Raytheon continues successful performance on DDG 1000

Raytheon Company has delivered more than six million lines of software to the U.S. Navy for the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program. Part of the Total Ship Computing Environment (TSCE) -- the integrated mission system for the DDG 1000 class -- the software delivery supports ship activation and combat system testing, set to commence this year.
The magnitude of this software development program is recognized as one of the most complex in the history of the U.S. Navy. TSCE continues to achieve all critical readiness milestones on schedule, currently at Technology Readiness Level 6 after demonstrating the system's ability to perform in relevant end-to-end operational environments. Recently, the Engine Control System and core Integrated Power System capabilities were tested at the Navy's land-based test site, where automated control of the Navy's first all-electric ship was successfully demonstrated.
"We attribute TSCE success to the rigorous process employed by the incredibly talented industry team, building in incremental testing throughout development to verify quality, mitigate risk and detect any defects early enough to avoid any impact to the Navy's schedule or cost," said Kevin Peppe, vice president of Seapower Capability Systems for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "The upcoming tests and ship activation will demonstrate the robust capability and functionality of TSCE, the integrating element delivering mission wholeness for this revolutionary new warship."

USS Zumwalt: soon the biggest destroyer of the U.S. Navy

elevision Bloomberg recently reported the construction of a new type of destroyer in the U.S. Navy. Its particularity? It closely resembles a type of ship ... 19th century!

Mid-December, the site BIW (General Dynamics) Bath has successfully integrated the imposing superstructure of the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) on the hull of the future American destroyer. Weighing 900 tons, 47 meters long and 18 meters high, the composite block was transferred by barge to Bath, where he was laid on December 14.

First of a series of three large stealth missile destroyers, the USS Zumwalt, whose construction began in February 2009, is now 80% complete. Its set afloat in 2013 and its delivery to the U.S. Navy the following year.

The DDG 1000 will measure close to 186 meters long and 24.4 meters wide and show a displacement of nearly 15,000 tons in charge.

Although called destroyer, so he clearly outperform U.S. ships in the same category (type Arleigh Burke destroyers measure 155 meters and have a displacement of 9200 tons burden), and even the type Ticonderoga cruisers (173 feet, 9 970 tonnes).

The USS Zumwalt, which will have a small crew (130 + marine detachment aeronautics), was particularly designed for coastal operations.

It will carry 80 cell vertical launch Tomahawk missiles, Harpoon, SM-3, and VLA ESSM, two AGS 155mm guns, two 57mm pieces of light artillery and torpedo tubes.

It can also carry a Seahawk helicopter and three Fire Scout drones. Its propulsion is provided by four gas turbines supplied by Rolls-Royce MT30 two, with a power of 34.8 MW and a speed of 31 knots.

The construction of its first sister ship, the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), began in 2010, the building must be received by the U.S. Navy in 2016.

Raytheon Awarded $169 Million for Zumwalt Work

the U.S. Department of Defense announced it has awarded Raytheon a contract modification to its previously awarded fixed-price incentive, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to install mission systems equipment on the ultramodern Zumwalt-class destroyers DDG 1000 and DDG 1001 (the USS Zumwalt  and the USS Michael Monsoor, respectively), as well as "non-hatchable mission systems equipment" on a planned DDG 1002 -- the USS Lyndon B. Johnson.
At present, only three destroyers are anticipated to be built in the Zumwalt line, ultimately costing taxpayers some $3.3 billion apiece. The current Raytheon contract, however, is "not to exceed" $169 million in value. The ships themselves are being built by defense contractors General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls .

Successful shots for the new canon 155mm future Zumwalt

BAE Systems recently led a successful campaign of shootings LRLAP (Long Range Land Attack Projectile), ammunition propelled and guided 155mm artillery for the future of American destroyers main type Zumwalt (DDG 1000). The purpose of these tests was to determine the performance of the propulsion in different environments (hot and cold temperatures), while testing the capabilities of the head of the shell and its GPS guidance. "The tests demonstrated the ability of accurate fire at long range with a rocket projectile guidance by a satellite positioning system providing the desired effect on the target. All test requirements were met or exceeded, "says BAE Systems.

Software ‘Scrums’ Keep DDG-1000 Work On Track

Few ships are more dependent on proper software development than the thinly crewed DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers, which rely on computer networks to run more automated systems for their operation.
Thus far, Raytheon Integrated Systems, one of the Zumwalt’s prime contractors developing a major portion of that software, has been able to meet program deadlines and milestones for those systems.
One of the keys for that success, says Bill Marcley, Raytheon DDG-1000 program manager and vice president of Total Ship Mission Systems, has been a “new agile software development approach” for software development and production.
“The commercial world is largely shifting away from a software development approach that has you develop all of your requirements and then go into a design-code-test phase and get all of that done and then you go into software integration testing,” he says.

GE to Power US Navy’s Latest Amphibious Assault Flagship—Continues to Provide Strong Defense Capabilities Worldwide

GE’s Power Conversion business has signed a contract worth more than $10 million with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) of Pascagoula, Miss., to provide an auxiliary propulsion system (APS) for the future USS Tripoli (LHA-7), which is the U.S. Navy’s latest large-deck amphibious assault ship. This project builds on Power Conversion’s past success with providing similar equipment for other U.S. Navy ships, including the LHD-8 and LHA-6.

“By using our hybrid propulsion technology, the USS Makin Island (LHD-8) has saved more than 4 million gallons of fuel during its seven-month maiden deployment, resulting in an estimated cost savings of $15 million,” said Paul English, marine vertical leader, GE’s Power Conversion business. “This project will allow the U.S. Navy to lower operating costs due to fuel savings provided by a more efficient power and propulsion system. It also will help reduce routine maintenance costs and time as well as enable a smaller carbon footprint due to lower fuel expenses.”

Bath Iron Works Awarded $39 Million for DDG 1000 Class Services

The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a business unit of General Dynamics, a $38.9 million modification to a previously awarded contract to perform class and engineering services associated with the detail design and construction of DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class ships.

Bath Iron Works will continue to provide manufacturing support services such as engineering, design, production control, accuracy control and information technology. Other class-support efforts include program management, contract and financial management, procurement and configuration/data management. The original contract was awarded in September 2011. Work is expected to be completed by October 2013.

Jeff Geiger, president of Bath Iron Works, said, "With all three Zumwalt-class ships now under construction, this award demonstrates the Navy's continued confidence in Bath Iron Works. The contract enables us to continue supporting the construction of DDG 1000-class ships and allows us to maintain the critical shipyard skills needed to efficiently produce them. Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is over 60 percent complete and we are leveraging what we've learned in building the lead ship to support our DDG 1001 and 1002 construction efforts. We remain focused on delivering high-quality, affordable Bath-built ships to the U.S. Navy."

U.S. Navy’s Latest 30-Year Shipbuilding Plan to Cost More Than the Navy Estimates

                              The deckhouse for DDG 1000 under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding's      

 Congress requires the U.S. Navy to issue an annual report that describes its plan for building new ships over the next 30 years. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has prepared a report—required under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012—analyzing the Navy’s latest long-term shipbuilding plan, which covers fiscal years 2013 to 2042.

In its 2013 shipbuilding plan, the Navy envisions buying a total of 268 ships during the next 30 years at an average annual cost of $16.8 billion (all figures are in 2012 dollars), totaling $505 billion over 30 years. Those figures are solely for the construction of new ships, the only type of cost reported in the Navy’s long-term plans. Adding in the cost of other activities typically funded from the Navy’s budget accounts for shipbuilding, which include refueling of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other items, yields an average cost of $18.8 billion per year.

LCS, DDG-51, DDG-1000 zumwalt Programs

Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress

The Navy’s FY2013 budget submission calls for procuring nine Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyers in FY2013-FY2017, in annual quantities of 2-1-2-2-2. The five DDG-51s scheduled for procurement in FY2013-FY2015, and one of the two scheduled for procurement in FY2016, are to be of the current Flight IIA design.

The Navy wants to begin procuring a new version of the DDG-51 design, called the Flight III design, starting with the second of the two ships scheduled for procurement in FY2016. The two DDG-51s scheduled for procurement in FY2017 are also to be of the Flight III design. The Flight III design is to feature a new and more capable radar called the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).

The Navy this year is requesting congressional approval to use a multiyear procurement (MYP) arrangement for the nine DDG-51s scheduled for procurement in FY2013-FY2017.

The Navy’s proposed FY2013 budget requests $3,048.6 million to complete the procurement funding for the two DDG-51s scheduled for procurement in FY2013. The Navy estimates the total procurement cost of these ships at $3,149.4 million, and the ships have received $100.7 million in prior-year advance procurement (AP) funding.

The FY2013 budget also requests $466.3 million in AP funding for DDG-51s to be procured in future fiscal years. Much of this AP funding is for Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) procurement of selected components of the nine DDG-51s to be procured under the proposed FY2013-FY2017 MYP arrangement.

The Navy’s proposed FY2013 budget also requests $669.2 million in procurement funding to help complete procurement costs for three Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyers procured in FY2007-FY2009, and $223.6 million in research and development funding for the AMDR.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on January 24, 2012, discusses several potential oversight issues for Congress regarding the Navy’s plans for procuring DDG-51s, particularly the Flight III version. Some of these issues were first raised in this CRS report; the GAO report developed these issues at length and added some additional issues.

Potential FY2013 issues for Congress concerning destroyer procurement include the following:
• whether actions should be taken to mitigate the projected shortfall in cruisers and destroyers;
• whether to approve the Navy’s request for a DDG-51 MYP arrangement beginning in FY2013, and if so, whether it should include Flight III DDG-51s;
• whether there is an adequate analytical basis for procuring Flight III DDG-51s in lieu of the previously planned CG(X) cruiser, and whether an analysis of alternatives (AOA) or the equivalent of an AOA should be performed before committing to the development and procurement of Flight III DDG-51s;
• whether the Flight III DDG-51 would have sufficient air and missile capability to adequately perform future air and missile defense missions;
• cost, schedule, and technical risk in the Flight III DDG-51 program;
• whether the Flight III DDG-51 design would have sufficient growth margin for a projected 35- or 40-year service life;
• whether the categorization of the Flight III DDG-51 program in the DOD acquisition process provides for a sufficient level of oversight for the program; and
• schedule risk for recently procured Flight IIA DDG-51s.

PLA Admiral: China can destroy Zumwalt-class destroyer by fishing boats

The Navy’s next-generation warship, the 15,000-ton Zumwalt-class destroyer, is no good and can be destroyed by Chinese fishing boats armed with explosives, according to a leading Chinese military commentator, People’s Liberation Army Rear Adm. Zhang Zhaozhong.

Adm. Zhang made the remarks April 30 during a nationwide broadcast of “Defense Review Weekly,” a program on state-run China Central TV. The admiral has been the station’s chief military commentator since 1998.

Zumwalt-class destroyers are one of the Navy’s newest, most-advanced and most-expensive vessels. They have a rich history of budgetary and technological debates.

Ultimately, the destroyers survived several Washington budget cuts. Three of them are under construction at the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine; the lead ship, USS Elmo Zumwalt DDG-1000, named for former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., is scheduled to be completed a year from now.

The new destroyer will play a significant role in what the Navy calls its “mace weapons” that are part of the new American military strategy in the Asia-Pacific, especially China.

The strategy will focus on land-attack capabilities in littoral battles. It will use some of the most-advanced technologies and weapons innovations, including a revolutionary stealth design that reduces radar and sonar signatures to the lowest level of any destroyers in the world.

It includes the Advanced Gun System featuring a high-tech electronic rail gun that is battery powered using electromagnetic pulse, and a Peripheral Vertical Launch System that will significantly reduce the damage of a missile battery explosion.

China pays close attention to Navy weapons development as Beijing regards American naval power as the most significant and most tangible military threat to its regional and global ambitions.

For the past several years, China has engaged in fierce oceanic and littoral disputes with almost all of its neighbors with shorelines. It is a rare day that passes without some mention of the U.S. Navy and its role in the South China, East China and the Yellow seas in a potential future battle scenario with the Chinese navy.

In his remarks, Adm. Zhang acknowledged the technological prowess of the Zumwalt destroyer but stated that he believes it represents a weakness, rather than strength, because the ship “places all eggs in one basket” of making various technologies vulnerable and unwieldy to design and operate.

“I can send several dozen small fishing boats loaded with explosives, floating and wobbly in the water, inching toward the Zumwalt, place the explosives onto its hulls [and] blow many holes in the hull. It will be finished then. The Zumwalt is no good!” the admiral remarked with his signature optimism.

Widely known as China’s “Adm. Gaffe,” Adm. Zhang is a chief weapons specialist and strategist for the Chinese navy, currently serving as a professor at the Chinese military’s Defense University.

The most famous military face on Chinese national TV for the past decade, Adm. Zhang frequently entertains the nation with consistent miscalculations and wacky predictions.

He asserted that the U.S. would never attack Saddam Hussein for fear of getting mired in a Stalingrad-like “people’s war” in Baghdad. That was the day before the assault started in 2003.

He assured the Chinese nation hours before Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s demise that Libyan rebels failed to locate Gaddafi’s hiding place.

And one day before North Korea’s failed satellite launch April 14, the admiral announced on Chinese national television that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would have an “80 percent probability of a launch success.”

Two weeks ago, Adm. Zhang predicted India had only a 60 percent probability of success in launching the Agni-5 ICBM. A couple of days later, India launched the rocket, which was reported to be a 100 percent success.

DDG-1000 Zumwalt / DD(X) Pictures

Navy Names Zumwalt-class Destroyer USS Lyndon B. Johnson

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced April 16 the next Zumwalt-class destroyer will be named the USS Lyndon B. Johnson.

The selection of Lyndon B. Johnson, designated DDG 1002, continues the Navy tradition of naming ships after presidents and honors the nation's 36th president.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson is the 34th ship named by the Navy after a U.S. president.

"I am pleased to honor President Johnson with the naming of this ship," Mabus said. "His dedication to a life of public service included bravely stepping forward to fight for his country during our entry into World War II."

A Texas congressman, Johnson was the first member of Congress to enlist in the military following the start of World War II. After his naval service, Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948, where he served as both minority and majority leader before being elected vice president Nov. 8, 1960.

Following President John F. Kennedy's assassination Nov. 22 1963, Johnson succeeded to the presidency, finished the remaining term, and was reelected for a full term as president, by the greatest percentage of total popular vote (61 percent) ever attained by a presidential candidate.

Johnson's time as president was marked by the passage of programs that greatly influenced and impacted education, healthcare and civil rights for generations to come. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, enacting comprehensive provisions protecting the right to vote and guarding against racial discrimination. His work on civil rights continued with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed voting rights for all people, regardless of race.

Johnson signed legislation establishing Medicare, which allowed millions of elderly Americans access to cheaper medical services. He also launched the Head Start Program, which provided preschool children from low-income families with classes, medical care, and other services.

As a naval officer, Johnson requested a combat assignment after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in the Pacific theater during World War II. After returning from active duty service, Johnson reported back to Navy leaders and Congress on what he believed were deplorable conditions for the warfighters, and continued to fight for better standards for all military members.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson will be the third Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer. Construction began on the ship at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works April 4 and is expected to deliver to the Navy in fiscal 2018. The multimission DDG 1000 class destroyers are designed for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack and 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. Zumwalt ships will be 600 feet in length, have a beam of 80.7 feet, displace approximately 15,000 tons, and capable of making 30 knots speed. Each ship will have a crew size of 148 officers and Sailors.

Cutting-edge Navy warship - USS Zumwalt- being built in Maine

USS Zumwalt Photo

An enormous, expensive and technology-laden warship that some Navy leaders once tried to kill because of its cost is now viewed as an important part of the Obama administration's Asia-Pacific strategy, with advanced capabilities that the Navy's top officer says represent the Navy's future.
The stealthy, guided-missile Zumwalt that's taking shape at Bath Iron Works is the biggest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy.
The low-to-the-water warship will feature a wave-piercing hull, composite deckhouse, electric drive propulsion, advanced sonar, missiles, and powerful guns that fire rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. It's also longer and heavier than existing destroyers -- but will have half the crew because of automated systems.

US Navy Orders Two Billion-Dollar DDG1000 Destroyers Zumwalt

 

The U. S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, a $1.8 billion contract for the construction of DDG 1001 and DDG 1002, the next two ships in the Zumwalt-class program. DDG 1001 is scheduled to be delivered in December 2015 and DDG 1002 is scheduled to be delivered in February 2018.

"This contract enables us to maintain a strong base of quality shipbuilding jobs in Maine and continue our contributions to sustaining the U.S. Navy fleet," said Jeff Geiger, president of Bath Iron Works. "It provides Bath Iron Works with a healthy backlog of work and reflects the Navy's continued commitment to the DDG-1000 program, as well as their confidence in our ability to build and deliver all three ships of this class."

Geiger said, "Winning this work is a result of our commitment to operational excellence and to finding more efficient, affordable ways to operate in every part of our business. It gives us the opportunity to continue introducing new and innovative ways to build capable ships for the Navy."

"We appreciate all the support the Maine Congressional delegation has provided to this program. Their commitment to national defense and their advocacy on behalf of the workers of Maine has been a crucial factor," Geiger said.

The first ship in the class, DDG-1000, is over 50 percent complete and is scheduled to be delivered in 2014. The DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer is the U.S. Navy's next-generation, guided-missile naval destroyer, leading the way for a new generation of advanced multi-mission surface combat ships. The ships will feature a low radar profile, an integrated power system and a total ship computing environment infrastructure. Armed with an array of weapons, the Zumwalt-class destroyers will provide offensive, distributed and precision fires in support of forces ashore.

Work is already underway at the Bath, Maine, shipyard on DDG 1001 and DDG 1002. Congress previously approved funding for advanced procurement and initial construction of these ships. Bath Iron Works is the lead designer and builder for the program which employs approximately 5,400 people.