US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Brumby said:

Do we know what it successfully engaged

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Brumby said:

and the terms of reference of the test to conclude that it is representative of success?

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The Navy is investigating adding an anti-ship missile to its submarine force — bringing it inline with the majority of the world naval submarines, the director of Naval Reactors said on Wednesday.

In response to a question from the audience at the 2015 Naval Submarine League Symposium, Adm. Frank Caldwell said the Navy was exploring adding the capability to the fleet.

“For this audience, I’ll tell you we are considering that and we are taking some some steps to delivering that kind of capability to our submarine force and I can’t really say anymore than that,” he said.

The U.S. submarine fleet did use the UGM-84A Harpoon anti-ship missile but that Harpoon variant was retired in 1997. The current primary attack submarines is the anti-ship weapon is Mk 48 heavy torpedo and is limited in its range relative to anti-ship missiles developed and deployed with foreign navies.

In particular, Russian and Chinese submarines field a variety of anti-ship missiles with ranges that far exceed the Mk-48s.

For example, the emerging Chinese YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, capable of launching from a People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) attack boat has an estimated range in excess of 300 miles. Likewise, Russia’s newer Oscar-class attack boats field the supersonic P-700 Granit — known by NATO as the SS-N-19 Shipwreck — with a more than 300-mile range.

For the U.S. submarine fleet it makes sense to return anti-ship missiles to boats to provide a greater standoff range for the force, Eric Wertheim — naval analyst and author of

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— told USNI News on Wednesday.

“When you look at potential combat operations and you can see how an anti-ship missile from a sub could prove useful,” Wertheim said.
“I do think it would add options to today’s submarine fleet to operate farther from high threat environments. Standoff capability adds a lot of options for military commanders.”

If the U.S. elects to include anti-ship missiles in its submarines there are several options to chose from beyond the legacy Harpoons.

The Norwegian company Kongsberg — that recently partnered with Raytheon — unveiled a subsurface launched version of its Naval Strike Missile in 2014. Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) being developed for DARPA is currently air launched, but Lockheed has examined firing the missile from a surface ship and it could likely be adapted for submarine use.

Additionally, U.S. attack submarines all field Raytheon Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM). Earlier this year, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) tested a Block IV TLAM as an anti-ship missile.

“If you have Tomahawks already onboard then it could be dual purpose [land attack or anti-ship],” Wertheim said.

Studying a sub-launched ASM conforms to an overall trend in the Navy in the last few years to empathize high-end warfare after years of supporting the low intensity conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Brumby said:

Do we know what it successfully engaged and the terms of reference of the test to conclude that it is representative of success?

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2. article
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   Lockheed Martin: 9-Country Missile Defense Demonstration to Inform Future Aegis Upgrades

AUSA 2015 (Association of the US Army annual convention) may be an army event (which our affiliate website Army Recognition was covering) an eminently naval product was showcased for the first time, at the Textron Systems booth: The Advanced Amphibious Craft.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

Still Wish it had a Active protection system like Trophy

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• Four (4) MMSC ships (a derivative of the Freedom Variant of the U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Class) that incorporate five (5) COMBATSS-21 Combat Management Systems (four (4) installed, one (1) spare) with five (5) TRS-4D Radars (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Five (5) Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) (Mode 4- and Mode 5-capable) UPX-29 (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Five (5) Compact Low Frequency Active Passive Variable Depth Sonar (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Eight (8) MK-41 Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) (two (2) eight-cell assemblies per ship for 16 cells per hull)
• Five-hundred thirty-two (532) tactical RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) (one hundred twenty-eight (128) installed, twenty (20) test and training rounds, three hundred eighty-four (384) spares)
• Five (5) AN/SWG-l (V) Harpoon Ship Command Launch Control Systems (four (4) installed (one (1) per ship), one (1) spare)
• Eight (8) Harpoon Shipboard Launchers (two (2) installed four-tube assemblies per ship)
• Forty-eight (48) RGM-84 Harpoon Block II Missiles (thirty-two (32) installed, sixteen (16) test and training rounds)
• Five (5) MK-15 Mod 31 SeaRAM Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• One-hundred eighty-eight (188) RIM 116C Block II Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) (forty-four (44) installed, twelve (12) test and training rounds, one hundred thirty-two (132) spares)
• Five (5) MK-75 76mm OTO Melara Gun Systems (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Forty-eight (48) 50-caliber machine guns (forty (40) installed (ten (10) per ship), eight (8) spares); ordnance; and Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) Global Positioning System/Precise Positioning Service (GPS/PPS) navigation equipment

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US Navy said:

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (NNS) -- The keel of the future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) was authenticated during a ceremony at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard Oct. 20.

The ship's keel was authenticated by its namesake, the Honorable Paul Ignatius and Mr. Bill Jones, the Hull Superintendent. Both authenticators etched their initials into the keel plate to symbolically recognize the joining of modular components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

"We are very honored that the namesake of DDG 117, The Honorable Paul Ignatius, is able to witness this milestone ceremony," said Capt. Mark Vandroff, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. "Laying the keel breathes life into a ship and is the first major event in a shipbuilding program."

During World War II, Paul Ignatius served as a commissioned lieutenant in the Navy. Ignatius continued his service as Secretary of the Navy from 1967-1969 and later as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Installations and Logistics during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. The future USS Paul Ignatius is the 67th ship of the Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class and the first ship to bear his name.

Paul Ignatius, a Flight IIA ship, is the first ship in the FY2013-FY2017 multi-year procurement contract to start fabrication and is scheduled to deliver in 2018.

Upon joining the Fleet as the 67th DDG 51 class ship, she will serve as an integral player in global maritime security, engaging in air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense.

As one of the Defense Department's largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft. Currently, the majority of shipbuilding programs managed by PEO Ships are benefiting from serial production efficiencies, which are critical to delivering ships on cost and schedule.

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