Navy continues string of successful BMD tests...

And they said it couldn't be done (must've assumed the USAF would get this mission).

The Navy successfully fired an SM-3 from the USS Hooper (CG-70), proving to the North Koreans that we intend to protect Hawaii.

From the Navy's official release:

"During this event, entitled Stellar Avenger, the Aegis BMD-equipped ship, USS Hopper (DDG 70), detected, tracked, fired and guided a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block (Blk) IA to intercept a sub-scale short range ballistic missile."

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The Arctic - Time for the United States to get militarily serious about it

RADML David Gove, Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy, has published an article in Proceedings, Arctic Melt: Reopening a Naval Frontier, which discusses the strategic impacts of melting ice in the Arctic.

I am a global warming skeptic (that man is responsible), so, I looked for a political angle in the Admiral's writing, and there is none, just some thoughts for us to consider as the Arctic becomes another sea which is navigable year round, and exploitable as well.

It's interesting, apparently this ocean has been navigable before, "Core samples from the Lomonosov Ridge suggest that some 55 million years ago semitropical waters rich in organic matter covered the Arctic basin, perfect conditions for the formation of vast hydrocarbon beds."

Because the US has not ratified the latest Law of the Sea Treaty, we are being shut out of negotiations ongoing that will determine the future of many of those resources, which include 90B bbl of oil, and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, not to mention vast mineral resources.

So, it's a good read, if you can access the article (I believe it's on the free side of the USNI's web site).

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Navy to East Coast Whales: Hey you, sonar is no problem!

The Navy says sonar is little harm to whales, and has the Environmental Impact Statement to prove it. Of course, little things like the facts don't really matter to our friends in the rabid environmentalist movement:

"It goes through the motions of assessing what the impacts to
marine animals would be," said Michael Jasny, Natural Resources
Defense Council senior policy analyst. But its preferred alternative
is to continue training without restrictions, he said.
'This document has all the hallmarks of a political document,
not a scientific decision made by environmental planners.'"

If you don't care to read the EIS, just read the press reports.

Or, trust me:

"The Navy's environmental impact report said it's difficult to
measure sonar's impact on marine mammal injuries
and behavioral disruptions because of variations in sonar
intensity and duration and because hundreds of unique
marine species have different habitat conditions."

And here is the rest of it.

SSGN's at sea; Shipbuilding debated

All four SSGN's are at sea at once. Story here. While not directly related, Chapomatic has some thoughts on the Navy's shipbuilding program.

John Murtha does not think we're going to be able to skip building DDG-1000's in favor of nuclear cruisers, telling Defense Daily,

"The big problem we have if we do it without the design work, it costs a lot more than we anticipated in the first place," Murtha said. "As much as I'd like to see because of the fuel costs...I would guess that you won't see that happen."

BUT, he added that nuclear cruisers will happen at some point.

If John Murtha is involved, somewhere there's pork for his district.

Ummmmmm, nothing else :)

USS New York to be Christened Saturday

The USS New York (LPD-21), the Navy's newest San Antonio class LPD, will be christened tomorrow in Norfolk. The ship, in honor of our 9/11 dead, includes 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site. Read more here. Nothing after the jump

Indonesian and US Navies to paricipate in joint exercises

The exercise we used to know as CARAT has a new name, read about it here. And here is the rest of it.

Welding Issues Plague NGNN and Our Submarines

The welding issues at NGNN shipyard is only going to fester for a while longer.

This is from Defense Daily last week.

Geoff Fein, Defense Daily, 21 December 2007

The investigation into welding issues at Northrop Grumman's [NOC] Newport News (NGNN) shipyard that initially led to the tying up of the first three Virginia-class submarines earlier this month has been expanded to include other subs and aircraft carriers, the Navy said.

The Navy, NGNN, and General Dynamics [GD] Electric Boat are conducting a detailed assessment of completed welds through record reviews and additional inspections.

The discovery of the weld weaknesses and the resulting inspections have impacted operational testing of the USS Virginia (SSN-774) and pre-commissioned unit North Carolina Sea Trials (Defense Daily, Dec. 10). The USS Texas (SSN-775) was in port at the time.

The scope of the long-term investigation includes Virginia-class submarines, Los Angeles-class submarines, aircraft carriers and in-service surface ships built or maintained by NGNN from 2000 to 2007, according to Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

"In the aircraft carrier business, this is a very important finding. NGNN knows they have to understand what this means to the aircraft carriers," Rear Adm. William Hilarides, program executive officer submarines, said in an interview with Defense Daily earlier this month.

"We are currently in the process of assessing what ships could be potentially affected, and we anticipate completing our assessment in early January," Jennifer Dellapenta, an NGNN spokeswoman, said yesterday.

The investigation is the result of a process deficiency at NGNN, which potentially enabled improper weld filler metal to be used on non-nuclear piping systems over an extended period of time, the Navy said. NGNN has revised its procedures and is retraining its workforce on the new procedure. Both NGNN and the Navy are providing additional deckplate oversight to monitor the revised process, the Navy added.

"The Navy continues to work closely with NGNN to ensure that Navy vessels are built to the highest technical and safety standards. All vessels constructed by or maintained by NGNN since 2000 will undergo a technical assessment of non-nuclear piping systems," according to NAVSEA.

The internal piping systems under review transport air, water and hydraulic fluid inside the hull of the vessel. Neither the hull nor any nuclear components are affected, the Navy said.

The Navy will complete an initial assessment of near-term concerns regarding critical welds in late December. The Navy is committed to ensuring the safety of our crews and ships.

In spring 2008 the Navy and NGNN will complete an analysis of the long-term effects of the weld problem and identify the specific steps to be taken to address the issue. Specific actions may include reworking some welds and conducting routine monitoring or testing of the welds, the Navy said.

"The Navy will better understand the long-term effects of this problem and associated costs when the investigation is complete," NAVSEA said. "This issue and resulting investigation has had minimal impact to naval operations."

2008 Blue Angels Schedule

The Blue Angels have announced their 2008 season schedule. Unfortunately, for those in metro Atlanta, no show at Dobbins this year, so, if you want to see the Blue Angels, you'll have to go to Huntsville, AL or make the long trip to South Georgia. And you can STILL say to your aviator friends (while pointing to your dolphins, and until the USS Amazon is commissioned), "You'll never see a woman wearing these."

USS North Carolina sets sail

The USS North Carolina (my home state) set sail for Alpha trials today. This is the official US Navy picture. Bubblehead has more over at his site. The ultimate plan is to have this ship commissioned in April 2008 in Wilmington, NC, across from the WW2 battleship North Carolina, now doing duty as a museum ship in the mud across the Cape Fear river from Wilmington. Of course, there are those concerned about issues with welds on Virginia class subs.

The Navy said that before sending the North Carolina to sea, the Navy and Newport News assessed about 15,000 piping welds.

"The North Carolina would not have gone out to sea if there was any question about the quality of the welds," a spokesmodel said. Besides the submarine's crew of about 137, others aboard for its first ocean run included shipyard President Mike Petters and Rear Adm. William Hilarides, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines.

It will be submerged for the first time, conduct high-speed runs, and undergo other tests of its design, systems, components and compartments.

After it returns, it will go for a second trial run designed to test its weapons systems.

NN still expects to deliver the North Carolina to the Navy in January, a few weeks past its December contract date.
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