As published in USA Today, for his work in the engineering field, The National Engineers Week Foundation presented this representative of the Navy with this distinction for 2006.

Darrin Eugene Barber

LTJG DARRIN EUGENE BARBER, PCU TEXAS -- Nominated by the U. S. Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program, Barber, 26, used his thorough knowledge of reactor plant engineering during construction of the Navy's newest attack submarine, the PCU TEXAS.

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CRS Study: Future Fleet Plan Doesn't Reflect New-Ships Needs

By Dave Ahearn, Defense Today, 16 Feb 06

A Navy plan to increase the fleet to 313 ships and submarines from the current 281 would require increasing the number of ships built to an average of 11.2 ships and boats per year, a newly-updated report of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) shows.

That catch-up rate would be a faster pace of shipbuilding than the Navy has seen in 14 years, and one more ship than the 10.2 annual average that the Navy plan envisages.

But the gap between the Navy shipbuilding projection and what CRS says is required actually is larger than it appears.

If one looks only at the more expensive ships in the fleet, not counting the smaller and less-expensive Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), the 313-ships plan would require building 8.7 larger ships per year, which is far more than the 5.6 of those ships yearly that the Navy plan estimates the Congress would have to fund to reach the 313-ships goal.

Actually, in some years fairly soon, the 313-ships goal might be attainable under the Navy plan, the CRS estimates, because many ships in the existing fleet won't retire for many years, or several decades.

After that, however, the numbers of some types of vessels would slip below goal levels, according to CRS.

Expensive Versus Bargain Ships The CRS report shows how it's easier to reach the 313-ships goal if one includes smaller, cheaper ships in the total.

For comparison, an LCS costs about $220 million for the basic ship, plus perhaps another $200 million or so for interchangeable mission modules that provide the small ship with outsized capabilities. General Dynamics Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. make markedly different, rival versions of the LCS.

In contrast, a next-generation DD(X) destroyer would cost $3.3 billion for the first ship including development costs, and $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion each for later copies, although the Navy is pressing General Dynamics and Northrop to cut the price tag. Submarines cost $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion each, (General Dynamics Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News), though the Navy is pressing them to cut the cost to $2 billion a boat.

An aircraft carrier, the future CVN 21, would cost $14 billion for the first ship including development expenses, and perhaps $8 billion each for later copies. (Northrop Grumman Newport News makes them.) And other ships such as amphibious platforms also can carry hefty price tags.

At issue is whether Congress would provide the funds for such a shipbuilding program. Lawmakers in recent years have provided money for six, seven or eight vessels per year, but that recently has included LCSs.

Many lawmakers and others, however, at this time are saying that Congress should increase spending on defense, even though military budgets have soared from less than $300 billion in fiscal 2001 to more than $500 billion in the current fiscal 2006, thanks in part to costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For example, in a hearing yesterday of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), the vice chairman, said that the Army should have the funds it needs, demanding to know why the Army cut the number of its planned brigade combat teams to 70 from 77. Army leaders said the Quadrennial Defense Review of long-term defense needs showed that fewer brigades would suffice, noting there also will be other types of brigades in the total Army force.

Separately, Gen. Michael Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, yesterday said that the United States currently spends just 3.7 cents per $1 of economic output on defense needs, "which is really very small."

Just how much to provide to support the military is "a choice that this nation needs to make," he said to the Defense Writers Group. Asked whether the nation can afford to procure the major weapons platforms required to confront near-peer competitor nations while also purchasing new systems required to counter terrorists and rogue states, Hagee said, "This nation can afford to do that."

While some say that some weapons systems may be unaffordable, Hagee said, "I absolutely believe that we need to do both."

He promised to carry that message to Congress and elsewhere, saying, "One of our jobs is to articulate the need for...that."

Details On Ships Gap

Aside from the question of costs of ships, the CRS report shows there is a question as to whether the 313-ships plan would, in several years, see a shortfall in the number of vessels that the plan says should be in the fleet.

For example, the plan calls for 48 submarines, down from a prior goal of 55, but the CRS report says the actual number of boats would fall to 40 by 2028 and 2029.

Similarly, the number of destroyers and cruisers should be 88, but the actual number would slip to 62 ships in 2044-2046, and plateau at about 70 in the 2050s.

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New SSGNs enhance US naval capability

Scott Gourley, Jane's Defence Weekly, 22 Feb 06

The conversion of Ohio-class submarines into guided-missile and special warfare platform SSGNs will strengthen the US Navy's NCW capabilities

This programme could also help expand C4ISR capabilities in the global war on terrorism

The 7 February return to service of the USS Ohio (SSGN 726), newly converted to SSGN (ship, submersible, guided missile, nuclear-powered) configuration, marks a significant expansion in US naval network-centric warfare (NCW) capabilities.

In addition to providing the navy with a new strike/special operations platform, the USS Ohio, together with three other Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines being converted to SSGN status, provide a greatly expanded forward deployed command-and-control capability.

The C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) subsystems on the new SSGNs include: two OE-538 multifunction antennas supporting ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communications, UHF line-of-sight (LOS), very high frequency/frequency modulation (VHF/FM), high frequency (HF) and very low frequency (VLF) (receive only); two submarine high data rate (Sub-HDR) antennas supporting extremely high frequency (EHF) medium data rate and EHF low data rate; two communications buoys capable of receiving VLF up to HF; the AN/BLQ-10 electronic support measures (ESM) system and periscope warning receivers; and two periscopes for visual observation.

The expanded command-and-control capabilities are centralised in the SSGN's expanded Battle Management Center (BMC).

During a recent JDW visit to the USS Ohio, Captain Dave DiOrio, SSGN Program Office Director at Submarine Force Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, said the BMC C4ISR capabilities could be adapted for specific missions.

"There's a lot of room to grow in this space and if a Joint Special Operations Task Force [JSOTF] commander has a mission in a given theatre somewhere in the world, this space can be adapted for his mission," DiOrio said.

"If the mission is concentrating on intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, we can adapt this space to accommodate that team, including those specialists from the intelligence world being supported. If the mission is more 'direct action' oriented, where you're putting special operations forces [SOF] ashore, then a majority of this space could be adapted for that direct action mission, along with tactical communications for connectivity with those SOF elements ashore. A lesser part would be reserved for the reconnaissance mission."

DiOrio said in order to achieve that flexibility and to ensure connectivity is strong between the SSGN and any rear command-and-control element they may be working with, the platform is being equipped with the "tools that the joint community is using today".

"So when you're talking internet protocols - SIPRNET [Secret Internet Protocol Router Network], NIPRNET [Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network], any coalition internet protocols - they'll have those tools that they will be used to working with, day in and day out. And again, being on board the submarine, they will bring a margin of synergy of a distributed command-and-control network to support any SOF forces going ashore."

SSGN planners are currently looking at a number of future upgrades that could expand application of the SSGNs as forward-deployed C4ISR command-and-control nodes.

In terms of information operations (IO), for example, planners note that the addition of IO capabilities to the SSGNs was explored as part of the US Navy's 2004 'Silent Hammer' experiment.

Another potential SSGN upgrade, called the Small Combatant Joint Command Center (SCJC2) is described as an improved joint command centre to enhance the effect of SSGN SOF missions, strike operations, and IO.

DiOrio said the SSGN upgrades could help expand C4ISR capabilities in the global war on terrorism, including the tracking of 'white shipping,' or neutral commercial shipping, as well as 'orange shipping,' or shipping that could be somehow associated with terrorist regimes.

"You always have to keep tabs on that. You never know, especially in places like the Horn of Africa, exactly who some of these guys are. So you want to make sure over several days or even weeks that you're finding out exactly who's who. And with the advances in the AIS [Automatic Identification System], which is the identification system for 'white shipping,' we're able to tell who these guys are and sort out 'white shipping' from 'orange shipping'."

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Navy's Unfunded Needs Includes $1.2 Billion For LPD-17 In FY '07

By Geoff Fein, Defense Daily, February 16, 2006

The Navy has $4.6 billion in unfunded requirements, including $1.2 billion to shift procurement of one San Antonio-class ship (LPD-17) from FY ’08 to FY ’07.

In a Feb 13 letter to lawmakers, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen outlined 16 programs unfunded in the FY ’07 budget.

“As the [Navy] continues to focus on our new defense strategy and on the emergent challenges of the 21st century, fiscal choices resulted in some important programs being under funded,” Mullen said in the letter.

Besides accelerating procurement of Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] LPD-17, the Navy would like to get $520 million to procure two Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) in FY ’07 in support of the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) and Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO).

General Dynamics [GD] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] are both building variants of LCS. GD is constructing a trimaran hull in Alabama and Lockheed Martin is building their semi-plaining monohull in Wisconsin. That ship, the USS Freedom (LCS-1), will be put to sea for testing in late 2006.

According to the Navy’s annual long-range plan for ship construction, the current plans call for procurement of two LCS in FY ’07 and three in FY ’08. Each LCS will cost $270 million, according to the Navy.

The Navy is also seeking $30 million for LCS sea frame operation and maintenance.

“No support funding currently programmed for LCS ships during pre-commissioning and prior to PSA. Must pay to fund fleet introduction including transit costs to homeport (San Diego),” according to the Navy

The Navy could also use $26 million for Lockheed Martin’s Thin Line Towed Array Reliability, Operability and Capability Improvement. The funds would go toward development of key technologies needed to provide submarines with a sensor for long-range passive detection against quiet diesel submarines in the littorals, according to the Navy.

The funds would also integrate Lockheed Martin’s Thin Line Twin Towed Array (similar to BAE SYSTEMS’ Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System) capability on submarines, develop and integrate Field Programmable Gate Arrays which enable thin line towed arrays to fully exploit the passive acoustic environment by adapting to the local environmental conditions, and conduct reliability testing of fiber optic towed arrays and thin line towed arrays, according to the list.

Additionally, the Navy would like $487 million to buy out the leases on the remaining nine Maritime Preposition Ships (MPS).

The list also includes the need for $140 million for additional MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters. The funds would enable the Navy to procure eight additional MH-60S bringing the total in FY ’07 to 26. The additional eight helicopters would “restore PB [Presidential Budget] 06 inventory objective providing critical [surface warfare] capability coverage for Carrier and Expeditionary Strike Groups,” according to the Navy. The funds would also allow for the procurement of one additional MH-60R for a total of 26 in FY ’07 “allowing initial 60R Carrier Strike Group squadron to deploy with 10 aircraft ensuring full rotary wing capability,” according to the unfunded program requirement list.

The MH-60R is built by a Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky [UTX] joint venture. Sikorsky builds the MH-60S.

The unfunded program requirement list also shows the need for $600 million to procure 12 additional Boeing [BA] F/A-18E/F aircraft for a total of 48 in FY ‘07. The additional aircraft would “maximize quantity on multi-year contract and mitigates [Navy] TACAIR [Tactical Aircraft] inventory shortfall and GWOT losses,” the Navy said.

The service could use an additional $39.7 million to lease three Boeing ScanEagle systems (each system consisting of up to 10 air vehicles), to be rotated between deployed Central Command surface combatants in support of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission.

The Navy would like an additional $202 million for six additional Boeing T-45C aircraft, bringing the total to 18 in FY ’07, to meet Joint Undergraduate Military Flight Officer training syllabus requirement.

And the service needs $28 million for five additional Raytheon [RTN] T-6A aircraft for a total of 26 in FY ’07. “This would restore inventory lost in PR07 endgame and maximizes Navy production limit of 26 aircraft,” according to the Navy.

The Navy is also seeking $16.8 million for Joint Service and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Improvise Explosive Device (IED) Counter Measures.

“Funds required for procurement of Navy specific systems and Joint Force Protection research and development to counter radio controlled IEDs to prevent initiation/detonation,” according to the Navy.

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Navy signs submarine systems deal with Raytheon

By Roseanne Gerin, GCN.com, 15 Feb 06

The Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. a $31.7 million contract to build integrated combat control systems for the next five Virginia-class submarines.

Under the contract, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems of Tewksbury, Mass., will procure, produce, test and integrate all combat control hardware and software necessary for the advanced communication, navigation and weapon-launch capabilities critical to submarine combat operations.

The work entails tactical software and logistics support, as well as combat control systems modernization services and technology refresh for the first two Virginia-class submarines, the USS Virginia and the USS Texas.

The combat control subsystem for the Virginia-class submarines consists of centralized data management systems for weapon control and interface, and weapon-launch capabilities. Raytheon will perform the work at its Maritime Mission Center in Portsmouth, R.I.

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Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup

By Bill Gertz, Washington Times, 16 Feb 06

Commercial satellite photos made public recently provide a new look at China's nuclear forces and bases images that include the first view of a secret underwater submarine tunnel.

A Pentagon official said the photograph of the tunnel entrance reveals for the first time a key element of China's hidden military buildup. Similar but more detailed intelligence photos of the entrance are highly classified within the U.S. government, the official said.

"The Chinese have a whole network of secret facilities that the U.S. government understands but cannot make public," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "This is the first public revelation of China's secret buildup."

The photographs, taken from 2000 to 2004, show China's Xia-class ballistic missile submarine docked at the Jianggezhuang base, located on the Yellow Sea in Shandong province.

Nuclear warheads for the submarine's 12 JL-1 missiles are thought to be stored inside an underwater tunnel that was photographed about 450 meters to the northwest of the submarine. The high-resolution satellite photo shows a waterway leading to a ground-covered facility.

Other photographs show additional underground military facilities, including the Feidong air base in Anhui province with a runway built into a nearby hill.

The photographs were obtained by the nonprofit groups Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Federation of American Scientists. The photos first appeared Friday in the winter edition of the quarterly newsletter Imaging Notes.

The photographs are sharp enough to identify objects on the ground about 3 feet in size. Such digital images were once the exclusive domain of U.S. technical intelligence agencies, but in recent years, commercial companies have deployed equally capable space-based cameras.

Disclosure of the underground bases supports analyses of Pentagon and intelligence officials who say China is engaged in a secret military buildup that threatens U.S. interests, while stating publicly that its forces pose no threat.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during a trip to China in October that Beijing was sending "mixed signals" by building up forces in secret and without explaining their purpose.

Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, said he did not consider China "a threat." But he also said in a speech Tuesday that China's purpose behind its rapid military buildup is not fully known. "That's a little unclear," he said, noting that "increased transparency" is needed from China.

The photographs included several shots of Chinese H-6 strategic bombers and related aerial refueling tankers at Dangyang airfield in Hubei province. Also, 70 nuclear-capable Qian-5 aircraft were photographed parked at an airfield in Jianqiao, Zhejiang province, on the East China Sea coast.

The Pentagon's four-year strategy report made public earlier this month stated that China is emerging as a power with "the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States." The report stated that Beijing is investing heavily in "strategic arsenal and capabilities to project power beyond its borders."

The report did not provide specifics. U.S. officials said, however, that the secrecy of the Chinese buildup has fueled a debate within the U.S. government over the threat posed by that country.

U.S. intelligence agencies recently produced a National Intelligence Estimate, or major interagency analysis, that concluded China is using strategic deception to fool the United States and other nations about its goals and programs, including its military buildup.

Pentagon officials have asked China to allow visits to underground facilities such as the submarine tunnel and a command center in Beijing, but either the requests were denied or the existence of the sites was denied.

"The Chinese have denied having any underground submarine facilities," the Pentagon official said, noting that the satellite photos indicate that China has misled the United States.

Underground submarine sites are one of 10 major types of facilities hidden by the Chinese military, U.S. officials said. The others include nuclear missile storage facilities, other weapons plants, command centers and political leadership offices.

In 2004, China revealed the first of a new class of submarines. The development of the Yuan-class submarines was kept secret through the use of an underground factory in south-central China, the officials said.

Since 2002, Beijing has deployed 14 submarines. And it is working on a new ballistic-missile submarine, known as the Jin class, and two new Shang-class attack submarines.

According to a classified Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, China's nuclear forces include about 45 long-range missiles, 12 submarine-launched missiles and about 100 short-range missiles each with a single warhead.

By 2020, China's arsenal will include up to 220 long-range missiles, up to 44 submarine-launched missiles and up to 200 short-range missiles, the DIA report stated.

Richard Fisher, a China military analyst at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said that in addition to the northern submarine base, China also has a major submarine base at Yulin, on Hainan island in the South China Sea.

The southern base gives Chinese missile submarines easier access to firing areas than the Yellow Sea base, which is more vulnerable to attacks from U.S. anti-submarine warfare systems.

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NATO: World’s largest submarine exercise tackles terrorism

From Noticias.info, 15 Feb 06

From 17 February to 1 March 2006, ten NATO countries will take part in the world’s largest anti-submarine exercise, Noble Manta, which will also focus on defence against terrorism.

The exercise will take place in the Ionian Sea, southeast of Sicily. Forces are provided by Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The annual exercise demonstrates NATO’s determination to maintain proficiency in coordinated anti-submarine, anti-surface, and coastal surveillance operations.

This year, the exercise will also test submarine roles and missions in defence against terrorism.

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A New Nuclear Submarine Will Be Created In Russia

Krasnaya Zvezda, February 11, 2006

The Navy will soon start building a new submarine for protecting strategic nuclear submarines in their missions.

The command of the Navy has decided to create a new submarine with limited displacement. Rear-Admiral A. Shlemov, chief of the naval armament department of the Defense Ministry said, "The new submarine would support strategic nuclear submarines such as the Yury Dolgoruky and solve other tasks typical for multi-role submarines."

Admiral Vladimir Masorin, commander of the Navy, stated in St. Petersburg that four types of submarines will become the foundation of the Russian Navy. He said, "The core of the strategic submarine fleet will consist of the Borei complex, multi-role submarines with cruise missiles, diesel electric-submarines and one more nuclear submarine." He did not elaborate.

Rear Admiral Anatoly Shlemov said that the displacement of the new submarine must amount to 5,000-6,000 tons. This task was set by the state armament program. He noted that the producer of the submarine will be determined as a result of a tender. He noted, "The Rubin design bureau and the Malakhit design bureau (St. Petersburg) have very interesting projects." When asked why ordinary multi-role submarines cannot solve the tasks of the new submarine, he said, "The Severodvinsk multi-role submarine is very expensive. It carries a lot of weapons, and it would be a mistake to use this submarine for protecting strategic submarines."

He noted, "This is why we have set the task to create a submarine with limited displacement."

The St. Petersburg diesel-electric submarine will be launched in 2006. The Gulf of Finland will open in spring, and the submarine will perform the final tests in the Baltic Sea. Sevmash will start building the Vladimir Monomakh strategic nuclear submarine (the Borei project) on March 19. At present, the shipyard builds two such submarines - the Yury Dolgoruky and the Alexander Nevsky.

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Collins Class sub takes top Navy award

ABCNews Online, 16 Feb 06

A Collins Class submarine based in Western Australia has been judged as the best vessel in the Australian Navy.

Governor-General Michael Jeffery has presented the Duke of Gloucester Cup to HMAS Sheean.

The cup is awarded annually to the Navy vessel judged as the most proficient in all aspects of operations, safety, reliability and training.

Former Commanding Officer of HMAS Sheean Andrew Keough says it achieved a record for a Collins Class submarine last year, spending 55 days at sea.

"That's a great achievement to be able to put a submarine out to sea for that period of time, be able to sustain it out there, for all the systems to run correctly," he said.

"It's analogous to jumping in your car and expecting it to run for 55 days, that's a fairly big task and the submarine managed to do it."

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Scorpene deal above board: Pranab

The Times of India, 16 Feb 06

NEW DELHI: Hit by allegations that middle-men may be involved in the gigantic Scorpene submarine deal, the defence ministry came out in full force on Wednesday to contend that the entire project was above board.

Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee in Kolkata asserted that India would acquire the six Scorpenes, slated to roll out of Mazagaon Docks between 2012 and 2017, at "a bargain price" of Rs 13,085 crore.

The government, he added, was not aware of the involvement of any intermediaries in the deal signed on October 6, 2005.

The UPA government, in fact, renegotiated the deal with French firms Armaris and MBDA last year to bring the total cost down by Rs 313 crore from the contracts negotiated by the earlier NDA regime in 2002.

But the defence ministry was silent on reports that the eventual "recipients" of the now infamous war-room leak case in mid-2005, which led to the sacking of three officers, were also linked to the French company Thales, which has a 50% stake in Armaris,

It was left to Thales executive vice-president Jean-Paul Perrier to bat on this front. "We formally deny all such allegations. Thales had absolutely nothing to do with the 'war-room leak' case," he said.

Clarifying on the Muslim survey order, the defence minister said the Indian armed forces were totally "secular and apolitical" and there was no scope for controversy. "The character of the Indian Army is not going to be changed," he said.

The Indian Army did not maintain any figure on the basis of caste, creed or religion and the survey by the committee was aimed at creating a database, he said.

"The Navy and the Air Force have already provided the data on the number of Muslims they have and we are taking up the survey in the Army," he said.

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