An Eclectic Overview of Selected Navy Programs

By SCOTT C. TRUVER

Dr. Truver is the vice president for national security studies at the Anteon Corporation. Research assistance for this article was provided by Ryan Gillis, Edward O'Connor, and Nicole Raymond of Anteon's Center for Security Strategies and Operations.

CG-47 Ticonderoga-Class Guided-Missile Cruiser Conversion Program

The first of the Navy's Aegis guided-missile cruisers reached the fleet in 1983, and a total of 27 ships in the class were built by Bath Iron Works (General Dynamics) and Ingalls Shipbuilding (Northrop Grumman). Twenty-two of these multimission guided-missile cruisers are outfitted with the Mk41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), giving them a significant Tomahawk land-attack capability in addition to their anti-air warfare (AAW) systems­­the SPY-1A/B multifunction phased-array radar and Aegis weapon system, built by Lockheed Martin, and the Standard SM-2 AAW missile, built by Raytheon­­and antisubmarine and antisurface warfare capabilities.

Although studies in the late 1980s indicated that the Navy would ultimately have to counter theater-wide tactical ballistic missiles, in addition to manned aircraft and cruise missiles, it was not until the Persian Gulf War that this threat to U.S. and friendly forces was unambiguously underscored. Since then, the Navy has embarked on ambitious area- and theater-wide ballistic missile defense (TBMD) programs, which may ultimately be a ship-based element of the Bush administration's ballistic missile defense posture.

Developing this system, however, will require a focused conversion program that will include, in addition to TBMD modifications, the upgraded 5-inch/62-caliber gun (United Defense), the ability to launch the future Land-Attack Standard Missile (LASM) and Advanced Land-Attack Missile (ALAM) if funded, and mid-life combat system and command-and-control upgrades for the 22 VLS-capable cruisers.

These 22 Aegis warships are planned for conversion beginning in 2004. Although a congressionally supported Aegis Baseline 1 (non-VLS ships) study has indicated that a conversion program for the first five ships in the Ticonderoga class is technically feasible, expanding the program beyond the VLS cruisers has not been considered to be affordable. Even if not all 27 cruisers are included in the conversion program, the prospect has raised some thorny force-structure and operational-employment concerns, particularly if overall surface warship forces remain constrained--by the 2001 transformation and Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) analyses--at no more than the 116-ship total previously postulated.

Navy planners worry that the 22 (or 27) TBMD-capable cruisers may eventually be considered "strategic assets" as part of an overall Defense Department Global (Naval) Missile Defense posture. If so, the possibility exists that these 22 (or 27) warships could, in effect, be removed from the U.S. general-purpose naval force structure, thus increasing the likelihood that additional routine commitments may go unfulfilled and that there would be insufficient assets to respond to emerging crises. Ultimately, a much more robust and extensive new-construction program for Zumwalt-class (DD 21) destroyers and future surface warships would be needed, unless peacetime and crisis-response strategies are radically altered, as may well be the case in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks.

DD 21 Zumwalt-Class Multimission Destroyer

"While the objectives of the DD 21 program remain valid, it is prudent to afford the Department of the Navy an opportunity to consider if a change in program strategy is warranted based upon the outcome of the respective defense strategy studies," wrote Robert B. Pirie Jr., the acting secretary of the Navy, in a 31 May 2001 letter. "Consequently, I request that you hold completion of the DD 21 source selection in abeyance, pending the results of these reviews."

The DD 21 multimission destroyer program thus hit a snag, although senior Navy officials have said that they think they will be allowed to proceed with the program's source-selection phase later this year. The program of record calls for the building of 32 DD 21s at an average rate of three ships per year following lead-ship award to one of two industry teams: the Blue Team, led by Bath Iron Works and Lockheed Martin; or the Gold Team, composed of Northrop Grumman's Ingalls Shipbuilding and Raytheon.

A key mission for this first U.S. warship designed "from the keel up to meet post-Cold War requirements and strategic concepts" will be the direct support of joint-service requirements in littoral regions, both to assure access and to project offensive and defensive power over land at great distances. While land-attack warfare has been a prime driver for the DD 21 design, it is not the sole focus; indeed, the multimission aspects of the design are usually overlooked. That said, congressional sources on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in early September hinted that DD 21 "must continue to emphasize how it will support the Marines and other land-based maneuver elements."

The ship's combat systems will include Raytheon's Tactical Tomahawk and the United Defense 155-mm Advanced Gun System. Long-range guided projectiles, LASM and ALAM, will enable DD 21 to provide "sustained, offensive, distributed, and precise firepower at long ranges to support forces ashore and to conduct independent attacks on land targets," according to program materials. Still, the HASC has reduced the Bush administration's fiscal year (FY) 2002 DD 21 funding request by $25 million.

The goal of reducing total ownership costs has been a prime focus and has led to far-reaching innovations that could impact other Navy programs. In January 2000, then-Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig directed that the DD 21 design include electric-drive and integrated-power systems. Even more radical has been the goal of a 95-person crew, which has stimulated wide-ranging human-factors-engineering and human-systems-integration initiatives, including Integrated Combat Environment (ICE) work at the Dahlgren Division of the Naval Sea System Command's Naval Surface Warfare Center (see Sea Power, September 2001).

All told, the Navy expects an in-production fifth-ship and follow-on average procurement cost of $750 million (FY 1996 dollars) per ship, with total operating costs one-third those of a traditionally crewed warship.

Preliminary successes in "optimal manning" of the DD 21 have stimulated a focused effort to reduce, by as many as 100 people each, the size of the crews on the 57 Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyers now in the fleet, under construction, and/or in the future shipbuilding program--(the HASC approved $3 billion for three Burke-class DDGs in FY 2002). The goal is not just to reduce crew size, but to take a "human-centered" approach to the duties that must be performed on board ship and to see how best­­effectively and efficiently­­to perform them.

"It is not just a question of throwing technologies into the ships or to taking people off," one Navy official noted, "We must address the total-ship requirements­­policies, procedures, training, watchbills, and the like­­so as not to overload even more those crewmembers who remain on board after we're done."

LHD 1 Wasp-Class Amphibious Assault Ship

The Navy's eight modern amphibious assault ships (LHDs), with a projected price tag of $1.8 billion per ship, form the backbone of the nation's naval expeditionary maneuver warfare forces. Each of the ships, built by Northrop Grumman's Ingalls Shipbuilding, carries 1,877 troops (surge), has 125,000 cubic feet for cargo and 20,900 square feet for vehicles, and boasts medical facilities that include six operating rooms, an intensive-care unit, and a 47-bed ward. The Wasp-class LHDs can operate fixed-wing V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft, helicopters, the MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft, and both air-cushioned and conventional landing craft.

Seven ships in the class have been delivered so far. Congress authorized and appropriated advanced funding in 2000 and 2001 for LHD 8, which is expected to be delivered in 2007.

With the HASC approving $267.2 million in FY 2002 for what amounts to incremental funding, LHD 8 will be the first U.S. amphibious assault ship to incorporate gas-turbine propulsion. (The Royal Navy uses gas turbines in its Albion-class amphibious ships.)

The Navy is reviewing other design changes, including enlarging the ship's hull. In other respects, LHD 8 will be a modified-repeat of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) except for "fact-of-life" changes necessary because some legacy systems are not available.

The Navy also is taking advantage of several "not-invented-here" technologies and systems--including the various "Smart Ship" initiatives pioneered in the Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers and the DD 21 optimal-manning innovations--to modernize LHD 8, increase its operational capabilities, reduce manning, and lower expected total-ownership costs.

These initiatives may be critical as the Navy addresses the requirements for and capabilities of its next-generation LHA-Replacement­­LHA(R)­­ships. The five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) amphibious ships commissioned between 1976 and 1980 are reaching the ends of their service lives­­originally projected at 20 years. Mid-life upgrades pushed their service lives out to 35 years, but no additional increases are envisioned. The Navy concluded that a proposed service-life extension program was technologically not feasible and simply unaffordable.

Accordingly, an LHA(R) analysis of alternatives is getting under way, focusing on a modified-repeat of the LHD 8 design, a more-extensively modified LHD, and a completely new design­­all taking advantage of the technologies and optimal-manning advances pursued by the Zumwalt-class destroyer program as well as new C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and information) systems earmarked for the next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVNX).

LPD 17 San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock

"Without LPD 17," said Maj. Gen. William A. Whitlow, director of the Expeditionary Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, "we will not sustain even the current fiscally constrained expeditionary lift of just 2.5 MEB [Marine Expeditionary Brigade] equivalents.

"Regardless of the warfighting strategies coming out of the transformation and QDR assessments," he continued, "we will need 3.0 MEB-lift to carry out the full range of missions anticipated in the 21st century. Unless we move out smartly on LPD 17, we risk atrophying to 2.1 MEB, if not worse."

Current Navy plans call for 12 ships of the LPD 17 class to be built by the Avondale Alliance, comprising Northrop Grumman's Litton Avondale Industries, Bath Iron Works, Raytheon, and Intergraph. The San Antonio-class design calls for a medium-sized ship, 684 feet in length, with a beam of 105 feet, a maximum displacement of 25,000 long tons, and a crew of approximately 360. Four turbocharged diesels driving two shafts with controllable-pitch propellers will generate sustained speeds in excess of 22 knots.

Each LPD 17 also will have a cargo capacity of 25,000 square feet for vehicles, 36,000 cubic feet for other cargo, accommodations for 800 troops (surge), and a medical facility consisting of four operating rooms and 24 beds. The ship's well deck aft will be able to accommodate both conventional and air-cushioned assault vehicles. Aviation facilities include a hangar and flight deck for a mix of current and future aircraft, including the MV-22.

Other advanced features include reduced-signature composite-material enclosed masts, other "stealth" enhancements, leading-edge C4I and self-defense systems, improved habitability, and a Shipboard Wide-Area Network that will link shipboard systems and embarked Marine platforms in what Navy spokesmen describe as a "virtual information super-highway."

The Navy has investigated numerous ways to reduce total-ownership costs while at the same time enhancing operational effectiveness. One key design consideration has been to address human-centered design and engineering factors, as well as human-systems integration needs, to help reduce crew size while at the same time ensuring that all aspects of ship's operations are improved.

By focusing on a variety of approaches to streamline the ship's acquisition process and by taking the long "cradle-to-grave" view, the Navy estimates, some $5.2 billion will be shaved from what would have been the program's eventual cost if "business-as-usual" practices had prevailed.

Such changes have not come easy. Problems in the initial design-and-engineering phases of the program have resulted in cost increases and schedule slippage. The contract to design and build the lead ship was awarded to the Avondale-Bath Alliance in December 1996; LPD 17's keel was laid on 9 December 2000. The ship's initial delivery is now scheduled for FY 2005.

Navy program officials estimate that lead-ship delivery has slipped by about 24 months, but expect that some of that delay can be made up in later ships, as learning-curve efficiencies are realized. All 12 ships have been budgeted for procurement by FY 2006; the HASC approved funding of $421.3 million in FY 2002 to acquire the fifth and sixth ships of the class.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

For many years the Navy's aviation plans have identified a P-3C Orion replacement, the Multimission Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MMA), but fiscal austerity has caused the MMA program to be slipped to the right on an almost annual basis.

The Navy completed its MMA Requirements and Technical and Economic Feasibility analyses in 1999, establishing the need for an advanced land-based, long-range, high-endurance maritime patrol aircraft. Since then, an independent Analysis of Alternatives, begun in FY 2000, studied all production possibilities considered to be technologically and economically feasible. The final analysis is focused on three alternatives: (1) a derivative of an existing commercial aircraft; (2) a new-production P-3; and (3) a derivative of an existing military aircraft.

Meanwhile, the continuing MMA slippage necessitated a program for modifying, improving, and sustaining the aging P-3C force­­numbering 12 active and seven reserve squadrons­­through the following expediencies:

* P-3C Update III Block Modification Upgrades­­Lockheed Martin, Manassas, Va., is under contract to enable all remaining Orions to use advanced sensors and processors;

* Aircraft Improvement Program (AIP)­­Lockheed Martin, Eagan, Minn., and Greenville, S.C., will provide the enhanced sensors, state-of-the-art C4ISR capabilities, the Standoff Land-Attack Missile and Maverick missile, improved survivability features, and improved electronic support measures; and

* Inventory Sustainment­­a Service-Life Assessment Program is determining what actions must be taken to extend airframe service life safely; the results of the study are expected in 2002.

Between FY 1997 and FY 2001, Congress funded 23 Block Modification Upgrade III kits, and approved the Navy's plan for 146 aircraft to receive the AIP upgrades. However, lack of funds has constrained the buy; the modification of only 62 aircraft will be under contract through FY 2002.

SSN 774 Virginia-Class Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine

Four ships of what Navy plans identify as a 30-submarine program are under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding and the General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation. If approved by the Bush administration, the proposed acquisition of Newport News by General Dynamics (GD) could result in significant design, engineering, and construction efficiencies, according to GD claims, potentially saving many hundreds of millions of dollars over the lifetime of the program. The GD claims are hotly disputed by Northrop Grumman, which also is seeking to acquire Newport News.

An innovative teaming arrangement between the nation's only nuclear-capable shipyards has construction being shared by ship section, at least for the first four submarines in the class: Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) will build the bow, stern, sail, and selected forward sections of each ship; Electric Boat (EB) will build the hull sections, engine-room modules, and command-and-control operating spaces. EB is delivering the first and third ships; NNS the second and fourth. The HASC approved $1.6 billion for SSN 777 advanced procurement in 2002.

As of August 2001, the Virginia-class status was as follows:

* Virginia (SSN 774)­­construction began in 1998; ship is 55 percent complete;

* Texas (SSN 775)­­construction began in 1999; ship is 38 percent complete; and

* Hawaii (SSN 776)­­construction began in 2001; ship is 9 percent complete.

The Virginia-class ships are designed to perform all of the Navy's open-ocean and littoral-warfare missions, but at a cost significantly less than it would be for the three Seawolf-class (SSN 21) submarines; total stealth of the Virginia-class SSNs is equal to or greater than that of the SSN 21s. The key SSN 774 missions include mining (but only if an advanced submarine-launched mine is developed) and mine reconnaissance, the insertion/extraction of special operations forces, battle group support, intelligence-collection and surveillance, sea-control (antisubmarine and antisurface warfare), and land attack.

In addition to mission flexibility, the SSN 774's modular and open-architecture design will facilitate both forward-fit and backfit of emerging technologies and systems throughout the ships' 30-year service lives. Modular design also allows construction, assembly, and testing of systems and modules at the Groton, Conn., Off-hull Assembly and Test Site prior to installation in the hull, thereby reducing costs, minimizing rework, and simplifying systems integration.

The ship's new high-power-density nuclear reactor has been designed with a life-of-ship core. The Navy also plans to introduce electric-drive and integrated-power systems into the design (in 2010), making the ship an "all-electric" submarine--the concept first postulated by Jules Verne in 1869.

A recent Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) study concluded that 18 Virginia-class submarines will be needed in the 2015 timeframe, a force structure generally considered--until the 11 September attacks--unlikely to be achieved because of constrained funding.

Acquisition of one ship per year is scheduled to continue through FY 2006; Program Review 2003 has called for production to increase to two ships per year thereafter, though, beginning in FY 2007.