Shipbuilding

Newest LCS suffers fire at sea, damage “minor”

By Christopher P. Cavas in Acquisition, Navy, Shipbuilding

The Coronado seen in January 2012 at the time of its christening ceremonies. (Austal USA photo)

Fire broke out aboard the littoral combat ship Coronado late Friday morning while the vessel was on its second day of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, a U.S. Navy official confirmed Saturday.

No one was injured in the accident, and early indications are that the damage was minor, the official said.

The incident happened as the ship was conducting a full power demonstration and running at high speed. Insulation on the starboard diesel exhaust first smoldered, then ignited but, according to the official, the flames were “extinguished immediately.”

Shortly after, the lagging on the port diesel exhaust repeated the sequence and again, the flames were immediately put out.

Running on its gas turbines, the Coronado returned to the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile,Alabama late Friday night to begin the incident assessment by representatives from the Navy, Austal USA, diesel builder MTU and others.

Initial expectations were that the incident would not trigger a major delay in the ship’s sea trials or completion. More

How Big Would DoD Budget be Under Sequestration? Historically Big, It Turns Out.

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, International, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Operations, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: ,

How big would the U.S. defense budget be if sequestration happens? Turns out, despite the sometimes-apocalyptic rhetoric, big. And how would the post-Afghanistan defense budget draw down compare to slowdowns in Pentagon spending that occurred after the Korean, Vietnam and Cold wars? Turns out, it would be smaller.

All of that is according to the work of a study group commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), released earlier today.

As the above CSIS graph shows, under sequestration, annual Pentagon spending would drop 31 percent from its 2010 peak to its sequester-era low. That compares to a 33 percent decline after Vietnam, and a 36 percent post-Cold War drop. And after the Korean war, yearly Defense Department budgets fell off by 43 percent.

That means after America’s longest war (Afghanistan) ever, Pentagon spending would undergo the smallest post-1952 draw down, according to CSIS. More

Live Blog: Senate Committee Will Grill Chuck Hagel Over Israel, Iran, Defense Cuts

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, International, Israel, Marine Corps, Navy, Operations, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: , , , ,

Former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., leaves the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after the two Vietnam War veterans met Jan. 22. McCain and other senators will grill Hagel today about his defense secretary nomination. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Today is the day so many have been waiting for. No, it’s not Super Bowl Sunday. Yet. Rather, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about his nomination to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary.

Since Hagel’s name was floated for the post in early December, Hagel has been sharply criticized by his former fellow-GOP senators and pro-Israel groups for his past comments on the U.S.-Israel alliance, whether the Pentagon budget can and should be trimmed, how to confront Iran over its nuclear arms program, gay rights and the proper size of the U.S. nuclear arms fleet. Expect questions on all those topics. Another likely line of questioning could come from Republicans about allegations that Hagel is hard on staffers.

In answers to written policy questions provided to the panel this week, Hagel largely tried to align himself with the views of President Barack Obama. For instance, he took the same tone as Panetta, saying pending defense sequestration cuts would undermine U.S. military power. Defense News senior reporters John T. Bennett and Marcus Weisgerber will be here throughout the hearing — yes, including on a possible second day — live blogging the action. Please check back early and often for updates.

5:49 p.m. — Sen. Levin gavels this epic hearing to a close. Thanks for stopping by. ANALYSIS: Not a dominating performance by Hagel. He labored a bit, and seemed to contradict himself at times. Doubt he lost any Democratic support, however. — John T. Bennett

5:42 p.m. — Sen. Cruz calls Hagel “the most antagonistic” member in Senate (ever?) against Israel, and most unwilling (ever?) to confront Iran. Levin asks Cruz to submit any remaining questions for the record, but never looked directly at Cruz, instead icily gazing straight ahead. There’s tension there.  – John T. Bennett

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Trapped U.S. Navy Minesweeper To Be Broken Up

By Christopher P. Cavas in International, Navy, Operations, Shipbuilding

 

U.S. Navy salvors remove equipment from the grounded USS GUARDIAN in the Sulu Sea on Jan. 26. Fiberglass sheathing has come off the port side, revealing the minesweeper’s wooden hull. The destroyer USS MUSTIN stands by at left. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelby Sanders)

 

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

Caught between the jagged coral of an ocean reef and Filipino environmental and political concerns, the U.S. Navy says it will cut up the trapped USS Guardian and take it away piece by piece.

“Our only supportable option is to dismantle the damaged ship and remove it in sections,” Capt. Darryn James, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Jan. 29.

The decision, James said, keeps salvage equipment in deeper water and minimizes further damage to the coral reef.

The salvage plan, he said, aims to “safely remove individual sections of the ship without causing the release of harmful materials.”

Earlier, Rear Adm. Tom Carney, commander of the salvage effort, said the ship was too badly damaged for salvors to tow her off the reef.

Two heavy lift ship-borne cranes are en route to the scene of the grounding in the western Philippines, and should arrive about Feb.1, James said. The dismantling operation is expected to take more than a month to complete.

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Another Top House Republican Says Sequestration Cuts Are a Done Deal

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: ,

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Sequestration is going to happen. At least that’s what yet another Republican U.S. House leader says.

“I think the sequester is going to happen,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.,  said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” More

Topping Off a Carrier: GERALD R FORD (CVN 78) Island Landing (pictorial)

By Christopher P. Cavas in Acquisition, Navy, Shipbuilding

 

Building a full-sized, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is one of mankind’s most complex achievements, and there’s only one place in the world that does it: Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. The first ship of an entirely new class of carriers, the GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78), is building at the yard, and on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, shipbuilders performed one of the more visually significant moves during the ship’s construction — that of moving the pre-fabricated island superstructure onto the flight deck.  More

Mighty ZUMWALT Is Coming Together

By Christopher P. Cavas in Acquisition, Navy, Shipbuilding

One of the most striking warships ever built is coming together in the little coastal town of Bath, Maine. The major components of the 610-foot-long ZUMWALT (DDG 1000) — a “destroyer” in name only — have been assembled this winter at the General Dynamics shipyard of Bath Iron Works, and the ship’s stark, tumblehome hull and superstructure is now together. These views were taken on Jan. 15, 2013, shortly after the deckhouse – built at Huntington Ingalls in Gulfport, Miss. — was lowered onto the hull.

The ZUMWALT will displace more than 15,600 tons full load, bigger than most World War II heavy cruisers. Eighty feet wide with a draft of more than 27 feet, the ship’s turbine generators will produce 78 megawatts of power, one of the largest electrical loads ever put to sea. The ship’s integrated power system will allow much of that power to be directed as needed, perhaps to future laser or directed energy weapons.   More

Biggest pieces of ZUMWALT (DDG 1000) come together in the night (updated w/timelapse video)

By Christopher P. Cavas in Acquisition, Industry, Intercepts, Navy, Shipbuilding

Four cranes -- two of the shipyard's 300-ton capacity units and two additional 400-ton cranes from Reed & Reed, a nearby construction company -- lifting the deckhouse about 95 feet off the floor of the Land Level Transfer Facility.

The 15,000-ton, 610-foot long ZUMWALT (DDG 1000) is the biggest destroyer ever built — larger, even, than most cruisers. Construction of the ship is about 80 percent complete in Bath, Maine, at the Bath Iron Works shipyard of General Dynamics.

Friday night, Dec. 14, shipyard workers carried out a remarkable evolution, lifting the 1,000-ton deckhouse 95 feet into the air, then sliding the ZUMWALT’s hull into position below the structure. Four cranes then lowered the deckhouse onto the hull, sealed the deal, then rolled the hull back into its building position.

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