By EDWARD J. WALSH
Edward J. Walsh is the editor of Naval Systems Update. For subscriptions, write to
P.O. Box 2697, Woodbridge, Va. 22193; telephone (703) 4901151; e-mail: eswalsh@erols.com
The Navy
League's 1999 Sea-Air-Space Exposition (SAS), set to run from 30 March through 1 April at
the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., will bring together more than 130
defense companies that support the sea services, with special focus on Navy surface ship,
submarine, and aviation programs.
The largest naval and maritime exposition
in the world, the SAS is based this year on the theme "Power Up for 2000." The
exposition will attract both U.S. and international shipbuilders, prime contractors, and
systems integrators, as well as secondary suppliers and technology-development companies.
Like previous expositions, SAS 1999 also will offer an extensive program of symposia in
which senior sea-service flag and general officers will participate.
The NLUS exposition is expected to
attract thousands of visitors, including defense-industry executives, Navy acquisition and
policy decision makers, and members of Congress and staffers from the key Congressional
defense committees. Numerous representatives of foreign governments and international
companies also are expected to attend.
The SAS offers industry and government
officials a unique opportunity to discuss Navy acquisition programs and industry trends at
a time of continued uncertainty over defense procurement priorities. While the Defense
Department's fiscal year 2000 budget request provides a modest increase in procurement
funding over the level previously planned, many analysts say that the additional funds
still will not be adequate to redress the large shortfalls in funding over the past
decade.
Officials of the Navy's primary
acquisition-contracting organizations--the Naval Sea and Air Systems Commands and the
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command--will be able to seek industry input at the SAS on
such critical issues as the Navy's efforts to improve combat-systems interoperability and
the integration of commercially developed technology with tactical systems. They also will
review progress in the Navy's plans to shift responsibility for the basic design of
systems from government to industry. In June 1998, in a precedent-setting move aimed at
transferring a larger share of design work to industry, the Navy assigned shipbuilders and
systems integrators to teams for concept development work on the new DD-21 land-attack
destroyer.
The industry consolidation that has
produced dozens of new corporate entities and alliances through the 1990s continued in the
past year, as General Dynamics acquired San Diego-based National Steel and Shipbuilding
(NASSCO). Also during 1998: Titan Corp., a major provider of Navy communications systems,
purchased Visicom Laboratories, which develops advanced simulation systems for the sea
services; L3 Communications purchased SPD Technologies, parent company of longtime SAS
exhibitor Power Paragon, a major developer of shipboard and airborne power systems; and
Bird Johnson Co., the Navy's premier builder of ship propellers, was acquired by Norwegian
shipbuilder Ulstein (which announced late last year that it would merge with Vickers plc
of the United Kingdom).
Surface Ship
Construction, Overhaul
The Navy's highest-profile shipbuilding
programs are the DD-21 and the San Antonio class (LPD-17) of amphibious assault ships. The
systems-integration and shipbuilding companies participating in the DD-21 initiative will
discuss their conceptual approaches for the program at SAS 1999. Raytheon, the
systems-integration partner of the LPD-17 Avondale Alliance (Avondale Industries is the
prime contractor) and Intergraph Federal Systems, developer of the LPD-17 integrated
product-design environment, will discuss that program at the show.
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), the
nation's only shipyard capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, will brief
visitors to its SAS booth on its carrier and submarine construction projects. The company
delivered the carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) last summer. The yard currently is
building the Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and overhauling the Nimitz (CVN 68). NNS
is teamed with General Dynamics Electric Boat on construction of the new Virginia class
(SSN-774) of nuclear-powered attack submarines, and is developing designs for CVN-77.
Newport News will be the sole-source yard for construction of the next-generation carrier,
CVNX, which is scheduled to start construction in 2006. The company has opened a new
Carrier Innovation Center, and is working with Intergraph on next-generation ship-design
software.
General Dynamics Marine--now consisting
of Electric Boat, Bath Iron Works, and NASSCO--will feature its work on technology
development for ship and submarine design and construction. Electric Boat built many of
the Los Angeles-class (SSN-688) nuclear-powered attack sub-marines and all of the Navy's
Ohio-class (SSBN-726) Trident nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. GD-Bath shares
(with Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding) construction of Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) Aegis
guided-missile destroyers. NASSCO built the Supply-class (AOE-6) auxiliaries and does
extensive support work for Pacific Fleet ships.
Litton Ingalls, the Navy's sole-source
builder of the Wasp-class (LHD-1) big-deck amphibs, will brief SAS visitors on the
company's extensive work in surface-ship design, construction, repair and overhaul, and on
its early work on the DD-21 program.
The Halter Marine Group will feature at
its booth exhibits of its work on small- and medium-sized Navy vessels, particularly
oceanographic research ships and fast patrol craft. Textron Marine & Land Systems will
brief visitors on its longtime work on the landing craft, air cushion (LCAC), designed to
carry vehicles, equipment, and personnel ashore from amphibious ships, and now beginning a
service-life extension program.
Blohm + Voss of Germany will highlight
its shipbuilding programs for many international navies, with special emphasis on its MEKO
design--which incorporates standard interfaces, permitting the integration of a wide range
of guns, missiles, sensors, and other systems.
Power-Generation, Ship
Control, Navigation
BWX Technologies, a business unit of
McDermott Inc., will discuss its various technology-development efforts in support of Navy
shipboard power systems. The company builds nuclear-reactor components for submarines at
its facility in Lynchburg, Va. BWX also supports McDermott's development, in cooperation
with the Office of Naval Research, of the joint mobile offshore-base concept.
GE Marine Engines plans to highlight its
LM2500 gas turbine engine, now in service on many U.S. and allied surface ships, and its
higher-rated LM2500+ engine as potential candidates for the DD-21. Westinghouse will
discuss at its booth its role in building submarine propulsion motors, generators, and
pumps for the Navy's submarines, and its work with GD Electric Boat and Newport News on
electric propulsion systems for future submarines. Northrop Grumman staffers are expected
to provide information on the development, by the company's Marine Systems Division, of an
intercooled recuperated (ICR) gas turbine engine that is a candidate both for the DD-21
and for the U.K.-French Horizon frigate program. (Italy, another partner on the Horizon,
is not expected to buy the ICR.)
Cincinnati Gear will emphasize its
development of high-performance shipboard gearboxes and power-transmission components, and
its capabilities in engineering design, analysis, testing, and worldwide field support.
General Atomics will provide information on its work on superconducting magnets for mine
detection.
Litton Sperry Marine will highlight its
integrated bridge system (IBS), now in service aboard some 300 commercial vessels--and, in
Navy IBS variants, aboard several newer CVNs including the Harry S. Truman. The
Sperry IBS was demonstrated aboard the "Smart Ship" Ticonderoga-class Aegis
guided-missile cruiser Yorktown (CG 48). The company also will discuss its WSN-7
ring-laser gyroscope (RLG), which is being installed aboard surface ships and submarines,
and will provide information on its advanced Mk39 mod 3A RLG.
Raytheon Marine, which competes directly
with Sperry Marine in bridge systems, plans to provide a mock-up of its shipboard bridge,
which has been installed aboard the "Smart Gator" Rushmore (LSD 47). The
company's Pathfinder automated radar plotting aid (ARPA) is in service aboard many surface
combatants.
The SPD Technologies Group of L3
Communications will brief visitors on its wide range of shipboard power-management
systems, including power-conversion modules that will be combined with the DD-21
integrated power system being developed by Lockheed Martin's Ocean, Radar & Sensor
Systems, and static-transfer switches going aboard the Arleigh Burke-class DDGs.
Litton Guidance and Controls, longtime
builder of ship-machinery controls for Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers,
will stress its work on inertial navigation and attitude heading and reference systems for
surface ships, aircraft, and military vehicles. The Naval Controls Division of the Eaton
Corp. will feature displays of its VME-based computer products, flat-panel displays,
bridge-control consoles, and adjustable speed drives. Eaton provides flat panels for the
bridge configuration aboard the Truman. Indal Technologies will feature at its
booth its shipboard aircraft- and cable-handling systems, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)
hookup systems, and other specialized products for shipboard use. Metric Systems Corp.
plans to highlight its electronic control and monitoring systems, cargo-handling systems,
and engineering and product support.
Weapons Aboard Ships
Raytheon's Missile Systems unit, which is
consolidating its operations at its facility in Tucson, Ariz., is expected to highlight
its extensive experience on shipboard weapons, especially its work on the SM-2 Standard
air-defense missile. The SM-2 is being modified for land-attack and both area- and
theaterwide ballistic missile defense (TBMD) missions. The Navy program executive office
for theater/surface combatants plans a separate exhibit on Navy TBMD, covering the Aegis
combat system, SM-2, and other program elements.
Raytheon also builds the Rolling Airframe
Missile (RAM) for shipboard terminal defense and supports the Phalanx ship-defense Gatling
gun, now fitted with an optical sensor--built by Pilkington Optronics of the United
Kingdom--to provide a surface-mode capability. Raytheon TI Systems plans SAS briefings on
the extended-range guided munition (ERGM) it is developing for long-range surface-ship
land-attack missions.
Boeing, longtime builder (at its
McDonnell Douglas facility) of the Harpoon antiship missile will feature video
presentations at its booth of various Navy missile systems. Lockheed Martin Corp., one of
the largest SAS exhibitors, may provide information on the N-TACMS (Navy variant of its
Army tactical missile system), even though Navy officials hope to formally select the
land-attack Standard for that role.
Lockheed Martin's Ocean, Radar &
Sensor Systems operation will brief SAS visitors on the remote minehunting system,
considered a centerpiece of the proposed "organic" battlegroup mine-warfare
capability. United Defense LP and Lockheed Martin, which are teamed on the production of
elements of the Mk41 vertical-launch system now deployed to all Burke-class DDGs and most
of the Ticonderogas, will discuss enhancements to the Mk41. United Defense will present a
briefing entitled "Integrated Firepower for DD-21 Land Attack" describing its
work on an advanced gun system for the DD-21. The UD booth also will highlight the Mk45
mod 4 62-caliber gun it has developed as an enhancement to the Mk45 5-inch deck gun
carried by most of the Navy's surface combatants.
Textron Systems is expected to focus on
its development of projectile submunitions for Navy missiles, including the Tomahawk
cruise missile. It also will feature the sensor-fuzed weapon, a multipurpose air-to-ground
smart munition, and the joint standoff weapon, both of which are fitted with Textron's
BLU-108 submunition. Thiokol Corp. plans to discuss its development work on solid
propellants for Navy TBMD and other Navy missile programs. The company builds the
propulsion motor for the SM-2 Standard and will feature that program at the show as well
as its work on small space motors and its reusable solid-rocket motor for the Space
Shuttle.
Atlantic Research will emphasize the
design, development, and production of solid- and liquid-fuel rocket motors for tactical
and strategic weapon systems, including the Trident ballistic missile and the Tomahawk.
Pratt & Whitney's Chemical Division will display a model of its new 21-inch-diameter
motor for the second stage of the SM-2 Standard missile. The company also will discuss its
role as sole provider of the Mk72 booster for the SM-2. EDO Corp. plans to highlight its
mine countermeasures and ASW (antisubmarine warfare) systems and capabilities.
The U.K.'s Wallop Defence Systems plans
to brief SAS visitors on its Superbarricade ship-launched electronic countermeasure
system, a fully automatic lightweight chaff and infrared decoy developed for the U.K.'s
Royal Navy--and now being considered for testing by the U.S. Navy for the
"soft-kill" ship-defense mission. Cogent Defence, another U.K. firm, may make
presentations on its submarine and surface-ship sonar work, torpedo towed decoys, and mine
countermeasures systems. Thomson Marconi Sonar plans to display its ASW and mine-detection
sonars, which are in use by many navies worldwide. ARC Technologies plans to display its
work in radar-absorbing materials and structures, including specially treated gaskets,
composite materials, and radomes for surface ships and aircraft.
DRS Technologies will show and discuss
its work in rugged laptop computers, digital storage devices, and electrooptic systems.
DRS is a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems for the Navy's UYQ-70
family of display processors. DRS also plans to emphasize its airborne recording and
aircraft optical aligning systems. Smiths Industries Aerospace plans to display its
shipboard navigation systems, including naval chart systems, the Nucleus 5000 radar
system, and an electronic chart display and information system. Ultra Electronics expects
to display its work on active and passive sonobuoys, sonars, cryogenic cooling systems,
and a specialized miniature compression system (designed for the ejection of aircraft
stores).
Aircraft and Airborne
Systems
Boeing, prime contractor for the F/A-18
Hornet fighter/attack aircraft, can be expected to highlight its development of the Super
Hornet E/F variant, now being flight-tested at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft
Division. The company also is competing for production of the joint strike fighter (JSF),
which will be built for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, and for the Royal Air
Force. (Other U.S. allies also are evaluating the JSF for possible future acquisition.)
Boeing is teamed with Bell Helicopter Textron for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor utility
aircraft, now in production. Bell will feature displays and briefings on the V-22, on a
planned upgrade of the Marine Corps' UH-1 helicopter, and on the Eagle Eye unmanned aerial
vehicle, which has been evaluated by the PEO cruise missiles/unmanned aerial vehicles.
Pratt & Whitney and Pratt &
Whitney Canada will provide information on their development work on gas turbine engines
for airborne applications. Rolls-Royce plans to discuss its work in designing and building
gas turbine engines for many types of military and commercial aircraft.
Kaman Corp. will highlight its
"aerial truck," the heavy-lift K-MAX helicopter evaluated by the Military
Sealift Command for airborne underway replenishment, and its SH-2G Seasprite helicopters,
several of which are fitted with the company's Magic Lantern airborne laser mine-detection
sensor. Kaman also will brief show visitors on its work on advanced electromagnetic
systems, including permanent-magnetic motors for shipboard power generation and
electrically powered aircraft carrier catapults.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
plans to provide briefings on its Predator UAV, used extensively by the U.S. services in
Bosnia, and on other UAV-related research and development. E.H. Industries, a joint
venture of Italy's Agusta and GKN Westland Helicopters, will feature an exhibit on the
multirole EH-101 helicopter, now in service and used for a wide range of military and
civil missions. Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd., the world's largest builder of aircraft
ejection seats, may feature a model ejection seat at its booth. The company is working
with Aerojet to design a stabilized seat fitted with thrusters that will improve
ejection-seat safety, particularly for lighter-weight pilots.
Rockwell Collins, a longtime builder of
Navy tactical datalink systems and a world leader in the production of global positioning
system (GPS) receivers, will display that equipment at SAS, as well its universal modem
and solid-state power amplifier replacement. Recon/Optical will highlight its work on
long-range airborne reconnaissance systems, infrared line-scanning systems, and
electrooptical sighting systems for Navy aircraft.
Sensys Technologies will present
briefings on its airborne threat-warning systems, airborne imaging systems, and digital
camera systems (designed for use with airborne surveillance systems). Varo LLC, a builder
of test equipment for the Sidewinder and Maverick missiles and power-conversion equipment,
will brief visitors on those products. Sermatech International is planning to exhibit its
line of protective coatings and its work in component repair and the manufacture of
precision turbine components.
Command, Control,
Communications, Computers
Motorola Worldwide Information Network
Services will offer information on its Iridium voice and paging services and secure voice
communications (aimed at nondefense government markets as well as the military). Harris
Corp. will showcase its extensive range of communications systems for Navy shipboard,
airborne, and shore-based applications, including transceivers, special-purpose antennas,
digital moving map systems, and high-speed fiber-optic networks.
General Atronics is expected to display
its work in support of Navy applications of tactical datalinks and data modems
incorporated into the Navy's USQ-144 automated data network system (ADNS), an element of
the Navy's new joint maritime communications system.
COMSAT Mobile Communications will offer
briefings on its work providing satellite voice, video, and data-communications
connectivity for shipboard and shore-based applications. L3 Communications staffers are
expected to provide information on the company's role as a supplier to the Navy of secure
communications, microwave-communications components, avionics, and telemetry. Linkabit
Wireless, a Titan Corp. operation, will brief visitors to its booth on its communications
systems components for Navy and industry use.
In the area of Navy computing, Lockheed
Martin will provide information on its UYQ-70 Navy display processor system. Hewlett
Packard plans to highlight its work on Unix and Windows NT systems for desktop computing
applications in support of the Navy's Information Technology 21 (IT-21) initiative. Litton
Data Systems is expected to demonstrate its programmable integrated communications
terminal--which permits the integration of shipboard telephones, voice nets, radio, and
video communications--and its rugged rack-and-console workstations, including workstations
fitted with night-readable flat-panel displays and universal VME processor chassis.
IBM will schedule presentations on its
CATIA computer-aided design programs, developed in cooperation with Dassault for ship
design. Sun Microsystems plans to provide information on Navy applications of Java, its
universal programming language. Orbit Instrument Corp., which designs "man-machine
interface" products for computer systems, will brief visitors on its flat-panel
display technology, programmable switch panels, secure audio-communications panels, and
other computer peripheral equipment. Primagraphics Ltd. plans to display its work on
radar, sonar, and video-processing hardware and software, developed to provide advanced
graphics for processed sensor data. Sabtech Industries, a manufacturer of commercially
based interface circuit boards for the Navy's shipboard naval tactical data system--and of
emulation, simulation, and test equipment--will showcase those systems. Peripheral
Equipment Corp. will display its line of ruggedized Pentium and Sun workstations, servers,
and mission-critical VME systems. Meteus Corp., which builds high-resolution graphics
display controllers for aviation and command-and-control applications, will display many
of those products.
Management, Testing,
Technology Support
Wyle Laboratories plans to discuss with
expo visitors its testing capabilities for defense prime contractors in the areas of
structural dynamics, fluid flow, environmental, and other key areas. VSE Corp. will brief
visitors on its work in providing engineering support for Navy ship programs and on the
refurbishment of decommissioned ships planned for transfer to other navies.
System Planning Corp. will provide
information on its projects to develop technical solutions for Navy communications and
networking, Year 2000, security and intelligence, and logistics automation. |
