THE SEA SERVICES: LHD Iwo Jima Commissioned In Pensacola Ceremonies

By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor

The seventh Wasp-class amphibious assault ship--built by Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipbuilding--has been placed in commission in the Atlantic Fleet. The event marked the culmination of a long-sought Navy goal of achieving a force level of 12 "big-deck" amphibious assault ships as centerpieces of the Navy's 12 amphibious ready groups.

USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) was brought to life before a crowd of 11,000 people at ceremonies in Pensacola, Fla., at the command of her sponsor, Zandra M. Krulak, wife of former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Charles C. Krulak. Gen. Michael J. Williams, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, was the principal speaker at the commissioning ceremonies, in which Secretary of the Navy Gordon England placed the 40,500-ton ship in commission.

"The photograph of the Marines raising the flag at Suribachi has become the icon of the United States Marine Corps," Williams said. "This ship also represents the courage of those Marines, and there will be a time when the Marines aboard this ship will go into combat again."

"Today, we pay homage to the courage, sacrifice, and uncommon valor for those who fought for freedom in World War II and kept it on the sands of Iwo Jima," England said. "We also honor the men and women who will sail in this ship while continuing this fight for freedom."

"Some speak of reducing our Navy to a 300-ship fleet," said Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.), another of the principal speakers. "If we want to continue sending our number one export across the world--which is freedom--we must reverse that trend. We need to build more ships and we need to export freedom across the globe. Today the men and women of Iwo Jima will begin to do just that."

Also participating in the 30 June ceremonies were Vice Adm. Alfred G. Harms Jr., chief of naval education and training; Rear Adm. John B. Foley III, commander, Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; Maj. Gen. William A. Whitlow, director of expeditionary warfare in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Adm. James K. Moran, commander, Amphibious Group Two; Rear Adm. Dennis G. Morral, program executive officer for expeditionary warfare; Capt. Philip N. Johnson, supervisor of shipbuilding, conversion, and repair at Pascagoula; Pensacola Mayor John Fogg; and Jerry St. Pé, CEO of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

Capt. John T. Nawrocki is the commanding officer of the 844-foot-long LHD, which is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The Iwo Jima is the second ship named for the 1945 WWII battle; the first Iwo Jima (LPH 2)--decommissioned in 1993--was lead ship of the first "built-from-the-keel-up" class of amphibious assault ships.

In a related development, the Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded $81.3 million for continuation of work on the eighth Wasp-class LHD, for a total of $880 million awarded to date for the ship. Ingalls Shipbuilding expects that a contract for full construction of the LHD--which, unlike her steam-powered sister ships, will be powered by gas turbine engines--will be awarded in 2002.

USCG PSUs Return from Gulf; IBU Replacements Activated

A composite Coast Guard port security unit (PSU) has returned from a six-month deployment to Southwest Asia in support of the U.S. Central Command. As a replacement, the Navy has activated a reserve Inshore Boat Unit (IBU) for deployment to the region.

Port Security Detachment Charlie --which included 46 members drawn from PSU 307 from St. Petersburg, Fla., and PSU 309 from Clinton, Ohio--was called to active duty in February 2001 by a Presidential Selective Recall order in an effort to provide increased security for naval units deployed to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in Southwest Asia. Detachment Charlie was the third and final PSU detachment called up in response to the requirement for greater force protection issued in the wake of the terrorist bombing last year of the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Cole. A total of 104 Coastguardsmen deployed over the six-month period, at a cost of about $4 million.

"Detachment Charlie conducted intercepts to keep unauthorized vessels clear of established security zones and escorted U.S. and coalition ships into and out of port," the Coast Guard said.

The PSU commitment ended when the Coast Guard could no longer absorb the cost of further PSU deployments "without degrading our other vital mission areas, which are already operating at reduced levels due to budgetary constraints," a Coast Guard spokesman said.

A presidential order activated the Navy's IBU 13 at Camp Pendleton, Calif., for deployment in Southwest Asia for up to 270 days to continue the force-protection measures now in place for the U.S. Central Command. The 47 members of the unit and their rigid inflatable boats already have deployed to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.

Coast Guard Starts Upgrades of HU-25 and HH-65 Aircraft

Upgrades now being integrated into two of the Coast Guard's principal aircraft are expected to improve their operational performance and to lengthen their service lives. The enhancements require new series designations for the HU-25 Guardian medium-range patrol aircraft and the HH-65 Dolphin short-range rescue helicopter.

Some HH-65As already are receiving the CDU-900G control display unit and the MFD-255 multifunction display unit in the cockpit and are being redesignated HH-65Bs. Other Dolphins will receive the Full-Authority Digital Engine control next year and will be redesignated HH-65Cs.

Nine HU-25Cs that are being used to intercept drug-running aircraft will be upgraded to the HU-25C+ configuration. The upgrade to the aircraft's APG-66 radar will provide a sharper video, greater detection range, fewer false targets, a lower failure rate, and reduced size and weight, according to Cdr. Vince Sedwick, USCG, in an article for Wings of Gold, official publication of the Association of Naval Aviation. The aircraft's new infrared system will offer improved detection range, a full-travel zoom capability, and a sharper video. An electro-optical sensor, new to the Guardian, not only will provide "wide-angle search, detection, classification, and identification of contacts during the day," Sedwick said, "but also will provide some low-light capabilities."

The HU-25C+ also will feature the Tactical Work Station (TWS), which the aircraft's surveillance sensor operator will use to operate the radar, infrared sensor, and electro-optical sensor, and to view geographic locations search patterns and to automatically transmit contact reports. The TWS is based on the Navy's OASIS software.

The Coast Guard plans to base all nine HU-25C+ aircraft at Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS) Miami, Fla.; the last of the nine is scheduled to report by mid-2002.

Six HU-25As are being redesignated HU-25Ds with the installation of the new infrared and electro-optical sensors and TWS as in the HU-25C+. The major difference is that the HU-25A's APS-127 surface-search radar will be replaced by the APS-143(V) imaging inverse synthetic-aperture radar, which can track 30 contacts simultaneously and identify ships by type. The first four HU-25Ds will be stationed at CGAS Borinquen, Puerto Rico, by the beginning of 2002; the last two are slated for CGAS Miami.

The HU-25 upgrades are expected to enable the aircraft to detect and classify targets at much greater ranges and from much higher altitudes, and thus enhance covertness, improve fuel economy, and reduce the airframe corrosion caused by low-level passes over sea water.

DOD: Records Falsification No Factor in V-22 Mishaps

The Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) has determined that some maintenance records in the Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey training squadron were falsified, and Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones has referred the findings to Lt. Gen. Raymond P. Ayres, commanding general, Marine Forces Atlantic, for further review and action that he deems appropriate.

Although the IG found evidence of records falsification, the alleged falsifications were limited to a 23-day period between 20 December 2000 and 11 January 2001, and thus had "no connection" to the two MV-22B mishaps last year in which 23 Marines were killed, Marine Corps officials said.

During the investigation of Marine Medium Tilt-Rotor Training Squadron 204, the IG conducted 700 interviews and examined thousands of maintenance documents and more than 200,000 e-mail messages.*

The turboprop engines of the Navy EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China, on 1 April--after a collision with a Chinese fighter--await loading inside a Russian AN-124 transport aircraft. The EP-3E was disassembled by Lockheed Martin technicians and the various sections flown out to the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Ga. The aircraft will be inspected and the extent of repairs needed will be determined before further action is taken. The Department of Defense has allocated $45 million for repair of the EP-3E or for conversion of another P-3 to the EP-3E configuration, as determined by the Navy. The Navy has identified an NP-3D aircraft that would be used as a donor aircraft for the wings and the tail section to return the damaged EP-3E to service. The restored EP-3E then would fly to the Raytheon facility in Waco, Texas, for other repairs and an upgrade of its mission systems. Note: A Department of State official has said that the United States has no intention of paying the $1 million bill submitted by the Chinese government for the three months that the aircraft remained at Lingshui airfield; the official said, though, that the United States will reimburse the Chinese government for any "reasonable costs" incurred by hosting the recovery team.

The first prototype of the SHARP (Shared Reconnaissance Pod) is shown here mounted on the centerline station of an F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter flying from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Nine test flights were flown to verify the aircraft's engine operability, inlet compatibility, and flying qualities with the pod installed. The pod--built by Raytheon Technical Services Company with sensors provided by Recon/Optical Inc.--will replace the TARPS (Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System) installed on the Navy's F-14 Tomcat when the F/A-18 replaces the Tomcat in the fleet. A "critical design review" of the SHARP program was completed in June; a Navy program review is scheduled for November. First deployment of the SHARP is scheduled for a Super Hornet squadron that will deploy on board the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in mid-2003.

The AQS-22 low-frequency dipping sonar--designed to detect and track submarines in both deep and littoral water--has been successfully integrated into one of the prototype SH-60R Seahawk helicopters by a Navy/Lockheed Martin team at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The flight tests concluded with successful deepwater dipping trials under high-sea-state conditions in the Atlantic. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., the prime contractor for the SH-60R, is integrating the avionics and weapon systems into the Sikorsky-built SH-60R, including installation of the H-60 Common Cockpit--which also is being installed on the MH-60S helicopter. The Navy said it is reconsidering its plan to remanufacture 243 SH-60B and SH-60F Seahawks into SH-60Rs and instead may order new SH-60R airframes.