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SSGN CONVERSIONS SET FOR OCTOBER START
By RICHARD R. BURGESS
"The SSGN's time has come," said Adm.
Frank L. Bowman, director of the Nuclear Propulsion Program, at the 20th
annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League in Alexandria, Va., as
he announced details of the Navy's plans to convert the first Trident
ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN), USS Ohio, into a nuclear-powered guided-missile
submarine (SSGN). The Ohio is scheduled to enter Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
in Bremerton, Wash., in October 2002 to begin her transformation into
the first Ohio-class SSGN. Three of her sister ships will go through similar
conversions to give the Navy flexible, expanded capabilities--including
some dramatically new ones--for warfighting in the 21st century.
The second SSBN of the class, USS Michigan, will be converted to the
SSGN configuration at Puget Sound beginning in fiscal 2004. The third,
USS Florida, will begin conversion at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth,
Va., in FY 2003, where she will be followed by USS Georgia in FY 2004.
The Ohio is scheduled for delivery in FY 2006. The Michigan, Florida,
and Georgia are expected to be delivered in FY 2007. Initial operational
capability of the Ohio-class SSGN is on track for 2007, Navy officials
said.
The SSGN conversion program is managed by Capt. Brian J. Wegner of the
Program Executive Office for Submarines at the Naval Sea Systems Command.
The Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office manages the Attack Weapon
System (AWS) for the SSGN.
Congress appropriated $355 million in shipbuilding and conversion funds
for the SSGN work in FY 2002, as well as $74 million for research, development,
test, and evaluation. The Senate and House Armed Services Committees both
have approved $404.3 million in FY 2003 for the conversion of the Ohio
and Florida, and $421 million for advance procurement to start conversions
of the Michigan and Georgia in FY 2004.
MAC, ATACMS, ASDS
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems was awarded a $16.6 million SSP contract
last February for a demonstration and validation of the Multiple All-Up-Round
Canister (MAC) concept to adapt 22 of the 24 Trident missile-launch tubes
on each of the four submarines to launch conventional Tomahawk land-
attack cruise missiles. The MAC would enable each launch tube to store
and launch up to seven Tomahawks, allowing each SSGN to carry up to 154
Tomahawk Block III and Tactical Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles (96
to 126 missiles when the SSGN is configured for special operations missions).
Northrop Grumman's Marine Systems unit in Sunnyvale, Calif., is teamed
with General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., for the 18-month
MAC contract. Navy officials said that a live-fire test of the MAC would
be conducted from the Florida in January 2003.
The officials said that the modular payload encapsulation already in
development with a standard interface would allow the rapid insertion
of new weapons, technologies, and equipment, including off-the-shelf joint
munitions such as the Army ATACMS (Advanced Tactical Missile System) and
Air Force miniature air-launched decoys. Northrop Grumman has proposed
a "Super Mac" to store and launch six ATACMs.
The SSGNs will retain their SSBN antiship and antisubmarine capabilities
and will be armed with Mk48 ADCAP (Advanced Capability) torpedoes. They
also will be fitted with the BPS-15J radar, the WSN-7 ring-laser gyro,
and electronic chart display units.
The SSGNs also are being modified to covertly deliver and retrieve special
operations forces (SOFs) in a littoral environment. The modifications--including
the conversion of two Trident tubes to store gear for SEALs--are designed
to allow each SSGN to deploy 66 to 102 SOF personnel. The Navy and Northrop
Grumman's Oceanic and Naval Systems are testing the 60-ton Advanced SEAL
Delivery System (ASDS), a minisubmarine designed to carry SOF personnel
to the shoreline. Each SSGN will be fitted to carry, launch, and recover
two ASDSs.
Dry-deck shelters also can be carried on the SSGNs, which will be able
to deploy with the ASDS attached or berth at an overseas port to which
the ASDS can be flown in a C-5 or C-17 transport aircraft.
The Navy plans to operate the SSGNs with alternating Blue and Gold crews
in a manner similar to that in use with the SSBN force. The use of alternating
crews will allow each SSGN--the Navy's first non-SSBNs to be manned by
two crews--to maintain a 72 percent on-station capability. The Navy has
not yet determined whether the boats will be commanded by officers with
the rank of captain or commander.
Quantum Increase in Capabilities
When operational, the four SSGNs will greatly expand the land-attack
capability already resident in the Navy's submarine force, and will replace
the dedicated SOF-insertion capability lost with the recent decommissioning
of the converted Benjamin Franklin-class
nuclear-powered attack submarines USS James K. Polk and USS Kamehameha.
Navy officials at last month's Naval Submarine League symposium said
they look forward to the conversion of the Trident missile tubes as shaking
off the "tyranny of the 21-inch torpedo tube," which heretofore
has limited the size of the conventional weapons and unmanned underwater
vehicles (UUVs) carried on board submarines. The Navy is exploring the
possibility of deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the SSGN's
missile tubes.
The 10,000-pound, 27-foot-long Seahorse UUV--designed by Pennsylvania
State University--will be deployed from a missile tube on the Florida
in a demonstration test scheduled for January 2003.
The Naval Sea Systems Command is conducting an assessment of possible
follow-on payloads for the SSGNs that could be scheduled for insertion
in the 2007-2010 time frame.
The Navy plans to operate the Ohio-class SSGNs for at least 20 years.
The submarines' reactors will be refueled during their conversion periods.
Vice Adm. John J. Grossenbacher, commander, Naval Submarine Force Atlantic,
said he views the SSGN conversion program as "a transformational
bridge to the future capabilities of the Virginia-class [nuclear-powered
attack] submarine, our submarines after Virginia, and our future Navy."
Because they reduce, from eight to four, the number of SSBNs based in
Bangor, Wash., the conversions have precipitated a change of homeport,
to Bangor, for two of the ten SSBNs based in Kings Bay, Ga. The USS Pennsylvania
departed Kings Bay for Bangor in June, and the USS Kentucky is expected
to follow in September or October. Meanwhile, the retrofit of four SSBNs
in Bangor with the UGM-133A Trident D5 missile--which is replacing the
UGM-96 Trident C4--is proceeding on schedule. The retrofit of the USS
Alaska has been completed and retrofit is under way on the USS Nevada.
Retrofit of the USS Henry M. Jackson and USS Alabama will follow. *
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