Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., has urged the Navy to double its annual orders for Virginia-class nuclear submarines earlier than planned, a move that would help keep afloat a struggling sector of the defense industry and protect potentially thousands of jobs at General Dynamics' Electric Boat shipyard in his district.

In a letter late last week to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen, Simmons and other congressional supporters of the submarine program implored the Navy to boost production on the nuclear-powered vessels to two ships a year beginning in fiscal 2009, three years earlier than the Navy has planned.

The lawmakers argued that the Navy's slow procurement plan will hinder efforts to realize Mullen's goal of maintaining a fleet of 48 nuclear-powered submarines. The Navy now has 54 submarines, many of which will be retired over the next several years.

Under the Navy's current schedule, the submarine force would bottom out at 40 boats in 2028. Starting to build two subs a year in fiscal 2009 instead of fiscal 2012 would bring the number to 43.

In fact, a new Congressional Research Service report indicates that the Navy would have to average 2.2 new submarine orders a year for 16 years to prevent its fleet from dropping below the target number of 48.

"If the Navy requires 48 nuclear attack submarines, as you have suggested, then the shipbuilding plan should hold as close to that number as possible for as many years as possible," Simmons said in his letter, which was co-signed by six other members of the House Armed Services Committee. "The alternative is higher risk and less stability for our U.S. combatant commanders."

Simmons added that producing two boats a year would help bring overall costs on the $2.4 billion submarines down to the Navy's $2 billion goal.

Boosting submarine orders might be a tough sell because of a constrained budget environment. The Defense Department alone is expected to trim $32 billion from its projected budgets over the next five years.

And with the Navy set on procuring seven pricey next-generation destroyers and other ships over the next several years, it is unclear how realistic Simmons' request is.

But one key congressional staffer noted that submariners have been waiting since the early 1990s to beef up their production lines, which have been stagnant at one new ship a year for the last 15 years. "I think supporters have an argument here," the staffer said.

Amid fears of layoffs at Electric Boat, Simmons last month created the congressional submarine caucus to advocate for increased budgets for the Navy's underwater warfare programs. Several lawmakers already have signed on, including co-chair Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., who also signed the letter to Mullen. Electric Boat has a submarine outfitting facility at Quonset Point in Langevin's district.

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SSGN "Tactical Trident" Subs: Special Forces and Super Strike

From Defense Industry Daily, 18 Jan 06

At various times, DID has covered advance materials procurement and other contracts under the program to modify some of the USA's nuclear-powered Ohio Class SSBN nuclear missile submarines to become long range conventional strike and special operations SSGN "Tactical Tridents."

Four ultra-stealthy Ohio-class SSBNs are having their 24 Trident II D-5 nuclear ballistic missiles removed and replaced with up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The USA is also adding accomodation for 66-102 special forces troops, special attachments for new Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) or older Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV) "mini-subs," and a mission control center. In future, the SSGNs may also carry UUV underwater robotic vehicles and even UAVs for aerial operations.

These modifications provide the USA with an impressive and impressively flexible set of conventional firepower, in a survivable and virtually undetectable platform that can remain on station for very long periods.

DID has updated its previous material and discusses the origins of this conversion program, the key players, the timeline, and the key technologies involved. We also offer comprehensive coverage of the announced contracts under this $1.4 billion refurbishment and conversion program to date, including a number of related ancillary contracts and programs. This will remain the updated DID Focus article for all materials related to the SSGN program.

The US Navy's New SSGN Platform

These SSBN to SSGN conversions were originally sparked by the 1992 START II Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limited the number of strategic missile submarines to 14 as of the year 2002. Rather than decommissioning the USS Ohio [SSBN 726], USS Michigan [SSBN 727], USS Florida [SSBN 728] and USS Georgia [SSBN 729] Ohio Class submarines, they would be modified to the above-described "Tactical Trident" Configuration. Strong support for this idea was quickly forthcoming from Senators Dodd [D-CT], Inouye [D-HI], Lieberman [D-CT], and Pell [D-RI].

These submarines' obvious usefulness in the Global War on Terror, and the program's previous bipartisan popularity, were potent political assets. The US Senate mandated and funded conversion of 4 Tactical Trident SSGNs in the FY2002 defense appropriation bill, even though President Bush had requested only enough money to convert 2 subs.

To create a Tactical Trident submarine, 2 of the Ohio Class SSBNs' 24 large vertical missile launch tubes are converted to lockout chambers to enable exit from the hull underwater. Dedicated accomodations and facilities exist for 66 SOF personnel, generally Navy SEALS, though some sources note an upper limit of 102 in emergencies.

Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) mini-subs can also be attached to the top of the SSGN, in order to deliver special forces teams inshore and back undetectably. The subs will include a number of advanced electronics, sonar, et. al. to help them navigate but their main advantage is delivering the SEALs or MARSOCOM <http://nationalreview.com/smitht/smith200510260906.asp> members inshore in a dry environment, reducing fatigue. Unfortunately, as DID has noted, the ASDS program <http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/12/asds-minisub-program-taking-on-water/index.php> is suffering from serious development problems. Until those are sorted out, existing Seal Delivery Vehicles <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sdv.htm> (SDVs) will have to be used instead.

Like the new Virginia Class submarines (SSN-744) which cost $1.7 billion each, these four converted SSGNs will extend the special forces and USMC underwater insertion capability. The decommissioning of the 1960s-vintage Benjamin Franklin Class [SSBN 640] submarines: USS James K. Polk [SSN/SSBN 645] in 1999, and USS Kamehameha [SSN/SSBN 642] in 2002, was offset by the subsequent modification of the improved Los Angeles Class (SSN-688I) subs Charlotte [SSN 766] and Greeneville [SSN 772]. The sheer number of SSGN berths and dedicated facilities, however, will give the new Tactical Trident subs a level of SOF capability and flexibility that far exceeds even the new Virginia Class. Given the new global environment, the lead role that has been assigned to SOCOM for prosecuting the Global War on Terror, and the USA's increased emphasis on threats and warfare in littoral zones, this has become an extremely important capability.

The havoc that 102 Navy SEALs can create is not to be underestimated; nevertheless, the converted subs' most powerful strike capability still lies in their missiles.

BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles have played major roles in U.S. military operations, from Desert Storm through current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Flying close to the ground at just under the speed of sound, they can deliver a 1,000 lb. conventional explosive warhead with pinpoint accuracy via GPS/INS and terrain matching navigation. A datalink even allows them to be reprogrammed while in the air to strike any of fifteen preprogrammed alternate targets. In the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom alone, U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea launched 320 Tomahawks.

JINSA notes that the majority of Tomahawk cruise missiles are currently launched by Navy surface vessels, such as the Ticonderoga Class (CG-47) cruisers and Arleigh Burke Class (DDG-51) destroyers. The later series of Los Angeles Class (SSN-688I) and the newest Virginia Class (SSN-744) attack submarines are also armed with 12 dedicated Tomahawk launch tubes, while earlier Los Angeles boats and the newest Seawolf Class (SSN-21) have to sacrifice some of their stored torpedos to carry and launch Tomahawks through their torpedo tubes.

Again, numbers matter. The ability to arrive unnoticed with up to 154 long-range land-attack missiles, launch Tomahawks, and then slip away silently beneath the waves, will make the new Tactical Trident SSGNs the US Navy's premier future strike platform next to its carrier fleet. The SOF/Strike mission flexibility and undetectability of the new SSGNs may even make them more important and useful to a number of future conflict scenarios.

Finally, an August 2003 Seapower article also suggested that these vessels will perform as seagoing test beds for the submarine fleet, trying out new technologies and testing new tactics for other classes of submarines. sub-launched UAVs, UUVs, and other new equipment are likely to see their first testing and live-use trials aboard these ships.

In the past, when trouble struck in a global hotspot, it has been said that one of the first questions an American President asks has been "Where are the carriers?" In future, that question may often change to "Where are the tridents?"

Timelines & Program Contractors

An Oct. 17, 2005 General Dynamics press release noted that If all options are exercised and funded, the overall SSGN conversion contract will be worth a total of $1.4 billion. See all US DoD contract announcements related to contract #N00024-02-C-2901.

Naval Technology reported that USS Ohio began conversion in November 2002, and will rejoin the fleet in November 2005. Coversion was declared complete on January 9, 2006, and the actual in-service date is more likely to be January-February 2006. Naval Technology also noted that:

USS Florida began the SSGN conversion in July 2003 and it is expected to rejoin the fleet in April 2006.

USS Michigan's conversion is underway, and as the contract notes December 2006 will mark the expected end of construction and beginning of renewed sea trials.

USS Georgia is now beginning that conversion as well, and as the contract notes September 2007 will mark the expected end of construction and beginning of renewed sea trials.

While these submarines could (and probably will) be tasked for emergency missions before then, the US Navy plans to conduct operational evaluation (OPEVAL) of the SSGNs' Strike and SOF missions in FY 2007. A passing grade will lead to full certification of the available SSGN fleet for combat operations, and the beginining of a potent new weapon for American seapower.

With respect to key contractors:

· General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. is the shipbuilding contractor, and is the default contract recipient in the lists below unless otherwise specified.

· General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is modifying the Trident nuclear missile fire control system to systems designsed to control Tomahawk cruise missiles et. al.

· Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is adapting the ballistic missile missile launch tubes, developing a Multiple All Up Round Canister (MAC) which will provide storage and launch of up to seven TLAM C-E non-nuclear Tomahawk missiles from each of the submarine's 22 missile tubes.

· Northrop Grumman Oceanic and Naval Systems is building the attached ASDS "Advanced SEAL delivery System" mini-subs, the successors to the previous SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) carried on US Benjamin Franklin Class (SSBN-640) attack submarines. The ASDS can deliver up to 16 Navy SEALs or Marine Force Recon members. Unfortunately the ASDS program has not been all that successful thus far, and could easily wind up costing more than the rest of the Tactical Trident conversion program put together.

SSGN Tactical Trident: Program Contracts and Timelines

· Sept 26, 2002: $442.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00024-02-C-2901) for ship detail design, procurement and manufacturing of Long Lead Time Material (LLTM) for conversion of up to four Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines. The contract effort is to produce a complete, accurate, and producible ship detail design. Associated LLTM tasks provided for include material acquisition, vendor oversight, manufacturing, inspections, test, storage, preservation, and vendor assistance in troubleshooting and resolving operational problems.

· Dec 13, 2002: A $38.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 to exercise an option for the procurement and manufacturing of long lead time material for conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines.

· Dec 20, 2002: A $54.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for the procurement of long lead time material (LLTM) for the conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to Ohio Class SSGN submarines. LLTM includes material acquisition, vendor oversight, manufacturing, inspections, test, storage, preservation and vendor assistance in troubleshooting and resolving operational problems. Work will be performed in Groton, CT and is to be complete by September 2007. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

· May 23, 2003: A $24.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for the procurement and manufacturing of long lead-time material for conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines.

· Sept. 16, 2003: A $33.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for conversion installation planning re: conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines.

· Dec 11, 2003: A $30.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise an option under previously awarded contract N00024-02-C-2901 for installation planning and manufacturing of long lead time material for conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines.

· Dec 18, 2003: A $221.8 million cost-reimbursement modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for FY 04 conversion of SSBN 726 (USS Ohio) to SSGN 726, and long lead time material and conversion installation planning for conversion of USS Michigan [SSBN 727] and USS Georgia [SSBN 729] to SSGN 727 and SSGN 729.

· Feb 6, 2004: A $15.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2901) for procurement of long lead-time material for the conversion of Ohio Class SSBN submarines to SSGN submarines.

· March 3, 2004: A $149.4 million cost-reimbursement modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for the conversion of USS Florida [SSBN 728] to SSGN 728; and conversion installation planning for the conversion of USS Georgia [SSBN 729] to SSGN 729. Both conversions will be conducted concurrently with the ships' engineered refueling overhaul being done at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and work is expected to be complete by September 2007.

· May 5, 2004: A $5.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee material order under a previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-2100) for procurement of SSGN 727 and SSGN 728 long lead time material (LLTM, in this case ships' service turbine generator sets). The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, USN in Groton, CT issued the contract modification.

· January 10, 2005: Electric Boat Corporation in Groton, CT received an $8.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee material order under a previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-2100) for procurement of SSGN 727 and SSGN 728 long lead time material (LLTM, in this case ships' service turbine generator sets). Work will take place in Groton, Conn., and is expected to be complete by May 2007. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC issued this contract modification.

· January 28, 2005: A $150 million cost-reimbursement modification under contract N00024-02-C-2901 for the conversion of USS Michigan [SSBN 727] to SSGN 727. The USS Michigan's conversion will be conducted concurrently with the ship's engineered refueling overhaul being performed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Work is expected to be complete by December 2006.

· May 19, 2005: Electric Boat Corp. in Groton, CT receives a $14.7 million Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee contract modification to previously awarded contract for the Procurement of Long Lead Time Material for the Conversion of Ohio Class SSBN Submarines to Ohio Class SSGN Submarines. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC issues the contract (N00024-02-C-2901).

· Oct 14, 2005: A $162.4 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2901) for conversion of the USS Georgia from Ohio Class ballistic missile submarine SSBN 729 to Ohio Class guided missile submarine SSGN 729. The conversion will be conducted concurrently with the ship's engineered refueling overhaul being performed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and work is expected to complete by September 2007. he Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. issued the contract.

· Dec 19, 2005: The USS Ohio [SSGN 726] took a significant step towards rejoining the fleet when it arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, WA with a broom atop its sail - signifying a clean sweep of its initial sea trials.

· Jan 9, 2006: General Dynamics Electric Boat completes its conversion of USS Ohio [SSGN 726], the first of four Ohio-class submarines to be reconfigured. EB President John Casey noted that the conversion - comprising design, manufacturing, installation and at-sea testing - was completed only three years after the Navy decided to move forward with the program (DID: 3 years for the sub from Dec. 18, 2003, but it's 4 for the program). "That's a remarkable achievement," he said. He also noted that USS Florida is on track to follow the lead-ship sea trial by only three months, which would result in delivery of the second SSGN over a shorter-than-normal timeframe, and at a conversion cost lower than the lead ship's.

SSGN Tactical Trident: Ancillary Program Contracts and Timelines

· There's a lot that goes into a program like this, including ancillary contracts that aren't directly part of the program, but which are required for effective operation. Finding and keeping track of these contracts is difficult, but DID will present and add as many as we can find.

· Oct 26, 2001: BAE Systems Applied Technologies Inc. in Rockville, MD received $58 million cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide fiscal year 2002 fleet ballistic missile (FBM) system integration and logistics support for the U.S. and United Kingdom Trident Programs. While not part of the SSGN program per se, the effort also includes Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM) and SSGN systems integration, and advanced systems studies, as part of its scope (N00030-02-C-0019). This is followed by other contracts which include this component as part of their total:

· Jan 29, 2002: Northrop Grumman Marine Systems in Sunnyvale, CA receives $16.6 million to exercise an option contained in previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00030-01-C-0071) to provide for Ship, Submersible Guided Missile Nuclear (SSGN) Multiple-All-Up-Round Canister (MAC) Subsystem demonstration and validation (DEMVAL). The MAC allows 7 Tomahawk cruise missiles to be carried in and launched from each Trident misile tube. This contract represents a win for NGMS against a competitor, after 2 initial contracts were awarded in May 2001. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, CA, and is expected to be complete by July 2003.

· Feb 21, 2002: General Dynamics Defense Systems in Pittsfield, MA receives a $5.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for the fiscal year 2002 Nuclear Pwered Cruise Missile Submarine (SSGN) Attack Weapons Control System (AWCS). The effort includes management and engineering services to develop the preliminary proof of concept system design for AWCS, proof of concept system architecture design review and development of preliminary planning for fleet documentation. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, MA, and is expected to be complete by December 2002. This contract was not competitively procured (N00030-02-C-0017). It is followed by other contracts which include this component as part of their total:

· Dec 16, 2002: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Pittsfield, MA receives a $90 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the FY03 Fire Control Omnibus Contract, which includes FBM Fire Control Production, Operational Support, Field Engineering Services, Repair and Return effort, and Development and SSGN Attack Weapons Control System (AWCS) design and production (N00030-03-C-0008).

· Feb 21, 2005: Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA) Inc. in Alexandria, VA receives a $7.15 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide systems engineering and program support for Nuclear Weapons Security (NWS) Program and SSBN Superstructure Modification. SPA will examine alternative approaches for SSBN security to the baseline SSBN superstructure modification program and will work to insure total system integration of all elements on SSBN and SSGN related programs required to perform technical, operational, and programmatic tradeoffs. Work will be performed in Alexandria, VA, and is expected to be complete in November 2005. This contract was not competitively procured by the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs in Washington, DC (N00030-05-C-0015).

· Dec 19, 2005: International Marine and Industrial Applicators, LLC in Irvington, AL won a $42 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for the painting and preservation of the USA's Ohio Class SSBN nuclear missile subs and SSGN special ops & strike submarines. DID's "Painting Ohio" has the remaining details.

· Dec 22, 2005: Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ received an $8.8 million ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0569) for the manufacture of 135 B Kits and assembly of the SSGN modification kit for the Composite Capsule Launching System (CCLS) capsule. The CCLS is for the Tomahawk cruise missiles specifically, and is compatible with the SSGN submarine Multiple AUR Canister (MAC) noted in the January 29, 2002 contract. The B Kits provide the components that complete the umbilical cable and aft end for the CCLS. Work will be performed in Joplin, MO (33.3%); Huntsville, AL (33%); Tucson, AZ (23.3%); and Camden, AK (10%), and is expected to be complete in July 2007. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.

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Editorial: Restrict Sonar Use Until Effects Better Understood

Raleigh News & Observer, 19 JAN 06

Whether the Navy ought to install a sonar training range off the North Carolina coast isn't a case of the whales vs. the warriors _ or it shouldn't be. This nation's security depends on healthy oceans teeming with sea life as surely as it does on an ability to detect unfriendly submarines. We need both.

Yet, science has tied sonar's sound pulses to three cases of fatal whale beachings. In one, autopsies showed internal injuries that could have been caused by gas bubbles if the mammals had been startled into surfacing too quickly. In another case, the Navy conceded that sonar was the culprit, while blaming an unusually limited escape route. North Carolina also has raised the possibility that sonar could be damaging to fish.

The science of sonar remains a work in progress, but the direction in which it's heading argues for extreme caution. The Navy ought to limit the areas in which sonar is used for training until it's clear that damage to sea life can be avoided. If that means delaying an East Coast training range, so be it.

In its environmental impact statement, the Navy says it needs the 660-square-mile area to replicate the shallow waters of the Arabian Sea and elsewhere for teaching sailors and pilots how to hunt quiet, diesel-powered submarines. Because hostile nations, including Iran and North Korea, have these submarines, it's clearly within the Navy's mission to be able to detect them.

West Coast training grounds are said to be too far away to be practical for the Atlantic Fleet to use. So the Navy looked at three workable areas off the coast of Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. The North Carolina location was chosen for its proximity to the Camp Lejeune Marine Base.

Drawing on its West Coast experience with sonar, the Navy insists the risks to sea life are negligible. That may be so, but to make a wise call, there must be a broader balancing of the need to detect submarines against the danger of degrading the ocean environment.

A federal court, which weighed the risks of the most powerful sonar, pointed the way with a 2003 decision limiting low-frequency sonar to a portion of the Pacific. It would make sense also to limit the use of mid-frequency sonar, which the Navy would deploy off North Carolina, to a single area where whales and fish could be closely monitored.

That's the kind of study needed to solidly link sonar to whale beachings, rule out such a link, or reveal ways sonar can be used safely. The evidence of harm already on the record is too strong to be ignored.

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Wandering Whales Worry Scientists

Randy Boswell, Canadian West News Service, 18 JAN 06

Scientists are sounding an alarm after a North Atlantic right whale and her injured calf -- two of the estimated 300 surviving members of one of Canada's most endangered species -- were spotted on Monday along the western shore of the Gulf of Mexico, about 2,000 kilometres away from their normal winter habitat off the east coast of the southern United States.

``There are so few, it's of great concern that two have lost their way,'' University of Texas marine biologist Tony Amos told CanWest News Service on Tuesday after he identified and photographed the wayward whales in a bay near Corpus Christi, Texas. ``I can't speculate on why they are here, but it is a stunning thing to have them in these waters.''

The sighting is particularly worrisome because it could indicate that other members of the species _ currently at the centre of controversies over United States shipping routes and the ecological impact of military sonar _ have somehow veered off course. Amos said he's hopeful the pair's bizarre detour is an isolated case since there haven't been other right whale sightings in the Gulf so far.

A U.S. Coast Guard alert was immediately issued, warning freighter pilots and recreational boaters in the Gulf to watch out for and steer clear of the vulnerable pair. But two deep gashes on the back of the young whale, believed to be a newborn, show it has probably already been struck by the propeller of a ship.

``We can't compel the whales to do much,'' said Barbara Zoodsma, head of a right whale recovery program at the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ``But we took the report and did as much as we could to get the word out.''

Canada recently imposed new regulations aimed at preventing collisions between ships and right whales in and around the Bay of Fundy, directly south of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine. The endangered population spends each summer and fall in Canadian waters before migrating south to its winter breeding grounds along the Georgia and Florida coasts.

Similar measures have been planned in the U.S. for four years, but delays by the National Marine Fisheries Service in implementing the new rules prompted environmental groups to file a lawsuit against the government in November. The groups argued the federal agency has acted so slowly in introducing rule changes the species could be irreparably weakened by ship strikes and net entanglements by the time regulations are adopted.

The species, decimated by whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries, was named the ``right'' whale to target for easy hunting because it swims slowly and near the surface, typically stays close to the coast and conveniently floats to the top when harpooned.

A separate population of right whales, also threatened, cruises the Pacific coast of North America. But the North Atlantic population is so scarce that whale watchers in Eastern Canada and New England have developed a database that identifies most members of the species by name and lists each animal's distinctive markings.

Photographs of the mother and calf found roving the Gulf of Mexico were being sent to right whale experts on Tuesday for possible identification.

Amos said he was alerted to the two whales' presence after the captain of an oil tanker reported on Monday that his ship had encountered the animals and might have hit one. A search later that day by Amos yielded several sightings of the pair.

Amos, a senior researcher with the University of Texas' Marine Science Institute, said the creatures were easily identified as right whales by two ``giveaway'' traits: their lack of dorsal fins and the mother's massive, barnacle-encrusted head.

He described the right whale's navigation system as a ``wonderful mystery'' that could include sound waves bouncing off the seabed as well as biological sensors that detect subtle differences in ocean temperature and salinity and perhaps even the Earth's magnetic field.

``While we were watching them, they moved about six miles in the right direction,'' said Amos, expressing hope the whales were heading back east to join the rest of the Atlantic population.

Eight right whales -- including three pregnant females -- are known to have died from collisions or by drowning in fishing nets in the past two years, and scientists say those deaths probably represent a small fraction of the actual losses.

A coalition of wildlife protection groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, argued in its November lawsuit that the U.S. government was ``twiddling its thumbs'' over new rules on ship routes and speed limits while the North Atlantic right whale edged closer to extinction.

Another court action targets the U.S. navy over a planned sonar training range off the coast of North Carolina, which opponents fear will menace migrating pods of right whales with deafening, disorienting blasts of underwater sound.

And yet another battle is raging over a proposed marina in Georgia, which conservationists warn will have hundreds of recreational boats cruising through waters crucial to right whale reproduction.

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Navy Recruiting Women-Owned Small Businesses For Submarine Work

By Geoff Fein, Defense Daily, 19 Jan 06

Naval Sea Systems Command's Team Submarine is helping women-owned small business (WOSB) link up with large defense contractors in hopes of providing an avenue for government work.

One effort Team Submarine has been advocating are annual WOSB conferences held at Sweet Briar College in southwest Virginia. Since first holding the event at the women's college in October 2000, the Navy has reached out to more than 250 WOSB, Richard McNamara, executive director of Team Submarine, told Defense Daily.

"Team Submarine sponsored it, and we bring in the [entire] submarine vendor base we work with to introduce what we need and how to do business with us," he said. "We do that to educate big business that there is a whole sector of women-owned business that shouldn't be stereotyped and pigeon holed."

Although the conferences have been successful in linking up WOSB with companies such as General Dynamics [GD], Raytheon [RTN] and Lockheed Martin [LMT], McNamara said he is deciding whether to hold a conference later this year or wait until October 2007.

Since the first conference, McNamara hasn't changed the format of the event, although he has fine-tuned the conferences to make them more effective, he said.

"The first year, we had a very good turnout, there was lots of support," he said. "But we tried to jam too much orchestrated agenda on people. In the second year we tried to loosen it up a bit."

In October, more than 58 WOSB attended the conference.

"I was tremendously impressed with it," said Beth Shepherd, director of marketing for Grove Resource Solutions (GRS). "It is a sincere attempt to find a fit ... to find ways to use small companies. We had much more access to big companies."

Shepherd said Frederick, Md.-based GRS is involved as a subcontractor on several proposals.

GRS is a small business prime contractor on the Navy's SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e). According to the Navy, SeaPort-e is the vehicle of choice for future engineering, financial, and program management contractor support services.

Kelly Mendell, president of Mikel, Inc., said her reason for attending the October 2005 conference was to develop relationships.

"The right people were at that conference. You felt you were getting the right exposure," she said.

Mikel, Inc. does undersea warfare solutions and NAVSEA is one of its biggest customers on the east coast, Mendell said.

The Fall River, Mass.-based company is currently working on the Active Intercept Ranging Systems (AIRS). Originally developed through a SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research), AIRS is a 360-degree ranging capability to active emissions for submarines.

The company is also working on the Training Readiness Evaluation Debrief System (TREDS). It will graphically display how a submarine performs during antisubmarine warfare missions, Mendell said.

Two years ago, McNamara asked a room full of conference attendees how many had received contracts. Only a few people raised their hands.

The modest display of hands led McNamara to question why the Navy was putting on the event.

But, at the break, McNamara was approached by a "parade of people [telling me] they got contracts."

McNamara goes to great lengths to drum up opportunities for women-owned small businesses. He attends a number of different conferences, including DoD and Navy events, to meetings with chambers of commerce. "Any place I am asked, that's part of our advocacy."

"It's very clear this is a cause for him," Shepherd said.

For McNamara, it is all about putting a face on government.

"We find a lot of our time at these conferences is [spent] introducing the companies, finding out their skills, and then telling them who within this command or field command, or industry partners, cares about that part of the business," he said. "We try to channel them into the right place."

At the WOSB conferences, McNamara has sent up one-on-one meetings so that women-owned businesses get some sit down time with large contractors.

Mendell said getting the chance to meet defense company representatives in the one-on-one setting was beneficial.

"It's a good opportunity to talk about what you could bring to the table," she said.

Holding the annual event at a women's college also has its benefits, McNamara added.

"We do this at women's college to get this generation of women-owned business entrepreneurs in front of the next one," he said.

At the first WOSB event, McNamara expected to see companies that wrote software or did education and training. But, instead, he met women selling abrasives to the military and others selling steel.

"I am always amazed. They are selling heavy metals, we had [one] selling abrasives, there is no area they are not in," he said.

McNamara recalled the case of a couple who owned a small machine shop. The wife came to the first WOSB conference five years ago.

"She went from no business and was able to come back and report she is winning five to six bids every month out of the naval inventory control point," he said. "She's making components for the nuclear end of equipment that has extremely high quality assurance standards."

The woman found the government to be a good customer, and while working with the government can at times be difficult because of things like the myriad acronyms, "once you understand it and you get people helping you to understand it, it's a great customer," McNamara said.

"Be persistent, do your homework, give it a shot and find someone to explain the rules you may not understand," he added.

McNamara is adding another venture in hopes of opening doors for small businesses. He is trying to introduce small businesses to historically black colleges and universities that have never had a play in Team Submarine business.

In the past year, McNamara, along with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), have visited three historically black colleges and universities: Jackson State University, Jackson, Miss.; North Carolina A&T State University; and Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, La.

"We had one success out of N.C.A&T. They won a competition ONR was running," McNamara said. "We just went out with a competition that requires greater than zero percent for electronic integration jobs for historically black colleges and universities. I expect a proven SBIR company or one of the big electronic houses to win it, and as a result of having that evaluation criteria, they will go out and find a (historically black colleges and universities) to do business with."

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Navy official: No hiring freeze at the shipyard

By Douglas P. Guarino, Foster’s Daily Democrat, 18 Jan 06

PORTSMOUTH - A top Navy official denied allegations of a hiring freeze at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Tuesday in a letter sent to members of the New Hampshire and Maine Congressional delegation.

"Let me assure you that there is no hiring freeze at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard," Vice Admiral Paul Sullivan of the Naval Sea Systems Command wrote.

"Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is hiring in the near term to fill vacancies caused by attrition," Sullivan continued. "Additionally, to deal with an increase in workload over the near term, the Shipyard anticipates increasing the number of borrowed personnel from other Shipyards under the One Shipyard initiative."

Sullivan sent the letter in response to the delegation's complaints last week about the alleged hiring freeze. Congressional staffers learned about the alleged freeze from shipyard union officials during a closed-door session at Kittery Town Hall Jan. 6.

In a previous interview, Metal Trades Council President Paul O'Connor said he was concerned the hiring freeze could adversely affect the shipyard's performance. O'Connor could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In his letter, Sullivan said, "Hiring practices at all our Naval Shipyards are dictated by projected workload, budgeted overtime percentages and projected attrition rates.

In evaluating these factors, the Navy not only takes into consideration the current year of execution and the following budget year, but also views these trends across the entire Future Years Defense Plan."

"This approach provides us a mechanism to prevent over-hiring, which could result in later adverse personnel actions due to reduced workload," Sullivan wrote.

Sullivan offered praise to the shipyard, which the Defense Department recommended closing during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process.

"The people and facilities at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are a critical component of our submarine industrial base," Sullivan wrote. "We will continue to optimize our workforce at all of our Naval Shipyards as we make the difficult decisions associated with balancing our decreasing ship and submarine maintenance workload."

Sullivan's letter was sent to U.S. Sens. Judd Gregg, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and U.S. Reps. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., and Tom Allen, D-Maine.

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U.S. Navy Secretary Tours New England Facilities

By Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News, 18 Jan 06

New U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter will make a two-day trip Jan. 19-20 to see first-hand Navy and industrial base facilities in the New England region.

His schedule will include the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard and New London submarine base, both in Groton, Conn., and in Maine the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Naval Air Station Brunswick and the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath.

One of the aims of the visit will be to give Winter a chance to “see the synergy” between the New London base and submarine-builder Electric Boat, said Winter’s spokesperson, Capt. Beci Brenton.

New England fought back a Navy effort last year to close the New London submarine base and the Portsmouth shipyard. After a series of hearings, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission recommended keeping open the facilities, arguing they were key to the Navy’s infrastructure.

But the BRAC commission voted to close the Brunswick air station, overturning the Navy’s recommendation to downsize but keep open the base, which primarily supports P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

A key element of the decision to keep open the submarine base was its proximity to Electric Boat’s shipyard. Ironically, Electric Boat last month announced it would begin laying off up to 2,400 employees, due in part to more submarine overhaul work being done by the four naval shipyards. Unlike the other Navy shipyards, Portsmouth only works on submarines.

Winter was sworn into office Jan. 3, replacing Gordon England, who became deputy defense secretary.

“He really wants to go and look and listen and learn,” said Brenton. “We’ll be doing a lot of these familiarization visits. As we can work them into the schedule, we’ll do them.”

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Pittsfield sub project gets $56 million boost

By Anthony Fyden, Iberkshires.com, 18 Jan 06

An ongoing Pittsfield General Dynamics project, involving work for the Navy's Trident II submarine, is getting a $56 million boost, the Department of Defense announced this week.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is being awarded a $56,068,682 modification of a contract for fire control production, operational support, field engineering services, repair and return effort and development, according to the DOD.

The original Fire Control Omnibus contract, for 89.9 million, was awarded to General Dynamics in December 2002.

The Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, based in Arlington, Virginia, awarded the contract. All the work will be done in Pittsfield, and is expected to be completed by December 2009.

General Dynamics is a key employer in Pittsfield, with nearly 1,000 workers.

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Paal denies resignation due to stalled arms bill

Taiwan News, 19 Jan 06

American Institute in Taipei Director Douglas H. Paal denied on Wednesday that he has resigned from his post because of the lack of progress on an NT$460 billion arms purchase of advanced weapons from the United States that has been blocked by the Legislature since June 2004.

"My time to leave (Taiwan) has come," Paal said on Wednesday morning at a New Year's reception hosted by Kuomintang Chairman Ma Ying-jeou for all foreign envoys posted in Taiwan.

When asked by reporters if he was resigning because he failed to get the arms procurement bill through the Legislature, Paal replied: "Nonsense!"

The U.S.' top representative in Taiwan, Paal announced on Tuesday he will leave Taipei on January 25 after three and a half years as head of the de facto U.S. embassy.

He did not give a reason for his departure, which quickly aroused speculation that Paal was resigning because of the arms procurement bill, which consists of six Patriot PAC-III anti-missile batteries, eight diesel-electric submarines, and 12 P3-C Orion anti-submarine aircraft.

During Wednesday's event, Paal said Taiwan's procurement of weaponry systems from the United States is a decision in line with efforts to protect its own interests and national security.

For his part, Ma told Paal that the Kuomintang is scheduled to submit a position paper on the procurement of defensive weaponry systems from the United States in March, which he later said Paal described as "good news."

AIT Taipei Office Deputy Director David Keegan will be the acting director until a replacement for Paal arrives.

AIT is the quasi-official U.S. organization that handles relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties after the U.S. closed its embassy.

Diplomatic sources said Stephen Young, who has previously served as deputy head of the AIT Taipei office, has been tipped to succeed Paal when he leaves.

They disclosed that the U.S. government unofficially decided last year to appoint Young as the next AIT chief, and suggested that Washington could not find a better candidate than Young."

Young has served in the U.S. Department of State for 25 years and is currently the U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.

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"Sindugosh" Submarine Modernized In Russia Arrived In India

18 January 2006 WPS: Defense & Security

On Monday, Indian Navy diesel-electric submarine "Sindugosh" modernized at Federal Unitary Concern "Zvesdochka" arrived in its basing place in Mumbay, India, as was stated at Severodvinsk Concern press-cutting service. A solemn ceremony of sending the submarine to its birth place took place on October 22, 2005. "Sindugosh" crossed three oceans in three months - The Arctic ocean, the Atlantic ocean and the Indian ocean, having traveled over 11,000 miles.

Shipwrights from Severodvinsk had to keep the watch on board "Sindugosh", they will have to do servicing and maintain the machinery according to the warranty. Diesel-electric submarine "Sindugosh" of 877RV project ("Kilo" in NATO's classification) arrived in "Zvezdochka on August 30, 2002, for repairing and modernization. The submarine's project was developed by "Rubin", Saint Petersburg. Diesel-electric submarine modernization at "Zvesdochka" included modern missile complex "Club-S" installation, which is meant for surface ships destruction and land enemy objects at a distance of 200 kilometers; and Indian equipment installation - the sonar system "USHUS" and radio connection systems "CCS-MK"

Diesel-electric submarine "Sindugosh" ("Marine soul") is the third submarine in Indian Navy, which was modernized by "Zvezdochka". The fourth Indian Navy submarine "Sinduvidzhay" ("Marine victory") is being repaired and modernized at "Zvezdochka" now.

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