that we’re on the dawn of something very substantial in terms of naval warfare. Something as substantial as the transition from sail to steam, as the transition from wood to ironclad, as substantial as the advent of nuclear propulsion in terms of what it means for naval power.”

According to Defense News, the Admiral would not go into any detail about this grand revolution.

Richardson did continue to press for an immediate increase in shipbuilding to help confront growing threats from China and Russia, stating:

“We’re going to be targeting something in the mid-2020s. Exponential types of growth, rather than lineal types of growth, which would achieve this level of power decades beyond the 2020s... This increased naval power will involve more numbers... We are headed now to a fleet that’s about 310 ships, but if you look at the long-term forecast it’s clear that to get beyond that we’re going to have to start building. We’re going to have to build ships, and we’re going to have to look at extending the life of ships, and we’re going to have to look at – in just about every way we can--to increase our inventory of ships in the United States Navy.”

He also discussed how he would like to change the way ship's are procured, stating:

“I would challenge the assumption that it takes that long to design and build things... The hull and power plant will last ostensibly the life of the ship. But then to design the rest of it, to use the very latest technologies we have now, that’ll be a step forward. But also to step into the future faster, to modernize faster. We’ll be much more modularized, much more compatible. You can iterate your way into the future with faster steps. You’re got part of the ship built to last, and part of the ship that’s built to grow and be modernized.”

This modular concept of design is nothing really new. The Littoral Combat Ship was supposed to leverage this concept and has failed miserably at doing so. The Navy has shown little sign of injecting these concepts on a grand scale into its new Arleigh Burke Flight III class destroyers. Concurrently building a new ship around unproven systems that are still being designed and tested has also caused major issues with the Navy's new Ford class supercarriers, a reality that continues to make major news even as the ship enters sea trials.


LOCKHEED MARTIN
LCS-1 USS Freedom underway.
One could think that the Admiral's puzzling statement is talking about net-centric warfare, which includes remote targeting/cooperative engagement capabilities, distributed lethality and other advanced concepts, but those have been around for some time, and he even mentioned them as well in his comments on Monday, saying:

“There’s a new dimension, the power of networking, that allows adaptive combinations to emerge... It’s not all about the platforms.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Goldfein has made near identical remarks recently, but there is no reason why he wouldn't just explain that is what he was talking about when he teased some huge transformation in naval warfare.

This is not the first time one of the Pentagon's head honchos outright teased transformative capabilities that remain outside the public eye. Last year Defense Secretary Ashton Carter dangled a similar statement in front of the press regarding secret air combat capabilities.

So what exactly is the Admiral referring to? Is it some new type of technology, or a cocktail of technologies that will be packaged together. It it's the former, than why not just say so?
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

The current CNO is a sub-surface guy so that may offer some hint. On the other hand, he has identified around a couple of dozen ships, and around 300 aircraft worth of free capacity in the industrial base over the next 10 years and wants to move to procure that one and above the 307 ship Navy the previous POTUS was committed too.

The tabloid take on his speech aside by Mr. Hotdog man, below is the white paper that he released -

https://assets.documentcloud.org/docume ... Docx-2.pdf
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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The F/A-18 SUPER HORNET E/F is part of Boeing's Global Strike portfolio, like the F-15 or EA-18G GROWLER. The US Navy (USN) is receiveing new F/A-18s at least until 2020, at the same time there are plans to extend the life of airframes in the forces. From 6,000 to 9,000 flying hours, at the same time there should be an upgrade to advanced capabilities. Another goal is reducing the costs per flight hour. According to Boeing, the F/A-18 has the lowest costs per flying hour under the tactical attack aircrafts, around $ 20,000 per hour (for the US fleet).

So far, the USN has not decided on a replacement of the F/A-18, so there will be a mix of F/A-18 and F-35 for a long while. At the moment there is a production rate of two per month. The USN bought 564 SUPER HORNETs and 160 EA-18G GROWLERs. Originally there was a requirement of 88 GROWLERs, but missions driven up the requirements.

The F/A-18 is designed to operate in the harsh maritime environment and fly out of aircraft carriers. The F/A-18 E/F is a new airplane with nee technology, e.g. AESA radar, a 360° protection, new weapon capabilities and much more.

There will be a production of 28 SUPER HORNETS for Kuwait – the contract is not signed yet though, FMS sale is still running. Canada, India (for the aircraft carrier) and Finland (60 SUPER HORNETS) are other candidates, Australia is a receiving customer.

The Australian airframes could be upgraded to a GROWLER later. The Kuwait and Canadian (18 SUPER HORNETS) airplanes will not have this option or did not asked for. According to Boeing, “Kuwait will get the most advanced SUPER HORNET,” with the BLOCK III version.

This includes the Raytheon AESA radar upgrade, advanced cockpit system, IRST Block I & II, conformal fuel tanks, IDECM Block IV and an enhanced engine (from General Electric with 18% more performance and a better reliability). It will offer battle-space situational awareness, long range counter stealth targeting, bigger range, increased acceleration and room for growth. “Block III” is the USN term, the other customers can choose from these options.

Deliveries could start 2020. According to the USN flight planning, Block III might not be the last variants. Every two years there is a software upgrade to integrate new capabilities (e.g. sensors or effectors). A wide band data link will be one of the main enablers for the future, to built up a tactical network (e.g. with F-35). Some of the new upgrades can/will also be part of an F/A-18 E/F upgrade.

Boeing stated: “The F/A-18 don’t try to be a F-35, but they can operate as a package, they can go so far together and stay the same time.”

The HORNET brings a lot of payload and different sensors in to be relevant.

The advanced EA-18G GROWLER is offering a full spectrum dominance. It has the AESA upgrade, an open architecture/advanced computing (DTP-N), next generation jammer, ALQ-218 upgrades, the Advanced Tactical Data Link (TTNT), the enhanced engine and the conformal tanks. Modification program will start next year and enhance the life time from 6,000 to 9,000 flying hours, the new airplanes coming out from production from FY2019 will already have a life of 9,000 flying hours.
http://www.monch.com/mpg/images/news/17 ... 154632.png

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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Seems that the F-414 Enhanced Engine is close to becoming a reality -
Included in Block 3 are upgrades to the Raytheon AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar; an Elbit Systems large area display (LAD) 'glass' cockpit and next-generation avionics; an infrared search and track (IRST); 'shoulder-mounted' conformal fuel tanks (CFTs); Integrated Defensive Electronic Counter Measures (IDECM); and new General Electric F-414-400 enhanced engines.

Burt said that Boeing expects to see USN budgeting to be allocated shortly to enable the company to begin the work needed for Block 3, though development of some aspects such as advanced datalinks has already commenced. "Production of Block 3 should begin in fiscal year [FY] 2019, with deliveries in FY 2020," he said. The plan is that all future Super Hornets will be built to this standard, while those aircraft already fielded by the USN will be retrofitted.

Further to the Super Hornet Block 3 enhancement, Burt noted that the company's Growler is also set for a major enhancement package dubbed Advanced EA-18G. Following the same timeline as the Block 3, Advanced EA-18G will comprise AESA upgrades; open architecture advanced computing; advanced cockpit; CFTs; Next-Generation Jammer; AN/ALQ-218 electronic support measures upgrades; Advanced Tactical Datalink; and the enhanced engines. Boeing is currently under contract to begin work on a service life extension programme (SLEP) for the US Navy to increase the airframe hours of the Super Hornet from the current 6,000 to 9,000.

The earliest aircraft to have been delivered to the USN are now reaching the end of their current service lives, which is two years ahead of the planned declaration of initial operating capability for the carrier variant Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.

As well as the SLEP, the Pentagon's FY 2017 budget proposal will request up to 28 additional Super Hornets to try to offset any shortfall in the number of strike fighters available on the navy's aircraft carriers, and more are expected in the FY 2018 budget.
http://www.janes.com/article/70504/boei ... -platforms

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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots
PENTAGON: Consider 35 pounds of metal moving at Mach 5.8. Ten shots per minute. 1,000 shots before the barrel wears out under the enormous pressures. That’s the devastating firepower the Navy railgun program aims to deliver in the next two years, and they’re well on their way.

“We continue to make great technical progress,” said Office of Naval Research program manager Tom Boucher. Boucher and an aide briefed me in the blazing hot courtyard of the Pentagon, which was hosting the annual DoD Lab Day — a kind of military-grade science fair.

Three years ago, then-Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert declared that railguns — which fire projectiles with electromagnetic pulses rather than gunpowder — had come so close to battle-ready that he wanted to test-fire one at sea. Since then the Navy has changed course, deciding that permanent land-based test sites would provide more and better data for fewer dollars than an ad hoc installation aboard a repurposed fast transport (variously known as JHSV or EFP). So on November 17, along the Potomac River at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., a new 32-megajoule railgun built by BAE Systems opened fire for the first time. (See video above). A second railgun is being set up at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in the New Mexico desert, where there’s enough wide-open space to fire the weapon at its maximum range of more than a hundred nautical miles.

While White Sands tests the long-range performance of the projectile, Dahlgren will work on the weapon itself. Previous test weapons were like medieval bombards, firing just a few times per day. The Dahlgren team is now making multiple shots per hour as they work out the bugs, and by the end of the year they expect to reach the goal of 10 shots per minute. For comparison, a standard 5-inch deck gun can fire 20 rounds a minute, albeit only for a single minute before its quick-reload drum runs empty; the 16-inch guns on battleships fired about twice a minute.

Once they’ve reached the 10-round a minute rate, Dahlgren will switch focus to barrel life. A decade ago, experimental railguns often wore out their barrel with a single shot. With new materials better able to endure the intense stresses, the barrels on the current test weapons can last for hundreds of shots before requiring replacement — roughly how long a battleship’s 16″ barrels lasted back in World War II. The goal is a barrel that lasts 1,000 rounds.

The next big question — beyond the scope of the current test program — is power. The current railguns fire a 16 kg slug at 2,000 meters per second (roughly, 35 lbs at Mach 5.8 ), which takes 32 megajoules of energy per shot. Pumping out 10 such shots a minute requires 20 megawatts of power. Unfortunately, the only ships in today’s Navy that have sufficient energy are nuclear-powered aircraft carriers — of which there are just 11 in service — and Zumwalt-class destroyers — just three.

Firing railguns off anything else would require expedients. One model might be Dahlgren itself, where the Navy has literally wired up several 20-foot CONEX containers full of batteries, good for fifty shots: Such an ad hoc power source could conceivably go in a cargo hold. Retired Navy strategist Bryan Clark has proposed just such a solution, converting EFP transports into expedient railgun platforms to shoot down incoming missiles.

In the nearer term, however, not only the Navy but also the Army want to capture some of the benefits of railgun technology in their current cannon. Sponsored by the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office, both services are testing Hyper-Velocity Projectiles designed for the railgun from existing 5″ inch naval guns and 155 mm (6″) howitzers. (The HVP itself is the same, but is wrapped in a different fly-away package called a sabot). Using gunpowder rather than electromagnetic impulses means the muzzle velocity is lower, which in turn means the projectile can’t escape the atmosphere to fly without friction over vast distances. Even so the 5″ gun firing HVP more than doubles its normal range, to about 30 nautical miles. (The Navy officials present didn’t have the latest figures on the Army tests).

Gunpowder-propelled HVP is not enough to replace the railgun in all aspects. The electromagnetically-launched weapon not only travels further but hits harder, rendering a high-explosive warhead unnecessary for many targets. But for crucial missions such as shooting down incoming cruise missiles, conventional cannon firing Hyper-Velocity Projectiles can play a crucial role as a second line of defense around 30 nautical miles out. Beyond that, out to 100 miles, the giant railguns can take over with crushing force.


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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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New U.S. Naval Aircraft Integrating for Longer Range Operations
The Navy has begun integrating its newest airplanes into the air wing and joint forces during training and finding that these platforms, including the EA-18G Growler and F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, are extending the range and increasing the sophistication of operations, the Navy’s Air Boss said.
As for F-35C integration, Shoemaker said the planes have come to Fallon a few times for testing.

“That’s been a very unique opportunity to start that fourth and fifth (generation) integration and understand what that really brings from a capability perspective,” he said. “Flying with Rhino (Super Hornet) and Growler, we understand the low-observable penetration capability of F-35, but when we look at the ability to fuse data, put it all together, both active and passive sensors, and share that with the other platforms in the air wing and joint force, give us long-range combat ID – that’s where I think the true value you’ll see in F-35.”In Naval aviation will rely on the JSF and Super Hornet into the 2030s, and Shoemaker said the future looks bright with these two platforms. {"Stealth" is cool, but the ability to ID at very long distances is even better}

“When you pair those two up together I think they bring a very good complement in terms of, if you call it a high-low mix and the low part of that mix is Super Hornet, we’re in a good spot,” he said.

The Air Boss noted the long-range ID aspect of F-35 but said the service is building sensors and weapons to bring this extended reach to other planes too.

“The key is the long-range ID, being able to ID at range in both a surface and air context – and that’s where the sensors and our integration of both manned and unmanned, joint, space, all domains, and really the networks that will bring all that information together and share it” will be important for future operations and extending the reach of the air wing well beyond what previous generations could have done.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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CVN-78 departs for acceptance trials
The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has departed Naval Station Norfolk, VA, to begin acceptance trials, the Navy announced today.

"Acceptance Trials demonstrate to the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) the ship's ability to conduct operations at sea, and that the ship is constructed in accordance with contract specifications," according to a service statement.

Acceptance trials for the first-in-class Gerald R. Ford will last for "several days," according to the service.

Overseen by INSURV, Navy officials, and Newport News Shipbuilding personnel, sailors will operate the ships' systems and new technologies.

The service plans to accept delivery of CVN-78 by the end of the month.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-apos- ... 12190.html
Russia's Gigantic New Submarine Has Enormous "Wings"
Popular Mechanics

Kyle Mizokami
Popular MechanicsMay 24, 2017

Photo credit: H.I. Sutton/Covert Shore

A gigantic new research submarine designed by Russia will travel underneath ice floes, mapping its underwater surroundings with a pair of huge plane-like wings. The sub will help Moscow exploit its Arctic frontier as it prepares to harvest previously untouchable natural resources.

The Arctic Research Submarine was designed by the famous Rubin Design Bureau, which was also responsible for the Typhoon-class missile submarines, the largest subs ever built. This vessel will weigh in at 13,280 tons, making easily the largest civilian research submersible ever built, and will be 442 feet long. The sub will have a maximum speed of 12.6 knots and a crew of 40.

The most striking detail is the presence of two sets of wing-like sonar receivers that give the sub a futuristic appearance. The "wings," which retract into the hull like the blade of a pocket knife, are meant to receive sonar signals broadcast from the ship's hull. This allows the Arctic Research Submarine to image its surroundings in all directions as it cruises along underwater at a leisurely 3 knots.

H.I. Sutton, the analyst behind the Covert Shores submarine web site and book of the same name, says about the sub: "From analysis of the model displayed by the design bureau, the wing structures are close to 165 feet (50 meters) long, so it will have a wingspan of about 330 feet (100 meters). This is much greater than any aircraft that has ever flown." A graphic made by Sutton (see above) shows the submarine will have an even greater "wingspan" than an Airbus A380 jumbo jet.

Sutton doesn't believe the wings have any hydrodynamic use, however. "It is unlikely that the wings will be used to generate lift like an aircraft. That would be less efficient because it would have to constantly use its control surfaces to maintain a precise depth. This would also generate noise which could make the sonar less effective."

Although built to operate under the arctic ice, the submarine's sheer size will make navigating tough at times. "There will be many places in the Arctic where the submarine cannot go because its wings will make to too wide to navigate the many ice columns which protrude downwards from the ice cap, " Sutton explains. "These can extend downwards for hundreds of feet or even to the sea floor."

As a civilian survey submarine, the ship will be unarmed. It will incorporate the ability to deploy and fetch remotely operated vehicles (underwater drones) and be capable of operating at depths of up to 1,300 feet.

Russia is eager to secure mineral and energy mining rights in the Arctic, in areas becoming more accessible as global warming reduces the amount of pack ice. Moscow has made bold underwater territorial claims in the Arctic extending past the traditional 200 mile Economic Exclusion Zone claimed by all countries, including parts of the North Pole. In 2007, Sutton points out, Russia used mini-submarines to plant its flag on the sea bed 14,000 feet beneath the North Pole.
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Video from the Acceptance Trials, currently underway.

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Navy: Ford clears acceptance trials. Delivery 'close at hand'

A commissioning ceremony will be held sometime this summer.

Acceptance trials were conducted by the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. Prior to getting underway, INSURV conducted a set of pierside trials. The at-sea period included more than 500 demonstrations of the ship's hull, mechanical and electrical systems, NAVSEA said.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

SAAB's new LW torpedo.Ideal for our new coastal ASW corvettes planned.
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/imps ... w-torpedo/
MARITIME SECURITY rss feed

UDT Europe 2017: Saab launches new torpedo
31st May 2017 - 13:39 by Beth Maundrill in Bremen

Saab has unveiled its new lightweight torpedo for the first time to the international market at UDT Europe 2017.

In May 2016 the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration placed an order for a New Lightweight Torpedo system and the Swedish Navy is the launch customer for the weapon, the company confirmed.

The total value of the contract stands at SEK1.53 billion and deliveries are scheduled during the period 2016-2024.

‘The torpedo is specifically for ASW, to hunt for submarines,’ said Carl-Marcus Remen, sales director at Saab, ‘We are seeing an upgrading period for ASW at the moment and the torpedo fits into that well.’

The weapon can be fired from submarines, ships and aircraft, according to Remen and the Swedish military plans to begin the torpedo as a ship or submarine launched system before looking into the possibility of helicopter launch.

In terms of launching from an unmanned vehicle this could be a future possibility but at this time rules and regulations prohibit this type of operation.

During the autumn of 2017, the company plans to conduct first water tests of the torpedo at its own facility.

The small size of the torpedo allows for it to operate in harsh environments, primarily shallow waters and incorporates a guided weapon system. The company says that they are currently the only supplier to develop a brand new torpedo system.

The lightweight torpedo is a flexible system that has been developed for navies operating in both littoral and blue waters.

Saab continues to develop underwater systems, for shallow waters and the types of environments that exist in the Baltic Sea, including adapted propulsion, communications and target seekers.

’Since we received the order from Sweden we have seen a great interest for this system so we will stay in close contact with interested countries,’ said Anne-Marie Vösu, head of business unit Underwater Systems at Saab.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Future USS Gerald R. Ford delivered to the Navy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) aircraft carrier in Newport News, Virginia, May 31.

Delivery followed the ship's successful completion of acceptance trials May 26.

"Congratulations to everyone who has helped bring CVN 78 to this historic milestone," said Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, program executive officer for aircraft carriers. "Over the last several years, thousands of people have had a hand in delivering Ford to the Navy -- designing, building and testing the Navy's newest, most capable, most advanced warship. Without a doubt, we would not be here without the hard work and dedication of those from the program office, our engineering teams and those who performed and oversaw construction of this incredible warship. It is because of them that Ford performed so well during acceptance trials, as noted by the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey."

"Well done to our shipbuilding partners, Ford’s crew and everyone who supported them," said Vice Adm. Tom Moore, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, who also embarked for acceptance trials.

Ford is the lead ship of its class and the first new-design aircraft carrier delivered to the Navy since USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in 1975. It is also the first aircraft carrier to join the fleet since USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) delivered in 2009. The future USS Gerald R. Ford honors the 38th president of the United States and pays tribute to his lifetime of service to the nation in the Navy and in the U.S. government.

The next generation of aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford class delivers unprecedented flexibility to the fleet. Due to a larger flight deck, the ability to host more aircraft, additional weapons and aviation fuel storage, and the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear, Ford will be able to increase sortie rates by one-third when compared to the Nimitz class. Further, the Navy's newest aircraft carrier generates three times the amount of electricity as previous classes and is designed to rapidly add capabilities as new systems become available over the course of its projected 50-year service life.

Ford will be commissioned into the fleet this summer, formally placing the ship into active service. Following this, there will be a "shakedown" period where the ship will conduct several at-sea events to provide longer underway periods for the ship's crew to operate and train on ship's systems. In addition, planned deferred work will be performed, and any deficiencies identified during trials will be addressed during in-port periods.

Ford is expected to be operational in 2020 following achievement of initial operational capability.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Aditya G »

Italian Horizon class destroyer - with 3 x 76mm cannons, each with STRALES FCS.

Image

Image

PS: those italians build fine ships
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USN eyes MALD-N stand-in jammer development


The US Navy (USN) plans to acquire a modified variant of the ADM-160 Miniature Air Launched Decoy – Jammer (MALD-J) to meet requirements for a new network-enabled stand-in jammer to support EA-18G Growler and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet tactical aircraft in high-threat air-defence environments.

In a sources sought notice issued on 1 June, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) confirmed plans to award Raytheon Missile Systems a sole-source cost-type contract for the development of service-specific requirements for what is being called the Miniature Air Launched Decoy-Navy (MALD-N). A two-year contract is anticipated.

The original ADM-160B MALD decoy and the ADM-160C MALD-J stand-in jammer are already in service with the US Air Force (USAF). To date, MALD and MALD-J have been integrated on both F-16C/D and B-52H aircraft.

USN interest in a tailored MALD derivative as a replacement for the ageing ADM-141 Improved Tactical Air-Launched Decoy (ITALD) has developed over several years. One example was the CERBERUS [Countermeasure Expendable with Replaceable Block Elements for Reactive Unmanned Systems Multi-Mission Jammer] Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) undertaken jointly by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Raytheon. A Military Utility Assessment, conducted in June 2015 during the biannual ‘Northern Edge’ exercise in Alaska, demonstrated successful captive flights of a modular, rapid replacement architecture for alternative MALD-J payloads.

Evolved over a four-year programme in collaboration with the US Pacific Command and NAVAIR (through the Airborne Electronic Attack Systems and EA-6B Program Office [PMA-234]), the JCTD developed a payload system architecture integrated with a quick interchange structural connection. Conceived with emerging threats in the Pacific Command area of responsibility foremost in mind, the precept of CERBERUS was to deliver a net-enabled modular expendable jamming system by employing reconfigurable, flexible, and rapidly replaceable nosecone payloads hosted in the MALD air vehicle.

CERBERUS has been followed up by the MALD-X demonstration programme, for which Raytheon was in March 2016 awarded a USD34.8 million contract by the USAF. Funded through the Special Capabilities Office (SCO) at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the 24-month MALD-X programme is being used to demonstrate capabilities potentially applicable to MALD-N, and at the same time establish an upgrade path for the USAF’s current MALD-J.

Four enhanced capabilities are being embodied into MALD-X: a modular front-end; an improved jamming payload; a datalink; and a low-altitude capability. The programme runs through to March 2018 and will culminate in two flight test demonstrations in February/March 2018.

The new stand-in jamming payload is being developed by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. It will incorporate improved power output, sensitivity, and jamming techniques, and be effective against a wider spectrum of threats.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Singha »

why should we use saab LWT when our TAL Shyena is in production and we are also selling it to Myanmar?
pls desist from the brochure virus coughing fits.

I liked the italian horizon with the 3 x 76mm better than the french model....but due to cost factor they are building FREMMs and orizzonte class was a evolutionary dead end. so is the Type45 & de zeven provincien - dead end.

the craftier germans built smaller ships the sachsen class and the spaniards, aussies and danes are riding on the coattails of the aegis evolutions and american missiles ...
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by chola »

Found on PDF: Looks like PRC is going full bore into carrier ops and laying down large human infrastructure for it as well.

It is establishing a naval air university and it is recruiting graduates from high schools.

IMHO, this is a greater investment and indication of actual commitment in war-fighting ability than all their fancy new warships in revent years (which US Naval intelligence said they could not possibly train enough people properly to staff.)

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d517a4e3241444e/share.html
China's only university to train carrier-based fighter pilots makes debut



The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Naval Aviation University, China's only educational establishment to train pilots for carrier-based fighters, will start recruiting students among high school graduates nationwide this year, according to Navy Today, the PLA Navy's official magazine.

The official account of Navy Today on WeChat, an instant messaging application, announced on Sunday that the PLA Naval Aviation University would be established after the regrouping of the PLA Naval Aviation Academy and the PLA Naval Aeronautical Engineering Institute in 2017. It was the first time official news about the PLA Naval Aviation University was released.


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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

Italians design brilliantly,from yachts,ships to clothes,cars,wimmen,..!

Oops! Now what was intended.
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/32129/48/
US Submarine gets stuck in Arctic Ice, Russian Helicopter flies around it
Monday, 05 June 2017
The first rule for American submarines spying on the Russians in the Arctic is don't get stuck in ice when going up for fresh air.

And this is what precisely a US Seawolf submarine did, went up and got completely stuck in Arctic ice, which according to CNN and the NYT shouldn't be there.

So who came to help? The Russians dispatched an MI8 Helicopter to observe the situation, was able to locate it quickly thanks to a red flare the US sub coughed up next to it.

We are certainly not experts in the espionage game, but we will go ahead and classify the spying activities of this particular US sub as unsuccessful.
Here's a really good riposte from a Russian on the West's paranoia of Ru subs.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Russian- ... water.html
Russian Security Council: West imagines Russian submarine every time they see ripples on water
Jun 6 -
The reason why the western countries have been accusing Russia of cyber attacks is their nervousness, an aide to the chairman of the Russian Security Council, Alexander Venediktov, said.

"Nervousness has reached such a level when they imagine a Russian submarine every time they see ripples on water," Venediktov said in an interview with the AiF.ru website.

"You must remember that much hyped story when a Russian submarine was allegedly spotted near Sweden’s coast. It turned out to be a real Russian submarine, only it had been lying on the sea bottom since World War I. The same kind of thing is happening in the cyberspace," he said,

The aide to the chairman of the Russian Security Council also said that despite Moscow’s continuous requests, no one had been able to provide solid evidence proving that Russia was behind the much talked about cyber attacks. "The so-called Russian interference is just a handy explanation. Of course, it is easier to believe that it was some Russian hackers and not your own fellow citizens who prevented you from winning the presidential election. But the reality is different," he pointed out.

Venediktov also said that modern technical means allowed to simulate a cyber attack from any part of the world. "You may hack a European bank’s database from a building facing its office but make everyone believe that the attack was carried out from Moscow. What we need is to understand who benefits from this. But I think the answer is obvious," Venediktov stressed.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by SaiK »

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Post by brar_w »

From this month's USNI Proceedings -

SPY-6 RADAR ON TRACK
In July, the Navy's Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) and Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, prime contractor for the SPY-6 air and missile defense radar (AMDR), will complete testing the radar's performance for a range of missions for the Navy's Flight III Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)-class destroyers.

The testing, carried out at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, has evaluated the radar's ability to track satellites, aircraft, and ballistic missiles. In mid-March, in an exercise called Vigilant Hunter, the radar successfully acquired and tracked a short-range ballistic missile target.

PEO IWS's program manager for above-water sensors, Captain Seiko Okano, U.S. Navy, said the test was "historic" as it was the first time the Navy employed a digital beam-forming radar. Okano added, "The SPY-6 is on track for delivery to the DDG-51 Flight III." It will replace the SPY-1 radar, the centerpiece of the Aegis combat system long built by Lockheed Martin and in service on board Ticonderoga-class (CG-47) cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class DDGs.

The first Flight III ship will be the second Arleigh Burke funded in the fiscal year 2016 budget and likely will be hull number DDG-125 or DDG-126. The new radar will be integrated with the newest variant of the Aegis system, designated Advanced Capability Build 20 or Baseline 10, now in development. The Navy awarded a contract to Raytheon for engineering manufacturing development of the S-band SPY-6 AMDR and radar suite controller in October 2013, following a hotly contested competition with Lockheed Martin, which initially considered protesting the award.

Raytheon officials say a critical element contributing to the SPY-6 performance is the use of gallium nitride (GaN) technology for the fabrication of the radar modular assemblies that make up the system. The new material enables higher power density and great power efficiency. In 2013, the company was recognized by the Department of Defense for successfully completing a GaN improvement program for radio frequency technology and achieving "Manufacturing Readiness Level 8," the highest possible, for its GaN work.

Tad Dickenson, director of Raytheon's AMDR program, says a production-representative SPY-6 array completed nearfield range testing at the company's Sudbury, Massachusetts, facility in May 2016. In June 2016, the system was moved to PMRF and integrated with an advanced radar laboratory and brought up to full power the following month. The company then began software installations to expand the radar's functionality for the test program.

An initial test tracked a satellite to show the system's ability to track small objects moving at high speeds at long ranges. Testing then expanded to the integrated air and missile defense missions, using aircraft as air targets and satellites for the ballistic missile defense testing.

In December 2016, Raytheon won a Navy contract for long-range initial production and long-lead material for the first SPY-6 ship radar set. A production contract for the first ship set probably will be awarded later this year and will include below-deck equipment (such as power and cooling components), processing equipment, and the above-deck radar array. The first system is scheduled to be completed in 2019 for delivery to a shipyard, either Huntington Ingalls Industries or General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, which will share production of the Flight III DDGs.

The integration of the SPY-6 AMDR with Aegis calls for a new management process because, unlike the SPY-1, the radar is not built by Lockheed Martin. Dickenson points out that PEO IWS, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin established an integration working group to develop and test incremental hardware and software interfaces between the new radar and the Aegis combat system. In May 2016, Raytheon delivered to Lockheed Martin a SPY-6 emulator that represents a "full tactical back end" of the system for the integration work.

Later this summer, Lockheed Martin engineers will integrate combat system elements with the production-representative system at PMRF. Second-phase integration with the Aegis combat system will be carried out at PMRF until 2018, when the system will move to the Navy's Combat Systems Engineering Development Site located near Lockheed Martin's facility in Moorestown, New Jersey, for further integration work.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Prithwiraj »

USN Fitzerald suffered massive damage due to a collision with Phillipino Merchant Ship tonight. I am wondering with all its advance sensors, ageis radar etc. They could not figure out such a massive ship coming close to it? 6 of the sailors from USN are missing.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... t-of-japan
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

V,tragic accident,one prays for the missing crewmen and affected families. In our part of the world too we've had at Bombay collisions which saw the eventual loss of the Leander class frigate Vindhyagiri.Trishul and Talwar had minor collisions too.

The incident happening at night raises sev. Qs,who was on watch on the merchantman,whether there were commns. between the vessels when collision was sensed as a possibility,given that the destroyer is equipped with such an array of sensors and is not a stealth or semi-stealth DDG at all.There are strict international "rules of the road",navigation rules to prevent collisions at sea. An inquiry will reveal who was at fault,but for a modern top-of-the-line US DDG unable to avoid a collision would indicate extraordinary incompetence on either side,making it impossible for the affected vessel to have avoided collision in time.Eqpt. failure on the merchantman could be another possibility,remote on the DDG as she would have sev. redundant eqpt. in case of failure of any sensor.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

Excellent coverage incl. v-clips here. From pics of the container vessel,the amt. of containers stacked on deck makes it difficult for those on the bridge to get a view of what's happening at the bows.There may be cameras too,but it adds to the problem at night. The merchantman suffered only "superficial damage",says the report and beggars a Q how a "ship of the line" can come off worse for weather after such a collision.
'It was a was real fight by crew to keep the ship afloat. Our concerns now are with ship mates; seven sailors missing and 2 evacuees.
Seven sailors missing feared dead after $1.5bn US Navy destroyer collides with 29,000 ton cargo ship off Japan - crushing sleeping quarters and leaving the crew 'fighting to keep her afloat'
Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippines merchant vessel off the coast of Japan Saturday
US defense official said there are seven sailors unaccounted for and three injured, including the commander
Rescuers are searching for seamen thought to be lost at sea or trapped inside the damaged naval vessel
The Navy says damage occurred to the starboard side, above and below the Fitzgerald's waterline
Bryce Benson was appointed Executive Officer of the Fitzgerald in 2015, took over as Commander last month
Benson is reportedly in stable condition after being airlifted to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yo

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z4kF8a2fzf
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Singha »

The biggest container ships have now moved the island midhips and made it taller plus balcony wings overhanging the side to improve view. But they are lean manned vessels with around 30 crew spread in 3 shifts ao wont be more than 3 on the bridge. I suspect container ship did not spot until too late while ddg may have expected her to make a move earlier
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Pratyush »

I guess that when you have a container ship coming your way. You better get out. But the pictures show that the DDG, was in the way of the container ship. Which is inexplicable considering the amount of sensors being carried by it. Hell is the container ship was not visible of the radar. Why did sonar not call out a warning that a 20k ton torpedo was heading for them at 20 knots.

Imagine if this was war. This ship was a goner.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

Prithwiraj wrote:USN Fitzerald suffered massive damage due to a collision with Phillipino Merchant Ship tonight. I am wondering with all its advance sensors, ageis radar etc. They could not figure out such a massive ship coming close to it? 6 of the sailors from USN are missing.
That may have happened. Without jumping to conclusions do note that both the DDG, and the Merchant vessel were manned by people which always raises concerns of human error which will be looked at as part of the inquiry that will follow. Don't think of this as a car collision where the drivers completely failed to notice an incoming car but more like one where errors were made by either or both sides that resulted in a collision. Advanced sensors only inform you on your decision making process, their is still the human factor that plays a role and executes the said actions. Moreover you can do everything right (not saying this happened here but merely stating a hypothetical) but the outcome is still dependent on the set of actions undertaken by the other vessel's crew.

This isn't and unfortunately won't be the last time ships have collided at sea resulting in loss of life, injury or significant damage(See THIS from 2012). There are established rules for both military, and merchant vessels out at sea and violation of these rules will be looked at. Again without jumping to conclusions, in wartime - one would assume that an approaching vessel will be dealt with with slightly different set of options.
Qs,who was on watch on the merchantman,whether there were commns. between the vessels when collision was sensed as a possibility,given that the destroyer is equipped with such an array of sensors and is not a stealth or semi-stealth DDG at all.There are strict international "rules of the road",navigation rules to prevent collisions at sea. An inquiry will reveal who was at fault,but for a modern top-of-the-line US DDG unable to avoid a collision would indicate extraordinary incompetence on either side,making it impossible for the affected vessel to have avoided collision in time.Eqpt. failure on the merchantman could be another possibility,remote on the DDG as she would have sev. redundant eqpt. in case of failure of any sensor.
Correct! In my opinion this will come down to the following of the laid out norms and rules and protocols that have to be followed at sea by both military and merchant vessels. They will look at both the crews to see if rules were followed, and what the evasive maneuvers were taken to avoid collision and whether those were reasonable and appropriate.

Now that the ship is back home, a deeper dive (quite literally) into the damage and the sequence of events will follow. Meanwhile the SAR effort is still underway and being at home will allow them to remove debris and search further inside.

https://twitter.com/US7thFleet/status/8 ... 9954628608

Last edited by brar_w on 17 Jun 2017 17:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

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Image released from Yokosuka -

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Shortly after the collision the U.S. made a request for support from the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), which were the first on scene and continues to be lead for search and rescue efforts. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) ships JS Ohnami, JS Hamagiri, and JS Enshu were sent to join the JCG ships Izanami and Kano. USS Dewey (DDG 105) served as an escort for Fitzgerald and has also returned to Yokosuka. A U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft is working in concert with two JMSDF Helicopters and a JMSDF P-3 Orion aircraft to search the area. Names of the missing Sailors are being withheld until the families have been notified.

The collision affected Fitzgerald's forward starboard side above and below the water line, causing significant damage and associated flooding to two berthing spaces, a machinery space, and the radio room, which damage control teams quickly began dewatering. Though the ship is back in Yokosuka it remains uncertain as to how long it will take to gain access to the spaces in order to methodically continue the search for the missing.

Once the ship arrived in Yokosuka, divers began inspecting the damage and developing a plan for repairs and inspection of the spaces.

Three patients required medical evacuation from the ship. One was Cmdr. Bryce Benson, Fitzgerald's commanding officer, who was transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka by a JMSDF helicopter. All three Sailors are awake and will remain under observation at the hospital until further notice. Other injured are being assessed. LINK
US Naval Institute has released a Video of the Fitz



https://news.usni.org/2017/06/17/video- ... -continues
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

They recovered the remains of the seven missing sailors on board the damaged vessel. RIP.

Below is a new conference from the 7th Fleet.

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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

This was expected. There is an ongoing USN funded program to put an active RF seeker on the SM2 and upgrade existing stocks of US and international missiles while also offering it as a new build. The SM2 is still unique in that once it gets the active seeker upgrade (in the next couple of years) it will be a multi spectral weapon with Terminal RF and IIR.

Raytheon to restart SM-2 missile line after $650 million sale: executive

U.S. missile maker Raytheon (RTN.N) plans to announce it will restart its Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) production line after a $650 million dollar order from four U.S. allies, the president of Raytheon's Missile Systems, Taylor Lawrence, said on Sunday.

Raytheon is attending the June 19-25 Paris Airshow where it plans to make the announcement that it will restart the line that has been shut for about two years.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Raytheon four contracts to sell a total of 280 SM-2 Block IIIA and IIIB missiles to the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

The deal could keep the Arizona production line open through 2035 because Raytheon anticipates more orders as the United States and its allies rebuild their inventories using the modernized production line, Lawrence told Reuters.

SM-2 missiles are often used to defend ships against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. They have a range of about 90 nautical miles.

The U.S. Congress would be notified shortly of the proposed Foreign Military Sales, Lawrence said. Congress must approve most major foreign weapons sales.

Delivery of the weapons could begin in 2020 Lawrence added.The order will add to Raytheon's $36 billion order backlog. More than 41 percent of Raytheon's backlog was international customers at the end of the quarter reported in April.

Raytheon is based in Waltham, Massachusetts-based and had 2016 sales of $24 billion. It has 63,000 employees.
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by Peregrine »

Singha wrote:The biggest container ships have now moved the island midhips and made it taller plus balcony wings overhanging the side to improve view. But they are lean manned vessels with around 30 crew spread in 3 shifts ao wont be more than 3 on the bridge. I suspect container ship did not spot until too late while ddg may have expected her to make a move earlier
Singha Ji :
Are you serious Respected Sir?

The CV's damage is on the the front part of the Left Side.The DDG had the CV on his Right side. Traffic from the Right Goes First i.e. The CV had the Right of Way and the DDG should have given way to the CV.

Please do not hesitate to correct me.

Many thanks in advance

Cheers Image
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by brar_w »

Fielded and Planned upgrades to the BGM-109 Tomahawk and its eventual replacement weapon.

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The 2021 MST technology insert is looking at the configuration below -

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sarang
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Re: International Naval News and Discussion

Post by sarang »

Quiet a compact weapon, is it nuclear also?
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