Feature 3 | US NAVY


year. Te first LCSs are being based in San Diego. No second base has been selected, although it will probably the Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG 7) base of Mayport, Florida. It has been suggested that Lockheed’s


semi-planing monohull Freedom (LCS 1) class might be based in the Atlantic, where harbours are generally smaller, while Austal’s trimaran Independence (LCS 2) class are based in the Pacific, which tends to have larger harbours. Te US Navy will also need to address the requirement for a surface-to- surface missile following the cancellation of the Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) missile. Te favourite appears to be the Raytheon Griffin. Te US Navy plans to deploy the ships


for 16-month tours with crews having four-month deployments on rotation, these crews consisting of a 40-man core, an air detachment of 23 sailors and mission packages each with 19 sailors. Tree crews will rotate between two ships, and one of those ships will be under way at any given time and there will be a shore detachment team of 30 sailors per ship for quarterly maintenance. Meanwhile, there has been a critical


review on the replacement ballistic missile submarine (SSBN-X) programme as Washington faces a 17% cut in its submarine-launched ballistic missile inventory. The Senate Appropriations Committee has


approved US$444.7


million for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) to use for design, engineering and prototyping work on SSBN-X, which appears to have substantial


support within Congress


although the Defense Department is seeking a 27% cut in the programme’s overall costs which are currently estimated at US$100 billion.


The LCS USS Independence has a trimaran hullform. By reducing SSBN-X’s size and speed unit


costs have already been reduced from US$7 billion to US$5 billion, and the SSBN-X will probably not have 24 missile tubes like the Ohio (SSBN 726) class but will initially carry the UGM-133A Trident II (D-5) missile. It will also have to carry the next generation of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles but might have a small number of conventionally armed weapons. Under the new nuclear arms control


agreement, signed by the USA and Russia last April, Washington plans to cut the Ohio fleet from 14 to 12 and its missile inventory from 288 to 240, possibly by temporarily deactivating four missile launch tubes in each submarine then re-activating them when the fleet has been reduced. Design options include an updated


Ohio (SSBN-726) ballistic missile ship or a modified Virginia (SSN 774) class attack submarine, both of which have


the advantage of reduced costs. But both options have drawbacks in terms of operational capability and a new design is the most likely way forward, although it will be more costly. Te dozen new ships will probably cost US$70 billion and replacement for the Ohios will have to begin around the time the class reach the end of their operational lives in 2027. It is likely that the SSBN-X will begin joining the fleet from 2029 with the last one arriving in 2042. The Virginia (SSN-774) class


programme is picking up speed and one a year will slide down the slipway from this year as the Los Angeles (SSN 688) class are slowly phased out. However, there has been a scare with the new fleet submarines with some of the early vessels shedding their anechoic hull coatings. Of the first


four ships the problem


effected the USS Virginia (SSN 774), Texas (SSN 775) and North Carolina (SSN 777); the first two being built by Electric Boat and the last by Newport News Shipbuilding. Submarines do tend to lose individual tiles but this appears to have been a more serious problem caused during production and it now appears to have been overcome. Work on the lead ship in the Gerald


A Rolling Aiframe Missile is launched from the LCS during trials. 20


R Ford (CVN-78) class carriers and the Zumwalt (DDG 1000) class ‘destroyers’ continues with scheduled launching dates of 2013 and May 2012 respectively. Te backbone of the surface fleet continues to be the Aegis ships, the Ticonderoga (CG 47) class cruisers and the Arleigh Burke (DDG 47) class destroyers.


Warship Technology March 2011


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