June 2, 2012 Greetings ANA ers, Here are three articles that might be of interest. A bit long, so we ll keep it to these three (and the comments on one of them). Check six. World politics The navy The spirit of 1812 The service hopes to restore its prestige by celebrating a forgotten conflict May 19th 2012 WASHINGTON, DC from the print edition FEW Americans remember the War of 1812, and if they do they are likely to forget that it marked the coming of age of their navy. The Star-Spangled Banner, written by an amateur poet on the back of an envelope during its battle of Baltimore, makes a bigger impression these days. But it was the heroic performance of America s frigates against the world s most powerful fleet that saved the young republic from possible extinction, despite the burning of the White House by the British in 1814.
Two centuries on, the navy is hoping to reclaim the memory of its greatest glory, and to polish its own reputation in the process. While the war (which lasted till 1815) may not feature prominently in a potted history of America, the service sees the conflict as a reminder of its enduring importance. It has spent some $12m on a three-year-long bicentennial celebration, to promote stirring events and exhibitions across the country. It was, however, an awkward war fought against Britain and various Indian tribes, and with no clear winner. But its timing does look handy for today s navy. A poll taken by Gallup last year shows the public s regard for the service is on the wane. In Iraq and Afghanistan America s ground forces have done the heavy work, taking well over 90% of the nation s casualties in the process. Their prestige has risen accordingly, while the navy has struggled to assert its relevance. The killing of Osama bin Laden by navy commandos added some lustre to the service, but much of the public still does not appreciate its core mission. The navy is hoping that a spoonful of celebration will help the history lesson go down. The mission then, as now, is ensuring the freedom of the seas, says Ray Mabus, the secretary of the navy. And while no foreign fleet threatens America s coastline, the navy can tout its role in protecting American commerce, be it from pirates or hostile regimes. You can t spend long on the bicentennial website without learning that 90% of trade now travels by water. Not everyone views the commemoration as a good use of money. An attempt to create a national commission on its behalf failed in Congress. Naval historians have complained that the fuss is distracting attention from other tasks, such as preserving archives and artefacts in need of better maintenance. With budget cuts looming, the navy must make a strong case for funding any of its projects. Success in the War of 1812 goaded
Congress to authorise a large build-up of naval forces. Today s admirals are hoping that a big anniversary, and the red glare of a few low-cost rockets, will loosen a few pockets. LETTERS: America s naval traditions SIR Though I don t believe any American is old enough to remember the War of 1812, I may be one of the few often reminded of its significance by memorials and museums throughout the Chesapeake Bay ( The spirit of 1812, May 19th). Despite the importance of that war to the early development of the American navy, as a naval officer I object to your claim that it was our greatest glory. My grandfather and all of the other navy veterans of the second world war would surely agree. Moreover, the June 2011 Gallup poll to which you referred actually showed public opinion regarding the importance of the navy slightly increasing since 2004. As a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know first hand about the relevance of my fellow shipmates, who served on the ground alongside our soldiers and marines during the longest continuous period of conflict in American history. Finally, the navy s funding of a celebration commemorating the War of 1812 is simply a small fraction of an annual recruiting
budget. It is hardly a tool being used to assert our importance and loosen a few pockets in a cash-strapped Congress. Lieutenant-Commander Shaun Lynch Solomons, Maryland SIR Perhaps a lingering bitterness from the outcome of the War of 1812 coloured your view of the 200th commemoration, and I am concerned that you view this as a money-seeking stunt. Our modern naval traditions come from Britain and were honed during the War of 1812. The commemoration celebrates those traditions and honours our legacy. That fighting spirit, ingenuity and boldness lives on in our service to the international community. As you pointed out, 90% of the world s commerce travels by sea. On any given day half of America s naval forces are deployed round the world to secure the sea lines of communication, bolster security and stability, confront international terrorist activity and piracy, and help ensure economic prosperity. Our navy is agile and flexible and uniquely positioned to defend our nation s and our allies interests. What happens on the sea matters. Rear-Admiral Mike Manazir Norfolk, Virginia SIR The war was hardly a case of the American frigates saving the young republic from possible extinction. Britain was locked in a life-and-death struggle with Napoleon. Its prime concern was defending the vital West Indian markets that were exposed to commerce-raiding, at which the Americans were particularly adept. By blockading the raiders in American ports Britain did serious damage to the American economy, but this was a secondary interest. John Lover Victoria, Canada
gcaptain.com 22 May 2012 On Building an Aircraft Carrier: (See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4f_jcfzsu4) Ever wonder why an aircraft carrier takes so long to build? Aircraft carriers, and warships in general, are about as complicated as the CPU in your computer, and the Gerald R. Ford, currently under construction at Huntington Ingalls Shipyard, is certainly no exception. She s literally been under some form of construction since 2007, and will be the first new class of US aircraft carrier since USS Nimitz was commissioned in May, 1975. In an effort to increase the efficiency of the $9 billion design/build process for this ship, Huntington Ingalls utilized the latest and most advanced computer tool capabilities and functionalities for visual integration in design, engineering, planning and construction. Every piece of this ridiculous puzzle (Over 3 million pieces to be exact) was created in full-scale a 3-D model, so technically, the ship has been completed since 2009 at least in the virtual world. In the real world, at any given time hundreds of designers, engineers, planners and construction representatives were in the model designing, creating and planning every feature of the ship. Huntington Ingalls notes that the Ford s data set comprises of 2 terabytes, or 2,000 gigabytes of data. Part of the design build process is to validate requirements and ensure ship specifications are met, including access, passage, repair, take-downs, removals of components and safe working areas. For the Ford-class, Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding considered sailors with heights in the 95th percentile male to the 5th percentile female, ensuring all operations can be performed without restriction of human size.
Working on the 3-D model. Image courtesy Huntington Ingalls Consideration of emergency crew wearing various apparatus and the capability of routing injured personnel through the ship also was considered. All these design challenges along with working to maintain the shortest and optimal routes for distributive systems tested the capabilities of the 3-D visualization tools. At first glance, the Ford hull design may look similar to the Nimitz, however this new ship is brimming with the latest 21st century technology. Flight deck changes Flight deck: The island is smaller and moved farther aft than on Nimitz class so there is more area for airplane maintenance and flight deck operations will be faster and safer due to better space utilization Weapons Elevator: Elevators use moving electromagnetic fields instead of cabling, which allows elevator shaft to use horizontal doors
to close off magazines. This reduces manning and maintenance costs. Flexible Infrastructure: Flexible infrastructure architecture that allows spaces to be adaptable to rapid changes without the use of hot work. It eases compartment reconfiguration to support changing missions, maximizes time for technology development prior to equipment installation, and eliminates cost and schedule impacts associated with the traditional conflicts from re-work. Advanced Arresting Gear: Recovers current and future aircraft, is lighter than the legacy system, software controls, reduce manning. New technologies Among the new technologies in the Ford-class are: Multifunction radar and volume search radar: Comprised of the SPY-3 X-band MFR (multi function radar), and S-Band VSR (volume search radar), integrates two radars operating on different frequency bands
The electromagnetic catapult system increases efficiency by removing the old steampowered catapults. Image: HII Improved efficiency With the Ford-class, the Navy has made capital investments to reduce cost and maintenance over the carrier s life span that s $5B in total ownership cost savings over the 50-year life of the ship. The improved design of the carrier allows for more efficient operations and requires fewer sailors to man. Among the efficiencies are: Steam to electric transition: No catapult steam, no service steam and no steam turbine driven auxiliaries. Fewer overall components: A third to a half as many valves, elimination of 70 sea chests, three vs. four aircraft elevators, one vs. two hangar bays. Extended drydocking interval: the Ford-class is designed for 12 year intervals Improved shipwide air conditioning: Provides lower moisture and dirt levels LED Battle Lanterns: The LED light source will be life of ship and
the lower power demand will greatly extend lanterns run time per battery. In the Nimitz class, the current bulb has a 100-hour life. Electric Water Heaters: Moving away from steam heating for hot potable water will lower the maintenance load and will reduce ships weight by eliminating a piping network that covered the entire ship. Better shipboard lighting: High efficiency fluorescent T-8 lighting will be utilized throughout Ford-class ships. The T-8 light produces more light than the legacy T-12 with reduced energy consumption each bulb will last almost twice as long as the previous lighting system. Ford-class carriers can be operated with 800 fewer billets than the Nimitz class of carriers. General Characteristics, Gerald R. Ford class Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Va. Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts Length: 1,092 feet Beam: 134 feet, Fligt Deck Width: 256 feet. Displacement: approximately 100,000 long tons full load. Speed: 30+ knots (34.5 miles per hour) Crew: 4,660 (ship, air wing and staff). Armament: Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, Rolling Airframe Missile, CIWS. Aircraft: 75+.
Aircraft Make Smaller Targets For Budget Cutters By Michael Fabey Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report May 24, 2012 The apparent greater focus on shipbuilding accounts compared to aviation spending during discussions on where to find cuts in overall U.S. Navy spending makes sense, defense analysts say, even though the service has historically spent roughly equal amounts on both, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis. Between 1998 and 2009, the Navy spent about $72.8 billion on shipbuildingrelated expenses and another $68 billion on aviation-related costs, according to an AWIN analysis of contracts and contract modifications of the leading 20 Navy expenses, based on data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-
Assisted Reporting. (See chart below.) But most of the recent chatter among Navy leaders and defense analysts has been about cutting or delaying major ship programs, with a notable lack of discussion about aviation expenses. Budgeteers favor raiding shipbuilding accounts because you can save over a billion dollars by delaying just one warship, says Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute analyst. When it comes to aircraft, you have to restructure a whole program to get those kinds of savings. That said, Navy and Pentagon budget cutters have not completely ignored aviation programs, Thompson notes. Naval aviation has already been cut by stretching out buys of programs like F-35B&C and V-22, he says, For example, purchase of attrition aircraft in the V-22 Osprey program was delayed to beyond the end of the five-year spending plan to save money in the near term. Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group consultancy, says aviation accounts will likely fare better in the tighter-budget climate, especially as the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps try to bolster fleets that were ravaged by recent conflicts. Marine aircraft have been used particularly hard, Aboulafia says, adding, I m a little more confident about fighter aircraft [surviving tighter budgets]. One of the reasons Aboulafia says the aviation accounts may stay intact is that it is more difficult to get aircraft off the ground in poor shape than it is to put ships to sea in similar conditions. Airworthiness is a lot different than seaworthiness, he says. With ships, you can fake it. With aircraft you can t. Still, while the Navy has spent slightly more on ships than on aviation in the past, aircraft accounts still make an enticing target for budget cuts. The two largest single-expense items during the time period of the AWIN analysis were both aviation-related: fixed-wing expenses, mostly from F-35 transactions, and operational systems development for defense aircraft, which combined accounted for about $56.4 billion.