BULLHORN #25

Truman Strike Group Returns Today After Seven Months At Sea

(NORFOLK VIRGINIAN-PILOT 04 JUN 08) ... Matthew Jones

When the Truman carrier strike group arrives home this morning, its nearly 7,500 sailors will begin a much deserved rest.

The group spent the past seven months supporting ground troops in Iraq, watching pirates off the Horn of Africa, guarding oil platforms in the Persian Gulf and training with multiple navies from the west coast of Africa to the Black Sea.

It also made progress in the slow, patient process of building trust and cooperation in the region.

The Harry S. Truman strike group approached and assisted more than 1,000 local ships in the waters of the Gulf and Mediterranean. These visits were a way to say hello, build goodwill and urge locals to contact the Navy with any reports of piracy, smuggling and the like.

“We look at it as the cop-on-the-beat role,” said Cmdr. Fred Pyle, commanding officer of the destroyer Winston S. Churchill. “We’re showing our presence and not allowing that sort of behavior.”

While the cruise’s only seizure was of a Pakistani vessel carrying 10,000 bottles of whiskey, “we’re putting the word out that we’re there,” said Capt. Herman Shelanski, the Truman ’s commanding officer.

“We got some calls that there were pirates, but we’re not embedded closely yet to know who they are to track them and take them down.”

The crew of the destroyer Oscar Austin used a new set of eyes in the sky to rein in pirates off the Horn of Africa.

Somali pirates had seized the Panamanian merchant ship Golden Nori in late October. The destroyer moved in, preventing the pirates from resupplying the ship. It kept watch via continuous launches of a ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle – the Oscar Austin is the first combatant ship to deploy with one.

“It’s the best tool I have had since the invention of e-mail,” said Cmdr. James Midkiff, the ship’s commanding officer. The plane provided images from 50 nautical miles away, helping the crew keep watch over the bad guys: what they were doing, even what color shirts they were wearing, he said.

During the cruise, planes aboard the Truman delivered 77,536 pounds of ordnance, including 148 bombs and 986 rounds of 20 mm ammunition. While this remains a key mission, the role of the planes themselves is changing to include more safeguarding of and reconnaissance for ground troops, said Capt. Andrew Lewis, deputy commander of Carrier Air Wing 3.

“The better success now is when we don’t drop bombs,” he said. “It shows things are more under control.”

In January, two of the air wing’s F/A-18 Super Hornets collided in midair over the Persian Gulf. The three aviators were rescued, but both planes were destroyed. The incident remains under investigation.

“It was a scary night,” Lewis said, “but the bottom line was we got our people back.”

International operations were big part of the strike group’s mission, from the exercises conducted with Greece, France, Great Britain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, among others, to work with the Truman’s deployment partners, the British destroyer Manchester and the Canadian frigate Charlottetown.

The carrier trained with a trio of French Rafale jets, two of which landed on board. The exercises came as France’s lone carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, was in the yard. This was the first time French jets landed aboard the Truman.

In the Gulf, the strike group also helped the Bahrainis take command of the maritime forces of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the first time a member nation has assumed what was traditionally a Western role.

The cruiser San Jacinto spent its deployment in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea. It worked on search-and-rescue training with the Senegalese and helicopter operations with Ukrainian and Romanian forces.

“The spirit was one of mutual benefit,” said Capt. Matthew Sharpe, the ship’s commanding officer. “It feels good to be in that environment. We’re defined by a bond among mariners that transcends national boundaries.”

Rear Admiral Mark Fox, the strike group’s commander, agreed, saying these were good lessons for the United States as well.

“It’s clear to me that no one nation can do this by themselves,” he said.

A product of... Navy Office of Information www.chinfo.navy.mil www.navy.mil 703.697.5342 June 3, 2008

CNO   Monthly Update 3JUN08

“We must remain a global Navy that is forward and that has the credible combat power to be a deterrent force and also a force that gives the Commander in Chief options. That's at the heart of all that we do and what we are about.”

-- Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations

May was a busy month for CNO as he traveled to several different parts of the country and three European nations. During a nine-day trip throughout Europe, CNO participated in the Chiefs of European Navy conference in Bulgaria, completed a counterpart visit with the First Sea Lord in the UK and spoke at a maritime planning conference in Denmark. All were opportunities to build and strengthen partnerships and continue discussions with international maritime leaders about the importance of cooperation and collaboration amongst partner nations.

During his travels in the United States, the CNO took part in the 2008 Association of Naval Services Officer (ANSO) Symposium where he discussed Navy diversity initiatives with Hispanic officers. He also attended the 2008 Port Everglades Fleet Week Celebration, where he spoke with Sailors and local citizens about his top three priorities for the Navy.

Warfighting readiness – Today’s Navy and Marine Corps team is an extremely capable force.

Right now, 54 percent of the Navy’s ships are underway, and 42 percent of the force is deployed. There are 14,700 Sailors with “boots on the ground in the Middle East” and more than 72,000 who are deployed overall around the world. Many Sailors are serving as Individual Augmentees, providing critical skills in mission-essential areas such as electronic warfare, intelligence, logistics and detainee support operations.

“It really gives me a great sense of pride to see our young men and women who can go off into a very different environment and perform missions and functions that are really making a difference.”

Future force – As we maintain today’s readiness we must also address future requirements.

The Navy continues to take an active role in determining what requirements we will need to maintain warfighter readiness in the future by seeking to build a force that delivers better combat capability than is available today. That’s why CNO believes it is critical that the Navy ensures that the focus on future development remains intact and that the goal of a minimum 313-ship Fleet is reached. One ship that is of particular importance is the Littoral Combat Ship which is vital as it allows the Navy to move into the areas of the world that would otherwise be inaccessible. LCS fills a warfighting gap and will have a central role in achieving core capabilities outlined in the Maritime Strategy.

“We're going to be a forward deployed Navy, we're going to be out and about and we need numbers because capacity becomes a capability at some point. As the leader of our global Navy, I am committed to achieving a floor of 313 ships.”

People – Reflecting the face of our Nation.

Looking to the future also requires evaluation of the people who the Navy will need to recruit and retain to remain an agile fighting force. CNO believes it is important for the Navy to begin a dialogue with institutions that not only share our high standards, but also the goal of seeking to reflect the face of the nation. To learn more about successful approaches that might also benefit the Navy, CNO has met with leaders in industry, academia and media who have a vested interest in attracting and drawing young men and women of underrepresented minorities, particularly those who are in science and technology fields.

“I really believe that we must do all we can to foster and encourage, attract and retain young men and women who are diverse, but who also are comfortable in the areas of science and technology because that will determine our future force.”

 

 A product of... Navy Office of Information www.chinfo.navy.mil www.navy.mil 703.697.5342 June 4, 2008

The Navy Today … Executing the Maritime Strategy

“As part of Partnership of the Americas 2008 (POA), GWCSG has trained with – and met with – the navies of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. With each opportunity, both military to military and handshake to handshake, we have strengthened our partnership and interoperability with our South American neighbors.”

-- Rear Adm. Phil Cullom, Commander, George Washington Carrier Strike Group

Around the world, the Navy is executing the six core capabilities of the Maritime Strategy – forward presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security and humanitarian assistance/disaster response.

Power projection to win our nation’s wars

                        • USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HST CSG) returns from deployment today after supporting Maritime Security Operations in the 5^th and 6^th Fleet Areas of Operation. Throughout the deployment, Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) aircraft flew more than 9,500 sorties – 2,459 of which were combat sorties directly supporting Coalition forces operating on the ground in Iraq – and expended 77,500 pounds of ordnance during 228 troops-in-contact events.

                        • USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) recently completed an undersea warfare exercise (USWEX) in the waters of the Hawaiian operating area. This exercise was the final test for the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which deployed May 19, before it headed to the Western Pacific and 7th Fleet area of responsibility. Also participating in the exercise were a cruiser, three destroyers, a frigate, and two fast-attack submarines, testing the strike group’s capabilities and certifying them to go to war.  

Maritime Security

                        • The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is operating in the Fifth Fleet AOR to maintain maritime security, ensure regional access for commerce, and confront and defend against violent extremists. Strike Group aircraft are providing defense to Iraqi oil platforms while conducting Maritime Security Operations and flying combat sorties in Iraq in support of Coalition forces on the ground.  

Building maritime partnerships for regional stability

                        • CVW-3 aircraft, flying from the deck of Truman, conducted a variety of theater security cooperation exercises with five countries in the Sixth and Fifth Fleet theaters to enhance interoperability and tactical proficiency. These exercises fostered stronger ties with regional navies, strengthened relationships with allied nations and improved collaboration among Coalition Task Forces.  

Promoting interoperability for trust and confidence

                        • USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group recently participated in a multinational task group with Chilean air and surface units as part of Partnership for America (POA). GW CSG conducted anti-submarine exercise while also providing close-air support and being directed by both ground-based special operations controllers and airborne forward air controllers. This is the third consecutive year U.S. surface units have participated in POA.

 

Status of the Navy (as of 3 Jun)

Navy Personnel Total Active Component: 331,608 Total Reserve Component: 125,734 DoN Civilians: 180,122 Ships, Submarines & Aircraft Total deployable ships/subs: 279 Ships/subs underway: 128 (46%) Ships forward deployed: 119 (43%) Total Operational Aircraft: 3,700+

Ground Forces in NAVCENT AOR Countries ≥400 AC RC Iraq 5,324 1,136 Bahrain 2,779 80 Kuwait 1,086 805 Afghanistan 1,455 297 Qatar 671 11 Djibouti 637 42 Total all countries on ground 14,810

Sailors at Sea by AOR NAVCENT/C5F 9,660 PACFLT 27,746 NAVSOUTH/C4F 3,250 C2F 13,600 CNE-C6F 2,363 For more information on the current status of the Navy, visit: www.navy.mil.

Date: 05-Jun-08

News Release Number: EHD200806051

News Release Copy: NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – NAVAIR’s Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance (MFOQA) program will accelerate deployment to the rate of one new platform per fiscal year.

The MFOQA program, managed by the Air Combat Electronics Program Office (PMA209), has excellent support from Navy leadership. Mr. Thomas Matthews, the MFOQA Integrated Program Team leader, briefed the MFOQA program to the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Donald C. Winter, in early February along with members of the Naval Safety Center and Commander, Naval Air Forces.

“Secretary Winter was very enthusiastic about the MFOQA program,” said Matthews. “He tasked PMA209 to ‘do it right and do it as quickly as possible.’ With SECNAV’s backing, we were able to secure the budget required to accelerate the program.”

The MFOQA program involves the analysis and trending of aircraft flight performance and system data to proactively enhance combat readiness through improvements in operations, maintenance, safety and training functions.

The program provides tools for squadron commanders to establish a baseline for normal operations; to identify, mitigate, and monitor operational risks while detecting precursors to aviation mishaps; and identify operational inefficiencies.

It also provides capabilities to all levels of the Naval Aviation Enterprise to improve and enhance mission-effectiveness through the awareness of abnormal trends, continuous knowledge of aircraft systems performance, and insight into the effectiveness of procedures, policies, and aircrew training on actual mission accomplishment.

The first Navy platforms to fully incorporate the MFOQA program are the F/A-18C-F and the EA-18G communities. “The Hornet has the most mature data collection system,” added Matthews. “Our other platforms are very close to having the same capability. We plan to field MFOQA on all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, as directed and prioritized by Navy leadership and Commander, Naval Air Forces, at the rate of one platform community per year.”

“MFOQA does not add a new black box on the aircraft, there are no software changes required,” stated W. B. "Chip" Brown, MFOQA Lead Engineer. “The only real requirement is that the platform has a flight recording system such as a mission recorder or a flight data recorder that records applicable data and many platforms already do.”

“MFOQA uses the data that is already routinely being collected on the aircraft, either for mission planning or aircraft maintenance; and a small software patch on the platform's maintenance station, routes that information to the MFOQA site server,” added Brown.

“The MFOQA system is approximately 70 percent commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software with the remaining 30 percent Navy "glue" code which integrates the various modules into a single, seamless application,” said Brown. “And due to our competitive acquisition strategy, the Government can use the computer source code to meet platform requirements without having to pay any recurring charges, which will save a lot of money over the life of the program.”

The Department of the Navy (DON) MFOQA program is based in part on the highly successful Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Operations Quality Assurance program.

While both programs analyze digital flight data routinely downloaded post-flight to measure the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft, the Navy MFOQA program enables aircrew replay of the data for post-mission debriefings, enhanced instrument panel and bit code displays for local maintenance troubleshooting, and access to data at multiple levels within the Naval Aviation Enterprise for sophisticated Fleet trending and analysis.

“The potential benefits include significant improvements in Maintenance, Operations, Safety, and Training (MOST),” said Matthews. “MFOQA will provide a proactive means to highlight positive trends and to identify potential risks in time for corrective action.”

Fire Damage On Carrier USS George Washington Assessed

(SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 06 JUN 08) ... Steve Liewer

CORONADO – A stubborn fire May 22 aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington damaged 80 miles of electrical cable, according to a preliminary assessment released Friday by the Navy.

The blaze also caused minor injuries to 24 sailors.

It's not yet clear how much the repairs will cost, how long they will take or how they might affect plans to move the ship to its new home port in Japan. The carrier is currently docked at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado.

“We have to go through space by space and figure out what's been damaged and how long it's going to take to replace,” said Capt. Scott Gureck, a spokesman for the Hawaii-based Pacific Fleet command. “We're trying not to rush.”

The George Washington left Norfolk, Va., on April 7, bound for Yokosuka, Japan. It was scheduled to reach Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, this week to exchange equipment and personnel with the Kitty Hawk, the retiring aircraft carrier that the George Washington is replacing in Japan.

The fire broke out as the carrier traveled near the southern tip of South America. Sailors spent 12 hours battling flames and smoke before the flames were extinguished.

The carrier reached Coronado on May 27. Since then, teams of inspectors have been combing through the ship to determine the extent of the damage. Adm. Robert Willard, the Pacific Fleet commander, toured the area Friday.

Navy officials said the fire started in a ventilation intake/exhaust trunk that leads from the lower decks of the ship to a ventilation port on the ship's outer hull above. The trunk ventilates machinery that is below the waterline as well as carrying pipes and cables.

While damage to pipes was slight, inspectors determined, electrical cables will require repair and, in some cases, replacement.

A variety of rooms suffered damage, Gureck said, including storage spaces, cable pathways, a classroom and a photography lab. He said the fire didn't affect the George Washington's propulsion system or nuclear reactor.

Gureck said the assessment will continue next week. It's unclear whether the carrier will be able to participate in the multinational Rim of the Pacific 2008 exercise, scheduled to start June 29 near Hawaii.

Flight International

US Navy accepts first operational EA-18G jammer

By Stephen Trimble

 

Boeing delivered the first operational EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft to the US Navy on 3 June, completing a five-year, $1 billion development phase and starting a year-long series of final check-out tests.

The aircraft will next join three development examples (one pictured below) for a six-month operational evaluation starting in September. A final series of flight trials at the USN's China Lake test range in California will pave the way for standing up the first operational EA-18G unit in late fiscal year 2009.

 

© Craig Hoyle/Flight International

"Seven years after the navy selected the EA-18G to replace the [Northrop Grumman] EA-6B Prowler, the Growler has arrived - on cost and ahead of schedule," secretary of the navy Donald Winter said during the delivery ceremony at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.

The EA-18G leverages the airframe of the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet and Northrop's improved capability-III (ICAP-III) electronic warfare suite now flying on a subset of the EA-6B fleet.

Boeing executives, however, insist that several EA-18G features transform the aircraft into a next-generation jamming platform, including its use of the Super Hornet's Raytheon APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar. The ICAP-III suite also incorporates an all-new communications countermeasures set and an interference cancellation system, which allows EA-18G crews to continue communicating with other friendly aircraft even while jamming enemy radar.

But the most important leap is a new software package called the EA-18G data correlation mechanism, says Boeing programme manager Mike Gibbons. This automatically correlates streams of data generated by all of the Growler's on-board sensors, including the APG-79, ICAP-III receivers and even the Raytheon AGM-88E high-speed anti-radiation missile.

Better performance is also coming from unexpected sources, says Capt Mark Darrah, the navy's F/A-18 and EA-18 programme manager. Splitting the tail-mounted "American football"-shaped ALQ-218 receiver into two separate wingtip pods for the EA-18G was considered a design risk, but has improved the overall system's performance.

Although the wingtip presents a more aerodynamically harsh environment for the receiver, special materials developed for the radome have overcome hazards such as hail-strike, and the new location offers better signals reception, regardless of the radome issues. "We're actually seeing signals that we never saw before [with the EA-6B]," Darrah says.

The USN plans to buy a total of 85 EA-18Gs through the next decade, although only the first 52 are under contract for production over the next four years. Another three are sought by the navy in the pending supplemental budget request for FY2008.

Welcome to U.S. Air Force AIM Points

UPDATED: June 9, 2008

Full Version

Navy, Air Force see different futures for unmanned drones

BY: , Associated Press
06/06/2008 

The Navy lags well behind the Air Force in the development of armed drones -- the unmanned aircraft now used increasingly in Iraq and Afghanistan -- insisting that its "Top Gun" fighter pilots are still smarter, better and more flexible in combat.  

But the contrasting visions for the next generation of America's air arsenal point to wider debates within the military about the pace of incorporating remote-control technology into future battle strategies.  

It also touches on differences in military cultures -- with the Navy coming under criticism for its apparent resistance to substitute fighter pilot training and instincts with aircraft guided by operators who can be thousands of miles away.  

For the moment, the Navy is deeply committed to plans for the F-35 fighter jet and developing a drone fleet strictly for surveillance and other non-weapon tasks. The Air Force, meanwhile, has used armed drones for years and appears to embody Pentagon trends to encourage drones as a way to reduce costs and consolidate personnel.  

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a speech in April, called on the Air Force and other military officials to rethink "long-standing service assumptions and priorities about which missions require certified pilots, and which do not."  

Gates added that "unmanned systems cost much less and offer greater loiter times than their manned counterparts -- making them ideal for many of today's tasks."  

But many Navy pilots believe the drone technology has its limits when called on to strike targets, saying that pilots cannot be fully replaced.  

"I'm not worried about losing my job, let me put it that way," said Lt. Cmdr. Brice Casey, an F/A-18 fighter jet pilot.  

The Navy currently uses Global Hawk reconnaissance drones and is developing a helicopter-like unmanned aircraft called the Fire Scout that can take off and land vertically on ships. But neither operate off aircraft carriers or possess strike capability.  

Last year, the Navy awarded its first-ever contract for a drone that will be able to operate from a carrier. It isn't scheduled for deployment until 2025 and is also limited to reconnaissance missions.  

That puts the Navy many years behind the Air Force, which first used an armed version of the Predator drone in combat in Afghanistan in 2001. The Air Force's latest version, the Reaper, can carry up to 14 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or alternately, four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs over Iraq, Afghanistan or other war zones.  

From: Air Force Magazine Online

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 3:17 AM

Young Details JSF Costs: Pentagon acquisition boss John Young said June 6 it takes thoughtful analysis to understand the reasons for the cost growth in the F-35 program over the past five years. "You cannot simply look at this [program] and determine it's out of control," Young told reporters in the Pentagon. "Is the increase bad? Yes, but it's not a crisis." Three days prior, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during a committee hearing with Young that the F-35 program's projected total costs have increased by $37 billion over the last five years. Young on June 6 broke down the increases, pointing out that $13 billion followed increased cost of materials due to global demand. The Navy's decision to cut the quantity of the Navy/Marine Corps buy by 409 airframes down to 680 caused per-unit costs to spike. And labor increases were also a factor. A further example that led to cost increases is the challenge of estimating materials, such as the size of a block of steel needed to carve down into a bulkhead, he said. "We were not as efficient there." Those challenges alone drove some higher materials costs to the tune of about $11 billion over five years, he said. Incidentally, DOD's most recent cost estimates for the F-35 showed that the program actually dropped in cost by about $1 billion, to $298.84 billion, down from $299.82 billion. This estimate covers the final quarter of 2007. This led Young to tell lawmakers in March that the F-35 program is "well managed and well run."

Fighter Pilots Get Reacquainted With USS Stennis (KITSAP SUN 08 JUN 08)

A beefed-up USS John C. Stennis has rejoined its aircraft wing off the Southern California coast in preparation for a 2009 deployment. 

The Bremerton-based aircraft carrier hadn't combined with Air Wing 9 since dropping off the planes and helicopters in San Diego last August on its way home from the Middle East. The strike force had spent 7 ½ months providing ground support in the war on terror, mostly in Afghanistan. 

Since then, the Stennis received $240 million in upgrades and repairs during a six-month stay at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It passed sea trials in late March and departed for California. Last week, pilots met up with the ship and began qualifying to fly missions from the carrier. Plane pilots who haven't been to a carrier in six months must make two-day landings, two day touch-and-goes and four night landings, and then land once a week to maintain their night proficiency. 

Like the ship, the air wing has gone through several changes and upgrades, and pilots are using the exercises to practice some of their new capabilities, such as aerial refueling. They'll also practice using live ordnance, which they don't have the opportunity to do very often. The ship is also adjusting to being the first aircraft carrier to operate with two helicopter squadrons onboard after adding the "Raptors" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 71. The Stennis will be the first carrier to deploy with the new MH-60R helicopters. The squadron, the first of five planned, was established in October. The helicopters' missions include anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance communications relay, search and rescue, naval gunfire support, logistics support and personnel transfer.

"It's going to revolutionize anti-submarine warfare operations by combining the best capabilities of the SH-60B and SH-60F platforms," said Capt. Daniel H. Fillion, the squadron's commanding officer.

The MH-60R will be one of only two helicopter airframes used on aircraft carriers once the Navy reduces from its current seven types. It is designed to also operate from frigates, destroyers and cruisers.

Boeing, Navy Readying For First P-8 Flight In FY '09

(DEFENSE DAILY 10 JUN 08) ... Geoff Fein   The next year will be a busy time for the Navy's P-8 Poseidon program as it prepares for first flight of its developmental test aircraft in FY '09 and begins static and fatigue testing about the same time, a Navy official said.

The first aircraft is in final assembly waiting for engine mating.

In the March-April '09 time frame, that aircraft will get the rest of its avionics installed before Boeing [BA] turns the aircraft over to the Navy, Capt. Joe Rixey, P-8 and P-3C program manager told Defense Daily in a recent interview.

Rixey said there have been some questions about supplier parts, but there haven't been any issues.

"We've got S-1, it's on the Wichita line, and all the parts are showing up on the dock on time. That build is going real well," he said.

S-1 is the first of two static and fatigue test articles. It is being built at Wichita, Kan.-based Spirit AeroSystems.

"So there is learning curve in terms of assemble, there is a learning curve in terms of supplier management...we got through that.

We are still on our schedule," Rixey said.

That schedule plans for initial operational capability (IOC) in FY '13, followed by full operational capability around the FY '19, FY '20 time frame, he added.

In addition to the test aircraft under construction, the Navy and Boeing have built two reaction frames at the company's Wichita facility to conduct the static and fatigue testing.

Static and fatigue testing will commence in the FY '09 time frame for S-1 and around the second quarter of FY '10 for S-2, Rixey added.

T-1 will be the first aircraft to take to the air toward the end of FY '09. T-2 and T-3 will go into testing as they are delivered and will undergo developmental testing for two and a half years following T-1's first flight, Rixey said.

There has been some discussion examining whether the P-8 program could be accelerated because of the issues with the P-3C Orion's wings, Rixey noted.

"We've run various drills on accelerating the P-8, but all of that has to be vetted through our Milestone Decision Authorities and our leadership before we can move," he said. "But at this point we are still executing the program of record. But we are looking at all the contingencies associated with the P-3 red stripe."

In December '07, the Navy grounded 39 Lockheed Martin [LMT] P-3C aircraft due to structural fatigue concerns (Defense Daily, Dec. 18).

Rixey said the Navy has learned some lessons from the P-3C that the service and Boeing are using in development of the P-8.

One example he cites deals with static and fatigue testing.

The last time the Navy put a P-3 on a reaction frame, for static and fatigue issues, was five years ago, he said.

The Navy and Boeing are building the P-8 up front, collecting information from the two static and fatigue test articles (S-1 and S- 2).

"We are going to have that data...maintenance plans, understand crack growth, understand our maintenance procedures, understand our limitations and develop our maintenance schedules associated with that instead of reacting to it like we had to do with the P-3," Rixey said.

"We are going to run that aircraft to two life cycles, and we are going to take it and validate its ultimate load. That's what we are doing up front, and that was a major lesson learned," he added.

The P-8 is a military derivative of Boeing's 737-800.

Building off a commercial derivative will result in significant savings in tooling, Rixey said, as well as in schedule.

This is the first time the Navy is not taking a "green truck,"

buying it from Boeing, taking and tearing it apart and then rebuilding it, Rixey said. "There is significant labor in just doing that."

"So there were significant savings in terms of cost and schedule...by doing this in-line build for all these aircraft and not going to a chop shop," he added. "The other area of savings is supportability. We are going to be able to leverage the vast FAA parts pool and support infrastructure for those common parts.

Obviously for the mission specific stuff we will have to have our traditional support methodologies."

But that does cut down quite a bit on sparing and warehousing, Rixey added.

But even though the 737-800 is currently in use, the Navy will still have to certify the aircraft's worthiness, he added.

"Its got to be certified by Navy because our fatigue spectrum and our flight profile deviate from an FAA aircraft," Rixey said. "We will leverage off those flight regimes that are similar, but for the most part we are going to have to go check those that deviate."

The P-8 was built to be an open air vehicle, Rixey said.

The Navy built its next-generation Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) platform with growth in mind. One area, Rixey said the Navy is proud that contained within the contractual language is the requirement for an open systems architecture for avionics. "But it is open beyond that."

"We have a lot of cabin volume. We have a lot of growth in terms of weight. We can actually go about 21,000-pounds more in terms of mission systems," he explained. "But what you end up doing there, if you add on more payload you take off fuel. We are still required to go 1,200 nautical miles in four hours to do our ASW mission."

Along with the potential for growth in cabin volume, there is also room for growth in power, Rixey said.

"We are not even near 50 percent on power usage. We have two 180 kVA generators and an APU (auxiliary power unit)...that's significant power. We have good cooling and we are able to leverage that power by the way off the wedge tail design," he added.

The Navy also added four inches to the bomb bay so that the P-8 could carry joint weapons and whatever the future brings. "We have openness in our bomb bay. We just didn't design it for the MK 54."

In addition to that, the P-8 has a digital stores management system, something lacking on the P-3, Rixey noted. "This allows you to spiral in different weapons that can been envisioned in the future as well."

Ready, AIM-9, Fire!
Story Number: NNS080610-09
Release Date: 6/10/2008 2:00:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Elliott J. Fabrizio, USS John C. Stennis Public Affairs

VP-1 Returns to Whidbey Island
Story Number: NNS080611-06
Release Date: 6/11/2008 9:59:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tucker M. Yates, Fleet Public Affairs Center, Detachment Northwest

Lockheed Fighter For Marines Flies For First Time

(REUTERS 11 JUN 08) ... Andrea Shalal-Esa

The Marine Corps variant of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet completed its first conventional flight on Wednesday, with a flight in the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) mode planned for later this year.

The first flight of the F-35 aircraft designated BF-1 began at 10:17 a.m. CDT (1517 GMT) and lasted 44 minutes, according to John Smith, a spokesman for Lockheed.

Lockheed and its partners are developing three variants of the F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, and to sell to other countries. All three variants are based on a common design.

Development is led by the United States, but includes Britain and seven other international partners. A former British military pilot was the first to fly the new jet.

The Pentagon estimates the overall F-35 program, including research and development, will cost $298.8 billion. The cost of each plane is forecast at almost $70 million, based on plans for the U.S. military to buy 2,443 F-35 fighter jets through 2034.

The aircraft flown on Wednesday was powered by an engine developed by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The company had several engine blades snap off during earlier ground tests of the STOVL mode.

The problem never affected the engine during conventional flight mode, and Pratt & Whitney says it is on track to begin testing of the engine in STOVL mode later this year.

"We are working closely with our customers, Lockheed Martin and the joint program office; we have identified the root cause, and we are working toward a STOVL mode flight later this year," said Stephanie Duvall, a Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman.

The F-35 program is the world's largest military project, involving 11 countries -- nine working on the development effort and two additional security partners. It employs about 20,000 people worldwide. 

The F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine military strike fighter that can perform close air support, tactical bombing and air superiority fighter missions.

Northrop Grumman Corp and Britain's BAE Systems are Lockheed's main subcontractors on the program. A team comprising General Electric and Britain's Rolls-Royce is developing an alternate engine

===================

Lockheed Martin Conducts Successful First STOVL Flight, Second Planned Next Week

(DEFENSE DAILY 12 JUN 08) ... Geoff Fein

Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday put its F-35B short take off vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) into the air for the first time, marking the beginning of months of deliveries and flight tests of the next-generation Marine Corps fighter.

BAE Systems test pilot Graham Tomlinson flew BF-1 for 44 minutes, reaching speeds up to 230 knots, he told reporters yesterday.

"Any first flight on a new airplane you are really trying to prove from the moment you take off that the airplane is safe and suitable for landing," he said.

During the 44-minute flight, Tomlinson took BF-1 to 15,000 feet with the gear down. That altitude was chosen as a safe height to start exercising the throttle and check out the engine, he said. "We exercised the throttle to make sure the engine responded as we expected it to do, and it did."

After that, Tomlinson spent the remainder of the first flight flying at slower speeds, checking flight qualities...the feel of the aircraft to make sure it flies nicely, he said.

"On the way back, we did a little bit of formation flying. The reason we did that was when you are in close formation with another airplane, in this case an F-18, then you get a bit more active,"

Tomlinson said.

Having a target to fly against is good for sampling the controls and the engine response, Tomlinson said. "Making sure it still responds nicely to a higher gain environment, because when you get to the final landing and the ground rushes up to meet you, then you tend to be putting in those slightly higher gain control inputs in the final phase of a landing."

At no time during Wednesday's flight did Tomlinson test the STOVL system that enables the F-35B to take off and land vertically.

"STOVL has always been planned for later in the program,"

Tomlinson said. "We have to make sure the airplane is mature in terms of flight controls, engines, all subsystems, in the conventional mode and then we will start making the equally small incremental steps to get into the STOVL envelope and expand that envelope."

A recent Acquisition Decision Memorandum signed by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young, indicated that completion of first flight was the key milestone in terms of the award of the contract, Brig Gen.

David Heinz, deputy executive director JSF program, told reporters.

"This combined with a briefing to AT&L on the STOVL engine constitutes my ability to award the approximately $1.3 billion."

These funds will cover six aircraft, all the spares and everything else associated with Low Rate Initial Production II STOVL aircraft, Heinz added.

"I anticipate [contract award] to be as soon as possible. [My] brief to Mr. Young will be the key driving factor now," Heinz said.

Lockheed Martin will conduct a second flight of BF-1 on Monday, Doug Pearson, vice president F-35 Integrated Test Force, said.

The company will conduct the first STOVL tests in the January- March 2009 time frame, he added. Those tests will be conducted at Lockheed Martin's Ft. Worth, Texas, facility.

"When we've convinced ourselves the aircraft is ready, [we'll] take it to (Naval Air Station) Pax River (Maryland) and continue work there," Pearson said. "We'll end up doing the first STOVL full landing from a hover at Pax River."

This fall Lockheed Martin intends to do the initial "up and away"

conversion work where they will actually open the STOVL doors in flight, Pearson said. That work will begin prior to the first full STOVL test flight early next year.

"This is the beginning of flight test program for the STOVL airplane," Pearson said. "It's a continuation of the conventional program we started with AA-1, our first F-35 flying aircraft. That aircraft should be starting up engines momentarily and will be flying, unrelated to this mission...it will fly a separate test sorties later [Wednesday] today."

Later this month AA-1 will fly out to Edwards AFB, Calif., to begin two to four weeks of testing, he added.

Currently in its Ft. Worth factory, Lockheed Martin has all of the remaining 17 System Development and Demonstration aircraft as well as the first two LRIP jets in production, Dan Crowley, executive vice president and F-35 program general manager, said.

"This year we've already delivered the first static test article for STOVL, BG-1. The next flight aircraft to leave the factory is called BF-2. It will leave in the July time frame and fly in January of 2009," he said. "We will complete this year the first ground test article for the optimized CTOL (Conventional Take Off and Landing) in the December time frame, and we'll roll out BF-3 and BF-4 for the STOVL variant and fly in the second quarter time frame of next year."

Subject: The future of automated test equipment is called eCASS
Date: 12-Jun-08
News Release Copy: NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – NAVAIR’s Aviation Support Equipment Program Office is creating the future of automated test equipment for the Navy and it is called eCASS.

What will the Electronic Consolidated Automated Support System benches bring to the fleet? A lot of capability in a smaller, smarter package. It starts with a much smaller footprint with more capability, faster run times, multi-lingual test environments; it preserves the $2 billion investment in CASS Test Program Sets; it facilitates factory-to-field migration of Test Programs; it’s more interoperable with other Services’ Automated Test Equipment; it’s more scalable to fleet needs; it reduces acquisition and support costs; and it brings “Smarter” test concepts with faster and better diagnostics and reduced no-defect found rates.

Currently, CASS performs functional testing, fault detection, fault isolation, and alignment or adjustment of avionics components for almost every Type/Model/Series aircraft in the Navy and Marine Corp inventory.

“CASS has been an extremely successful program,” said Captain Mike Belcher, Aviation Support Equipment Program Manager (PMA 260). “CASS replaced 30 different legacy testers with one family of ATE and eliminated all of the logistics requirements associated with maintaining all of those different test benches. However, because most of the CASS components are Commercial-Off-The-Shelf items, obsolescence is going to become a huge issue for us to overcome. With the newer test technologies, the time is right to modernize our ATE family of testers.”

“The plan we are working on now calls for getting the competitive Request For Proposal on the street for an award in early 2009,” said Belcher. “The System Design and Development phase with Engineering Development Models will last until approximately 2012. Then we’ll build some Low Rate Initial Production stations and enter Full Rate Production in 2014. Full up eCASS units should be arriving in the fleet by 2015.”

“We’ve hit our peak in terms of CASS requirements aboard the carriers. The typical carrier today has 19 CASS stations aboard,” said Bill Ross, Senior eCASS Program Manager. “Our studies show that by 2020 we can reduce that number down to 15 eCASS stations to support the air wings of the future.”

“We are committed to keeping our current CASS Family modern and are embarking on a program to deal with obsolescence and technology issues,” added Ross. “CASS first went into production in 1990, and these stations have been well used. Our plan is to base a modernization program on the emerging Department of Defense Automated Test Systems Framework and we expect that industry will insert the test technologies demonstrated in the ongoing Reconfigurable-Transportable CASS (RTCASS) development program and recent joint services technology demonstration projects.”

A product of... Navy Office of Information www.navy.mil 703.697.5342 June 11, 2008

NAVY Enterprise…a ready and resourced Warfighter….today and tomorrow

“Our Enterprise effort is primarily focused on how we interact as a large organization…collaborating and sharing best practices to improve processes that deliver results. Not to turn the Navy into a business, but to understand the business of the Navy so that we remain the most effective and efficient Navy in the world.”

--Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations

Improving Return on Investment is key to maintaining warfighting readiness and building the future force

                        • The Navy is facing significant fiscal pressures. Costs, particularly manpower, ship and aircraft acquisition, are projected to continue to increase at a rate significantly greater than that of inflation. At the same time, demand for Navy capabilities called for by the new Maritime Strategy is increasing.

                        • In order to execute the Maritime Strategy cost-effectively, we must strive continually to understand and improve our Return on Investment (ROI) through “best use” of limited resources…our people, our dollars, and our time. NAVY Enterprise supports efforts within and across Navy headquarters and individual commands to improve ROI.

 NAVY Enterprise seeks to synchronize efforts across the Navy by:

                        • Improving the output/cost ratio of core Navy processes

                        • Setting improvement objectives, measuring progress, and removing barriers

                        • Facilitating improved collaboration and decision making by tightening the cross-organizational linkages necessary to deliver warfighting capability effectively and efficiently both today and tomorrow

                        • Developing support tools to maximize resources, improve process efficiency, and optimize resource allocation effectiveness

                        • Promoting culture change through education, open and honest communications, and aligned incentives

 

Everyone has a significant role in improving ROI

                        • You can contribute to continuous process improvement in our Navy by working to continuously improve process efficiencies, identifying areas of opportunity, documenting and openly communicating successes, supporting desired behavior and culture change, and providing feedback to senior leadership

Key Messages

Facts & Figures

                        • NAVY Enterprise is a set of organizational interrelationships designed to improve effectiveness and help leadership optimize our finite resources to deliver warfighting effects today and tomorrow.

                        • NAVY Enterprise supports the Maritime Strategy and the Department of Navy’s broader business transformation efforts.

                        • The Navy is not a business, but we must understand our business processes and constantly seek to improve them by applying the right tools, techniques, and procedures.

                        • The sheer size of the Navy budget would rank it among the top 10 of Fortune 500 companies.

                        • Approximately two-thirds of Navy’s total budget “flows” through the Systems Commands and the Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E) domain.

France Schedules Rafale And Hawkeye Aircraft For Training Aboard US Carrier

(JANE’S NAVY INTERNATIONAL 12 JUN 08) ... J.A.C. Lewis

Paris - The French Navy is to send six Rafale F2 standard fighters and two E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft to the United States for extensive exercises aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt off Norfolk, Virginia, in July, naval officials in Paris have confirmed.

The aircraft are to operate aboard Theodore Roosevelt for four days starting 20 July in an exercise to help France's naval pilots maintain their skills during the long lay-up of the French carrier FNS Charles de Gaulle , which began a refit at its home port of Toulon last June and will not be fully ready for service again until January 2009.

The Rafale made its debut on US vessels in the Arabian Sea in 2003 and two Rafale marine fighters also practised take-offs and landings aboard the USS Harry Truman on 21 May 2008 when the carrier stopped in Marseilles following a six-month tour off Iraq.

"However, this will be the first actual deployment of Rafale aboard a US carrier, with an 80-member French team including 12 Rafale pilots, four Hawkeye crews and 20 technicians being stationed aboard the carrier for days instead of Rafale merely making practice runs on deck," a French Navy spokesman told Jane's .

Accustomed to operating from the 40,000-ton Charles de Gaulle, the French pilots will need to adjust to the behemoth proportions of the 104,000-ton Theodore Roosevelt. The latter's angled deck measures 240 m opposed to Charles de Gaulle's 168 m and its catapults are 95 m in length compared with 75 m on the French vessel.

Navy Pilot Killed In Collision Over Nevada Identified

(ASSOCIATED PRESS 15 JUN 08)

FALLON - A Navy pilot killed when two fighter jets collided over Nevada has been identified.

The Navy says Lt. Jeremy S. Wise of Virginia Beach, Va., died following the collision during a routine training mission Friday between his F/A-18C Hornet and an F-5 Tiger aircraft.

The 28-year-old Wise, a 4-year veteran of the Navy, was based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

Two pilots in the other jet parachuted to safety and were rescued about 50 miles east of Fallon Naval Air Station, where both jets had taken off.

Those pilots, whose names were not released, were released Friday after treatment for minor injuries at a Fallon hospital.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by a Navy team.

The F-35B Lightning II STOVL variant will be the 1st of the 3 variants to be introduced into USMC operational use 4 years from now.  Details are below.

 FORT WORTH, Texas, June 11th, 2008 --

The first Lockheed Martin F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing stealth fighter takes off from Lockheed Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas, on its inaugural flight Wednesday, June 11. The jet, which will be used by the U.S. Marine Corps, the United Kingdom and Italy, is the first aircraft to combine stealth with supersonic speed and short takeoff/vertical landing capability.

High-Resolution Photo

With test pilot Graham Tomlinson at the controls, the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B Lightning II streaked into blue Texas skies Wednesday, marking the first flight of an aircraft that will provide a combination of capabilities never before available: stealth, supersonic speed and STOVL basing flexibility.

Tomlinson, a former Royal Air Force Harrier pilot now employed by BAE Systems, performed a conventional takeoff at 10:17 a.m. CDT from Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility. As planned, all initial F-35B flights will be made using conventional takeoffs and landings, with transitions to short takeoffs, hovers and vertical landings beginning early next year. Tomlinson guided the jet to 15,000 feet and performed a series of handling tests, engine-power variations and subsystems checks before landing at 11:01 a.m. CDT.

"A great team effort led to a relaxed first flight, with the aircraft handling and performing just as we predicted based on STOVL simulator testing and flying the F-35A," Tomlinson said. The F-35B, known as BF-1, becomes the second Lightning II to enter flight test, preceded by the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, which first flew in December 2006 and has completed 43 flights. The F-35B that flew today is the second of 19 System Development and Demonstration aircraft and the first to incorporate new weight-saving design features that will apply to all future F-35 aircraft.

Though nearly identical in appearance to the F-35A, the F-35B incorporates a counter-rotating shaft-driven lift fan positioned directly behind the cockpit. The lift fan, produced by Rolls-Royce, is turned by a drive shaft from the F-35’s massively powerful single engine, which features a swiveling rear exhaust nozzle that vectors thrust downward during vertical flight. The lift fan, engine and stabilizing roll ducts beneath the F-35B’s wings combine to produce 40,000 pounds of lifting force. Converting the F-35B from STOVL to conventional flight and vice-versa requires only the push of a button by the pilot. The system otherwise operates automatically.

"We're absolutely convinced that this aircraft is going to only further enhance what is a tremendous asymmetric advantage that we hold in terms of controlling the air, taking advantage of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, multi-sensor capabilities, and the ability, if need be, to drop a bomb in a precision strike," said Gen. James Conway, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

The F-35B will be the first of the three Lightning II variants to achieve Initial Operational Capability, beginning with the Marines in 2012.  The STOVL variant also will be used by the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and Italy’s Air Force and Navy. With the capability to operate from a variety of ships or austere runways, the F-35B can deploy closer to shore or near front lines, shrinking distance and time to the target, increasing sortie rates and greatly reducing the need for support assets.

"This is truly an historic day for aviation and the JSF program," said Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, F-35 program executive officer. "It caps a commitment we made in August 2006 to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Marine Corps when we said we would fly a production-representative STOVL F-35 by June of 2008 – and the team did it. This flight is also a milestone in a 5,000-sortie flight test program that spans five years but continuously rolls out incremental F-35 war fighting capability.  It’s a proud day and proud beginning."

"The STOVL aircraft represents the ideal balance of form and function.  It uniquely meets the warfighter’s demanding requirements with 5^th Generation capabilities to deliver lethality, survivability, supportability and affordability," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "The quality of this aircraft reflects the talent of the worldwide design and manufacturing team who made today’s flight possible."

The United States and eight international participants are involved in the F-35’s funding, development, production and sustainment. Three versions of the F-35 will be produced:

• F-35A CTOL variant for conventional runways
• STOVL F-35B for operating off small ships and near front-line combat zones
• And the F‑35C carrier variant (CV) for catapult launches and arrested recoveries aboard the U.S. Navy’s large aircraft carriers.

All 19 F-35 flight-test and ground-test aircraft are in production flow or on the flightline, and assembly has begun on the first two production-model F-35s.

The F-35 Lightning II is a supersonic, multi-role, 5^th generation stealth fighter. The three F-35 variants are derived from a common design and use the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide to replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history.

Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. BAE Systems also is the prime contractor for the Royal Navy's next two aircraft carriers, from which the United Kingdom’s 138 F-35Bs will operate.

Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135, which powered today’s flight, and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.

Stennis' Cat 1 Launches 50,000th Aircraft
Story Number: NNS080612-12
Release Date: 6/12/2008 2:54:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Elliott J. Fabrizio, USS John C. Stennis Public Affairs

A Day in the Navy

13 June 2008

            • On June 13th, 331,391 Active Duty, 69,968 Reserve Component Sailors, with 5,982 Reserves mobilized, and 180,594 civilians are serving in the Department of the Navy.  

            • 280 active ships are in service. 126 (45%) including 4 carriers and 4 amphibious large deck ships are underway.  

            • Approximately 10,000 Individual Augmentees are deployed on the ground around the world in support of the Global War on Terror, including 2,650 in Iraq and 1,397 in Afghanistan.  

            • Carrier Air Wing Two, embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is conducting missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, having flown more than 800 missions – an average of 20 a day – in support of our coalition troops on the ground since arriving in theater only six weeks ago.  

            • USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) departs Cotabato City, Republic of Philippines, en route to Samar, Republic of Philippines, to pick up medical and engineering personnel who have been in the area providing humanitarian assistance in support of Pacific Partnership 2008. Pacific Partnership is a four-month humanitarian assistance program that partners U.S. Navy and U.S. non-governmental organization personnel with host nation personnel to conduct assistance projects.  

            • The U.S. Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) task group is in Sattahip, Thailand, participating in multiple medical, dental and engineering civil action projects, community relations events and military-to-military exchanges. The U.S. CARAT task group consists of Commander, Destroyer Squadron 1, USS Tortuga (LSD 46), USS Jarrett (FFG 33), USS Ford (FFG 54), and USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC 722).  

            • USS Essex Expeditionary Strike Group is en route Laem Chabang, Thailand, following participation in Cobra Gold 08, a bilateral exercise with the Thai military. The group includes USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Juneau (LPD 10), USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), and the embarked 3^rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade from the 31^st Marine Expeditionary Unit.  

            • USS Stethem (DDG 63) is in Busan, Republic of Korea, conducting military-to-military training with the Republic of Korea Navy. The training is with the crew of the ROK Navy’s first Aegis KDX III – class destroyer, Sejong The Great.  

            • USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is conducting flight operations with its embarked Carrier Air Wing 14 in the vicinity of Guam.

            • The Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group is continuing its transit through the Seventh Fleet area of responsibility after a recent port visit to Singapore where Sailors and Marines participated in three community relations projects.  

            • USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) pulls in to Guam for a routine port visit. Kitty Hawk will participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise later this month.

            • USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is almost half way through its seven-month deployment and is conducting maritime security operations in the Fifth Fleet AOR. An Al Jazeera news crew, the latest in a series of international news organizations sent to cover naval operations in Fifth Fleet, is embarked.  

            • Commander, Fifth Fleet engages in Theater Security Cooperation initiatives through exercises to build relationships and assist regional nations improve their own capabilities. USS Russell (DDG 59) completes Exercise Khunjar Haad, a CTF 150 exercise in the Gulf of Oman; USS Shoup (DDG 86) is participating in a regional exercise geared to maintain the free flow of commerce in the Gulf; USS Momsen (DDG 92) is supporting Task Force 914 operations; and USS Curtis (FFG 38) is supporting Combined Task Force 158 operations.  

            • Reserve Sailors from Expeditionary Port Unit 106 are providing oversight and support of port operations at Kuwait Naval Base.  

            • The fast-attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) is in port Panama City, Panama, for a routine port visit, while in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility conducting counter illicit trafficking operations in support of U.S. and participating nation drug control programs.  

            • USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and USS Cole (DDG 67) are participating in Baltic Operations (BALTOPs), an annual exercise conducted in the Baltic Sea in the spirit of partnership for peace. Other nations participating include Russia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  

            • U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas is currently underway in west and central Africa as part of Sixth Fleet’s commitment to help build maritime safety and security. Dallas will remain in the region through July working with a host of international partners.  

            • USS Norfolk (SSN 714) is underway in the Mediterranean Sea following a port visit in Augusta Bay, Italy, the first U.S. submarine visit made to Italy, outside of La Maddalena, in more than eleven years.  

            • Maritime Civil Affairs Team (MCAT) 205 is supporting Continuing Promise in SOUTHCOM while MCAT 101 supports Pacific Partnership in PACOM. These teams are globally engaged, partnering with local governments and indigenous populations in order to focus and tailor humanitarian assistance, build a robust and long-term cultural and linguistic knowledge base, and to foster and sustain local relationships and expand the influence of friendly governments in order to prevent or contain local disruptions.

            • Sailors from Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 4 are deployed to Kuwait and are promoting integration and interoperability by working with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Port Security Unit 309, the first Coast Guard Port Security Unit to deploy on a permanent rotational basis.  

            • Riverine Squadron 3, on its maiden deployment, is providing a persistent forward presence by providing point defense of critical Iraqi infrastructure at the Haditha Dam and engaging in direct combat operations on Iraq’s rivers and waterways.  

            • Seabees from 22 Naval Construction Regiment, Naval Mobile Construction Battalions 3, 17 and 74 are supporting conventional and Special Operations forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Horn of Africa.  

            • NETWARCOM/Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command is making final preparations for the June 16^th kick-off of Trident Warrior 2008 – an exercise to exploit advanced cyber technology concepts to provide warfighters with state of the art tools for information superiority. Participants include platforms from U.S. and coalition nations including England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Chile and South Korea.  

            • USS Boxer (LHD 4) is anchored off the coast of Callao, Peru working with partner-nation medical teams to facilitate the provision of health care to local citizens and surrounding areas as part of Continuing Promise (CP) 2008. Medical teams treat more than 1,200 individuals a day with help from Navy linguists from Navy Information Operations Command Texas.

            ==================

7,000 Sailors Of USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Group Arrive In HK

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 20 JUN 08) ... Dan Kadison

One of America's fastest warships, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, and five other ships in its battle group docked in Hong Kong yesterday, with 7,000 crew ready for several days' rest and relaxation.

Rear Admiral James Wisecup, 53, commander of Carrier Strike Group Seven, which includes the Ronald Reagan, told a press conference aboard the vessel: "The Asia-Pacific region is of vital importance to our nation and to the world.

"Hong Kong's special status and openness as an international city makes it a favourite port of call for our deployed sailors.

"This great city offers the crew a unique opportunity for cultural exchanges and other recreational activities. In short, we love it here."

He added: "We've been at sea for over a month now, so our sailors and our officers here have had a month with nothing to spend their money on. Our plan is probably to spend many millions of dollars here over the next few days."

Ship's spokesman Lieutenant Ron Flanders said it was estimated that each sailor would spend an average of US$100 a day during the port call.

The vessels are expected to remain in Hong Kong for less than a week before continuing to support the American fleet with its Pacific operations.

Petty officer third class Ken Pao, 31, who grew up in Hong Kong and had not been back for several years, was looking forward to a meal at a Kowloon restaurant.

"I'm going to get some good food," said the crewman, an American citizen who joined the US Navy more than two years ago.

The 333-metre-long USS Ronald Reagan can support more than 60 aircraft and is capable of a top speed of more than 30 knots, or 56km/h. The ship and its battle group - three destroyers, a cruiser and a frigate - left California last month.

Admiral Wisecup said: "This is the Ronald Reagan's third deployment, and this is our third visit to Hong Kong. So this is becoming an annual event, which of course makes all of us pretty happy here."

While in Hong Kong, nearly 300 sailors would carry out volunteer work with more than a dozen relief and charity groups, the admiral said.

            ========================================

                         US Navy Weighs Manned/Unmanned Debate In F/A-XX Planning

                        (FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 19 JUN 08) ... Rob Coppinger

                        The US Navy's trade studies on whether its Boeing F/A-18 Hornet replacement, the F/A-XX, should be piloted have concluded that unmanned air vehicles could operate for 20 times longer than manned systems in some circumstances.

                        The studies' details were revealed at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International North America 2008 symposium in San Diego, California, and follow January's publication of the USN's Naval Aviation Vision document, which said: "With an [initial operating capability] of 2025, [the navy-unmanned combat air system] is envisioned to be the strike fighter recapitalisation platform [F/A-XX]".

                        Studying operational capabilities, the USN examined an aircraft carrier group operating at an air tanker "safety line" of 925km (500nm) from the shore.

                        Calculating how long manned and unmanned systems could loiter at 925km from the fleet, 1,380km and 1,850km, a tailed manned aircraft could only last for 30min at the middle distance, while a tail-less UAV could stay for 20.5h. At 1,850km manned vehicles had zero loiter time.

                        Speaking at the AUVSI event, US Naval Air Systems Command programme executive officer Gary Kessler said: "Manned endurance estimates [are] conservatively high, while [the] unmanned endurance estimate is conservatively low."

                        The USN trades examined two broad manned and unmanned configurations: one with a new fuselage, wing and tail and a tail-less Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator-like vehicle.

                        Navy Awards Boeing, Bell Team $18.2M Contract

                        (ASSOCIATED PRESS 19 JUN 08)

                        WASHINGTON - The Navy awarded a strategic alliance of Boeing Co. and Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter division an $18.2 million contract boost to provide engineering and logistics services to support the MV-22 Osprey, the Defense Department said late Thursday.

                        The Osprey, a tiltrotor vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft, is jointly built by Boeing and Bell. Boeing is responsible for the fuselage and all subsystems, digital avionics and fly-by-wire flight-control systems, while Bell is responsible for the wing, transmissions, empennage, rotor systems and engine installation.

                        CNO Orders Investigation Of GW Fire

                        (NAVY TIMES 20 JUN 08) ... Gidget Fuentes

                        SAN DIEGO — With an assessment “nearly completed,” of the damage done to the aircraft carrier George Washington by its May 22 fire, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has ordered an investigation into what caused the blaze, Navy officials announced Thursday.

                        The Judge Advocate General’s Manual investigation will be headed by the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, fleet officials said in a statement. The Naval Safety Center in Norfolk, Va., is convening a safety board and is conducting a separate safety investigation.

                        “The Navy is accumulating lessons learned on this incident to be shared with the fleet,” said the Pacific Fleet statement.

                        Meanwhile, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has settled into a berth at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., where it arrived May 27 for what has become a lengthy stay as repair crews and investigators continue their work. The George Washington was originally to conduct a turnover in June in Pearl Harbor with the retiring, conventionally powered carrier Kitty Hawk, but the exchange is now scheduled for San Diego in August.

                        The delay for the George Washington’s arrival as the new forward-deployed carrier in Japan doesn’t appear to have further delayed the Kitty Hawk’s planned decommissioning in Bremerton, Wash., which officials said would be done “on schedule.”

                        Navy Secretary Donald Winter on Thursday toured the George Washington and got briefs on the damage assessment, repairs and firefighting efforts by the ship’s crew. Sailors took four hours to put out the fire, which had spread to multiple decks and spaces through ventilation and cable trunks.

                        “I am impressed with the manner in which they fought this fire,” Winter said in a statement. “They worked as a well-trained team to contain the fire and to ensure the safety of all aboard, exemplifying the fighting spirit of American sailors.”

                        Winter also got a closer look at some of the damaged spaces and has asked for more details and information on several areas, including “how the ship’s damage control team fought the fire, and the extent to which ship modifications may have played a role with how the fire spread,” he said. “What we learn here can help us improve our damage control training, assess our damage control procedures and equipment, inform future ship alterations and prevent future accidents of this type.

                        “Experience has shown that we must complete the removal of material in the damaged areas before we can make a full assessment of the necessary repairs and corrective actions,” he added.

                        The Navy has not yet announced what specifically must be repaired or how much it will cost to do the work, which is being done by commercial and Navy shipyards.

                        “I am pleased with the methodological approach the team has taken in developing a plan to repair the ship. They are making very good progress,” Winter said in the statement.

                        Last August, the George Washington finished an 11-month, $300 million yard period at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard in Virginia. The work included upgrades and modifications as well as repairs and maintenance to prepare the ship for its homeport shift from Virginia to Japan.                         

                        Damaged Aircraft Carrier To Stay In Port For Repairs

                        (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 21 JUN 08) ... Steve Liewer                          

                        SAN DIEGO - The fire-damaged aircraft carrier George Washington will remain in San Diego for repairs until at least August, Navy officials said.

                        The ship was traveling from its former home port of Norfok, Va., to its new home in Yokosuka, Japan, when it caught fire May 22, causing minor injuries to two dozen sailors. It arrived at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado five days later for a damage assessment.

                        Navy officials said they still don't know what caused the blaze. The fire damaged 80 of the ship's 3,800 rooms, and it burned or melted huge bundles of electrical cables.

                        Inspectors have not determined how much the repairs will cost, said Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the Navy's Pacific Fleet command.

                        The George Washington was scheduled to exchange personnel and equipment with the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk – the ship it is replacing in Japan – at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in early June. Then it was going to participate in RIMPAC 2008, an international naval exercise conducted near Hawaii every two years, from June 29 to July 31.

                        Now the Kitty Hawk will replace the George Washington as the only aircraft carrier in the exercise. The turnover of crew and equipment between the two ships has been rescheduled for August in San Diego, Yoshishige said.

                        Afterward, the Kitty Hawk will continue to Bremerton to be mothballed and decommissioned in January.

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                        For Navy Aircraft Carriers, 'Missions Haven't Changed'

                        (NATIONAL DEFENSE JULY 2008) ... Grace V. Jean                          

                        ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT — After spending nine months in the shipyard last year for routine maintenance, this 24-year-old Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and her crew are preparing for the ship’s fourth deployment to the Persian Gulf since 9/11.

                        “The missions haven’t changed,” says Capt. Ladd Wheeler, the ship’s commanding officer.

                        The primary goal is to support troops on the ground, he says. The TR’s fighter pilots will serve as the eyes for Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq.

                        “Every flight, you’re talking to a guy on the ground, and you’re providing some service to him that seems to benefit him. It might not be bomb dropping, but it’s still a very critical mission,” says Capt. Dan Dixon, the carrier air wing commander.

                        “If our use is just for building a better picture for the folks on the ground, that’s great. If called upon to do a low fly-by and make noise, that’s great. If called upon to strafe or drop bombs, we’re ready to do that as well,” he adds.

                        In an exercise in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the East Coast, warplanes are flying 90 to 100 sorties a day practicing strike warfare — dropping ordnance on target ranges in Florida, talking to joint terminal attack controllers who call in air support and conducting fly-bys, or shows-of-force.

                        Pilots also are practicing night strafing, which is something they didn’t always do in training, says Dixon.

                        The TR will deploy with a typical carrier air wing that is composed of seven squadrons: four strike fighter squadrons with 44 F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets, a squadron of E-2 Hawkeyes, a squadron of EA-6B Prowlers, a squadron of SH-60 helicopters and two C-2 Greyhound logistics aircraft, known as CODs.

                        Pilots are arriving in “incredible shape,” Dixon says.

                        Almost half of the aircrew has never been on deployment. “Part of what we’re doing now is stressing them in the exercise so that they’re not overwhelmed when they get over to Iraq,” says Dixon.

                        In this conflict, it is important to have precise information about the location of targets so that if a weapon is dropped, civilians are not harmed. “There are strategic implications of a bomb that goes astray,” says Dixon. “In an urban environment, it’s important that we only affect the folks that the ground troops want us to affect, and nobody else. That’s the challenge.”

                        On the ship’s 2005 deployment, the wing’s aircraft ranked among the oldest in the fleet by a decade because they included the last F-14 Tomcat squadron, says Dixon. But when the air wing returned home, the Tomcat squadron transitioned to brand-new F/A-18E and F Super Hornets, which reduced the average age of aircraft dramatically.

                        The wing still has the oldest E-2s, an old version of the EA-6B Prowler, and the F/A-18A-plus Hornets, which are 20 years old.

                        The air wing received new reconnaissance pods, which are aircraft-mounted sensors. “It’s a big plus for us to learn how to use that,” says Dixon. The wing also is beginning to operate the advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is new to the Navy.

                        In Iraq, the EA-6B Prowler is in high demand because of its electronic warfare capabilities. “That’s the number one priority,” says Dixon. The squadron will receive the new EA-6G Growlers when they come back from deployment. “They’re excited about that. They’re going to have a new AESA radar in the front and it’s going to be a huge step up in their capabilities,” he says.

                        The TR deploys later this fall for a six- to seven-month cruise.

                        One of the threats they may encounter in the Persian Gulf are small boats, commanders say. In January, five fast boats operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard confronted three Navy warships, and in March, a lone Egyptian motorboat approached a U.S.-flagged cargo ship and was fired upon. Intelligence officers here say the Navy does not have sufficient visibility of the threat, and that tracking the number of small boats is difficult given the limited surveillance technology available on the carrier. Commanders say they need more access to imagery and streaming video aboard the ship.

Report Urges Navy To Push Unmanned Flight Envelope

(STAR-TELEGRAM (TEXAS) 24 JUN 08) ... Bob Cox