29 août 2018 | International, Naval

Navy’s Next Large Surface Combatant Will Draw From DDG-51, DDG-1000 — But Don’t Call it a Destroyer Yet

THE PENTAGON – The Navy will buy the first of its Future Surface Combatants in 2023 – a large warship that will be built to support the Arleigh Burke Flight III combat system and will pull elements from the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) and Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyer designs.

The combatant – not dubbed a cruiser, and potentially not dubbed a destroyer either – will be bigger and more expensive than the Arleigh Burke Flight III design and will have more room to grow into for decades to come, the director of surface warfare (OPNAV N96) told USNI News today.

Future Surface Combatant refers to a family of systems that includes a large combatant akin to a destroyer, a small combatant like the Littoral Combat Ship or the upcoming frigate program, a large unmanned surface vessel and a medium USV, along with an integrated combat system that will be the common thread linking all the platforms. Navy leadership just recently signed an initial capabilities document for the family of systems, after an effort that began in late 2017 to define what the surface force as a whole would be required to do in the future and therefore how each of the four future platforms could contribute to that overall mission requirement.

With the ICD now signed and providing the service with an idea of how many of each platform would be needed in a future fleet and how each would contribute as a sensor, a shooter or a command and control asset, Surface Warfare Director Adm. Ron Boxall and his staff are now able to begin diving into the finer details of what each platform would look like.

The first to be tackled is the large combatant, Boxall told USNI News today. He noted the effort would be more like the move from the Ticonderoga-class cruiser to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer – where the same combat capability was kept, but housed in a more suitable hull – rather than the move from the Spruance-class destroyer to the cruiser, which maintained the same hull design but added in new combat capability.

After the addition of the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) to the DDGs' Aegis Combat System to create the Flight III design, Boxall said the resulting warfighting capability is one the Navy can use for years to come.

“We have a new capability on that hull now, so everything's going good – except for, as we look towards going further, we know we've maxed out that hull footprint,” Boxall said of the Arleigh Burke-class hull design, power-generation capability and more.
“So the key elements that we're looking at in this work we're doing on the requirements side is, keep the requirements about the same as DDG Flight III, but now look at what do we need a new hull to do.”

USNI News first reported last month that the large combatant would pair a new hull with the Flight III combat system.

The Navy will spend about the next six months having that conversation about what the new hull will need, though he suggested to USNI News that it would need sufficient space to carry helicopters and unmanned systems; it would need to support long-range missiles and weapons; it would have to include command and control systems able to support a staff onboard for air defense or offensive surface capability, much like the cruiser does today with the air defense commander role for a carrier strike group; it may incorporate DDG-1000's signature controls and integrated power system; and it will certainly have to be flexible and modular enough to quickly undergo upgrades and modernizations in the future as new systems are developed that the Navy will want to incorporate into the next block buy of large combatants or back fit fielded ones.

Though there has been much speculation about whether the large combatant would use an existing design or a new design, Boxall said there really are no designs out there that meet the Navy's needs without significant modifications.

Whereas the ongoing frigate design effort was able to mandate that bidders use mature parent designs, Boxall said “a lot of people in the world make frigates. Not many people make large surface combatants of the size and capability that we need. So we've got to kind of look to our portfolio of blueprints that we have as a starting point, and we'll edit and modify the hull and design things as we go forward.”

“I think what you're going to see won't be a huge deviation from things we have already, but at the same point, we are going to be making changes to anything we have” already in the fleet, he added.

In a nod towards the idea the next large combatant will share the same combat system as DDG Flight III and will perform much the same role in the fleet, Boxall said the Navy is starting with the DDG-51 Flight III capability development document (CDD); will go through a Large Surface Combatant Requirements Evaluation Team effort with requirements, acquisition and engineering personnel from the Navy and industry; and after six months call the finished product a “modified Flight III CDD.” Once that modified CDD is complete, it will be clearer how much the future large surface combatant will resemble its predecessor and how much it will be a new class of ship – which will likely determine its name.

“It is the big question: what do you call the future large surface combatant? I don't know. I don't think you call it a cruiser. I don't think you call it a destroyer. Maybe – I don't know what it is,” Boxall said, noting that he has commanded both a cruiser and destroyer and that they get used in much the same fashion, save for the cruiser's role as the air defense commander ship, which the future large surface combatant will have the capability of doing with its command and control suite.

Once the first large combatant is designed and purchased in the 2023 “block” – following the current block-buy of Flight III DDGs from Ingalls Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, which spans from Fiscal Years 2018 to 2022 – new blocks will be planned for every five years. As USNI News has reported, this block structure, laid out in a Surface Combatant Capability Evolution Plan, would allow the insertion of new hardware and software in a predictable timeline. This would help researchers and developers in the government and in industry understand when a new capability would have to be matured by to be included in the next block design, and anything not quite ready yet could wait until the next block. This setup is much like the Virginia-class attack submarine's block upgrade approach to adding in new capabilities, and its Acoustic Rapid Commercial-off-the-shelf Insertion (ARCI) process of adding new capabilities in via new construction and back fitting existing subs. However, Boxall noted the surface community had the added challenge of managing this block buy and upgrade effort across four or more types of surface combatants, compared to just one class of attack submarines.

Unlike before, when the surface community would undergo a massive planning effort – like the CG(X) cruiser replacement design that ultimately was too expensive and not accepted by the Navy – and then cease planning for many years before undertaking another massive effort, Boxall said he hoped the block upgrades would create a “heartbeat type of effort, where you always have something going on.”

https://news.usni.org/2018/08/28/navys-next-large-surface-combatant-will-draw-ddg-51-ddg-1000-dont-call-destroyer

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7 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

DARPA wants a robotic satellite mechanic launched by 2022
By: Nathan Strout &emsp; The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is on track to announce a new commercial partner for its robotic servicing payload by the end of the year, with plans to have a spacecraft in orbit in 2022. “I'm standing here with a smile on my face. The program is moving forward and things are looking good and we're very hopeful,” Joe Parrish, program manager for the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Spacecraft program at DARPA, said at the 2019 Global Satellite Servicing Forum Oct. 1. “We're looking to launch RSGS in late 2022.” RSGS is intended to deliver a GEO spacecraft with a payload consisting of two large 2 meter arms and a number of tools that will allow it to perform maintenance and other work on satellites in GEO. The spacecraft will perform four main functions in space: inspection, orbital adjustments, anomaly resolution and installation of self-contained payloads. With a host of cameras onboard, RSGS will be able to inspect other satellites. This can help operators on the ground diagnose problems and inform in-orbit repairs. It can also use its arms to capture a satellite and move it, either to a new orbit or to dispose of it. DARPA envisions RSGS being able, again using its arms, to install new payloads on existing satellites, replacing legacy hardware and augmenting its mission for years to come. And, of course, RSGS will be available to traverse the GEO landscape to help satellites that fail to deploy correctly. “If somebody launches up into GEO while we're up there and a solar array fails to deploy or a reflector or antenna fails to deploy, we can come galloping to the rescue,” said Perrish. “The benefit is not to demonstrate robot arms waving around in space. The benefit is to increase the resilience of our infrastructure in space.” While DARPA is developing the payload with robotic arms, according to Parrish, DARPA needs a commercial partner to build the spacecraft that will house the payload and carry it around in orbit. “We're looking for the partner to provide the spacecraft bus — so using a heritage GEO bus that may have had some tailoring for RSGS requirements, integrating the payload and the spacecraft bus together, procuring and launching that integrated spacecraft to GEO, and then providing mission control center for operations for a long period of time,” explained Parrish. Parrish said that the full project would be turned over in due time to the commercial partner to operate RSGS for fun and profit. But DARPA has hit some stumbling blocks in securing that commercial partner. In 2017, Orbital ATK sued DARPA to stop it from developing what it saw as competition to its own satellite servicing space vehicle. While that effort failed, the company's efforts to develop its own satellite servicing program have continued. Orbital ATK was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018, and now the Northrop Grumman subsidiary SpaceLogistics is preparing to launch the first satellite life extension vehicle into space in the coming weeks. Then, in January, Maxar Technologies' Space Systems Loral pulled out of an agreement with DARPA to build the spacecraft to host the RSGS payload as the company moved out of the GEO construction market. DARPA has spent much of the last year working to find a new commercial partner. In May they hosted a Proposer's Day to discuss the program with potentially interested companies, and now Parrish says they expect to announce a partner toward the end of the year. “2019 has been quite a year,” said Parrish. “We are still in source selection for a new commercial partner.” Meanwhile, work on the payload itself is ongoing. The first of two flight robotic manipulator arms is in final assembly and will be shipped to the Naval Research Lab in the next two weeks, where it will be integrated into the payload. The second arm lags the first by about two months, said Parrish, and is currently in assembly. In 2020, all of the components of the payload will be sent to NRL for assembly into the actual payload. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2019/10/03/darpa-wants-a-robotic-satellite-mechanic-launched-by-2022/
14 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial

Despite some opposition, US on course to deliver F-35s to Turkey on June 21
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is proceeding with plans to deliver the first F-35 to Turkey, with the country set to accept its first jet on June 21 despite opposition from some in Congress. A Lockheed Martin spokesman confirmed to Defense News that it's still gearing up for a rollout ceremony at its production facilities in Fort Worth next week. “The F-35 program traditionally hosts a ceremony to recognize every U.S. and international customer's first aircraft. The rollout ceremony for Turkey's first F-35 aircraft is scheduled for June 21,” the spokesman said in a written statement to Defense News. “The aircraft will then ferry to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where Turkish pilots will join the F-35A training pool.” The Senate is set to vote this week on the annual defense policy bill, which includes language that would prohibit the U.S. government from “transfer of title” to Turkey until the time that the Defense Department submits a report to Congress on removal of Turkey from the F-35 program. But even if that language succeeds in the Senate, the defense policy bill will proceed to conference, where a group of armed services committee members will hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions to emerge with a single, final piece of legislation. That process could take months. Congress's opposition to allowing Turkey to purchase the F-35 hovers around two points: the country's detainment of American pastor Andrew Brunson and a deal to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system. But for now, it appears that the Defense Department has no plans to keep Turkey from getting its first F-35 or to put restrictions on its use at Luke AFB. Thomas Goffus, the Defense Department's deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, acknowledged during an Atlantic Council event Wednesday that Turkey's acquistion of the S-400 could present the U.S. military and NATO alliance with added technical risks. But he would not go as far to spell out what actions the Defense Department is considering or could consider later down the road — perhaps a sign that the Pentagon is waiting to see how this legislation shakes out. “We have a process to evaluate the risks to Western technology that that [procurement] would present. Our preference is that they do not acquire the S-400,” Goffus said. “Given that, they are a sovereign nation, and they are trying to take care of their defense needs,” he added. “What restrictions are placed on them and what Congress will eventually pass, I can't even speculate on it on this point.” By the time Congress passes legislation that could curb Anakara's F-35 ownership, the country will likely have already started building up its first squadron at Luke AFB. There, Turkish pilots and maintainers will train alongside U.S. ones, moving from academic courseware to live flights. NATO and U.S. Defense Department officials have warned Turkey that if it continues down the path of purchasing the S-400, it will not be able to plug it in with NATO technologies like the F-35. SASC, in its policy bill, echoed those concerns, saying that Turkey's purchase of Russian hardware would “degrade the general security of the NATO alliance [...] and degrade interoperability of the alliance.” After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expressed confidence that the United States would not only deliver the first F-35 to Turkey as planned, but that it would ultimately decide to continue F-35 sales to Turkey. “Turkey rejects threatening language from the U.S. on the issue, it is not constructive,” Çavuşoğlu said on June 4, according to a report from the Turkish newsgroup Anadolu Agency. Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35As. As a partner of the program, its domestic defense industry helps build the Joint Strike Fighter. Most notably, Turkish Aerospace Industries' serves as a manufacturer of the aircraft's center fuselage. It has also been chosen as a sustainment hub for the international F-35 community. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/2018/06/13/despite-some-opposition-us-on-course-to-deliver-f-35s-to-turkey-on-june-21/
18 juin 2019 | International, Naval

FINCANTIERI ET NAVAL GROUP SIGNENT UN ACCORD DE JOINT-VENTURE. LE PROJET « POSEIDON » PREND FORME
Dans le prolongement de l'annonce faite le 23 octobre 2018, Fincantieri et Naval Group signent aujourd'hui à Rome l'Alliance Cooperation Agreement qui fixe les termes opérationnels de l'incorporation d'une joint-venture détenue à parts égales. L'accord, approuvé par les Conseils d'Administration des deux entreprises, incarne l'avancement du projet « Poseidon » et est une étape dans le renforcement de la coopération dans le naval de défense en vue de constituer une industrie européenne de construction navale plus efficiente et compétitive. L'accord a été signé par les PDG des deux entreprises, Giuseppe Bono et Hervé Guillou, à bord de la frégate Frederico Martinengo, amarrée à La Spezia sur la base navale de la marine italienne. Ce navire fait partie du programme franco-italien de frégates multi-missions (FREMM) et souligne la cohérence de vingt ans de collaboration entre les deux pays, leurs industries et leurs marines. La mise en place de la JV, prévue dans les prochains mois et en tout état de cause avant la fin de l'année, sera soumise aux conditions habituelles pour ce type de transaction et à l'obtention des autorisations nécessaires par les autorités compétentes. Gr'ce à la joint-venture, Fincantieri et Naval Group : Partageront leurs bonnes pratiques ; Mèneront ensemble des projets de recherche et développement sélectionnés ; Optimiseront les processus d'achat ; Prépareront conjointement des offres pour des programmes binationaux et les marchés à l'export. Sur la base de cet accord, l'entreprise aura son siège social à Gênes (Italie) avec une filiale à Ollioules (France). Comme cela a été établi dans l'accord d'actionnaires, la JV sera structurée autour d'un conseil d'administration composé de six membres avec trois membres nommés par chaque entreprise. Pour ce premier mandat de trois ans, Fincantieri nommera le Président et le Directeur des Opérations tandis que Naval Group nommera le Directeur Général Executif et le Directeur Financier. En raison de l'importance stratégique accordée par Fincantieri et Naval Group à cette opération, les membres du Conseil d'administration incluront Giuseppe Bono, nommé Président de la JV et Hervé Guillou. Cette JV doit permettre aux deux groupes et à leurs écosystèmes d'améliorer leurs capacités à servir les marines française et italiennes, de remporter de nouveaux contrats à l'export, de développer de nouvelles solutions technologiques et enfin, d'améliorer leur compétitivité de la filière navale des deux pays. A l'occasion de cette signature, Giuseppe Bono et Hervé Guillou ont déclaré : « Nous sommes très satisfaits des résultats obtenus et, surtout, nous souhaitons remercier nos gouvernements qui ont travaillé main dans la main avec nous au cours de ces derniers mois et continuent à le faire aujourd'hui, afin de parvenir à un accord qui puisse assurer la protection des actifs souverains tout en promouvant la coopération entre nos deux équipes. Cet engagement nous permettra de mieux servir nos marines, de fournir le support adéquat aux opérations à l'export et établira de manière effective les fondations d'une industrie de défense Européenne renforcée. » Fincantieri Fincantieri est l'un des plus grands groupes de construction navale au monde et le premier constructeur de navires du monde occidental en termes de chiffre d'affaires, de diversification et d'innovation. Il occupe une place de chef de file dans la conception et la construction de navires de croisière et se positionne comme un acteur de référence sur tous les segments haute technologie de l'industrie de la construction navale, depuis le naval aux navires off-shore, des navires spécialisés hautement complexes et ferries aux méga-yachts, en passant par la réparation navale et la conversion de navires, la production de systèmes et composants jusqu'aux services après-vente. Basé à Trieste (Italie), le groupe a plus de 19.000 employés, dont plus de 8.400 en Italie, 20 chantiers navals répartis sur 4 continents, et a construit plus de 7 000 navires en plus de 230 ans d'histoire maritime. www.fincantieri.com Naval Group Naval Group est le leader européen du naval de défense. Entreprise de haute technologie d'envergure internationale, Naval Group répond aux besoins de ses clients gr'ce à ses savoir-faire exceptionnels, ses moyens industriels uniques et sa capacité à monter des partenariats stratégiques innovants. Le groupe conçoit, réalise et maintient en service des sous-marins et des navires de surface. Il fournit également des services pour les chantiers et bases navals. Enfin, le groupe propose un panel de solutions dans les énergies marines renouvelables. Attentif aux enjeux de responsabilité sociale d'entreprise, Naval Group est adhérent au Pacte mondial des Nations unies. Le groupe réalise un chiffre d'affaires de 3,6 milliards d'euros et compte 14 860 collaborateurs (données 2018). https://www.naval-group.com/fr/news/fincantieri-et-naval-group-signent-un-accord-de-joint-venture-le-projet-poseidon-prend-forme/

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