Keel Laid for First DDG 1000 Destroyer

Via US Navy..

BATH, Maine (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy laid the keel for its first Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000), Nov. 17, at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine.

While keel laying was once traditionally the formal recognition of the start of the ship's construction, today's advanced modular shipbuilding allows fabrication of the ship to begin months before. However, the keel laying continues to symbolically recognize the joining of the ship's components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

"Keel laying is just the first of many important milestones and events in bringing Zumwalt to life," said Capt. Jim Downey, DDG 1000 program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "With the outstanding team we have assembled, I look forward to building on the superb progress we've achieved to date and delivering this extremely capable warship to the Fleet."

The lead ship and class are named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970-1974. The ship's co-sponsors, Ann Zumwalt, Mouzetta Zumwalt-Weathers, and Lt.Col. James G. Zumwalt symbolically authenticated the keel with a plate displaying the initials of all four children of the ship's namesake, including eldest son, the late-Elmo R. Zumwalt III.

Construction began on DDG 1000 in February 2009, and the Navy and its industry partners have worked to mature the ship's design and ready their industrial facilities to build this advanced surface combatant. Zumwalt is currently more than 60 percent complete and scheduled to deliver in fiscal year 2014. Construction on the second ship of the class, Michael Moonsoor (DDG 1001), began March 2010.

Designed for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack, the multi-mission DDG 1000 will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. This warship integrates numerous critical technologies, systems, and principles into a complete warfighting system. These include employment of optimal manning through human systems integration, improved quality of life, low operations and support costs, multi-spectral signature reduction, balanced warfighting design, survivability, and adaptability.

Looks like the Marine Corps gets it naval gunnery after all.

Great news...no this is beyond good news.  While the other services are focused on what might come to pass in the budget battles ahead, the Navy and Marine Corps are getting ships into service at an accelerated rate.

Good news indeed.

USMC delays JLTV going with upgraded HUMVEE's?

Jonathan sent me this article (thanks guy) from Bloomberg News covering the JLTV/Humvee issue in the Marines. Read the article but as usual, below are the good bits...

The U.S. Marine Corps may scrap plans to buy new combat trucks until the late 2020s, officials told a U.S. House Armed Services panel.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program is under scrutiny in Congress after a Senate panel recommended its termination in September. The Marine Corps plans to develop the new truck with the U.S. Army.

The Marine Corps said it may delay the JLTV and rely longer on its aging Humvee trucks because its priority is to buy new amphibious assault vehicles to ferry Marines from sea to land.

The biggest risk to the plan to modernize the combat vehicle fleet is “not program schedule but rather decision schedules,” Brigadier General Daniel O’Donohue, director of capabilities development, Brigadier General Frank Kelley, the head of Marine Corps Systems Command, and William Taylor, the land systems program executive officer, said today in a joint statement prepared for a hearing of the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee.

If JLTV is delayed, “we lose an opportunity that we cannot readdress” until after the procurement of a new amphibious combat vehicle, or ACV, “in the late 2020s,” the officials said.

Ok.

Not an optimal solution but one I can live with.  This makes total sense.  If we get involved in another counter insurgency/nation building op then we can pull MRAPs out of storage.  This move could actually start the Marine Corps on the road to getting lighter.

Additionally it will place priorities on weapon systems.  We'll finally start telling policy makers what are must haves and what are nice to haves.  I believe that the JLTV falls into the nice to have end of the debate.

My opinion, but I just don't see how we can afford JLTV's right now...we have too many vehicles/aircraft to replace at one time.  Now if we could only get a handle on our rotary aviation problem...that's going to be the next headache!

NOTE:

I just used the BAE offering as an example of the upgraded HUMVEE.  I don't have a dog in the fight the only thing I would add to this competition is the requirement for a massively upgraded suspension...the TAK-4 from Oshkosh would seem ideal on any of the offerings, but hopefully all the competitors have that issue covered.

Singapore to acquire F-35B's!?!

I caught this on AOL Defense...

Thirdly, the F-35 is a significant ISR asset. The Aussies can build ISR collection facilities, which can leverage the entire allied FLEET of F-35s operating in a regional security setting. They can use such facilities to shape an approach to link other allied ISR assets to establish a "honeycomb" network or grid along the Pacific Rim.

Singapore intends to acquire the VSTOL F-35Bs and perhaps put them aboard ships as well, and South Korea might well do the same. By working with Singapore and South Korea, and the Navy/Marine Amphibious Ready Groups, Australia could work on how best to do airfield protection using joint assets such as Aegis and F-35Bs on land in bunkered and EMP shielded revetments in case of severe runway damage.

Such an Australian hub could be a key element in shaping a new Pacific strategy. For the U.S. and its allies crafting a scalable force, one which can leverage one another's assets across the vast expanses of the Pacific, is crucial. Since no platform fights alone, an allied FLEET of F-35s is a key lynchpin for shaping such a scalable force.

And by shaping a mix of hubs and bases, a honeycomb of force capability could be built for US and allied forces. Diversifying the location of hubs, facilities and bases is crucial not only for the US but its allies and partners. Looking at how to leverage new systems to enhance diversification is a key opportunity to deal with the multiplicity of threats in the Pacific and reduce the capability of an aggressor to concentrate force.

Wow.

Let me say that again...Wow!

I always thought it but never heard a news organization say it out loud...Singapore intends to acquire the F-35B and S. Korea might do the same....

Something tells me that the USMC won't be buying that full allotment of F-35C's after all!  But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is the part which talks about using the F-35 as the link in an ISR net stretching across the Pacific.

This has been a fantastic couple of weeks for the F-35 and this just adds to the good news...

WE NEED MORE AMPHIBS!

Galrahn at Information Dissemination makes a case for more Amphibs.  Its a must read and I hope you do but here's the juicy bits...

While ARG deployments in the Pacific are old hat for the Navy and Marine Corps, it is becoming increasingly rare to see an ARG deployed from either coast to spend any significant amount of time anywhere other than operating under CENTCOM command in the 5th fleet. I have heard many suggestions that the Makin Island ARG has been working overtime during deployment preparations training for activities specific to activities one might find around Somalia and Yemen - like piracy. If I was a pirate warlord, my advice is to take the best deal you can for ransom as soon as possible, and start looking for a new job with less associated risk.

Ok, that makes sense.  Remember all the pics that I've been posting of Marines training to board, visit and inspect ships at sea?  Now It all comes together.  I think he's spot on with the 11th MEU about to get busy against pirates.  But check out this part...

If you recall, as a response to unfolding events in Libya, the Bataan ARG deployed a few weeks early on March 23, 2011 - 207 days ago (nearly 8 months ago). Lets just say she isn't coming home for Christmas, and if she isn't home by Valentines Day (a legitimate possibility) - the ships will break all records for deployment length since World War II.

Tipping Point much?

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Amphibs are the most important, viable and needed ships in the Navy.  And according to Galrahn, we need more!

Why the F-35 can't be killed...

What is ultimately going to protect the F-35 from cancellation?  The foreign air forces that have invested in it thats what!  Imagine the penalties, hard feelings and distrust that would bloom from a cancellation of a program that is employing high tech people in several countries--a program that seeks to provide the backbone of future forces for several decades if not longer!  But this story from Defense News seals the deal and should make every critics blood turn cold.

Canada's defense minister said it was premature to signal the end of the F-35 fighter jet that is to become the backbone of its air force, after his U.S. counterpart said the program may have to be axed.
"This sort of apocryphal language that the Joint Strike Fighter program is coming to an end and that countries are pulling back is not correct. It's premature to make those kinds of judgments," Defense Minister Peter MacKay said Nov. 16.

"A lot of this, clearly, is brought about by budgetary pressures, and Canada, like every country, is concerned about delays in delivery and discussions around the cost."
MacKay said Canada is in discussions with the manufacturer Lockheed Martin as well as other countries that committed to buying the next-generation fighters.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he told reporters.

Sorry haters.  The dream of cancelling the F-35 is just that...a dream...

The Future of Short Take-Off Vertical Landing Aircraft

Modest proposal. Re-do Tanks along with AAV's...

Hey All.

I have a modest proposal.  While we're redesigning our AAV Battalions to operate two separate vehicles, I say that it would make sense and piggy back onto that development and add an additional class of vehicle to the mix.

As it is now we'll be operating AAV and Amphibious Combat Vehicles...Marine Personnel Carriers with crewmen designate (I'm assuming) to operate both vehicles under one unit.

How about we take whichever vehicle wins the Marine Personnel Carrier competition and add the gun designed for the US Army's MGS system to it!  With that being done, we can then disband Tanks and have direct fire come from the USMC's newly built Direct Fire Gun System (hate the MGS moniker and I love to differentiate our systems from Army if possible)

CAB

The new Battalions would be designated Combat Assault Battalions (I chose this for a couple of reasons...its already in use by the Marine Corps by elements in Okinawa...and will help preserve unit lineage)

So in the end what do we win.  We get all of mechanized assault under one roof.  We get reduced weight aboard our amphibious shipping...and finally our logistics tail from fuel to parts will be reduced.

Instead of operating M1 Tanks, LAV-25's (if we go with MPC then it only makes sense to retire these vehicles), whatever MPC wins the competition and the AAV and its follow on, we're down to just the MPC filling the roles of LAV, MPC (and its gun system) and the AAV.

Consider this a combat vehicle neck down campaign if you will.

What do we lose?  Command slots for Lt. Colonels and Colonels (not exactly a bad thing in a shrinking Marine Corps), but one other thing that isn't quite as good and might entail a bit of risk...we lose the shock action of tanks.  My thinking is that our airpower (F-35, AH-1Z, UH-1Y and Harrier) will be tasked with another mission...anti-armor if we're up against a first tier foe.

Its not perfect and this is just an outline sketch of an idea but I believe it could work.  But if it can't then we at least need to take steps to reduce the weight of the M1 and we need to work out whether they need to deploy with MEU's in greater strength, whether we move them to the Reserves or if we redesign them to make it all work out.  I like what the Jordanians did with their old Chieftans...an unmanned turret should save quite a bit of weight...

Updated Art of the Tactical Carbine is on sale...

CH-46's with the 31st MEU...

Another example of your forward deployed Marines in action...

A CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, makes an approach to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). The 31st MEU is the only continually forward-deployed MEU and remains the United States' force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew R. Cole/Released)

Two CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, make an approach to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). The 31st MEU is the only continually forward-deployed MEU and remains the United States' force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew R. Cole/Released)

Two CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, fly over the Celebes Sea from the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). The 31st MEU is the only continually forward-deployed MEU and remains the United States' force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eva-Marie Ramsaran/Released)

Piranha 3 for Marine Personnel Carrier Contest.

With the BAE/Iveco SuperAV 8x8 being practically vapor ware, the only competition left for Lockheed Martin/Patria Havoc 8x8 is probably this offering from General Dynamics Europe.  The Piranha Class 3 is in service with the Spanish Marine Corps and I believe is also being used by the Brazilian Marines.

Either way, I'm beginning to sense the same issues with the MPC that I saw with the EFV program.  A lack of focus, a lack of urgency and no drive from HQMC to get this project going.

As much as I am a fan of the F-35, we can't let the wing suck the air outta the room.  Question for those that doubt me on this...have you heard any word of the upgrades proposed for the AAV?  What about the RFP for the AAV?  Supposedly its out but I have yet to get my hands it.

We need a hard charging Colonel or General to get his hands on the ground combat vehicle situation in the Corps or we'll be riding AAV's into the 2030's.