General Dynamics Selected to Modernize
Coast Guard Distress Response System

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

General Dynamics Decisions Systems has been awarded a $611 million Coast Guard contract to modernize the service's 30-year-old search-and-rescue communications system.

The new National Distress and Response System--dubbed "Rescue 21"--is designed to "greatly improve the Coast Guard's ability to detect mayday calls from boaters, pinpoint the location of the source, and coordinate rescue operations along the 95,000-mile U.S. coastline and interior waterways," company officials said.

Rescue 21 will be a radio communications system that will cover the U.S. coastline out to 20 miles offshore, including the Great Lakes and interior waterways. Distress calls from an estimated 14 percent of the 20-mile zone currently cannot be heard; Rescue 21 is expected to reduce the gaps to less than two percent. The new system will enable the Coast Guard to pinpoint the location of a mariner in distress, identify the closest rescue vessel, and dispatch assistance much faster than it is now capable of doing.

The Rescue 21 system will encompass approximately 270 facilities, more than 300 radio towers, new communications electronics on 657 Coast Guard vessels, and 3,000 portable radios, company officials said. The radios now used by boaters will be able to communicate with the system. Rescue 21 will be field-tested in the Atlantic City, N.J., area and along the Eastern Shore region of Maryland. Subsequent expansion will include St. Petersburg, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; Seattle, Wash.; and Port Angeles, Wash. The entire system is expected to be operational by 30 September 2006.

"The General Dynamics proposal was evaluated as providing the best overall value to the government that met all of our requirements," said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins.

"The new system will take the 'search' out of search and rescue and help the Coast Guard save lives," said Mark Fried, president of General Dynamics Decision Systems.

Teamed with General Dynamics Decision Systems on Rescue 21 are Motorola Inc.; CACI International; Fuentez Systems Concepts; BAE Systems; Integrated Defense Solutions Inc.; Communications Services Inc.; L&E Associates; and American Nucleonics.

Multiyear Destroyer Contract Awarded to BIW, NGSS

The Navy has committed to the procurement of 10 more DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) with the award of multiyear contracts worth more than $5.1 billion to the Bath Iron Works (BIW) of General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS).
The NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) contract award reflects the agreement reached earlier this year between the Navy and the two shipbuilders on the reallocation of ship production in order to improve efficiency and to reduce the costs of shipbuilding. Production of all LPD 17 San Antonio-class landing platform dock ships was assumed by NGSS under the agreement, and more DDGs were allocated to BIW.

NAVSEA awarded BIW $3.17 billion for the construction of six DDGs, one each in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, and two each in FYs 2004 and 2005. NGSS was awarded a $1.9 billon contract for four DDGs, one each in FYs 2002 through 2005.

"The award of the DDG 51 multiyear contract ... is not only a significant milestone for one of the Navy's most successful acquisition programs, but also the cornerstone for the completion of the DDG 51 and LPD 17 workload exchange agreement," said Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England. "The DDG multiyear contract and the workload exchange agreement will save the taxpayers more than $500 million through the life of these two programs and provide for increased workload stability at the Bath, Ingalls, and Avondale shipyards."

Raytheon Missiles Delivers First Production ESSM

The first production-line RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) has been delivered to the Navy by the Raytheon Company.
The ESSM is an upgrade of the RIM-7 NATO SeaSparrow ship self-defense missile, the most widely deployed ship-defense missile in the world. The new missile will be installed on the warships of 10 navies participating in the ESSM program and is being considered for installation by at least six other navies.
"ESSM provides improved ship self-defense capabilities against faster, lower, smaller, and more maneuverable antiship missile threats as well as increased firepower," said Capt. Ken Graber, the Navy's program manager for the NATO SeaSparrow.

The ESSM program is managed by the NATO SeaSparrow Consortium, whose participants include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey, and the United States.

Raytheon's Missile Systems unit leads a team of 18 companies from the 10 nations participating in the ESSM development program.
The ESSM is scheduled to enter the final phase of testing in early Spring 2003, when its performance with the Aegis combat system on board the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer will be evaluated.

Raytheon's Tactical Tomahawk Approved for Low-Rate Production

Raytheon's Missile Systems unit has been awarded a $36 million Naval Air Systems Command contract to begin low-rate initial production of the Block IV version of the proven Tomahawk cruise missile. The Navy has ordered 25 of the new missiles--known as Tactical Tomahawks.

The Tactical Tomahawk--scheduled for fleet introduction in 2004--features several enhancements, including mission planning onboard the launch platform; in-flight retargeting, loiter, and battle-damage assessment capabilities; and the ability to transmit in-flight status reports.

The first test flight of the Tactical Tomahawk was completed in August 2002.

New Northrop Grumman Sonar Delivered to Navy HM Squadrons

The Naval Sea Systems Command is delivering a new minehunting sonar system--developed by Northrop Grumman--to the Navy's helicopter mine-countermeasures (HM) squadrons. The AQS-14A(V1)--an enhancement of the AQS-14A--will be deployed from MH-53E mine-hunting helicopters to locate and identify sea mines.

HM-14, based at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., is the first squadron to receive the AQS-14A(V1), a side-looking sonar system towed by an electromechanical cable. The system's high-power sold-state technology provides high-resolution imagery to locate possible mines--which the operator on board the helicopter will be able to view through a monitor in real time.

The new system also includes a laser electro-optical mine-identification upgrade that enhances the ability of the operator to identify mines. The close-range resolution provided by the side-scan sonar is four times that provided by earlier versions of the system; the long-range resolution is twice that of earlier versions.

The AQS-14(V1) will "significantly reduce [the] time needed to identify and clear minefields and increase the speed and safety of mine-clearance operations," Navy officials said. "The ability to positively identify mines will reduce the number and length of dives by explosive-ordnance disposal divers [that otherwise would be required]."

Defense Industry Notes

* Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation has been awarded a $1.5 billion five-year contract from the Army Aviation and Missile Command for the manufacture of H-60 helicopters and for related support services and equipment. The contract includes provisions for the production of 82 MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters for the Navy.

* Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems_Marine Systems has been awarded a $6.5 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract to upgrade the Mk41 Vertical Launching Systems installed on the newest 22 of the Navy's 27 Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers. The contract--awarded as part of the Navy's Cruiser Conversion Program--calls for conversion of the Mk41s to accommodate the Mk25 quad-pack canister developed by United Defense LP; the quad-pack will be able to house four RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles in a single cell.

* Boeing has been awarded a $510.7 million Naval Air Systems Command contract to study, design, develop, and implement mission enhancements to embedded avionics in the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter and its ground-based mission planning and debriefing systems.

* The National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO)--a General Dynamics company--has delivered the strategic sealift ship USNS Soderman (T-AKR 317) to the Military Sealift Command. The delivery followed completion of Integrated Trials--a combination of builder's trials, Navy acceptance trials, and Coast Guard regulatory inspections. The 950-foot-long Soderman--the eighth and last Watson-class LMSR (large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship) built by NASSCO--is designed to preposition Army equipment and supplies near overseas areas of potential crisis. "Delivery of the Soderman concludes a very successful long-term contract for the Navy," said NASSCO President Richard Vortmann. "All eight strategic sealift ships were completed prior to contract delivery dates and delivered below their target cost at an unprecedented level of quality."

* Northrop Grumman Ship Systems has started work on the Mesa Verde--third of the Navy's San Antonio-class landing platform dock ships (LPDs)--at its Ingalls Operations shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Work on the ship started last year at Bath Iron Works--a General Dynamics company--in Maine, but completion of construction was traded to NGSS under an agreement with General Dynamics and the Navy. The Mesa Verde is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2006. Construction of San Antonio, the lead ship in the class, is now more than 50 percent complete. The keel of the second ship, New Orleans, was laid in October 2002.

* Northrop Grumman has rolled out the first full production model of the RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) at its facility in San Diego, Calif., and has shipped it to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., to join the prototypes in the aircraft's test program.

* Former Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze has authenticated the keel of the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer (DDG) that will be named in his honor. Nitze's initials were welded onto a steel plate that will be installed on DDG 94 prior to her christening, which is scheduled for March 2004 at the Bath Iron Works yard in Bath, Maine.

* Flight testing has resumed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of the CV-22B Osprey, the Air Force's special operations version of the Marine Corps' MV-22B. In an earlier related development, Osprey No. 21--the first of five low-rate initial production Marine Corps MV-22Bs scheduled to be used in the aircraft's flight test program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.--made its first flight at the Bell Tiltrotor Assembly Center in Amarillo, Texas.

* Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems has completed the second taxi test of the X-47A Pegasus experimental unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The test--carried out at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.--was designed to demonstrate integrated navigation and control, as well as steering performance.

* Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems has awarded a subcontract to Vought Aircraft Industries and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) for the fabrication of enhanced wings for the RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude long-range unmanned aerial vehicle. The enhanced wings will enable the Global Hawk to accommodate larger payloads while maintaining current performance specifications. Delivery of the two enhanced prototype wings built under the contract is scheduled for 2004.

* Boeing has been awarded a $137.7 million Naval Air Systems Command contract modification to provide contractor logistics support for the Navy's T-45 Training System through September 2003. *

The World's Most Accurate Medium-Caliber Combat System

Mk46 Weapon Station Makes the Grade With Marine Corps

By HUNTER KEETER
Hunter Keeter is a reporter for Defense Daily.

The General Dynamics-built Mk46 weapon station--now in development for installation on Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAAVs) and San Antonio-class (LPD 17) landing platform dock ships--has done well in recent tests and is now attracting interest from U.S. allies overseas, according to program officials.

The weapon station, designed to accommodate the Mk44 30mm/40mm gun built by ATK Ordnance and Gun Systems, is being developed in two variants: Mod 0 for installation on the AAAV and other vehicles that can maneuver both in the littorals and on land; and Mod 1 for installation on amphibious ships and other surface combatants. The two variants are largely common in design.

Field-testing of the Mk46 on an AAAV PDR (program definition and risk reduction) vehicle prototype was carried out earlier this year (15-31 May) at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Md.). According to the government report on the system's performance, the Mk46 weapon satisfactorily demonstrated its accuracy and lethality against small targets at both 1,500 meters and 2,000 meters. "I am supremely confident that ... [it] will continue to be demonstrated as the most accurate medium-caliber combat system in the world," Lt. Col. Darrin Johnson, the Marine Corps' Mk46 program manager, told Sea Power.

The Mk46 design has now been largely stabilized, Johnson said, and ongoing technology development efforts--including refinement of the electro-optical targeting system--are fine-tuning the system for various applications. Johnson's confidence in the Mk46 is shared by other government officials--and at General Dynamics, which hopes to offer the weapon station to a large market of other potential customers, both in the United States and overseas. The Mk44 gun (developed by Boeing before that firm sold its gun business to ATK last year) is used by, among others, the Finnish, Norwegian, and Swiss armies.

The Mk46 system, already selected by the U.S. Navy for installation on the LPD 17 amphibious ships being built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, could attract additional customers, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the burgeoning coastal forces of Japan and South Korea. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded its Deepwater modernization contract last year to a team led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The contract calls for the development and construction of a large number of new cutters, many of which could be armed with weapon stations such as the Mk46.

The Japanese and South Korean navies also are interested in the Mk46 system. South Korea's Marine Corps now uses the same United Defense AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicle fielded by the U.S. Marine Corps, and undoubtedly would welcome the opportunity both to upgrade to the AAAV and to procure an advanced weapon system common to both land vehicles and amphibious ships.

The Japanese are acquiring Aegis AAW (anti-air warfare) combat systems for their own Aegis ships, and are monitoring the U.S. Navy's plans to evaluate the Mk46 for installation on its Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyers (DDGs). The U.S. Navy's Aegis DDGs currently are armed with United Defense's five-inch guns and Raytheon's 20mm close-in weapon systems.

Last year, General Dynamics--which also serves as prime contractor for the AAAV--offered the Mk46 to Britain for the Royal Navy's Type 41 ships, but the weapon system was not selected for consideration, primarily because of what were described as "contracting issues." The firm also has met with Spanish shipbuilder Bazan about installing the Mk46 on Spanish Navy ships.

The U.S. Army is another potential domestic customer. Johnson said that the Army's Close Combat Armament Center has recommended that the Mk44 30mm gun be considered for use in Block 1 of the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) medium-caliber variant. Boeing and the Science Applications International Corporation are the Army's lead systems integrators for the FCS, which is envisioned as a family of deployable combat vehicles tailored to meet the service's requirements for a "transformed" land combat force.

A Marine Corps threat assessment study has determined that 30mm rounds would have the lethality needed to defeat current threats. However, the Mk46 system and its Mk44 gun are designed to be easily upgraded, as technology advances, to 40mm and "Supershot" ammunition. The 40mm upgrade for the Mk44 would require a change of barrel and modifying sections of the weapon's ammunition feed mechanism.

The 30mm ammunition used by the Mk44 is the same ammunition, Johnson noted, bought in large quantities by the Air Force for the GAU-8 cannon mounted on the Air Force's A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, and therefore could be acquired inexpensively for training purposes by the Marine Corps and Army.

Several types of advanced ammunition--including Supershot, armor-piercing sabot rounds, and anti-personnel air-bursting rounds--are being developed for the 40mm application.

The Mod 1 shipboard variant of the Mk46--being developed for delivery to the Navy as CFE (contractor-furnished equipment) for the LPD 17s--also is moving along on schedule, General Dynamics said. According to Ronald Cole, GD's Mk46 program manager, the technology challenges associated with LPD 17 installation are not as great as those involved in the development of a stabilized system for use with the AAAV, particularly with regard to the Mk46 fire control system.

In August 2000, the Mk46 was fitted aboard a patrol boat, PB-777, for a number of waterborne live-fire "events" in the Chesapeake Bay. Additional tests, scheduled to be completed in early November, also were planned--to determine if a new remote operator's console would be able to control the weapon for stability and lethality against small moving targets such as robot jet skis.

The Mk44 30mm and 40mm variants of the system are scheduled to be tested later in November at Aberdeen Proving Ground with a variety of ammunition.
PDR AAAV prototypes are scheduled to be used early next year--both in the water and on land, at ranges on the West and East Coasts--for further evaluation of the Mk46 system's performance "throughout the operational profile of the AAAV." *