31 janvier 2019 | International, Naval
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is looking to get a lot of underway time out of its new frigate and is eyeing a crewing model that swaps out teams of sailors to maximize the operational time for each hull.
The so-called blue-gold crewing model effectively creates two crews for each ship of the class. The blue crew and gold crew switch out to keep the ships at sea for as long as possible without breaking the sailors and their families.
It's the model the Navy has used for years on the ballistic missile submarines and is employing on the littoral combat ships, but now the model is likely to extend to the LCS successor, said Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, the Chief of Naval Operations' surface warfare director.
“We're looking at the blue-gold construct on FFG(X). We're planning on it, which gives us a larger operational availability – it should double it,” Boxall told Defense News in an interview late last year.
The use of blue-gold crewing hints at how the Navy is viewing its new frigate: as a ship that can carry out a a broad range of tasks that have consumed the operational time of larger combatants. That includes exercises with allies and freedom of navigation operations to counter-piracy and routine presence missions that don't require an Arleigh Burke destroyer to be successful but are time-intensive. The Navy has bemoaned the lack of a small surface combatant that can hold down low-end missions but still contribute in a high-end fight, which has been the impetus behind the whole FFG(X) program.
Even though the crews will catch a break in the blue-gold construct, off-hull crews won't be kicking back during their shore rotation, Boxall said. The surface force has been investing in higher-end training facilities in fleet concentration areas in an effort to increase the proficiency of its watch teams.
Crews on shore will be going through those trainers, he said.
“So, these ships are going to be out there half the time while the [off-hull] crews are back training in higher-fidelity training environments,” Boxall explained. “And what [commanding officers] will tell you is that as we get to higher and higher fidelity training, time to train becomes equally as valuable.
“So, in an increasingly complex environment, it's just intuitive that that you have to have time to train. We think Blue-Gold makes sense for those reasons on the frigate.”
Lessons from LCS
Getting more simulator time for surface sailors has been an initiative championed by the Navy's top surface warfare officer Vice Adm. Rich Brown. It's an off-shoot from lessons-learned from FFG(X)'s predecessor, the LCS, which has extremely high-fidelity simulator trainers for its crews before they take over their assigned hulls.
One thing the surface force has been intrigued to see has been the high quality of the officers that come up through the LCS program, something the Navy in part attributes to the trainers, Boxall said, and the SWOs want to replicate that for the FFG(X).
“One really interesting side-note with LCS has been the quality of the training,” Boxall said. “As we went back and looked at the lessons learned from McCain and Fitzgerald, we're trying to apply some of the good things about LCS to that.
“Those officers, because they are smaller ships they get a lot more water under the keel. And they're faster ships so they are getting that water under the keel in a faster-moving environment. So we're creating a generation of officers who are getting tougher navigation environments thrown at them more quickly, and we're also getting the quality and fidelity of their trainers.”
This has meant that LCS officers more-than stack up to their peers from larger, more advanced ships, he added.
“What we're seeing is they are doing very, very well against their contemporaries coming off the bigger ships,” Boxall said. “Why is that happening? It's fairly logical: More stick time, better fidelity trainers and more time in the trainers.”
Ownership
The littoral combat ship adopted the Blue-Gold crewing model after a series of high-profile breakdowns, some caused by crew errors. The original model was to have three crews for two hulls, a rotational model that the Navy worried was taking away from the sense of ownership for a single, specific hull that permanently attached crews might have to a greater degree.
The program was reorganized to a Blue-Gold model, which required hundreds of new billets for the LCS program, under then-head of Naval Surface Forces Pacific, Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden. Expanding Blue-Gold to the FFG(X) would further spread the model inside the surface warfare community.
Both minesweepers and patrol craft, two other workhorse platforms in the surface community, operate under a Blue-Gold crewing model as well.
However, it may not be a model that the Navy will pursue on the large surface combatant now in development. That ship may be better with a lower operational tempo, Boxall said.
“We'll look and see if that makes sense on the large surface combatant or not,” he said. “Maybe those are better ships to keep as a surge force, maybe they're fine operating on a lower rotational model.”
6 mai 2024 | International, Terrestre
Analysing how HIMARS strategically contributes to Ukraine's defence system in countering Russian aggression, amongst its global relevance.
23 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
ARMY DDB Chicago Inc., Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $4,000,000,000 hybrid (cost, cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price) contract for services in support of the U.S. Army Marketing and Advertising Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 18, 2028. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W9124D-19-D-0001). Tetra Tech-Maytag Aircraft Corp., Pasadena, California, was awarded a $10,252,498 modification (0007 03) to contract W912DY-13-G-0010 for maintenance and minor emergency repair of equipment and appurtenances. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; Mayport, Florida; Panama City, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Parris Island, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Quantico, Virginia; Albany, Georgia; Milton, Florida; Andros Island, the Bahamas; and Guantanamo, Cuba, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 15, 2019. Fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds in the amount of $10,252,498 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Threat Tec LLC,* Hampton, Virginia, was awarded an $8,215,050 modification (P00003) to contract W9124E-18-D-0002 for training support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 24, 2019. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Polk, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Pacific Unlimited Inc., Barrigada, Guam, has been awarded a maximum $288,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for full food-line distribution. This is a 90-month contract with no option years, but three tier periods. This was a small business set-aside with two responses received. The maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Location of performance is Guam, with a May 20, 2026, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the Guam Department of Education. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-4045). WGL Energy Services Inc., Vienna, Virginia (SPE604-19-D-7503; $68,917,749); Direct Energy Business Marketing LLC, Iselin, New Jersey (SPE604-19-D-7500; $28,236,905); UGI Energy Services Inc., Reading, Pennsylvania (SPE604-19-D-7501, $9,110,525) and Enspire Energy LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia (SPE604-19-D-7504, $8,626,448), have been awarded a fixed‐price with economic‐price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE604-18-R-0405 for natural gas. These were competitive acquisitions with eight offers received. These are two-year base contracts with six‐month option periods. Locations of performance are Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, District of Columbia, and Virginia, with a March 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, National Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. NAVY Vista Outdoor Sales LLC – Federal Cartridge Co., Anoka, Minnesota, is awarded a $41,181,315 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for 5.56mm ball, carbine, barrier ammunition. This ammunition is designed to defeat intermediate barriers such as auto windshields and doors while providing sufficient terminal performance. Work will be performed in Anoka, Minnesota, and is expected to be completed by November 2023. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $219,981 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N00164-19-D-JN58). IMSAR LLC,* Springfield, Utah, is awarded a $9,952,769 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price delivery order (N6833519F0016) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N6833518G0015). This order provides for the procurement of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III work that derives from, extends, or completes an effort performed under SBIR Topic AF112-144 entitled “Advanced Radar Concepts for Small (Tier I/II) Remotely Piloted Aircrafts.” Research and development will be performed in Springfield, Utah, and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2018 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,952,769 are being obligated on this award, $5,332,588 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Iridium Satellite LLC, Tempe, Arizona, is awarded a $9,141,484 cost-plus-fixed-fee option modification to previously-awarded contract N00178-17-C-0001 to continue to support commercial satellite-based network services for the Department of Defense in the areas of satellite, ground node, user equipment/terminal software and hardware development, integration and testing. This award is a follow-on requirement to procure continued communication support services that may be implemented for use in tactical, operational and strategic-level activities. Work will be performed McLean, Virginia (50 percent); and Tempe, Arizona (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by November 2019. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $300,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively awarded, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1695728/source/GovDelivery/
30 juillet 2019 | International, Naval
TITUSVILLE, Fla., July 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) celebrated the move of the Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Headquarters from Sunnyvale, California to Florida's Space Coast during an official flag-raising event. Establishing this new site is one milestone in the larger move of more than 300 jobs to the Space Coast area, expanding Lockheed Martin's already significant presence. Titusville was selected as the FBM Headquarters to house this critical mission. It allows for continued partnership with the Navy and a solid foundation for the next chapters of the program. "We are thrilled and grateful to call Titusville our new home," said Sarah Hiza, vice president for Fleet Ballistic Missile programs at Lockheed Martin Space. "This region plays a prominent role in the defense industry. I am very proud to represent our program headquarters in this community and continue to provide the highest level of support to our Navy customer. What they do for our nation is critical, and we deeply appreciate the men and women who serve." Many distinguished guests joined Rick Ambrose, executive vice president for Lockheed Martin Space, and Scott Keller, vice president and general manager for Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, to recognize this milestone. They included Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe, director Navy Strategic Systems Programs, Florida Senator Tom Wright, Congressmen Thad Altman, Tyler Sirois and Randy Fine, and Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast. For more than 60 years, Lockheed Martin has contributed to the FBM program with the US Navy. In 2017, the FBM program announced portions of the program would relocate from Sunnyvale, California to other locations to include Colorado. Lockheed Martin has developed, built and sustained six generations of submarine-launched ballistic missiles under the FBM program. The current generation of missiles, designated Trident II D5, are carried aboard the US Navy's Ohio-class submarines and make up the sea-based leg of the nation's nuclear triad. They are also carried aboard the United Kingdom's Vanguard-class submarine as their nation's sole nuclear deterrent. For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/FBM https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-07-30-Lockheed-Martin-Celebrates-FBM-Headquarters-Move-To-Floridas-Space-Coast