The difference is that a Zamboni is the only reason I want to watch hockey, but carrier takeoffs and landings are cool.
Category: Naval
Electro-Magnetic Catapult on Ford Class CVN in Trouble
It looks like there are serious problems with the Navy’s new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which is intended to replace steam catapults on the new carrier.
The GAO is highlighting potential delays and cost overruns, and the fact that testing is not intended to start until next year, even though the keel of the lead ship, the Gerald Ford, has already been laid.
It makes me wonder if SecDef Gates proposed slowdown on carrier production might be in some part by concerns over the maturity system, as retrofitting steam catapults would involve major changes to the ship, and possibly to its propulsion, which was not designed to supply steam to catapults.
Of course, as always, the US Navy is being less than forthcoming about potential problems, and continues to paint a happy picture, though there are stories suggesting that EMALS would be shelved, though it is unclear if replacing the system with steam would save money or keep the program on schedule, at least for the Ford.
Good Read on Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile
It appears that the impetus to get this all started was the US Pershing II, whose actively radar guided MARV produced a CEP of something under 30m much less than the 75m beam of a Nimitz flight deck.
In any case, this is a good read, and if this technology has been in development since the early 1980s, I can see no reasons that the Chinese are not near the point of being able to deploy such a system.
Modern processors allow for sensor fusion from a number of data sources, and a CVBG puts out a lot of signature.
In any case, I tend to figure that warships these days fall into 2 categories: Submarines, and targets.
Russian Carrier Video Pr0n.
Kind of cool.
H/t Galrahn.
US Submarine and LPD Collide in Strait of Hormuz
The Navy is Doing This Because the USAF Can’t Be Bothered
After years of ground troops begging for something lower, slower, and with more short field capability, it is the US Navy that is considering a solution, the Super Tucano turboprop trainer configured for the light attack mission.
You could probably buy 50 of these aircraft for the price of one JSF, and it can loiter over the battle area for a much longer period of time, and spot things that the fast movers would miss.
Shades of the A-1 Skyraider, which wasn’t a USAF idea either.
Naval aviation is fighting it, because, well, has a propeller and all, but it looks like this will actually be used, because it’s what the guy on the ground needs.
Russian Chinese Su-33 Carrier Fighter Deal Falls Through
It appears that the Russians are concerned that the Chinese will buy a few, and then reverse engineer them and manufacture them without permission, because they have already done this with the baseline Su-27.
Naked Aggression
The USNS Impeccable was conducting an “ocean mapping mission” in the South China Sea when she was confronted by Chinese ships, who maneuvered close to her and attempted to snag her towed sonar array:
The exposure came as the American vessel USNS Impeccable was attempting to defend itself against what the Pentagon claimed was co-ordinated harassment and aggression from five Chinese ships. Being unarmed, the Impeccable turned its fire water hoses against two of the Chinese vessels that had come within 50 feet in a threatening posture.
Then, the Pentagon records in the admirably restrained language of international diplomacy, “the Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet.”
(emphasis mine)
OK, it’s not naked aggression, it’s semi-naked aggression, but still…..
It should be noted that the ship was actually on an intelligence gathering mission:
The U.S. Navy’s description of the incident states that “a civilian crew mans the ship, which operates under the auspices of the Military Sealift Command.” Yet as one of five ocean surveillance ships, the USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS 23) has the important military mission of using its array of both passive and active low frequency sonar arrays to detect and track submarines. The USNS Impeccable works directly with the Navy’s fleets, and in 2007 operated with the three-carrier strike battle group in Valiant Shield 07 exercise in the Western Pacific.
USNS Impeccable is equipped with the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), a passive linear underwater surveillance array attached to a tow cable. SURTASS was developed as a floating submarine detection system for deep waters, and the Navy wants to add an active Low Frequency Array (LFA) to improve long-range detection of submarines in shallow waters.
Note that the ship was only about 75 miles from the Yulin naval base, where the Chinese have based their most advanced SSN, the Shang-class (Type-093), and that the Impeccable does carry the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS).
I’m not sure if they recording acoustic signatures, or recording operations, or both, but this was not just an ocean mapping expedition.
The US government is claiming illegal harassment in international waters, and the Chinese government is claiming a violation of their sovereignty.
It’s probably a bit of both.
I Call Bull S^%@
The Russians are planning to build a 60,000 ton nuclear powered CTOL aircraft carrier, and they are talking about its air wing being the PAK-FA, the successor to the Su-27 series.
And if you believe that, I have a bridge for you in Brooklyn.
Is the US Navy Falling to Pieces?
Because the service has just classified ship inspection reports, and the only reason that I can think of their doing so is to cover up either bad reports on newly constructed ships, or of maintenance shortcomings for the existing fleet:
InSurvs are circulated widely among commanders and technical authorities within the Navy, but seldom seen by civilians unless they’ve been specifically requested under freedom of information laws. Even then, Navy officials can redact the names of people; information about classified equipment; or trade secrets of shipbuilders or other venders.
Over the past year, InSurvs obtained by Navy Times have revealed severe problems aboard the cruiser Chosin, the destroyer Stout and the amphibious transport dock New Orleans.
(emphasis mine)
Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I think that there are a lot more “severe problems” out there.
Yeah, Like This is Going to Work
It appears that India’s response to its troubled contract to buy the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov has led them to start construction of their own carrier in their own shipyards.
Considering India’s history in weapons development, Arjun Tank, Tejas light fighter, Kaveri engine, the Nag anti-tank missile(!), each more than 20 years in development without operational deployment, this is not a course of action that I would take.
This has fiasco written all over it.
Defense Procurement at Its Finest
So, it appears that the electromagnetic catapult on the Ford is behind schedule and over budget, and the contractor is asking for more money, because if they have to go back to steam, they have to tear up the ship, including its engineering plants.
So, they will get the money, and they will deliver late, and, unless I miss my guess, we will seeing a F/A-18s hitting when the catapults fail, as the bugs are worked out, at cost plus.
Yet Another Submarine Collision Update
The location of the collision (top) appears rather different from where it was indicated in my post yesterday (bottom).
What the hell was a British boomer doing so close to French territorial waters?
Based on my eyeball scaling off of Google maps, it’s around 100 miles off the French coast.
Odd.
On the Submarine Collision
It appears that French boats have gotten a LOT quieter in the past decade, because a decade ago, on Usenet, I heard many comments from former submariners who said that they were loud.
Background here.
What the Hell is Going On?
* Seriously, first an Iridium and a Cosmos satellite collide in orbit spewing debris all around the immediate vicinity, and now French and British boomers (SSBNs) have collided.
This is just weird.The HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, each carrying 16 missiles, and an indeterminate number of warhead struck each other in the middle of nowhere:
Not only did it occur in the open ocean, as opposed to a choke point like a port or the Straights of Gibralter, but it was two SSBNs.
If one had been an attack submarine, I could see it, because you would have a “friendly” tracking exercise, but this is not the task of the SSBN.
Yes, I know about the story of the Leningrad elephant, but it’s just weird.
*Tin foil hat image swiped from Attytood.
The Navy Still Doesn’t Know What it Wants
So, the Navy is looking at a ‘future surface combatant’ (FSC) to replace the DDG-1000 Zumwalt.
It appears to be an improved version of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke, with possibly a hull stretch and a new engineering plant, and definitely a new radar, the the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), which was originally intended to be first fielded on the nuclear powered CG(X) cruiser, which now looks to be pushed back a couple of years.
The idea that they are doing this to the DDG-51 implies that part of the problem with the Zumwalts was insufficient robustness to battle damage.
What is shows however, is that the Navy really does not have a coherent path forward.
Last S-3B Viking Retires. Walking Away from ASW?
It’s one of those orginary stories that might raise some bigger issues. The US Navy has retired the last S-3B Viking from fleet service.
This means that there is no dedicated fixed wing anti-submarine aircraft in service any more. This is more than just a story about the retirement of an aircraft affectionately known by its crew as “the Hoover.”
Given the expansion of capabilities of non nuclear submarines, such as air-independent propulsion (AIP) , improvements in anti-ship missiles, and the reports that the Russians have been working on a low cost “hybrid” nuke boat, I would think that submarines are more of a threat to the CVBG than they have ever been.
The 1990s Defense Industry Consolidation Did Not Save Money
The report here only applies to a study of consolidation of U.S. shipbuilding operations, but having worked in the defense industry over that period, I can tell you it did not work there either.
Instead, you saw bizarre expensive workshare arrangements to preserve the only two entities capable of producing a weapon system, because if you only had one, then it makes sense to nationalize the industry.
It’s Rubinomics applied to the military-industrial complex, and a failure.
India Buys 8 P-8I’s for $2.1B
It’s the largest defense contract ever between India and the US for 8 of the Boeing 737 derived maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft.
They will replace a similar number of Tupolev-142Ms “Bear” turboprops.
They will carry sonar buoys, depth charges, torpedos, and Harpoon missiles for use against surface combatants.
Considering that the next largest Indo-US deal was a $962 million contract for 6 C-130J, this is a step up, both in size and technology transfer.
That being said, the US is still a bit player, with Russia, France , and Israel dominating the defense import market to India.
More Evidence of Chinese Carrier Aspirations
We have reports that the China are in negotiations to buy Su-33 carrier based fighters.
I think that we will see moderately sized (about 50,000 ton) carriers joining the Chinese fleet in the next decade, but the real indicator of their naval aspirations will be their submarine and amphibious warefare ship fleets.
The carriers are primarily a national pride undertaking, not a military endeavor.