The Pentagon has directed the Navy to assume a "greater presence" in the western Pacific by adding at least one aircraft carrier and five nuclear submarines over the next decade, according to a draft of the Pentagon's review of strategy and forces.

The increase will put half the Navy's aircraft carriers and 60 percent of its submarine fleet in the Pacific and is largely driven by the Pentagon's concern over China's increased military might, according to a congressional defense analyst.

``They recognize they may be challenged from a modernized Chinese maritime military force,'' said Ronald O'Rourke, the chief naval analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, who's written extensively on the subject. ``It's intended to send a signal of their concern.''

China announced last March that its military spending in 2005 would grow by 13 percent. That followed increases of 11.6 percent in 2004, 9.6 percent in 2003 and 17.6 percent in 2002.

China's military buildup is ``unprecedented'' and ``is proceeding quite rapidly,'' U.S. Pacific Command commander Admiral William Fallon told Congress at the time. It includes short- and intermediate-range missiles, submarines and Russian- made Su-30 fighters, Fallon said.

The Quadrennial Defense Review will be released Feb. 6 along with the president's fiscal 2007 budget. It's being released as the U.S. continues to improve bases on the island of Guam to accommodate more nuclear submarines, Air Force B-2 bombers and unmanned drones. In addition, Japan in October agreed to allow basing of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo in 2008.

``The fleet will have greater presence in the Pacific Ocean consistent with the global shift of trade and transport,'' says the final draft of the review now circulating on Capitol Hill.

``Accordingly, the Navy plans to adjust its force posture and basing to provide at least six operationally available and sustainable carriers and 60 percent of its submarines in the Pacific to support engagement, presence and deterrence,'' the draft says.

The Navy in recent years has kept five of its 12 carriers in the Pacific with the reminder in the Atlantic and as many as 27 of its 54 submarines in the Pacific, O'Rourke said.

As part of the increased presence, the review recommends that the Pentagon in 2012 increase production of the General Dynamics Corp.-Northrop Grumman Corp. Virginia-class attack submarine to two annually from the current rate of one a year.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a news conference today declined to discuss the review until it is formally released.

Rumsfeld said last year after a congressional hearing that the Pentagon is ``making a big effort'' to ``recognize the changes taking place in Asia and the kinds of capabilities the United States could be facing in 10, 15, 20 years.''

``We have to try to look out with respect to China and other circumstances that can change dramatically in that period of time,'' he said on March 10, 2005.

Building on President George W. Bush's policy of pre- emptive defense, the draft says the U.S. ``will attempt to dissuade any military competitor from developing disruptive or other capabilities that could enable hostile actions against the United States or other countries and will seek to deter any form of aggression or coercion.'' the draft said.

In a section on emerging military powers, including Russia and India, the report says ``China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States.'' The pace and scope of China's build-up already puts other regional military balances ``at risk,'' the draft says.

``China is likely to continue to make large investments in high-end military capabilities, emphasizing electronic and cyber-warfare, counter-space operations, ballistics and cruise missiles, next-generation torpedoes and advanced submarines,'' it says

These emerging capabilities, the vast distances of an Asian theater and basing challenges the U.S. would face in a potential conflict ``place a premium on forces capable of sustained operations at great distances into denied areas,'' according to the draft.

U.S. policy remains ``focused on encouraging China to play a constructive, peaceful role in the Asia-Pacific region and serve as a partner addressing common security challenges,'' it said. ``The goal is for China to continue as an economic partner and emerge as a force for good in the region,'' the draft says.

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Rumsfeld Says He Doesn't Oppose Increase In Navy Fleet

Steve Ahearn, Defense Today, 26 JAN 06

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he doesn't oppose the plan to increase the size of the Navy fleet, a draft plan advanced to Congress by Adm. Michael Mullen, chief of naval operations.

At the same time, Rumsfeld praised Mullen's predecessor, retired Adm. Vern Clark, for moving to make fewer Navy ships deliver more time on patrols thanks to streamlined maintenance procedures and other steps.

"I agree with Adm. Mullen," Rumsfeld said, referring to the plan to build up the fleet from the current 281 ships and submarines to 313 over many years.

However, Rumsfeld indicated he thinks there is too much preoccupation with the number of vessels in the fleet, rather than their total capability.

He said the fleet of 281 vessels now can provide as many deployable days as when the fleet years ago numbered 400 to 500 craft.

He declined to comment on whether the Navy will be transferring many ships to the Pacific to counter a rising threat from China.

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BMD Watch: Trident Subs Will Fight Terror

By Martin Sieff, United Press International, 25 JAN 06

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy is converting some of its prized nuclear strategic submarines to launch precision, conventional munitions strikes against terrorist bases and similar targets.

Four ultra-stealth Ohio-class SSBNs are having their 24 Trident II D-5 nuclear ballistic missiles removed and replaced with up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Defense Industry Daily reported Jan. 18.

The program is assured of bipartisan support with Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Clarence Pell of Rhode Island all supporting it, DID said.

The Ohios are being converted into socalled "Tactical Tridents," designated SSGNs, with accommodation for 66-102 special forces troops, special attachments for new Advanced SEAL Delivery Systems (ASDS) or the 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, the report said.

"These modifications provide the (United States) 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 said. The conversion program will cost $1.4 billion, it said.

The program will allow the Navy to avoid having to decommission the four Trident subs, the USS Ohio (SSBN 726), USS Michigan (SSBN 727), USS Florida (SSBN 728) and USS Georgia (SSBN 729).

Funding for the conversion was originally approved in the Fiscal Year 2002 military appropriations bill and it proved popular in Congress. The Senate approved funding four all four nuclear subs, where President George W. Bush had only asked to convert two of them.

To create a Tactical Trident submarine, two of the Ohio Class SSBNs' 24 large vertical missile launch tubes are converted to lockout chambers to enable exit from the hull underwater, the report said. However the ASDS program is suffering from serious development problems. Until those are sorted out, existing Seal Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) will have to be used instead, DID said.

The conversion costs for the four Ohios is far less than the $1.7 billion cost for each of the new nuclear-powered Virginia class (SSN-744).

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Navy Subs Strike Nerve

Patrick J. Sullivan, The Port Townsend Leader, 25 JAN 06

The U.S. Navy is reaching out to city and county officials to help them learn more about activities at Naval Magazine Indian Island in the wake of concern stirred by possible submarine visits.

The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners is taking the lead in any formal discussion with the Navy regarding Indian Island questions. County and city elected officials and leaders are slated for an island tour on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Capt. Jonathan Kurtz, commanding officer of the military’s most strategic ordnance handling station on the West Coast, speaks at Monday’s regular noon meeting of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce.

Some audience members in particular want to hear more about the Navy’s announcement that submarines refitted to carry cruise missiles and commandos rather than nuclear missiles will be serviced at Indian Island.

That long-scheduled talk at chamber has prompted the Port Townsend Peace Movement to ask for a silent demonstration of people wearing black to gather outside the Fort Worden Commons for the Jan. 30 meeting.

Public info

The Navy on Jan. 13 invited city and county elected officials and other leaders to an Indian Island tour set for Jan. 20. However, neither city nor county officials were available. County Administrator John Fischbach asked to reschedule with the Navy as soon as practical.

Port Townsend Mayor Mark Welch said that none of the council members attended the tour due to public meeting notice requirements. The tour has been rescheduled to Tuesday, Jan. 31, he said.

Welch on Monday said that Jefferson County is taking the lead because most of those issues fall into county rather than city jurisdiction.

A forum would provide a chance for Indian Island officials to explain the Navy’s plans for the base, said Jefferson County Commissioner Phil Johnson. No date has been set.

“It would be an opportunity to educate people about the activities there,” he said. “Whatever gets the information out so that people can ask questions.”

While the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners seeks a forum, Johnson said it should not be construed as a statement against the military.

Peace choice

The Port Townsend Peace Movement is wary of Naval Magazine Indian Island’s presence in general, and the appearance of nuclear-powered submarines in particular.

“The impending arrival of nuclear-powered submarines in our immediate neighborhood demonstrates a new dimension in the expansion of militarism here,” said Darlene Durfee, Port Townsend Peace Movement president. “Nuclear-powered vessels of unimaginable destructive capability will be right in our midst. With or without nuclear weapons onboard, Trident submarines escalate the risk by their presence. They will be traveling in a relatively narrow bay filled with recreational boaters, ferries and an expanded ferry dock.” (Durfee refers to Washington State Ferries’ plans to enlarge the terminal in Port Townsend, across the bay from Indian Island, and someday have larger ferries on the PT-Keystone route.)

Chamber visit

The group intends to have some members attend the chamber meeting to hear Capt. Kurtz speak, and hopefully get an opportunity for questions. The peace movement wants to make a statement outside the Fort Worden Commons for the noon meeting.

Durfee would like to have “a large group of people dressed in black or wearing black arm bands standing outside in silence. A substantial number of people standing in silence will be the loudest and most effective form of protest we can offer,” she continued. “It will be a message to the Navy that this is a community that will speak up. We will also have leaflets to explain our position to the business community.”

Indian Island has been Navy property since 1939 and since 1990 has become vitally important for shipping bombs, bullets, torpedoes and missiles. But until now it has had little to do with the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines homeported at Bangor on Hood Canal, about 40 miles from Port Townsend.

Some peace movement members have focused on the depleted uranium munitions trucked into and shipped out of places such as Indian Island, and how trucks are labeled when hauling radioactive cargo. Jefferson County emergency management officials communicate with the Navy regarding safety issues. Indian Island has not had a truck or on-island accident involving explosive ordnance.

Still, the island’s impressive safety record does not soothe Durfee, a fairly new resident to Port Townsend.

“We love this pristine area and would like it to stay this way,” Durfee said in a peace movement statement. “It would take only one accident to change it forever. The Olympic Peninsula could become a wasteland.”

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Leader of Submarine Force visits base

By JO1Jennifer Spinner, Submarine Group 10 public affairs, The Periscope, 25 Jan 06

Vice Adm. Charles Munns, commander of Naval Submarine Forces, spoke to a capacity crowd of Kings Bay officers Jan. 19 at the Trident Training Facility auditorium.

Munns briefed the group on current and future submarine force issues and exhorted them to know their ''purpose and product'' as submariners so they can help others understand the value of the submarine force to national security.

''We can go places other people can't,'' said Munns. ''We have the access, the stealth and the ability to capture knowledge and information without being detected. The knowledge and information we capture makes us a vital piece in this nation's defense.''

Last year was a busy one for the submarine force, with more than half of the force involved in global deployments. United States submarines partnered with forces from nearly 30 countries in exercises including Pacific Reach, Operation Active Endeavor, Exercise Sorbet Royal and the Diesel Electric Submarine Initiative.

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Submarine Group 10 begins new era

By JO2(SW) Michael Wiss, Periscope Staff, 26 January 2006

Meeting new challenges and returning to roots were themes as Rear Adm. Frank Drennan became the new commander of Submarine Group 10.

Drennan relieved Rear Adm. Mark Kenny during a change of command ceremony held at the Kings Bay Chapel Jan. 19.

Drennan, a native of Elberton, Ga., becomes the first unified commander for all Trident submarines. He will continue as the commander of Submarine Group 9, located in Bangor, Wash., in addition to his duties with Group 10. Although he resides in Washington state, he always had Georgia on his mind.

''I'm a Georgia boy,'' Drennan said. ''I was stationed here 25 years ago and hold fond memories of this area. I got married and bought my first house here. The base was nothing compared to what you see today. It is significant to come back and see the dramatic changes over the last 25 years.''

There are many challenges group commanders routinely face. Drennan stated keeping up with the ever-changing Navy is a significant goal he must achieve, but commanding two submarine groups separated by three time zones and 2,400 miles, or trying to be in two places at once, is something he must meet head on.

''My command responsibilities at both bases will be my biggest challenge,'' Drennan said. ''I will spend the required amount of time here. I want to make sure and understand and address any issues that Kings Bay Sailors face and also to get acquainted with the Camden County community.''

The unified command allows for greater standardization and efficiencies for the Trident submarine force and the Navy, said Lt. Cmdr. Monica Richardson, public affairs officer for Submarine Group 10.

''This realignment is good for the submarine force in the Navy and for the Kings Bay team,'' said Kenny, who retains his duties as commander of Navy Region Northeast, Submarine Group 2 and the submarine counterterrorism operations center in New London. ''This will allow one flag officer (Drennan) to focus his attention to the operations of all Trident and SSGN submarines,'' Kenny said. ''This is an exciting day for us as members of the Kings Bay team.''

Many new commanders want to change operations of a command to conform with their personal philosophy. Drennan wants submariners under his command to perform to their utmost ability toward accomplishing their mission of providing strategic deterrence from an enemy who might threaten the United Sates. With that said, Drennan sees no need to change from the current course.

''All the submarines under my command need to focus on the same goal of accomplishing the mission at hand,'' he said. ''We need to have the maximum effectiveness, using our best resources and time toward a vision of taking two commands and making them one powerful unit.''

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Simmons Stresses Sub Dominance

Economic Diversity Group Hears Congressman's Reasons For Beefing Up Groton Base's Offerings

By Anthony Cronin, New London Day, 26 Jan 06

U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, told the governor's commission on diversifying southeastern Connecticut's economy that the region needs to continue growing its submarine industrial base.

“First and foremost, we are submarines,” Simmons told the Commission on the Economic Diversification of Southeastern Connecticut, which met at the Millstone power complex in Waterford. “We've got to hang on to what we have,” he added.

Simmons said he strongly advocates continuing to diversify southeastern Connecticut's $10 billion-plus economy. But he said efforts also should be made to bolster the production rates of submarines at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton - one of the region's larger employers - as well as increasing the military uses of the Naval Submarine Base in Groton to prevent it from facing future rounds of possible base closings.

“Our Navy dominates the subsurface environment,” said Simmons, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “This is about the future capability to build and design submarines, and subsurface dominance,” he said. “If we lose it, who are we going to go to? The Chinese? The Russians?”

The sub base and the nearby EB shipyard employ nearly 20,000 collectively, and state officials this summer estimated that the closing of the sub base, which the Pentagon proposed last May, could ultimately have a $3 billion-plus impact on the regional and state economies. After Connecticut successfully fought back attempts this summer to close the nation's first submarine base, Gov. M. Jodi Rell formed the commission to study the further diversification of the region's economy and to look into ways to improve and broaden the base's role as a military installation.

Simmons is pushing Congress and the Navy to step up production of the Virginia class submarine, manufactured by EB and its teaming partner Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia. Currently, the two yards produce the equivalent of one $2.4 billion Virginia-class sub a year, while Simmons and others want to boost that rate to at least two a year.

Other commission members suggested that the base's exchange could be moved off the base to the nearby Crystal Lake Road. During the base-closings process this summer, Navy officials had alluded to the Groton base's compact size.

The base covers about 687 acres in Groton and Ledyard, which is relatively small compared to other, more modern bases.

By removing the exchange, which includes a retail department store and supermarket, as well as the base's large gasoline station, it could free up more space on the base for other types of military uses requiring a protected zone.

“It always made sense to me that the Navy should have some control of the (western side) of Crystal Lake Road,” said Mark Oefinger, Groton town manager, who also serves as a member of the commission's 11-member executive committee.

There are a number of parcels along the road that could be available, Oeffinger said.

“If we're trying to increase the military value of the base, one's ability to expand and to take on new missions and so forth would seem to be a very positive thing,” Oefinger said. “This is not a new issue, but I think it's a great idea,” he added.

The western side of Crystal Lake Road runs from Route 12 to the main gate of the base and the Nautilus submarine museum.

The state has allocated $10 million in funding that could be used to help the naval base move such facilities, commission members said.

The funds were first authorized by the legislature and the governor to enhance the military value of the Groton naval base.

John Markowicz, who heads the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region and is a member of the executive committee, said other, larger military bases routinely put such facilities, such as their retail and convenience-related stores, outside the main gates of their secured bases.

Gary Bennett, who serves as commission vice chairman, said if the commission could work with Simmons to secure additional federal funding for moving the retail-related facilities, “I think we might have something that would be very valuable to that base.”

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Our View: Layoffs to spur ripple effect through region

Norwich Bulletin, 26 Jan 06

On Monday, 169 workers at submarine builder Electric Boat in Groton will receive layoff notices. That's the first round of what could amount to as many as 2,200 layoffs this year. While the layoffs certainly are disappointing, no one in the region should consider themselves unaffected by what is happening at EB.

How long it will take for these layoffs to be felt elsewhere is uncertain, but they will have a ripple effect on Eastern Connecticut.

Consider that all of us -- men, women and children of all races, religions, nationalities and job titles -- are the fabric of the region.

The loss of those 169 paychecks translate to a loss that goes much deeper.

Meeting the mortgage payment, buying gasoline and groceries just got tougher for those families where a member has been laid off.

Those laid off and unable to find new jobs immediately -- and that would be most of these folks -- must manage their finances closely.

They no longer go to movies, buy that new television set or go bowling. And they probably will stop eating dinner out and visiting the corner convenience store.

Do those who are laid off -- and their family members -- still have the time and enthusiasm for volunteer work? If they don't, the Girl Scouts, Little League and the church choir feel the impact.

If EB lays off 2,200 workers, that would affect everything from fast food to new cars to real estate.

Once sales dip in any business, how soon is it before layoffs follow?

The EB layoffs bring up another point: the urgent need to diversify the economy of Eastern Connecticut.

While U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman is calling for more submarine production, that's not enough.

Utopia Studios may well end up creating thousands of jobs with its proposed $1.6 billion theme park, performing arts school and movie studios at the former Norwich Hospital in Preston. North Stonington Studios may follow suit in North Stonington with a similar proposal.

Or they may not.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell assembled a regional economic development commission to come up with suggestions for diversifying our economy away from national defense.

The need for that diversification will become increasingly apparent beginning Monday.

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Wave of layoffs at submarine builder

Union at EB Told of First Wave of Layoffs

Hartford Courant, 26 Jan 06

GROTON - Union leaders at Electric Boat have been told that 169 workers are being laid off next week.

John Worobey, president of the Marine Draftsmen's Association, confirmed that the union has been notified. EB President John Casey said last month that as many as 1,900 to 2,400 workers could be laid off this year.

The initial wave of layoffs is slightly larger than Casey indicated at the Dec. 8 meeting, when he identified 140 MDA employees and 10 salaried employees who would be laid off this quarter.

On Monday, Casey said future layoffs projected for this year could change if the company gets Navy contracts for repairs and maintenance work on the USS Miami and USS Toledo.

EB employs about 8,500 people at its Groton shipyard and an additional 2,000 at its shipyard in Quonset Point, R.I.

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General Dynamics touts ‘Solid Returns'

Profits Remain Strong, Says EB Parent Company

By Anthony Cronin, New London Day, 26 Jan 06

General Dynamics, parent of Groton-based Electric Boat, said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter and full-year profits remained strong, with quarterly earnings rising nearly 21 percent and yearly earnings gaining 19 percent.

The Falls Church, Va.-based defense contractor said profits in the October-through-December quarter rose to $406 million, or $2 per share, compared to earnings during the comparable 2004 quarter of $336 million, or $1.66 per share. Revenues during the fourth quarter stood at $5.8 billion, up nearly 13 percent over revenues of $5.2 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The quarterly results surpassed many industry analysts' predictions.

Despite the solid financial performance, shares of General Dynamics' stock, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange, closed the day's trading at $114.34 a share, down 1.26 percent from the previous day's trading.

For the full year, the defense contractor reported revenues of $21.2 billion, up 11 percent from 2004 full-year revenues of $19.1 billion. Profits for 2005 rose 19 percent to nearly $1.5 billion, or $7.22 per share, compared to year-earlier profits of $1.2 billion, or $6.09 on a per-share basis.

“General Dynamics generated solid returns in the fourth quarter ... capping another very strong year,” said Nicholas Chabraja, its chairman and chief executive officer. “Revenues and earnings grew substantially over the fourth quarter of 2004.”

GD's four major business groups all showed revenue increases during the fourth quarter, with revenues gaining 21 percent in its Combat Systems group and rising 12 percent in its Information Systems and Technology group. Last month, GD said it would spend about $2 billion to acquire the Anteon International Corp., an information technology firm based in Virginia. Its Aerospace group saw its Gulfstream corporate jet revenue increase by 13 percent, with the unit receiving orders for 44 new aircraft.

GD's Marine Systems unit, which includes its EB and Bath Iron Works shipyards, saw revenues rise by a more modest 1.9 percent during the fourth quarter, from $1.11 billion to about $1.13 billion. Revenues were relatively flat for the full year, at around $4.7 billion.

Operating earnings for the Marine Systems group rose by nearly 63 percent during the final quarter, from $51 million to $83 million. But for the full year, operating earnings for the group declined by nearly 15 percent, from $292 million in 2004 to $249 million this past year.

EB, which is facing a lack of future submarine design work and maintenance-and-repair work, has said it will reduce its overall work force of some 11,500 by between 1,900 and 2,400 workers. EB employs about 8,500 at its Groton shipyard and another 2,000 at its ship works in Quonset Point, R.I.

The company will formally announce the number of jobs that will be reduced during the first quarter on Monday. The company has said it expects job reductions through attrition, retirements and layoffs will range between 150 and 700 during the first quarter. Officials with the Marine Draftsmen's Association, which represents unionized administrative, technical and design workers, said it has received notices about 169 positions that will be affected during the January-through-March quarter.

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Navy Plan for Sonar Range Off East Coast Raises Hackles

Fishermen, others fear pings will hurt sea life

James W. Crawley, Winston-Salem Journal, 06 JAN 06

Captain Joe has been guiding anglers to bluefin tuna and wahoo off North Carolina's Outer Banks since the 1980s, but he fears that a new kind of fish - Navy submarines - could scare away the game fish and his customers.

The Navy wants to build a 661-square-mile underwater training area off the East Coast so submarines, warships and aircraft can practice anti-sub tactics. And that means pinging away with sonar.

The preferred site, the Navy says, is off Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base, and the North Carolina barrier islands. Alternative locations are off Virginia and northeast Florida.

Captain Joe - his real name is Joe Shute - runs three charter boats and a bait and tackle store in Atlantic Beach, N.C.

"It's definitely a mistake," said Shute, referring to the sonar range. "They couldn't have picked a worse spot."

The proposed North Carolina site, like the other two sites, teems with such game fish as tuna, king mackerel, wahoo and dolphin (also known as dorado or mahi-mahi). Whales and porpoises also live there.

Sonar training is unlikely to harm sea life, the Navy said. Environmentalists and fishermen aren't so sure.

The public can comment until Jan. 30 on the Navy's plans to build its Undersea Warfare Training Range. A decision is expected this fall. If approved, the range would be completed in 2015.

The Navy says it needs the shallow-water training range to practice finding and sinking a new generation of quiet diesel-electric-powered subs that run near coastlines and are difficult to detect.

The $98 million range will use underwater microphones, known as hydrophones, to monitor and score war games between submarines and other naval units.

The Navy also wants the range to be near military airfields and naval bases. The water depth would range from 120 to 1,300 feet.

The North Carolina site "best replicates the real-world environment," said Aileen Smith, a natural-resources manager for the Navy in Norfolk, Va.

Opponents say that the Navy will use active sonar that produces extremely loud sound pulses - pings - to find submarines on the training range. The Navy says that sonar pinging is a small but important part of anti-sub training.

Many environmentalists say that active sonar can injure or kill marine mammals, including whales and porpoises. Several whale beachings around the world have occurred during nearby sonar training, though a link remains in dispute.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a rebuttal to the Navy's draft environmental statement, charging the military with poor scientific analysis, a failure to consider other locations and not waiting for findings about the death in January 2005 of whales on North Carolina beaches, said Andrew Wetzler, an NRDC attorney.

"The quality of the Navy's analysis is simply poor," Wetzler said.

The Navy's Smith argued that the military is spending about $10 million a year on marine mammal research.

"This is really cutting-edge science," she added. "It's the most current available science on marine mammals."

A state environmental group, the N.C. Coastal Federation, said that the Navy is rushing ahead of the science on sonar effects on marine life.

"This is a science in its infancy," said the federation's Frank Tursi, who monitors environmental law enforcement. "There's not enough science to base their plans on."

Sonar's effect on fish is of particular concern in North Carolina, said Tursi, a former environmental reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal. The sport-fishing industry is a key part of the Outer Banks' tourism-based economy.

Shute, the charter-boat skipper, said that the loud sonar pings, with a range of up to 10 miles, would be likely to scare off game fish and change their territory.

"Pushing them out 20 more miles (from shore) would kill us," he said.

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U.S. Sailor's father gets chance to visit him aboard sub

Southeast Missourian, 26 Jan 06

Cape Girardeau resident Joe Dirden recently participated in a nuclear-powered submarine "Tiger Cruise," aboard the USS Key West, one of the U.S. Navy's Los Angeles class Fast Attack stealth weapons.

The submarine is homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Dirden's son, Bruce, a petty officer 2nd class, sponsored his dad in this exercise. He is one of the ship's nuclear power operators and has served aboard the submarine since June 2003.

Even though the nuclear power plant is strictly off limits to individuals who are not officers or nuclear operators, family members of Key West's crew took part in other activities for three days while the vessel was submerged and surfaced.

Visitors to the the ship's control center watched the ship's helmsman and plane operators, listened to fish, dolphins and whales in the ship's sonar suite, operated the two periscopes and took a depth sounding.

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The hunt for U-190

Team wants to find sub, raise it, create museum

By Chris Lambie, The Chronicle Herald, 26 Jan 06

The hunt is on for a sunken U-boat off Chebucto Head.

A marine archeologist wants to find U-190, the German sub that the Canadian navy sent to the bottom nearly 60 years ago just outside Halifax Harbour.

"We have to find it, determine its depth and get a picture of what it looks like on the bottom," said Rob Rondeau, an Alberta wreck-diving expert who arrived Wednesday in Halifax.

In the spring, a team of underwater investigators will use an 18-metre vessel equipped with side-scan sonar to search for the U-boat’s remains.

U-190 is infamous for sinking the last Canadian warship lost in the Second World War. It fired the torpedo that sank HMCS Esquimalt nine kilometres off Halifax. Of the minesweeper’s 70-man crew, 44 sailors died in the frigid water on April 16, 1945.

The sub surrendered to Canadian warships nearly a month later. The navy used it for training for two years before sinking it near Esquimalt’s wreck at the approaches to Halifax Harbour.

"So they should be lying in relatively close proximity to one another," said Mr. Rondeau.

Locating the narrow 60-metre sub might be difficult, he said.

"It’s like finding a pen on the floor; it’s a very small target. But we can find something as small as a lunch box, so it’s not impossible."

Divers will eventually descend to search for the wreck, suspected to be lying under about 90 metres of water.

"Essentially what we do is called mowing the lawn," said Mr. Rondeau. "We create a box and then we swim a grid pattern over top of that box, and hopefully we’ll find the submarine." "We’re using the same methodology that was used to find the Titanic and the Bismarck."

Sailors stripped U-190 before sinking it, he said.

"Its periscope, for example, is at the legion in St. John’s," Mr. Rondeau said.

"I would bet you there’s a lot of homes in Halifax that have artifacts from U-190. Maybe grandpa was part of the crew looking after it and took a searchlight."

Mr. Rondeau plans to film the sub wreck for an upcoming documentary he’s trying to sell to the Discovery Channel. He’s also hoping to hunt for U-520, sunk by a Canadian plane Oct. 30, 1942, off Newfoundland.

"Anything that we do recover would go on public display in a museum."

Local history enthusiast David Brown has proposed U-190 be raised and displayed at a proposed $200-million project that the Waterfront Development Corp. and the Armour Group want to build on the Halifax waterfront. Queen’s Landing is slated to hold a three-storey naval museum with the corvette HMCS Sackville as its centrepiece. The plan even calls for live recreations of late-night U-boat attacks.

U-190 was sunk out of "stupidity," said Mr. Brown, a geologist with the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

"There’s only four U-boats on display in the world today and we would have had the fifth one," he said.

Raising and restoring the sub would be expensive. But a similar U-boat on display in Chicago attracts millions of visitors each year, Mr. Brown said.

If it was brought to the surface, he said U-190 could be set up beside Sackville, the last of more than 120 corvettes used to escort convoys and attack subs.

"It’s bringing a piece of history back," Mr. Brown said. "You could have the two protagonists during the Second World War: the hunter and the hunter-killer."

He proposed the U-boat raising last fall but hasn’t heard back from the Queen’s Landing developers.

There are several other U-boats reputedly sunk off the East Coast.

"Most U-boats are war graves because of the dead in them," Mr. Brown said. "This one is not, so it’s one of the few you could actually get."

Werner Hirschmann was chief engineer aboard U-190.

Now 82 and living in Toronto, Mr. Hirschmann didn’t seem at all surprised when contacted Wednesday about the plan to search for and possibly raise his former sub.

"I’ve been waiting for that for 10 or 15 years," he said with a chuckle.

"I would be most enthusiastic about that project. . . . I thought somebody might have that brilliant idea a little bit earlier on."

Mr. Hirschmann said he never understood why the Canadian navy sank U-190.

"It makes me think about that U-505 which is sitting at a museum in Chicago. Thousands of people walk by it every day," he said. "If we had kept the U-190, we probably could have financed half of the Department of Defence with it."

After his sub surrendered at Bay Bulls, N.L., Mr. Hirschmann spent the next year in an Ontario prisoner-of-war camp. He returned to Canada in 1962 to teach computer science at the University of Toronto.

The former submariner hasn’t laid eyes on his old U-boat since May 13, 1945.

"I would love to see my boat being brought to the surface," Mr. Hirschmann said.

"It’s nostalgia; she was very much part of my life."

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KMT's arms proposal insulting to the military

By Wang Chih-peng, Taipei Times, 26 Jan 06

According to media reports, some of the members of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) arms procurement workgroup have proposed that Taiwan adopt a "defensive national defense" model and exclude submarines from the proposed arms purchase. This suggestion has caught the attention of KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, who has announced that he is planning to submit a KMT version of the arms procurement bill during the next legislative session.

The purchase list in that version might include defensive weapons such as rapid-response helicopters and tactical missiles, and re-enforced construction materials such as bomb-resistant and strong, quick-drying cement.

I sincerely hope that this list is just the result of interpretations taken out of context by reporters. If correct, such a list could only be described as the efforts of an outsider trying to pose as an expert.

Let's first discuss the meaning of "defensive national defense." The military has for several decades had one overbearing goal: defense. The 2003 national defense report once again clearly stated that the goal of the nation's military preparedness, as well as its motto, was to build an effective deterrent, ensure a fundamental defensive capability and develop defensive counter-strike capabilities in the hope of preventing war.

Some KMT and People First Party legislators have said that the P-3C marine patrol aircraft should not be purchased because such planes are considered an offensive weapon. This is nothing less than creating a ridiculous new meaning for an established military concept.

Due to the rapid development of military technology, it has long been very difficult to differentiate between offensive and defensive military equipment -- it is all simply a matter of strategy.

Even if a peace-loving country is in possession of weapons of mass destruction, it will only use them for defensive purposes, while a belligerent country can use defensive weapons in an offensive way.

Second, the KMT's ideas about quick-drying cement and the version of the arms procurement bill that it plans to propose in March are nothing short of ridiculous.

The reconstruction of military power is based on the concept that the military should be rebuilt in a decade, with the armed forces being rebuilt over five years. There is an overall logic and continuity to this idea.

Although it is the duty of the KMT as an opposition party to monitor the military's reconstruction, it should not put itself in the place of the Ministry of Defense and replace the ministry's arms procurement proposal with its own version, let alone a version with such a narrow-minded approach and of such low military strategic value.

What's more, if every legislative party caucus were to propose their own version, choosing the particular party's favorite arms, they would be humiliating the military and attacking its expertise.

They would also bring chaos to existing plans and operations, and maybe further delay overall military reconstruction.

It could also lead to disputes over whether agreements with arms dealers lie behind proposed purchases.

There is in fact no lack of people with a comprehensive understanding of military strategy in the KMT.

I hope that they will give the legislature room for expert, rational discussion of the Ministry of National Defense's proposal, instead of engaging in politicized and irresponsible grandstanding, which would only create a lose-lose situation for the opposition, the government, as well as national defense.

Wang Chih-peng is a captain in the Republic of China navy. (Translated by Perry Svensson)

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Indonesia Mulls Submarine Purchase

Defense News, 25 Jan 06

Indonesia is considering buying submarines from Russia, South Korea and China under a plan to acquire 12 of them before 2024, the navy said Jan. 25.

”We have received offers from several countries, including Russia. If we can buy them at cheaper prices, why not? We don’t want to depend on one country,” said navy spokesman First Admiral Malik Yusuf.

South Korea and China have also made similar offers, he said.

Yusuf said Indonesia’s capability to defend its waters remained weak due to a lack of submarines, frigates and corvettes. The navy currently operates two German-made submarines.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to visit Russia in June to discuss defense cooperation and the purchase of more Sukhoi fighter jets from Moscow.

The country has four Sukhoi jets bought by the previous administration.

Indonesia embarked on a hunt for new arms suppliers after the United States imposed restrictions on military sales and cooperation due to concerns about rights abuses committed by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor in 1991.

The United States, eager for Indonesia’s assistance in the “war on terror”, lifted the arms restrictions and resumed full military ties last November.

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SA sub hits hiccup in foreign waters

Dispatch Online, 26 Jan 06

AN SA National Defence Force submarine experienced a malfunction during training in Norwegian waters on Tuesday, the SANDF said.

Submarine S101 was conducting sea training in Norwegian waters with a German Navy team onboard in preparation for its return to South Africa when a technical malfunction occurred, Rear Admiral Rusty Higgs said yesterday. Nobody was injured and the S101 - known by its serial number until it is named - was travelling to Kiel in Germany for further information to be gathered.

"At this stage we do not have the picture yet ... it's a little bit too early," Higgs said. "We were told that there was a technical malfunction and in the spirit of the people's navy we are keeping people in the picture."

It is not known whether the boat's mid-February voyage to South Africa will still take place.

The submarine - one of three type 209 submarines commissioned from Germany - was symbolically handed over to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota in November and had been in training in the deep Norwegian waters.

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