tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22222080462271615462024-03-05T07:48:44.252-05:00Carl LaVOCarl LaVO, Journalist and AuthorCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.comBlogger2242125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-82693640850011979222018-07-17T20:32:00.000-04:002018-07-17T20:32:12.927-04:00Why Russia Fears Sweden’s Deadly Submarines <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Sebastien Roblin, National Interest</div>
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16 July 2018</div>
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Another important features is a special ‘multi-mission’ portal for deploying special forces and underwater vehicles, a much-in demand feature for contemporary submarines. Situated between the torpedo tubes in the nose, the portal can also be used to recover the AUV-6 underwater drone, which can be launched from the torpedo tubes. The A26 would typically belly down on the ocean floor when employing the portal—a maneuver which could also aid it in escaping detection. </div>
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For decades, submarines came in two discrete flavors: traditional diesel-electric submarines that need to surface every day or two to recharge their noisy, air-breathing diesel engines, and nuclear-powered submarines that could quietly hum along under the sea at relatively high speeds for months at a time thanks to their nuclear reactors. </div>
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The downside to the nuclear-powered variety, of course, is that they cost many times the price of a comparable diesel submarines and require nuclear propulsion technology, which may not be worth the trouble for a country only interested in defending its coastal waters. A diesel submarine may also run more quietly than a nuclear submarine by turning off its engines and running on batteries—but only for a very short amount of time. Still, there remains a performance gap in stealth and endurance that many countries would like to bridge at an affordable price. </div>
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One such country was Sweden, which happens to be in a busy neighborhood opposite to Russian naval bases on the Baltic Sea. Though Sweden is not a member of NATO, Moscow has made clear it might take measures to ‘eliminate the threat,’ as Putin put it, if Stockholm decides to join or support the alliance. After a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine ran aground just six miles away from a Swedish naval base in 1981, Swedish ships opened fire on suspected Soviet submarines on several occasions throughout the rest of the 1980s. More recently, Russia has run an exercise simulating a nuclear attack on Sweden and likely infiltrated Swedish territorial waters with least one submarine in 2014. </div>
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Back in the 1960s, Sweden had begun developing a modernized version of the Stirling engine, a closed-cycle heat conversion engine first developed in 1818. This was first used to power a car in the 1970s, then the Swedish ship-builder Kockums successfully retrofitted a Stirling engine to power a Swedish Navy A14 submarine Nacken in 1988. Because the Stirling burns diesel fuel using liquid oxygen stored in cryogenic tanks rather than an air-breathing engine, it can quietly cruise underwater at low speeds for weeks at a time without having to surface. </div>
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Kockums went on to build three Gotland-class submarines in the late 1990s, the first operational submarines designed with Air-Independent Propulsion systems. The Gotland became famous for sinking a U.S. aircraft carrier in a 2005 military exercise; its characteristics and operational history are further described in this earlier article. Stirling AIP technology has subsequently been incorporated into numerous Japanese and Chinese submarines, while Germany and France developed more expensive fuel-cell and steam-turbine based AIP submarines instead. </div>
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Sweden, meanwhile, converted her four late-80s vintage Västergötland diesel-electric submarines between 2003 and 2005 to use Stirling AIP engines—refits which involved cutting the submarines in two and stretching them out from forty-eight to sixty meters! Two of these submarines were re-designated the Södermanland-class, while the other two were sold to Singapore. The latter Archer-class boats are climatized for operations in warmer waters and boast improved navigation and fire control systems. </div>
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Enter the A26: Sweden’s Ghostly Super Sub of the Future—On Paper </div>
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Sweden intends to retire its Södermanland boats between 2019 and 2022. Since the 1990s, Kockums had been bouncing around a concept for a next-generation AIP submarine designated the A26 to succeed the Gotland-class, but encountered numerous setbacks. Stockholm canceled A26 procurement in 2014, and at one point there was even a raid by the Swedish government attempting to confiscate blueprints from the German parent firm Thyssen-Krupp which was confronted by company security. </div>
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Since then, Kockums has been purchased by the Swedish firm Saab. Finally, in June 2015, Swedish defense minister Sten Tolgfors announced Stockholm was finally committing to procure two A26s at a price equivalent to $959 million—less than a fifth the unit cost of a nuclear-powered Virginia class submarine of the U.S. Navy. </div>
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The A26 has also been marketed abroad at various times to Australia, India, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland, but so far without success, due to competition from French and German AIP submarine-makers and an apparent reluctance from smaller European states to commit to submarine purchases at this time. </div>
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Kockums claims the A26 will achieve new levels of acoustic stealth thanks to a new ‘GHOST’ (Genuine Holistic Stealth) technology which involves acoustic damping plates, flexible rubber mountings for hardware, a less reflective hull with a lower target strength, and degaussing to lower the submarine’s magnetic signature. Supposedly, the A26’s hull will also be unusually resilient to underwater explosions. </div>
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The Swedish firm has unveiled concept art depicting a submarine with a ‘chinned’ sail, X-shaped tail fins for greater maneuverability in rocky Baltic waters, and four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes can fire both heavyweight torpedoes, back up by two 400-millimeter tubes, all of which would use wire-guided torpedoes. The vessel’s four Stirling engines apparently allow allowing </div>
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higher sustainable underwater cruising speed of 6 to 10 knots. </div>
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Kockums has emphasized the new designs’ modularity, which should lower development costs for specialized variants, such as one configuration accommodating up to eighteen Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles in a vertical launch system. This is a feature likely meant to appeal to Warsaw, which would like cruise-missile equipped submarines. </div>
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Another important features is a special ‘multi-mission’ portal for deploying special forces and underwater vehicles, a much-in demand feature for contemporary submarines. Situated between the torpedo tubes in the nose, the portal can also be used to recover the AUV-6 underwater drone, which can be launched from the torpedo tubes. The A26 would typically belly down on the ocean floor when employing the portal—a maneuver which could also aid it in escaping detection. </div>
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Kockums is now marketing three different versions of the A26. The ‘medium’ model intended for Swedish service would measure 63-meters long and displace roughly 2,000 tons surfaced. It would typically have a crew of around twenty-six, and a maximum endurance of forty-five days, including eighteen to thirty days (sources differ) submerged, generally sustaining a speed of 10 knots. This endurance, including a typical range of 6,500 miles, should give it capability for operations in the Atlantic Ocean—in contrast to the Gotlands which are not designed for transoceanic deployments. </div>
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There is also a smaller 51-meter ‘Pelagic’ version for short-range patrols, and an Extended Range model stretched to eighty meters long and displacing 4,000 tons that might appeal to operators in the Pacific Ocean due to its 10,000-mile range and 50-day endurance. </div>
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Sweden’s two A26s should be completed between 2022 and 2024, at which point it will be possible to gauge whether they can meet their ambitious performance parameters. In general, advancements to AIP submarines are allowing countries across the globe to acquire capable short and medium-range submarines at an affordable price.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-72760037222663520412018-07-17T20:30:00.003-04:002018-07-17T20:30:57.627-04:00China Building Eight Submarines For Pakistan <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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Ali Ahmed, The Business Recorder</div>
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17 July 2018</div>
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China is building eight submarines for Pakistan to strengthen its ally's naval and under water capabilities. </div>
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According to the local media, under the Project Hangor, China's shipbuilding industry will soon give these submarines to Pakistan. The acquisition of new submarines from China is a part of Pakistan's effort to increase its capabilities in underwater warfare. </div>
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The new addition will increase Pakistan's submarine arsenal to 18, while at present the country possess 10 submarines. The latest development comes when China and Pakistan are busy building the strategic $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). </div>
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Just days ago, Pakistan launched two indigenously-built satellites from China's Jiuquan Satellite Centre to meet its imagery requirements in land mapping and natural disaster management. </div>
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Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (PRSS-1) and Pakistan Technology Evaluation Satellite-1A (PakTES-1A) were launched through Long March-2C rocket, at 0857 hours (PST), from a satellite centre located in Northwest China. </div>
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The 1,200 kg PRSS-1 and the 285 kg PakTES-1A satellites would operate at an altitude of 640 km and 610 km, respectively and would also enable the country in agriculture classification and assessment, urban and rural planning and water resource management.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-44949176223377288132018-07-17T20:29:00.002-04:002018-07-17T20:29:26.422-04:00Inside America's Aging Nuclear Missile Submarines <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr, Breaking Defense</div>
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16 July 2018</div>
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Imagine drifting off to sleep underwater in a tiny room with eight other people, with nuclear missile tubes on either side. </div>
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Need a drink now? Too bad, because, while in theory the skipper can authorize alcohol, in practice he never will. You can eat canned asparagus every day though, if you want, thanks to a quirk in Navy nutrition regulations. (It's unclear how much of it ends up compacted into cubes with the other garbage, weighted down, and dumped to the ocean floor). Oh, and as another health benefit, even though you live next to a mobile nuclear reactor, you get less radiation than the average American simply because you spend months at a time without seeing the sun. </div>
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Sounds less than homey? Well, apparently, you get used to it. That's according to the crew of the ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee (SSBN-734), homeported here in King's Bay and currently tied up pierside for a refit. </div>
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Business Executives for National Security The missile compartment of an Ohio-class nuclear submarine. The entrances to the crews' sleeping quarters are to the left and right, reached by walking between two missile tubes. </div>
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There's an armed sailor in body armor standing guard on deck, plus trained dolphins and sea lions on watch for hostile divers. (Yes, really). When I and other attendees at a nuclear security conference here (courtesy of the DC-base Mitchell Institute and the local Camden Partnership) got the rare opportunity to tour a boomer, we had to leave our cellphones, cameras, and all other electronics behind before we boarded the Navy bus, which had been swept by security personnel and dogs. Even so, they never let us near the sub's reactor - but the front end of the boat was intriguing enough. </div>
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Inside the sub, the already cramped passageways were cluttered with temporary tubing. Every flat surface seemed covered by machinery being meticulously disassembled by several sailors, often standing with their backs nonchalantly to the two rows of 12 sequoia-thick silos that dominate the hull. The crew had even installed a temporary spiral staircase in their largest hatch to help them hustle in and out of the boat with supplies and spare parts. (Normally there're no stairs aboard a sub, just ladders). </div>
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Just to turn up the heat a little, literally, the sub's air conditioning had been turned off temporarily earlier in the day, while the boat moved berths. The reactivated A/C was still struggling to purge the July-in-Georgia heat from what is, after all, a big black metal tube with only a few hatches for ventilation. The only cool air aboard was right around the oxygen generator. </div>
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The generator looks rather like Hell's own espresso machine, but it actually splits ordinary water into oxygen - it's the only thing that keeps the crew from suffocating underway - and hydrogen (vented offboard with the carbon dioxide), which is an endothermic (heat-draining) reaction. But while I was wilting just walking around, the sailors I saw at work seemed undaunted. </div>
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Which is busier, I asked one sailor: Being out on patrol, or being in port for a refit? Refit is, he said, "by far." There's a lot of work to do in 35 days at home being heading out to sea for two or three months. Each sub actually has two crews of over 150 each, Blue and Gold, who alternate to ease the strain on sailors and families. Even so, a career submariner like the skipper of the Tennessee, Commander Paul Seitz, spends an estimated six years of his life underwater. </div>
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An Aging & Hard-Worked Force </div>
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So nuclear submarines are used hard every year, and this one is 32 years old. In fact, Tennessee was the first SSBN homeported at King's Bay and the first boat to test-fire the Trident D5 missile. The other 13 Ohio-class nuclear missile subs stationed here and in Bangor, Washington were all commissioned between 1981 and 1997, and the US hasn't built another SSBN since. (The newer Seawolf and Virginia submarines are relatively small attack boats that don't carry nuclear missiles). The Navy's now hustling to design and build the $128 billion replacement program, the Columbia class, with no slack left in the schedule. </div>
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Even so, Tennessee and her sisters will have to stay in service 42 years apiece before they can be replaced in the 2030s. The land-based Minuteman ICBM, the B-1 and B-2 bombers, and the Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) will also need replacements about the same time. The force also needs upgrades to aging nuclear warheads, Trident missiles, and the nuclear command, control, and communications network (NC3), as well as refurbishment of crumbling Energy Department buildings that in some cases date back to the Manhattan project. All that will put tremendous pressure on the Pentagon budget. </div>
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"Everything in that program delivers just on time to replace the old stuff," said Gen. John Hyten, the four-star Air Force officer in charge of Strategic Command, to the nuclear weapons conference here. </div>
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"Every leg of the triad is up against the red line in terms of recapitalization," agreed Rear Adm. John W. Tammen, director of undersea warfare (N97) on the Navy staff. "The green-eyeshade people have repeatedly delayed </div>
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and delayed each of the programs. (Now), the bottom line is there's no additional margin for construction and delivery of Columbia." To reduce the risk, defense contractors have already started building missile tubes - some of which will go to the Royal Navy's SSBN program - as well as a full-up prototype of the new design's electric drive. </div>
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Is there any way, I asked, to squeeze some more years out of the Ohios, originally designed to last 30 years? "We have sharpened the pencils to get to 42 years," he said. "I don't think there's anything past 42." </div>
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So "we have to get Columbia done on time, (and) we are on plan to do that," Tammen emphasized. "With the current leadership designating the strategic mission as DoD's No. 1 mission, the resources are there." </div>
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In the meantime, there's some money to keep upgrading the existing equipment, but very selectively. So, like much of the US military, the sub is a strange mix of cutting-edge and vintage. There are plasma screens on the wall of the galley, the petty officer's "Goat Locker," and the captain's office/stateroom/tiny cell, that display the condition of the sub in real time, all the time once underway. </div>
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But a lot of technology dates from the 1980s when the boat was built, including key components of the fire control system for the ballistic missiles. It turns out "clunky but tried and tested" beats "new hotness that's mostly been debugged" when you're working with nuclear weapons. And no, the crew told us, one man can't launch the missiles: It takes at least two people turning keys at once in two different parts of the ship. </div>
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Saying "Thank You" </div>
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Does the crew suffer any existential dread from living, working, and sleeping next to enough megatonnage to kill millions of people? Apparently not. None of these submarines has ever fired a shot in anger as opposed to testing, and the sailors naturally prefer it that way. The whole point of a deterrent is, if it's successful, you never have to use it. And while America's land-based silos are visible to orbiting satellites, and its strategic bombers often make high-profile flights abroad to assure allies and unnerve adversaries, the submarines' success lies in never being seen. </div>
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So it's easy to overlook the service of US Navy submariners, or for the matter the Air Force missileers who go to work every day in bunkers deep underground, standing ready for the order we all pray will never come. And this weight is on some very young shoulders. </div>
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Gen. Hyten recalled how one junior lieutenant, working at Malmstrom missile base in Montana on her first assignment in the Air Force, asked how he responded when people derided the work ethic of millennials. </div>
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"What I say is, if you want to see our country, get on my plane and come with me," Hyten said, voice breaking with emotion. "Come with me to Malmstrom, come to me to Kings Bay, and I'll introduce you to the millennials that do the job every day - and you will find that they're exactly the same as they were 20 years ago, exactly the same as they were 40 years ago." </div>
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"They love this country. They want to defend this country. They go to work every day," Hyten said. "They're amazing - they're smarter than we were, by far. They get motivated differently so you have to lead them differently, but their passion is just the same." </div>
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It was at this point in his answer to the young lieutenant, Hyten said, that he saw a tear start down her cheek. "It's pretty awesome that a missileer whose job is to sit on top of a nuclear weapon, a Minuteman III, takes her job that seriously," he said. "Just saying thank you means a lot."</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-83531335655508115862018-06-20T20:49:00.002-04:002018-06-20T20:49:23.135-04:00Is World Ready For An Undersea Missile? Supercavitating Torpedo Offers Speed of 230 Miles Per Hour <h4 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">These undersea missiles achieve their speed essentially by encasing the torpedo inside a bubble.</span></h4>
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John Keller, Military Aerospace</div>
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19 June 2018</div>
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Military forces throughout the world are obsessed, it seems, with speed. Jet aircraft, the missile, even the lowly bullet typically go faster than the speed of sound. Everywhere is an obsession with speed except in undersea warfare. In fact, today's most advanced militaries are working on so-called hypersonic missiles that eventually could travel through the air at about seven times the speed of sound, or 5,320 miles per hour. </div>
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That kind of speed means a hypersonic missile could hit a target 100 miles away in little more than a minute -- not much time for countermeasures and evasive maneuvers. It's little wonder that speed is a top priority among military weapons developers. </div>
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Not everything military, though, is blazingly fast. Main battle tanks can roll at about 60 miles per hour over gentle terrain. A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter cruises at about 174 miles per hour. A submerged attack submarine can go about 50 miles per hour flat-out -- we don't really know. These relatively slow systems typically don't have the notoriety of the fast ones. Still, they typically can shoot weapons that are very fast, like smart munitions, rockets, and soon even laser weapons. </div>
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How is it that the obsession for speed hasn't extended into the realm of undersea warfare? Submarines aren't too fast, but they shouldn't be. Their job is to lurk </div>
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silently and undetected until that fateful moment when they launch a missile or torpedo. </div>
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The torpedo -- signature weapon of the submarine -- isn't very fast, either. The U.S. MK 48 torpedo achieves a top speed of about 55 knots, or 63 miles per hour. That's about as fast as a mini van full kids in the slow lane of the freeway ... not exactly the best comparison when describing a formidable modern weapon. It certainly pales in comparison to missiles and rockets. </div>
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But what if a torpedo could move at 200 knots? That's 230 miles per hour -- not even close to supersonic, but still a mind-boggling speed underwater. A 200-knot torpedo essentially would be an underwater missile. Is this even possible, and if so, why don't we hear more about it? </div>
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Well, the underwater missile is real. It's called the supercavitating torpedo. The Russians have built one called the The VA-111 Shkval, which can reach underwater speeds in excess of 200 knots. Iran reportedly has developed a variant of the Russian Shkval called the Hoot. The German navy is credited with developing the Superkavitierender Unterwasserlaufkörper supercavitating torpedo, but it never went into production. The U.S. Navy is said to be toying with supercavitating torpedo technology. </div>
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These undersea missiles achieve their speed essentially by encasing the torpedo inside a bubble to eliminate the water's hydrodynamic drag. Once inside this bubble, and free of the water's drag, a rocket engine shoots the munition through the water faster than a NASCAR racer. </div>
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Supercavitation, by the way, refers to phenomenon in which water is forced around an object like a ship’s propeller at high speeds. This causes the pressure around the object's trailing edge to below the water's vapor pressure, causing bubbles. This is bad for modern submarine propellers, because it creates noise that can enable an enemy to detect it. It's good, though, when attempting to shoot objects like torpedoes through the water at high speeds. </div>
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So why haven't supercavitating torpedoes come to revolutionize war at sea? It seems this technology also causes big problems with torpedo guidance, control, and precise targeting. </div>
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Conventional torpedoes steer themselves toward their targets with control surfaces that, in the water, act like an airplane's wings, rudder, and elevator in the air. </div>
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One big problem with supercavitating torpedoes is they can't stick control surfaces outside their protective bubble, lest the bubble bursts. No control surface contact with the water means no control of the torpedo; it goes in a stright line, period. This means they're prone to missing their targets. </div>
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Modern torpedoes home in on their targets with passive and active sonar. They must be able to hear the sound emitting from their targets, as well as a return signal from a sonar ping. </div>
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Supercavitating torpedoes don't have this advantage because they're really, REALLY LOUD -- too loud to hear much of anything. From a guidance standpoint it can't tell the difference between an enemy ship or submarine, and a rock formation. </div>
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So a supercavitating torpedo is fast, but it's also can't steer very well, and can't hear its target. Is it a viable weapon today? That's questionable. It's only been tested, and never used in combat. </div>
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All that could change, though, once someone figures out an efficient way to maneuver them, and enable them to home-in on their targets. Then they will be formidable weapons, and that day may not be too far off. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-35003894840926846902018-06-20T20:44:00.003-04:002018-06-20T20:44:29.159-04:00Israel's Navy Tests New Long-Range Heavy Torpedo <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Anna Ahronheim, Jerusalem Post</div>
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19 June 2018</div>
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The Israel Navy successfully completed a test of a new torpedo system set to enter operational use on Israel’s submarine fleet, a senior Navy officer announced Tuesday. </div>
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The trial of the heavy torpedo, which was carried out on Monday night against targets simulating enemy ships, was the final test of a series of pre-planned experiments to test the system’s competence. </div>
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“The implementation of the system constitutes a significant step in the strengthening of the Navy and in maintaining the superiority of the IDF in the naval arena,” the senior officer said, adding that the new torpedo systems have more accurate attack capabilities and can reach farther distances. </div>
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According to the senior Navy officer, the new state-of-the-art long-range versatile heavy torpedo can reach targets dozens of kilometers away-both on land and underwater- and is set to become the submarine fleet’s main missile. </div>
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The digitalization of the weapons system (as opposed to the older analog systems) will also the Navy to continuously upgrade its software. </div>
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Israel is highly dependent on the sea with over 90% of Israel’s imports arriving via the sea and while the country’s navy is relatively small compared to other IDF corps, it has a significant amount of territory to protect since the expansion of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 40 miles to 150 miles from shore years ago. </div>
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While there is no hermetic protection on the sea, due to the threat posed by Hezbollah’s arsenal of Grad rockets and other longer-range projectiles, the navy has upgraded its weapons and defensive systems on its entire combat fleet. </div>
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“The naval arena is becoming very complex and this new torpedo preserves Israel’s freedom of action and the secrecy of Israel’s submarines which are an indispensable strategic tool for state security,” the senior officer said. </div>
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Israel’s small but deadly submarine fleet has been very active in recent months, the first naval officer said, explaining that 60% of the hours that the fleet has been active were operational hours. </div>
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Israel currently has three Dolphin-class submarines and two Dolphin 2-class submarines with another one expected to be delivered later this year. According to Jane’s Defence Weekly, a magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, the first batch of the three new submarines are expected to be operational in 2030. </div>
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The new submarines being built by Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) are expected to replace the older Dolphins at a cost of combined price of NIS 5 billion ($1.3 billion). </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-70808328713715802892018-06-20T20:42:00.004-04:002018-06-20T20:42:59.265-04:00Navy Columbia-Class Submarine Quieting "Electric Drive" - Stealthiest Sub Ever? <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven</div>
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18 June 2018</div>
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Columbia-Class is a new generation of submarines intended to quietly patrol the undersea realm around the world. </div>
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The Navy has now issued at least one-fourth of the design work and begun further advancing work on systems such as a stealthy "electric drive" propulsion system for the emerging nuclear-armed Columbia-Class ballistic missile submarines by 2021. </div>
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“Of the required design disclosures (drawings), 26-percent have been issued, and the program is on a path to have 83-percent issued by construction start,” Bill Couch, spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, told Warrior Maven. </div>
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The Columbia class is to be equipped with an electric-drive propulsion train, as opposed to the mechanical-drive propulsion train used on other Navy submarines. </div>
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In today’s Ohio-class submarines, a reactor plant generates heat which creates steam, Navy officials explained. The steam then turns turbines which produce electricity and also propel the ship forward through “reduction gears” which are able to translate the high-speed energy from a turbine into the shaft RPMs needed to move a boat propeller. </div>
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“The electric-drive system is expected to be quieter (i.e., stealthier) than a mechanical-drive system,” a Congressional Research Service report on Columbia-Class submarines from earlier this year states. </div>
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Designed to be 560-feet– long and house 16 Trident II D5 missiles fired from 44-foot-long missile tubes, Columbia-Class submarines will use a quieting X-shaped stern configuration. </div>
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The “X”-shaped stern will restore maneuverability to submarines; as submarine designs progressed from using a propeller to using a propulsor to improve quieting, submarines lost some surface maneuverability, Navy officials explained. </div>
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Navy developers explain that electric-drive propulsion technology still relies on a nuclear reactor to generate heat and create steam to power turbines. However, the electricity produced is transferred to an electric motor rather than so-called reduction gears to spin the boat's propellers. </div>
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The use of an electric motor brings other advantages as well, according to an MIT essay written years ago when electric drive was being evaluated for submarine propulsion. </div>
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Using an electric motor optimizes use of installed reactor power in a more efficient way compared with mechanical drive submarines, making more on-board power available for other uses, according to an essay called “Evaluation and Comparison of Electric Propulsion Motors for Submarines,” author Joel Harbour says that on mechanical drive submarine, 80-percent of the total reactor power is used exclusively for propulsion. </div>
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“With an electric drive submarine, the installed reactor power of the submarine is first converted into electrical power and then delivered to an electric propulsion motor. The now available electrical potential not being used for propulsion could easily be tapped into for other uses,” he writes. </div>
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Research, science and technology work and initial missile tube construction has been underway for several years. One key exercise, called tube-and-hull forging, involves building four-packs of missile tubes to assess welding and construction methods. These structures are intended to load into the boat’s modules as construction advances. </div>
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“Early procurement of missile tubes and prototyping of the first assembly of four missile tubes are supporting the proving out of production planning,” Couch said. </div>
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While the Columbia-Class is intended to replace the existing fleet of Ohio-Class ballistic missile submarines, the new boats include a number of not-yet-seen technologies as well as different configurations when compared with the Ohio-Class. The Columbia-Class will have 16 launch tubes rather than the 20 tubes current on Ohio boats, yet the Columbias will also be about 2-tons larger, according to Navy information. </div>
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The Columbia-Class, to be operational by the 2028, is a new generation of technically advanced submarines intended to quietly patrol the undersea realm around the world to ensure second-strike ability should the US be hit with a catastrophic nuclear attack. </div>
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Formal production is scheduled for 2021 as a key step toward fielding of a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines to serve all the way into and beyond the 2080s. </div>
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General Dynamics Electric Boat has begun acquiring long-lead items in anticipation of beginning construction; the process involves acquiring metals, electronics, sonar arrays and other key components necessary to build the submarines. </div>
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Both the Pentagon and the Navy are approaching this program with a sense of urgency, given the escalation of the current global threat environment. Many senior DoD officials have called the Columbia-Class program as a number one priority across all the services. </div>
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“The Columbia-Class submarine program is leveraging enhanced acquisition authorities provided by Congress such as advanced procurement, advanced </div>
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construction and multi-year continuous production of missile tubes,” Couch added.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-83491380763041542382018-06-20T20:38:00.002-04:002018-06-20T20:38:14.952-04:00Contract Awarded for US Submarines’ Expanded Launch Capacity <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Steven Stashwick, The Diplomat</div>
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14 June 2018</div>
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BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to build Virginia Payload Modules (VPM) that will more than triple the number of cruise missiles future Virginia-class attack submarines can carry, while providing them the flexibility to accommodate a range of future weapons still under development. </div>
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The Virginia-class is the U.S. Navy’s most modern nuclear-powered attack submarine, built to replace the aging Cold War-era Los Angeles-class attack submarines. The first ten Virginias were built with twelve individual vertical launch tubes in their bow section for launching Tomahawk cruise missiles. Blocks III and IV of the class, which will eventually comprise eighteen boats, replace the twelve individual vertical launch tubes with two large-diameter tubes that accommodate round canisters that hold six Tomahawk missiles each, simplifying the reloading process. </div>
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The new modules will effectively turn future Virginia-class subs into mini guided-missile subs. </div>
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In the early 2000s, the U.S. Navy converted its four oldest Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, designed to carry nuclear missiles, to carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles in canisters of seven that fit into the submarine’s large-diameter launch tubes. These original canisters were the inspiration for the large-diameter bow tubes installed on the later Virginias. As the Ohio guided missile submarines reach retirement in coming years the VPM-equipped Virginia-class submarines will replace some of their lost strike capacity. </div>
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Nine of the ten planned Block V Virginia-class submarines will be built with the Virginia Payload Module. The module will lengthen the midsection of the Virginia’s hulls to accommodate four large-diameter vertical launch tubes able to carry the same canisters installed on the converted Ohio-class submarines that hold seven Tomahawk cruise missiles. The additional tubes will allow the Virginia’s to carry up to 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of twelve. </div>
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The tubes’ large diameter will also allow the Virginias to carry future, larger weapons, like a future hypersonic weapon, a top priority for the Defense Department to compete against China and Russia. </div>
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Maneuverable hypersonic weapons travel at greater than five times the speed of sound, making them exceptionally difficult to defend against. Most U.S. hypersonic weapons efforts fall under the Conventional Prompt Global Strike program, whose goal was to enable a conventional strike against a target anywhere on earth in under an hour. </div>
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Last October, the U.S. Navy successfully tested a hypersonic conventional prompt strike vehicle at a test range in Hawaii that utilized the same kind of Ohio-class launch tube that will be installed with the Virginia Payload Module. </div>
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Concerned about China’s advanced anti-ship missiles and maturing hypersonic weapons, procuring hypersonic strike capabilities was a top priority for Admiral Harry Harris, the former head of U.S. Pacific Command. Admiral Philip Davidson, his relief at the now-renamed Indo-Pacific Command shares Harris’ concern, and testified that a hypersonic capability was essential to compete, deter, and win against China. </div>
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Hypersonic weapons are also the Pentagon’s top research and engineering official highest technical priority. In Undersecretary of Defense Michael Griffin’s first public remarks since taking office recently, he said that his goal was to leapfrog the hypersonic advances made by Russia and China, which some other defense officials admitted have already surpassed the United States’ efforts. </div>
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“I didn’t take this job so that we could regain parity with our adversaries,” he explained, “I want to make </div>
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them worry about catching up with us again.” He said that if China deploys a tactical or regional hypersonic weapon system they would be able to hold U.S. carrier strike groups and forward naval forces. In response, the United States needs to be able to defend against hypersonic systems, vulnerability identified in an Air Force Studies Board report in 2016, and have an equivalent offensive capability to hold Chinese forces similarly at risk. </div>
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Without its own hypersonic capabilities of its own, the United States would be forced to either let China have its way, or respond with nuclear weapons, Griffin concluded, “and that should be an unacceptable situation for the United States.” </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-48866737138439041482018-06-20T20:36:00.004-04:002018-06-20T20:36:26.348-04:00New sub-launched nuke clears congressional hurdle <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Joe Gould, Defense News Online</div>
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13 June 2018</div>
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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to scuttle legislation that would have forced the Trump administration to seek congressional approval for a new low-yield, tactical nuclear weapon. </div>
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The narrow 47-51 vote that tabled that legislation — a proposed amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act — was the latest move in a partisan chess game over development of a new, tactical submarine-launched nuclear missile. </div>
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The Pentagon and congressional Republicans advocate for the systems to deter Russia from using its own arsenal of low-yield nuclear weapons, but many Democrats and other opponents see it as lowering the threshold for a nuclear war. </div>
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The vote saw only Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., cross party lines to vote with Democrats. It was not enough, and Democrats lost the vote. </div>
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The Senate on Wednesday was close to ending debate on its $716 billion NDAA. That bill contains a provision that would remove statutory restrictions on the U.S. development or deployment of such a weapon without congressional authorization. </div>
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That language would grant the energy secretary new authority to carry out the weapon’s energy development phase, or any subsequent phase, without Congress’ specific approval. </div>
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Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., offered the amendment to preserve congressional oversight. </div>
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“It simply maintains the status quo and says if we’re going to develop a new weapons system, come to us,” Reed said of his amendment before the vote. </div>
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“We get to debate it, we approve it or we don’t approve it. But the American people can rest assured that this is not something that has simply moved through the administrative channels of any executive ― this president or any other president.” </div>
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The panel’s No. 2 Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe — who stewarded the bill while SASC Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., is battling cancer at home — opposed Reed’s amendment, citing the administration’s call for the new weapon in the new Nuclear Posture Review. </div>
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“I think we ought to have every capability that the Russians have,” said Inhofe, R-Okla. “Of course we won’t have that unless we have the low-yield capability. I’d hate to have our country in a position where the only choice we have is to do nothing or to use the high-yield weapons that we don’t want to use.” </div>
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Reed’s House counterpart, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., has voiced outright opposition to the weapons. </div>
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A vote to pass the Senate version of the NDAA is expected early next week. From there, the sweeping 1,140-page bill must be reconciled with its analogue in the House, where Republicans there parried other Democratic attempts to thwart the new nuclear weapon. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-63887824593670684152018-06-20T20:32:00.003-04:002018-06-20T20:32:59.067-04:00The US is Worried About Russian Submarines Spying on the Internet <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Greg Walters, Vice News</div>
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11 June 2018</div>
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Western military commanders have grown increasingly worried about Russian submarines lurking around internet cables at the bottom of the ocean. </div>
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On Monday, the U.S. did something about it. </div>
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The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on a string of Russian companies for allegedly helping to develop cyber capabilities and submarine hardware for Russia’s main spy agency, the FSB. The department also warned that Moscow may be monitoring internet cables at the bottom of the ocean. </div>
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The new measure sanctions a handful of companies and their executives, including a Russian submarine-maker called Divetechnoservices, which got paid $1.5 million to deliver a special submarine to the spy agency, according to the Treasury’s statement. </div>
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“Today’s action also targets the Russian government’s underwater capabilities,” the statement reads. “Russia has been active in tracking undersea communication cables, which carry the bulk of the world’s telecommunications data.” </div>
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Western military leaders have expressed anxiety about Russian subs reportedly hanging around at the bottom of the ocean near the long cables that carry much of the world’s data between continents. </div>
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The concern is that Russia could either tap into those cables to do some next-level internet espionage — or, in the event of a crisis, cut the cables and sow chaos through the global economy. </div>
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In December, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Lennon, commander of NATO's submarine forces, issued a public warning about Russian submarines prowling around near subsea telecommunications links. </div>
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“We are now seeing Russian underwater activity in the vicinity of undersea cables that I don't believe we have </div>
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ever seen,” he said, according to The Washington Post. “Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations' undersea infrastructure.” </div>
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The FSB itself was sanctioned back in March, and Monday’s new measures took aim at its high-tech contractors, like Divetechnoservices. </div>
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“Since 2007, Divetechnoservices has procured a variety of underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, to include the FSB,” the Treasury’s statement read. “Further, in 2011, Divetechnoservices was awarded a contract to procure a submersible craft valued at $1.5 million for the FSB.” </div>
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Nobody at Divetechnoservices’ headquarters in St. Petersburg answered phone calls from VICE News on Monday. </div>
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The sanctions came in response to a series of aggressive moves by Russia in cyberspace, according to the Treasury, including last year’s NotPetya cyberattack, intrusions against the U.S. energy grid, and global compromises of network infrastructure devices, including routers and switches. </div>
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“The entities designated today have directly contributed to improving Russia’s cyber and underwater capabilities through their work with the FSB and therefore jeopardize the safety and security of the United States and our allies,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-85547306607349561482018-06-20T20:31:00.001-04:002018-06-20T20:31:19.153-04:00On Sunday, This Russian Submarine Dived To 500 Meters In Norwegian Sea <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer</div>
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10 June 2018</div>
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“At a depth of half a kilometre, the submariners tested the operation systems and mechanisms, performed maneuvering and worked in cooperation with the instructions from the command post on board the rescue vessel «George Titov», the press-service of the Northern Fleet informs. </div>
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The dive, which took several hours, involved both military and civilian personell. </div>
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Since the Barents Sea north of the Kola Peninsula is too shallow, the Russian navy sails further west where the Barents Sea meets the Norwegian Sea. Here, between mainland Finnmark and the Bear Island, waters are down to about 2,000 meters. </div>
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Sunday’s deep-dive is the second testing in the area for the special mini-rescue submarine AS-34. Also last year, the same submarine dived in the same area, then down to a depth of 1,000 meters. </div>
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The dark blue area shows where waters are deeper. Map: Google / Barents Observer The Northern Fleet’s red and white rescue submarine became world famous in August 2000 when it repeatedly failed to assist the ill-fated «Kursk» submarine that sank in the Barents Sea killing all 118 personnel on board. AS-34 was one of two Russian mini-submarines participating in the rescue efforts. At first attempt, the rescue sub reported colliding with the stern stabiliser of «Kursk» and had to surface to repair the damage. In a second attempt after the damage was repaired batteries were depleted before able to attach to Kursk’s escape trunk. After surfacing, waves of up to 2,4 meters made it impossible to put the sub on the sea again. Two other attempts in the days after also failed, first when AS-34 again was damaged when it struck a boom while being lowered into the sea and second when it managed to dive but failed two times to attach to the escape hatch. </div>
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Russian navy tries to put the rescue submarine AS-34 into the waters in a failed rescue attempt where the Kursk submarine sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000. Photo: Russian Northern Fleet Five days after «Kursk» sank, President Vladimir Putin accepted an offer from the Norwegian and British governments to assist. Seven days </div>
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after the disaster the Norwegian ship «Normand Pioneer» carrying a British rescue submarine and deep-sea divers arrived and a few days later managed to open the hatch only to fine the rescue trunk full of water. </div>
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The trench northwest of mainland Norway is also used by the Russian navy’s warfare submarines for deep-sea testing and exercises. It was during deep-sea diving tests here in 1989 that the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine «Komsomolets» sank after a fire to a depth of 1,680 meters about 180 kilometers southwest of Bear Island. The waters between North Cape and Bear Island are also of key importance for the Northern Fleet’s submarine sailing out on patrols to the North-Atlantic. </div>
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AS-34 is 13,5 meters long, has a displacement of 55 tons, a crew of 3-4 people and can carry up to 20 rescued. It has a autonomy of navigation of up to 120 hours. AS-34 was modernized in the period 2014-2016. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-62790250021135221502018-06-20T20:29:00.001-04:002018-06-20T20:29:01.987-04:00Canadian Submarines Not Part Of International Arctic Under-Ice Exercise <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Kaila Jefferd-Moore, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News</div>
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11 June 2018</div>
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Over five weeks, the British submarine HMS Trenchant travelled beneath — and broke through — Beaufort Sea ice alongside two U.S. submarines. </div>
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It was there as part of the Arctic and Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018, a U.S. Navy submarine arctic warfare exercise involving U.S., Canadian and British armed forces. Taking place about 200 kilometres off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea, the exercise was designed, in part, for the U.S. Navy to practice and test the operational and tactical capabilities of its submarines under ice. </div>
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The Trenchant is one of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy submarines that has extensive under-ice capabilities. </div>
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"This exercise shows that our Royal Navy is primed and ready to operate in the harshest conditions imaginable, to protect our nation from any potential threats," Minister for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster, said in a Royal Navy news release. </div>
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The Royal Canadian Navy, however, cannot make the same claim about its submarines. </div>
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Canada's fleet of submarines, bought 20 years ago from the British Royal Navy, didn't join the latest ICEX operation. The Royal Canadian Navy's HMCS Windsor, Victoria, Chicoutimi and Corner Brook, aren't designed for those kinds of under-ice exercises. </div>
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Canada buys British submarines </div>
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Unlike their nuclear counter-parts, Canadian submarines are limited to open water and near-ice edge operations, an acknowledged concession due to budgetary realities. This is in part because they're diesel powered boats, and must come up for air periodically. </div>
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Both the U.S.and British navies have nuclear-powered submarines with the capacity to stay underwater for as long as a crew's food supply lasts, and that can confidently travel under arctic ice. </div>
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Still, the Royal Canadian Navy has been involved in ICEX since 2011, according to naval communications advisor, Jennifer St. Germain. This year, Canada offered a "modest contribution" to ICEX 2018, sending "a naval communicator to support the exercises." That's one Canadian among a sea of many U.S. and Royal Navy personnel. </div>
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The Royal Canadian Air Force also participated in the exercises, but did not respond to a CBC request for information on their involvement. </div>
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Canada relies on U.S. for security </div>
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Robert Huebert is a political science professor at the University of Calgary with a specific interest in arctic sovereignty and security. </div>
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He said the relationship between the U.S. and Canadian naval forces is one of the strongest in the world. </div>
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Without the ability to patrol and protect its arctic sovereignty, Canada relies on its allies — in particular the U.S. Navy — to help enforce it, Huebert explained. </div>
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Arctic sovereignty, according to Huebert, means "determining the boundaries within the region of the Arctic that Canada asserts having complete and absolute control [over]." </div>
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But the the ability of Canada's submarine fleet to work under ice isn't about sovereignty — it's about security, said Huebert. </div>
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"Sovereignty is about the international legal control but, security is about the enforcement ability." </div>
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Over the long-term, Huebert said it's important to keep an eye on China's naval forces, which now has ice breakers and an Arctic policy. He said it isn't hard to imagine that the Chinese will someday have under-ice submarine capabilities. </div>
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"It does bring up the question of sovereign control," Huebert said. </div>
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Canada's Arctic presence a cooperative affair </div>
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Under the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) agreement, the Canadian Armed Forces play a supportive role in the joint effort to patrol and protect North American Arctic waters. </div>
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In 2017, the Canadian Armed Forces contracted Ocean Networks Canada to begin testing the feasibility of sensor-technology that would allow the navy to detect and track vessel traffic entering the Northwest Passage. This would replace the North Warning System that's been in use since the 1980s. </div>
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St. Germain said agreements with the Canadian Coast Guard on joint Arctic operations, and the addition of new Arctic patrol ships, mean the Royal Canadian Navy's "presence in the Arctic will increase in the near future.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-18799424938933920052018-06-20T20:27:00.000-04:002018-06-20T20:27:04.869-04:00US Navy Progresses HAAWC High-Altitude ASW Capability For Poseidon <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Gareth Jennings, IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly</div>
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11 June 2018</div>
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The US Navy (USN) is pushing ahead with plans to field the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) on the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime multimission aircraft (MMA), despite recent comments made to the contrary by some senior service officials. </div>
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The aircraft original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is to be awarded a sole-source contract for full-rate production (FRP) of the HAAWC Air Launch Accessory (ALA) for use in launching the Mk 54 torpedo from the Poseidon MMA from high altitude. </div>
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This notification released by the Department of the Navy on 8 June follows a March 2017 decision by the USN Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Group (CPRG) to withdraw its endorsement of the high-altitude anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. </div>
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As noted in the navy’s solicitation, “The primary HAAWC capability requirement is to increase the stand-off range and weapon release altitude for the P-8A Poseidon aircraft during ASW missions for employment of a lightweight torpedo against submarine targets. </div>
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“The ALA will be used exclusively with the Mk 54 MOD 0 and MOD 1 torpedoes, and will be carried and released from the weapons bay of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft. The navy requires capacity to carry and release five HAAWC weapons on the P-8A.” </div>
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The HAAWC integrates the ALA kit with a GPS guidance system and folding wings onto a standard Mk 54 torpedo to enable the weapon to fly to the programmed release point and altitude before being released from the ‘wing’. Thereafter, the torpedo falls and is retarded by the standard parachute, and the weapon systems are initiated in the usual way once the weapon enters the water.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-30861082128953274782018-06-09T09:07:00.004-04:002018-06-09T09:07:38.193-04:00Royal Navy nuclear submarine leaves Plymouth after a 'complex' and 'challenging' refit <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Maxx Channon, plymouthherald.co.uk</div>
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8 June 2018</div>
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UK -- The Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine HMS Talent is beginning intensive training to re-join the frontline operational fleet after a major refit. </div>
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The Trafalgar Class submarine has completed an extensive multi-million pound maintenance period in HM Naval Base Devonport in Plymouth. </div>
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The successful end of the engineering project was marked by her crew celebrating with the formal ceremony of Ship’s Company Divisions. The tradition of divisions, steeped in history, was overseen by </div>
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Commodore J Le S Perks, Commodore of the Submarine Flotilla. Submariners were joined by 100 family and friends at the event, followed by a BBQ and games at HMS Drake. </div>
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HMS Talent is due to sail from Plymouth for operational sea training with staff of the Flag Officer Sea raining organisation. </div>
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After weeks of tough realistic scenarios preparing her for any eventualities, including combat, HMS Talent and her crew will be declared fit for duties worldwide. </div>
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Commander Jamie Mitchell, HMS Talent commanding officer, said: “This maintenance project has presented many challenges, most notably to our technical departments who have been working incredibly hard to get the submarine ready for operations.” </div>
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The maintenance period, undertaken by Babcock, includes capability upgrades enabling the submarine to operate into the next decade and remain one of the world’s most potent military assets. </div>
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Gavin Leckie, Babcock Submarine Support Director, said: “The maintenance period has been a complex project that has relied on a strong partnering ethos between Babcock, the Submarine Delivery Agency and ship’s staff and we’re delighted to see the vessel getting ready for service following its successful engineering maintenance programme. The joint project team should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved.” </div>
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The submarine’s command team initially achieved a ‘Safe for Sea’ assessment after training on shore in the ‘Talisman’ Submarine Command Team simulator at Devonport. </div>
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This realistic environment ensures the crew are safe to operate in busy shipping areas amongst merchant vessels and other and military vessels. The crew’s ability to launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and discharge Spearfish torpedoes against surface and sub-surface targets was also assessed.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-73855437451780930412018-06-09T09:06:00.000-04:002018-06-09T09:08:54.085-04:00Putin vows all unveiled ‘breakthrough’ weapons will timely arrive for Russian troops <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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The Russian leader said that two nuclear-powered weapon systems are currently being developed in Russia.</h4>
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Staff, TASS</div>
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7 June 2018<br />
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RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A session on Thursday that all the ‘breakthrough’ weapon systems he had announced in his address to the Federal Assembly would be timely manufactured and delivered to the troops. </div>
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"The work is ongoing according to plan under scheduled procedures. I have no doubts that they [the armaments] will be delivered to the Russian Army on schedule," Putin said. </div>
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As the Russian leader said, two nuclear-powered weapon systems are currently being developed in Russia. Specifically, these are the short-range missile and the underwater drone, he said. </div>
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"In both cases, we have completed the main stage of development, namely, the work associated with the testing of this nuclear propulsion unit," the Russian leader said, noting that some things still had to be finalized. </div>
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According to the Russian leader, those who have doubts about Russia’s ability to produce such advanced systems had also doubts in 2004 when the work on developing the Avangard weapon system began. The Russian president also said that the ‘breakthrough’ weapon he had mentioned was far from all the armaments that Russia planned to manufacture and put into service. </div>
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"As I spoke in my address, it is still early to speak about this but soon we will tell about that," Russia’s supreme commander-in-chief said. </div>
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Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-32396319604710340222018-06-09T09:02:00.002-04:002018-06-09T09:02:57.137-04:00The US's most decorated warship is also one of its least well-known — and that's the way the Navy wanted it <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Ian D'Costa, businessinsider.com</div>
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7 June 2018</div>
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There's a good chance that if you were to take a guess as to which warship was the most decorated ship in US Navy history, you'd probably get it wrong. In fact, you'd probably be shocked to learn that this vessel never once fired a shot in anger, despite being armed at all times throughout its career. If you're confused now, that's good... that's exactly the way the Navy wanted it, at least while the USS Parche was still in active service during the Cold War and beyond. </div>
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When construction began on the Parche in 1970, nobody, not even the Mississippi shipbuilders toiling away at bringing the vessel to life, had any idea about what their project would eventually become. Indeed, Parche was just another hunter/killer nuclear submarine, designed to tail and destroy enemy surface and underwater combatants with its deadly loadout of torpedoes. Ordered as part of the Sturgeon class, it was commissioned in 1974 and served for two years in the Atlantic Fleet in its originally-intended role. </div>
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In 1976, Parche was moved to the Pacific fleet and modified for the first time. Not much is publicly known about this initial retrofit, but the submarine's service exploits fell out of the public eye very quickly. As it turns out, the Navy selected Parche to support the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office — a highly secretive joint partnership between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Navy. </div>
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Over the next few years, Parche's mission set rapidly evolved from functioning as a typical run-of-the-mill attack submarine, to a ghost-like spy submarine, outfitted with monitoring gear, reconnaissance, and surveillance systems. The submarine force is often known as the "silent service" due to the fact that submarines work best when undetected. NURO and the Navy took this a step further with crews assigned to the Parche, swearing them to absolute secrecy, owing to the nature of their command's job. </div>
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By the end of the 1970s, Parche had already made multiple trips into the Sea of Okhotsk, along with the USS Halibut and the USS Seawolf, to wiretap Soviet communications cables as part of Operation Ivy Bells. These wiretaps, undetected until a National Security Agency leak in the mid-80s, proved to be extremely invaluable in picking up Soviet military intelligence. The Parche also assisted with recovering the fragments of Soviet anti-shipping rockets, so that the Navy could analyze them and develop countermeasures to safeguard its own vessels. </div>
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Parche, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, underwent a number of additional overhauls that beefed up its surveillance apparatus, adding cameras and an elongated hull to make room for more gear and a larger crew complement, among other things. Like the USS Seawolf, the Parche was given a set of "skegs," or underwater skids, earlier on. These skegs allowed it to sit on the ocean floor while divers moved in and out of the hull of the submarine on wiretap and debris recovery missions. </div>
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By the early 2000s, Parche had gotten too old for its missions. The Sturgeon-class was already almost fully retired from the Navy, having been replaced by the Los Angeles and Seawolf classes of hunter/killer nuclear boats. Eventually, in 2004, the decision was made to pull the aging spy submarine, euphemistically referred to as a "special projects platform," from active service for its long-overdue retirement. </div>
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After around 30 years of service, Parche was decommissioned and scrapped, though her sail with its markings was removed and placed on display in Bremerton, Washington. Today, the USS Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class submarine, serves the same purpose and operates under the same conditions that Parche did, functioning as America's premier spy sub. </div>
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Even though Parche's exploits will remain hidden from public sight for decades to come, one only has to look at the marks that denote 9 Presidential Unit Citations, 10 Navy Unit Commendations and 13 Navy Expeditionary Medals, to know that Parche served her country faithfully in the most daring of circumstances throughout her hushed-up career. </div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-9547997767292281642018-06-09T08:59:00.003-04:002018-06-09T08:59:33.779-04:00Partisan battle for new tactical nuke looms in Senate <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Joe Gould, Defense News Online</div>
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6 June 2018</div>
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WASHINGTON - Democrats want to take their fight against the Trump administration’s planned a new low-yield tactical nuclear weapon to the Senate‘s annual defense policy bill. </div>
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It’s the latest flashpoint in a partisan divide over whether to pursue a new, tactical submarine-launched nuclear missile. The Pentagon and others advocate for the systems to deter Russia from using its own arsenal of low-yield nuclear weapons, but opponents see it as lowering the threshold for a nuclear war. </div>
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The Senate Armed Services Committee began debate on its $716 billion annual defense policy bill Wednesday, which contains a provision removing restrictions on the U.S. development or deployment of such a weapon without congressional authorization. The bill would grant the energy secretary new authority to carry out the weapon’s energy development phase, or any subsequent phase, without Congress’ specific approval. </div>
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Democrats plan to offer an amendment to preserve congressional oversight, Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a floor speech Wednesday. Reed is among lawmakers who crafted the restrictions in 2003. </div>
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“I have spent countless hours [on the issue], and I’m not alone,” Reed said. “My colleagues on the committee and many members of this Senate have spent hours thinking about the issues that are caused by these proposals. I’m concerned that we have not fully grasped all the complex implications. Indeed, there is an honest disagreement among experts in the field on this issue.” </div>
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“Given the policy ramifications of development and deployment of low-yield nuclear weapons and any type of nuclear weapon, I believe that Congress should be involved every step of the way,” Reed said. </div>
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Reed’s House counterpart, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., has voiced outright opposition to the weapons. </div>
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The 1,140-page 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which still faces months of congressional debate before becoming law, tackles a broad range of policy and budgetary matters, including troop pay, weapons procurement and bureaucratic reforms. It must be reconciled with its analogue in the House, where Republicans parried other Democratic attempts to scuttle the weapon. </div>
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The panel’s No. 2 Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe — who is stewarding the bill while SASC Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., battles cancer at home — seemed to support the idea of a floor debate on the matter as the chamber takes up amendments to the bill. </div>
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“I know there will be some controversy,” Inhofe said in his floor speech. “The ranking member and I don’t agree on everything, and this is one area that we probably don’t agree on. We want to have amendments and open debate, and that’s what we’re going to have.” </div>
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SASC Airland Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., authored the bill’s language, and he appeared to be ready for debate this week. </div>
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“It’s troubling that Democrats want to play politics with our national security, but we simply can’t afford to let our adversaries around the world have the competitive edge when it comes to nuclear weapons,” Cotton communications director Caroline Tabler said in an email Tuesday. </div>
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In the opposing corner is senior Democratic appropriator Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has said she is troubled by the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review and its call for a new weapon. On Tuesday, she alerted colleagues to the Cotton amendment, reading it at the Democratic Caucus lunch meeting. </div>
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She has expressed objection to a Cabinet-level secretary being able to initiate the advanced engineering a new nuclear weapon without Congress’ specific approval. </div>
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“The amendment, I think, is very dangerous,” she said Wednesday. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-62917118658719628612018-06-09T08:56:00.004-04:002018-06-09T08:56:22.718-04:00Brazil starts testing laboratory generators for nuclear submarines <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Victor Barreira, Jane’s 360</div>
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5 June 2018</div>
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BRAZIL - Brazil will start integration testing of turbo generators of its Nuclear Power Generation Laboratory (LABGENE) at Aramar Nuclear Industry Centre (CINA) in Iperó, state of São Paulo, on 8 June. </div>
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The testing marks a significant advancement in Brazil’s effort to develop a submarine nuclear power plant. At the same time, Brazil will start building its Multipurpose Reactor (RMB). </div>
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Operated by the Navy Technology Center in São Paulo (CTMSP), the 48 MW LABGENE integrates the Navy Nuclear Programme (PNM). It also performs the ground prototyping for a nuclear propulsion plant used to perform experiments and validates the operating conditions of a pressurised water reactor (PWR) type, which will lead for the construction of nuclear propulsion unit for the first Brazilian nuclear-powered attack submarine SN-BR Álvaro Alberto.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-62355732463841950212018-06-09T08:54:00.005-04:002018-06-09T08:54:51.936-04:00New submarine could swim without engine <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Staff, knowridge.com</div>
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6 June 2018</div>
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Researchers have developed a new propulsion concept for swimming robots. </div>
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The robot exploits temperature fluctuations in the water for propulsion without the need for an engine, propellant or power supply. </div>
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As a proof-of-concept study, the researchers developed a 7.5-centimetre mini-submarine equipped with paddles, which they fabricated entirely using a multi-material 3D printer. </div>
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The paddles are actuated using a bistable propulsion element triggered by two shape memory polymer strips as previously developed by ETH Professor Kristina Shea and her doctoral student Tim Chen. Designed to expand in warm water, the polymer strips power the robot by acting like “muscles”. </div>
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If the water in which the mini-submarine floats is heated, the expansion of the “muscles” causes the bistable element to quickly snap, triggering a paddle stroke. The directional motion, force and timing of the paddle strokes are precisely defined by the robot’s geometry and material. </div>
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Vessel with multiple propulsion elements </div>
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At present, each actuating element can execute a single paddle stroke and must then be reprogrammed manually. However, as the scientists point out, it is possible to fabricate complex swimming robots with multiple actuators. </div>
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The scientists have already made a mini-submarine that can paddle forward with one stroke, release its “cargo” (a coin) and then navigate back to the starting point with a second paddle stroke in the opposite direction, all by sensing changes in temperature of the water. </div>
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Varying the geometry of the polymer muscles allowed the scientists to define the sequence at which the paddle stroke is triggered: thin polymer strips heat up faster in warm water and therefore respond faster than thicker ones. </div>
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A potential development would be using polymers that do not react to the water temperature, but to other environmental factors such as the acidity or salinity of the water. </div>
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“The main takeaway from our work is that we have developed a new and promising means of propulsion that is fully 3D printed, tuneable and works without an external power source,” says ETH Professor Shea. This could possibly be developed further to create a low-power vessel for exploring ocean depths..</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-7633973881903421082018-06-09T08:53:00.001-04:002018-06-09T08:53:30.094-04:00Navy’s Knifefish Unmanned Mine Hunter Passes Sea Acceptance Testing <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Ben Werner, usni.org</div>
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5 June 2018</div>
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The Navy’s Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle, a key component of the Littoral Combat Ship’s mine-hunting capability, successfully completed sea acceptance testing off the coast of Massachusetts. </div>
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The Knifefish, built by General Dynamics and based on the Bluefin Robotics Bluefin-21 deep-water Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, is a self-propelled, untethered vehicle designed to hunt for mines without requiring an LCS or other manned ship to enter a minefield. </div>
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By successfully completing the sea acceptance testing, the program now moves to the next phase of development – developmental test and operational assessment – according to General Dynamics. </div>
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“These tests prove the Knifefish system can detect, classify and identify undersea mines in high-clutter environments,” Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Mission Systems, said in a statement. </div>
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Meanwhile, the first group of Navy fleet operators have completed their initial Knifefish training, conducted by the General Dynamics team, so they can operate the system during the upcoming developmental test and operational assessment. </div>
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Unlike other autonomous vehicles that tow a sonar, Knifefish has a sonar built into its body. But the Knifefish program has been hampered by previous concerns about its range and endurance. </div>
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In 2016, delays in reaching important production milestones, a $2.3-million fix to the communications system that helps Knifefish talk to operators aboard LCSs, and ongoing problems with Knifefish’s ability to accomplish its core mission – detecting mines – resulted in a 2016 Department of Defense Inspector General report recommending the Navy consider canceling the program if the problems could not be ironed out by the end of 2017. </div>
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If the Navy could not revalidate that Knifefish was the right solution to identify buried and other mines, then the IG recommended the Navy was better off canceling the program and finding a “better use” for the $751.5 million dedicated to Knifefish research, development, testing, evaluation and acquisition. </div>
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By the end of 2017, General Dynamics and the Navy had worked out the program’s bugs sufficiently to declare a successful completion of contractor trials, according to a statement released by General Dynamics at the time. </div>
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“The Navy is pleased with the Knifefish performance during the recent contractor trials, as the system demonstrated its ability to reliably find mines in different environments,” Capt. Jon Rucker, unmanned systems program manager within the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (formerly PEO LCS), stated in the 2017 General Dynamics news release. </div>
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“Knifefish provides the Navy a critical means to find and identify bottom, buried, and volume mines, providing a much-needed capability for the warfighter.” </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-84056926234550115652018-06-09T08:50:00.002-04:002018-06-09T08:50:52.886-04:00US Navy reveals plans for autonomous 'robot battleships' that can launch killer drones into the air and sea <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Mollie Cahillane, Daily Mail</div>
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4 June 2018</div>
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UNITED KINGDOM -- The US Navy and researchers from Florida Atlantic University have revealed plans to develop autonomous robotic 'drone battleships' that can launch underwater and aerial attacks in order to protect US coasts. </div>
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Last month, FAU was awarded $1.25 million by US Navy for research for unmanned marine vehicle platforms. </div>
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The five-year project will undertake research in support of autonomous marine vehicle platforms for coastal surveillance, coastal surveys, target tracking and protection of at-sea assets. </div>
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'Our focus will be on developing a multi-vehicle system that can safely and reliably navigate coastal waters with a high level of autonomy while performing assigned tasks,' said Manhar Dhanak, director of SeaTech, the Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering in FAU's Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. </div>
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The researchers plan to develop new software to better improve multi-sensors and collision avoidance, as well as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). </div>
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The 'motherships' will also serve as a 'docking station' for submarines and aerial drones. </div>
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'Fostering collaborative partnerships in scientific research is essential to ensuring that the United States remains at the forefront of innovation and technology,' said Stella N. Batalama, Ph.D., dean of FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science. </div>
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'We are very pleased to continue our relationship with the Office of Naval Research. This latest grant will enable us to develop important technology that will help to secure our U.S. coastal waters and our assets at-sea both nationally and globally.' </div>
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The ships will also function as training and education for graduate and undergraduate students in ocean engineering. </div>
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The US Navy hopes that similar protoypes will become more common. </div>
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Unmanned vehicles in the ocean and sub-surface are far less expensive to operate and maintain than manned vehicles. </div>
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Automated sensors can maintain near-constant awareness and coverage, and the constant surveillance provides better data collection. They also have the potential </div>
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to improve productivity, and most importantly, keep human sailors away from danger. </div>
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The Navy has also recently developed the Sea Hunter drone warship, a self-driving, 132ft drone warship that can hunt down enemy submarines and travel thousands of miles at sea while obeying maritime laws. </div>
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The prototype can reach speeds of 27 knots and uses cameras and radar to track its location and spot other ships. </div>
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The anti-submarine drone could join active naval operations as early as this year, ushering in a new era for military warships. </div>
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WHAT IS THE 'SEA HUNTER' WARSHIP? </div>
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The 132ft (40-metre) ship is designed to travel thousands of miles out at sea without a single crew member on board. </div>
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The anti-submarine warfare vessel could join active naval operations as early as 2018 and would hail in a new era of warship. </div>
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When it enters service, the ship will operate for around 30 to 90 days at sea without a crew. </div>
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Sea Hunter relies on radar and cameras to spot other vessels and will leave and return to port on its own. </div>
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Powered by two diesel engines, the ship can reach speeds of 27 knots per hour. </div>
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The 132ft (40-metre) ship is designed to travel thousands of miles out at sea without a single crew member on board </div>
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The vessel cost around $20 million (£14m) to build and around $20,000 (£14,000) a day to run which is significantly less expensive than crew-run ships. </div>
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While initial vessel tests require a pilot on board the ship, later tests are planned to have no personnel on board. </div>
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In initial testing of Sea Hunter's autonomy capability back in 2016, the ship successfully executed a multi-way-point mission with no person directing course or speed changes. </div>
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The completion of Sea Hunter's performance trials was the first milestone in the two-year test program co-sponsored by DARPA and the Office of Naval Research. </div>
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Experts say the vessel has the potential to revolutionise not only the military's maritime service but also commercial shipping. </div>
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The full-size prototype could pave the way to developing crewless cargo vessels for the commercial shipping industry someday. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-50983744473728744392018-06-09T08:47:00.004-04:002018-06-09T08:47:39.929-04:00UConn Researchers Advance Submarine Power <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Staff, today.uconn.edu</div>
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30 May 2018<br /> </div>
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A team of engineers led by UConn engineering professors Yang Cao and Ali Bazzi is conducting groundbreaking research on electric propulsion, moving the U.S. Navy closer to a shift in how submarines are powered. </div>
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With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Energy, the researchers are developing electrical insulation for use in the manufacture of Next Generation Integrated Propulsion System (NGIPS) motors for military electric propulsion that will provide 50 percent higher power density. </div>
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The U.S. Navy is currently shifting from mechanical drive to electric drive in many propulsion systems for combat ships, just as plug-in electric vehicles run on electrical motors. The first modern electric drive submarine will be the Columbia class submarine, which replaces the Ohio class. The Columbia class is scheduled to begin construction in 2021 and enter service in 2031. </div>
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“On a nuclear submarine, space is tight,” says Cao, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. “In order to fit electric drive systems in [the next generation attack class submarine], electric drive components will all need to be smaller.” </div>
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The improved insulation material enables the motor to be much smaller. Without it, says Cao, it would be almost impossible to fit electric drive propulsion systems on these future attack class submarines. </div>
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Since the cost is roughly in proportion to the volume of the electric machine, reducing the size can also save money. As one of the world’s largest single energy consumers, the U.S. Department of Defense uses about 30,000 GWh of electricity annually, at a cost of nearly $2.2 billion. </div>
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Electric motors are easier to control than internal-combustion engines, while also saving energy. </div>
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But while integrated electric-propulsion drive systems operate at high power and high frequency, the performance and reliability of these systems depends on their ability to efficiently dissipate thermal energy from the electronics and machines during operation. </div>
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Conventional insulative materials used in these systems to withstand high voltages are also good thermal insulators that prevent such heat dissipation. </div>
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The UConn team has developed a new 2-D, nanostructured dielectric material with highly improved electrical and thermal characteristics. This material has demonstrated, without redesign, a 15 percent improvement in torque density of the motor on a DDG1000, the first all-electric battleship. </div>
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General Dynamics Electric Boat considers the program “revolutionary,” wrote James R. Moody, director of </div>
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business development, payloads and sensors at Electric Boat, in a 2015 letter supporting UConn’s application for a grant from the Office of Naval Research. </div>
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Electric Boat’s in-kind support has involved evaluating the impact of thermal performance improvement on motor power density, and assessing the technology’s readiness for Naval shipboard applications. The team will be working for two more years on this program to fully demonstrate that the materials they’re developing will produce similar savings in the real world. </div>
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The goal is to further optimize the system to generate 20 percent more torque, and complete the accelerated aging test to ensure high service reliability. “This could be game-changing,” says Cao. </div>
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The new technology also has advantages for national security, according to Bazzi, UTC assistant professor of engineering innovation in electrical and computer engineering at UConn. </div>
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Typically, the U.S. imports strong magnets that contain rare-earth elements, but induction machines are independent of these elements and are easier to control, Bazzi says. One downside is that they have slightly lower efficiency and lower power density than their permanent magnet machine counterparts. </div>
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“Improving the power and torque densities of induction machines would make them more competitive in terms of size, ease of control, and supply chain from a national security perspective,” he says. </div>
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Electric propulsion also has the potential for commercial applications beyond electric cars and buses. </div>
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“This is just the first application,” Cao says, noting that the military is very interested in dual-purpose research. “If this research can be used by industry, this would help expand the supplier base, provide jobs, and potentially lower the cost for the Department of Defense. If this could be further extended to much broader, civilian applications, the impact could be huge.”</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-60774174616857844872018-06-09T08:46:00.000-04:002018-06-09T08:46:09.355-04:00Navy Wants Unmanned Systems to be Ubiquitous in Future Warfare <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Megan Eckstien, usni.org</div>
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29 May 2018</div>
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The Navy’s acquisition chief disbanded his unmanned systems office, not as a sign of decreased focus on its mission, but to nudge unmanned systems into becoming part of everything the Navy does. </div>
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“I don’t want it to be misconstrued that we don’t think unmanned is important; it’s actually exactly the opposite, I think unmanned is so important we need to have it integrated with all of our other teams,” Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts said in a May 24 interview. </div>
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“I was actually worried about the fact that treating unmanned too much separately would hamper it. And part of the real challenge is, how do we integrate it into the way we do warfare and into all these platforms, so my sense was it was time to deploy those (unmanned) assets back next to the platforms they would be integrating with, both in the air, on the water and underwater.” </div>
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Geurts announced in an April 30 memo that the office of the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for unmanned systems – about half a dozen people total – would be disestablished, with the personnel and the remaining mission work transitioned to other offices. Geurts and the now-former DASN Unmanned Systems, retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley, told USNI News that personnel were transitioned to other DASNs based on their expertise – those with experience in unmanned air systems were sent to DASN Air, those with experience in standards and policy went to DASN Research, Development, Test and Evaluation. </div>
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DASN RDT&E will play a particularly important role for unmanned systems going forward, overseeing any remaining policy, legal and ethics issues, as well as standards, commonality and integration efforts. Geurts said much progress has been made in these areas but that work remains, and since DASN RDT&E already works those types of issues for other emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and directed energy weapons it should also handle them for unmanned systems. </div>
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Geurts said he took a look at the secretariat after being sworn in in December, and he felt comfortable that DASN Unmanned had met all of its original missions. </div>
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“When I looked at mission success from where I think the intent of the guidance was – to really get unmanned to be a part of everything the Navy does, have a little special emphasis to get it up on par with the traditional ways we’ve done warfare – and when I look at the accomplishments I think not only have they met the intent of the tasking but actually taken it quite further to the point where on the [Chief of Naval Operations’ staff] side of the staff you can’t distinguish anymore the manned from the unmanned, it’s part of everything,” Geurts said. </div>
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A primary mission was the development of an unmanned systems roadmap, which Kelley and his staff began work on in 2016 and was finally signed by Geurts in the second week of March. </div>
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Geurts said the roadmap looked at several facets of unmanned systems operations. One, where can unmanned systems help the Navy and Marine Corps conduct missions they have not done before – for example, with an unmanned system that can swim to deeper depths of the oceans than a manned submarine. Two, where can unmanned systems help the Navy and Marine Corps do today’s missions in a better or more cost-effective manner? And three, where does unmanned give sailors and Marines another tool to tackle an operational scenario, making them a more agile force? </div>
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The Navy has not made the roadmap publicly available – USNI News understands the document is not classified but includes sensitive information the service does not want in the open. However, the service last week gave USNI News a short version of the document that outlines </div>
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unmanned systems vision, employment concepts and objectives. </div>
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Geurts said the roadmap does not consider current technological or policy boundaries or barriers because “the fact that they’re boundaries today doesn’t mean they’re going to be boundaries all the time in the future.” He added that there are still debates to be had about the role of unmanned systems in warfare, but that unmanned systems can provide great benefits to warfighters today and therefore should be leveraged where possible. </div>
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Kelley said the roadmap considers the entire DOTMLPF: doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities. By including all these communities in the discussion, he said the Navy as an enterprise learned a lot about how it can incorporate unmanned systems, but it also learned how to continue the conversation into the future. For example, he said, the legal community was heavily involved in the roadmap development, to include many lieutenants and lieutenant commanders in the legal field. Kelley said that years from now those officers will know the whole range of issues that were discussed while developing the roadmap, that way the next big conversation about unmanned doesn’t repeat past efforts and can instead propel the conversation forward. </div>
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Kelley also praised the roadmap for offering some specifics – such as focus areas like seabed warfare – without promising dates or technical specifications of systems the Navy might not be able to hold itself to. He said the roadmap offers the right amount of specificity to give industry and warfare centers an idea of Navy priorities to pursue in their work. </div>
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Geurts said the roadmap is meant to be a living document that can be added to or changed as needed, but he said he’s comfortable having those future efforts overseen by the Navy’s operators, researchers and acquisition professionals without the supervision of a dedicated DASN Unmanned Systems office. </div>
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“There’s always opportunities to continue to push the boundaries on accelerated acquisition; on, are we really challenging new ways of thinking about old problems, new ways of thinking about new problems. We always need to be challenging ourselves with that,” Geurts said. </div>
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“I’m a positively discontent person, I’m always worried we’re not doing enough. But I was comfortable – it’s a fairly bold move to make not too long into the job, I wouldn’t have made that move if I was not comfortable with the progress [Kelley’s office had made], both from where the team had gotten technically and then where we had gotten organizationally.”</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-12700321519425600752018-06-09T08:44:00.004-04:002018-06-09T08:44:38.873-04:00Why the U.S. should stock up on Tomahawk cruise missiles <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Jonathan Bergner , Defense News Online</div>
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29 May 2018</div>
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The Tomahawk cruise missile is one of the most effective and highly utilized weapons in the U.S. arsenal ― and we have decided to stop producing them. </div>
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Last month, the U.S. Navy placed its final order for 100 replacement Tomahawks, citing a new cruise missile under development as the reason for closing the production line. Well and good, but the new missiles are not expected to be available until 2030. In the meantime, the U.S. should maintain — and even grow — its inventory of the cruise missile, which has been aptly described as the military’s “weapon of choice.” </div>
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Look at the numbers. Although exact figures are not publicly available, it is estimated that the Navy fires about 100 Tomahawks per year. In its first 15 months, the Trump administration has used Tomahawks at least twice, first launching roughly 60 against the Shayrat air base in Syria in response to that regime’s use of chemical weapons. Then again last month, in a coordinated strike with France and the U.K. against the Assad regime, the U.S. launched approximately 100 Tomahawks, according to U.S. Department of Defense officials. </div>
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Last month’s final order of replacements does not even return us to pre-Trump levels, and at the current rate, the total inventory would run out in about five years. </div>
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In order to deter potential adversaries, they must believe that we have both the capability and the will to retaliate. Opponents must believe that we can and will hit back. The U.S. has deployed Tomahawks in a variety of situations in which it might not have engaged in other ways, such as the use of ground troops. </div>
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But we must have them to use them. As the number of cruise missiles declines in the absence of replacements, each missile becomes more precious and the cost of using it goes up. What if we need Tomahawks for an unforeseen but far more extensive conflict than current ones? </div>
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As the remaining supply dwindles, each decision to deploy the Tomahawk becomes more difficult for military commanders, all the way up to the commander in chief. What happens when the only acceptable response to a given situation requires the use of a highly effective, standoff weapon? If a cost-benefit calculation forestalls the use of Tomahawks, the U.S. is left without its best option. We should not put our military commanders and the commander in chief in that situation. All-or-nothing choices are likely to lead too often to doing nothing. Inaction in turn can contribute to our adversaries’ perception that we lack the will to engage, and our ability to deter our enemies suffers. </div>
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The current administration and Congress have put in place a substantial increase in military spending. The 2018 budget saw an increase of $61 billion over 2017, with an additional $16 billion planned for the 2019 budget. These plus-ups are sorely needed and are being deployed in positive ways, including increases in ballistic missile defense funding and the Navy’s shipbuilding budget. Assistant Secretary of the Navy James Geurts recently told Congress that under current plans and budget assumptions, the U.S. could go from a 282-ship Navy to a 355-ship Navy as early as the 2030s. This will increase the nation’s force projection capabilities and reinforce the U.S. conventional deterrent. </div>
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However, the lack of a flexible strike capability provided by the Tomahawk severely limits the deterrent benefit of additional ships. Adding ships without purchasing missiles is a bit like building tanks with no shells or sending infantry into combat with rifles, but no ammunition. </div>
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One Aegis destroyer and one Ohio-class submarine have the capacity to carry up to 250 cruise missiles combined. As new ships are put into the water ― and if the U.S. continues to utilize Tomahawks at historically average levels ― the U.S. Navy might need thousands of missiles over the next decade or more. </div>
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As Congress continues its work on the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, it should reconsider ending the production of new Tomahawk cruise missiles. If it does not, we may one day find ourselves in a situation where we have the will to strike an adversary but lack the best means to do so.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-18045527631885481112018-06-09T08:32:00.002-04:002018-06-09T08:32:23.512-04:00Navy Seeks Acceleration of First Nuclear-Armed Columbia Ballistic Missile Sub <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Kris Osborn, TheMaven.net</div>
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29 May 2018</div>
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The Navy and industry may be speeding up full production plans for its first Columbia-Class nuclear armed ballistic missile submarine as part of a broader move to increase the size of the service's submarine fleet more quickly. </div>
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According to Navy statements, the first Columbia-Class submarine has been scheduled to begin construction by 2021 as a first step toward achieving operational status by the early 2030s. </div>
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However, industry leaders, members of Congress and Navy developers have all called for both fully funding and accelerating the program, an effort which will bring new nuclear undersea strategic deterrence technology to the Navy. Submarine-maker General Dynamics has recently announced that early purchases are in place to acquire the materials needed to begin full construction by as soon as 2020, according to a report in The National Interest. </div>
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Ultimately, the Navy hopes to build and operate as many as 12 new nuclear-armed submarines, to serve well into the 2080s. </div>
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While the exact timetable for full construction of the first ship is likely something still in flux, depending upon Navy and General Dynamics planning, the service has been working to add funding to accelerate the program. For several years now, requirements work, technical specifications and early prototyping have already been underway at General Dynamics Electric Boat. </div>
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The administration's 2019 budget request, released earlier this year, has already increased funding for the service's new nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine by $2 billion over this year's amount in what appears to be a clear effort to further accelerate technology development and early production. Several Congressional committees are strongly supporting funding for new submarine in their respective budget mark ups. </div>
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The budget request, which marks a substantial move on the part of the Navy and DoD, asks for $3.7 billion in 2019, up from $1.9 billion in 2018. The new budget effort is quite significant, given that there has been a chorus of concern in recent years that there would not be enough money to fund development of the new submarines, without devastating the Navy shipbuilding budget. </div>
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The Columbia-class plus-up is a key element of a cross-the-board Navy budget increase; overall, the Navy 2019 request jumps $14 billion over this year, climbing to $194 billion. </div>
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Many regard the Columbia-Class submarines as the number one DoD priority, and it is quite possible the additional dollars will not only advance technical development and early construction, but may also move the entire production timeline closer. </div>
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Ultimately, the Navy hopes to build and operate as many as 12 new nuclear-armed submarines, to be in service by the early 2040s and serve well into the 2080s. </div>
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Construction on the first submarine in this new class is slated to be finished up by 2028, with initial combat patrols beginning in 2031, service officials have said. </div>
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Perhaps of equal or greater significance is the fast-evolving current global threat environment which, among other things, brings the realistic prospect of a North Korean nuclear weapons attack. Undersea strategic deterrence therefore, as described by Navy leaders, brings a critical element of the nuclear triad by ensuring a second strike ability in the event of attack. </div>
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The submarines are intended to quietly patrol lesser known portions of the global undersea domain. Ultimately, the Navy hopes to build and operate as many as 12 new nuclear-armed submarines, to be in service by the early 2040s and serve well into the 2080s. </div>
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Navy nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines are intended to perform a somewhat contradictory, yet essential mission. By ensuring the prospect of massive devastation to an enemy through counterattack, weapons of total destruction can – by design – succeed in keeping the peace. </div>
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Columbia-Class Technology </div>
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Although complete construction is slated to ramp up fully in the next decade, Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat developers have already been prototyping key components, advancing science and technology efforts and working to mature a handful of next generation technologies. </div>
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With this in mind, the development strategy for the Columbia-Class could well be described in terms of a two-pronged approach; in key respects, the new boats will introduce a number of substantial leaps forward or technical innovations - while simultaneously leveraging currently available cutting-edge technologies from the Virginia-Class attack submarines, Navy program managers have told Warrior. </div>
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Designed to be 560-feet– long and house 16 Trident II D5 missiles fired from 44-foot-long missile tubes, Columbia-Class submarines will be engineered as a stealthy, high-tech nuclear deterrent able to quietly patrol the global undersea domain. </div>
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While Navy developers explain that many elements of the new submarines are not available for discussion for security reasons, some of its key innovations include a more efficient electric drive propulsion system driving the shafts and a next-generation nuclear reactor. A new reactor </div>
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will enable extended deployment possibilities and also prolong the service life of submarines, without needing to perform the currently practiced mid-life refueling. </div>
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By engineering a "life-of-ship" reactor core, the service is able to build 12 Columbia-Class boats able to have the same at sea presence as the current fleet of 14 ballistic missile submarines. The plan is intended to save the program $40 billion savings in acquisition and life-cycle cost, Navy developers said. </div>
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Regarding development of the US-UK Common Missile Compartment, early "tube and hull" forging have been underway for several years already, according to Navy and Electric Boat officials. </div>
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The US plans to build 12 new Columbia-Class Submarines, each with 16 missile tubes, and the UK plans to build four nuclear-armed ballistic submarines, each with 12 missile tubes. </div>
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The Columbia-Class will also use Virginia-class’s next-generation communications system, antennas and mast. For instance, what used to be a periscope is now a camera mast connected to fiber-optic cable, enabling crew members in the submarine to see images without needing to stand beneath the periscope. This allows designers to move command and control areas to larger parts of the ship and still have access to images from the camera mast, Electric Boat and Navy officials said. </div>
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The Columbia-Class will utilize Virginia-class’ fly-by-wire joystick control system and large-aperture bow array sonar. The automated control fly-by-wire navigation system is also a technology that is on the Virginia-Class attack submarines. A computer built-into the ship's control system uses algorithms to maintain course and depth by sending a signal to the rudder and the stern, a Navy Virginia Class program developer told Warrior Maven in a previous interview. </div>
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Sonar technology works by sending out an acoustic ping and then analyzing the return signal in order to discern shape, location or dimensions of an undersea threat. </div>
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Navy experts explained that the large aperture bow array is water backed with no dome and very small hydrophones able to last for the life of the ship; the new submarines do not have an air-backed array, preventing the need to replace transducers every 10-years. </div>
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In January of last year, development of the new submarines have passed what's termed "Milestone B," clearing the way beyond early development toward ultimate production. </div>
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Last Fall, the Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $5 billion contract award is for design, completion, component and technology development and prototyping efforts. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222208046227161546.post-80098063902924547692018-05-23T14:41:00.004-04:002018-05-23T14:41:33.208-04:00Russia unveils new ‘Husky’ submarine with potential to supersonic missiles <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Staff, Al Masdar News</div>
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22 May 2018</div>
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RUSSIA — The conceptual design of the fifth generation Husky submarine has been completed, while the tactical and technical characteristics are being developed, said the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Alexei Rakhmanov. </div>
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“We have already completed the conceptual design of the perspective submarine of the fifth generation ‘Husky’, as well as the definition of its appearance. Several variants have been proposed, now we have to choose the optimal one from them,” he said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper. </div>
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“Now the development of the tactical and technical characteristics of the new boat is underway. Further information about the Husky is still a military secret,” Rakhmanov added. </div>
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As previously reported, there is little open information about multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the fifth generation of the Husky project. </div>
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It is known that this submarine will carry a promising missile system with the supersonic cruise missiles “Zircon”, first mentioned in the media in February 2011. </div>
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The presumable designation of the RK is 3K-22, and the missile itself is 3M22. </div>
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As the deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy for armament Viktor Bursuk stated earlier, the construction of the Haski submarine will be laid in the state armament program for 2018-2025. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700036070375528125noreply@blogger.com0