From DefenseNews

 

Posted 08/29/07 19:54

First LCS Mission Package Ready For Delivery

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

 

A significant milestone in the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is set to take place in mid-September with delivery of the first mission module package.

Although the module — configured for mine warfare — still lacks a ship to go aboard, Navy officials noted the various systems that make up the module are useable even without the LCS.

“We do not necessarily need an LCS to deploy these systems,” Jim Thomsen, Program Executive Officer for Mine and Littoral Warfare at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), said Aug. 29 at a press briefing at the Washington Navy Yard.

“Wherever a helicopter could land, whether it be a large-deck [amphibious ship], a carrier or a pier or shore facility, we could deploy this mine warfare capability,” he said.

Thomson noted that other systems such as the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle also can be used outside the LCS program, and pointed out that six Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are configured to operate the system. One of those destroyers, the Bainbridge, is currently carrying the system on a deployment, he said.

The flexibility of the mission module — composed of multiple vehicles, platforms and systems, most transportable inside commercial-sized shipping containers or mounted on a MH-60 helicopter or unmanned vehicle — is an inherent advantage of the concept, officials said.

“That’s the beauty of the modular approach,” said Capt. Mike Good, LCS Mission Module Program Manager. “It’s in a container, so if I have a flight deck, which could be a helipad in a port, we can operate a significant amount of these systems.

“And the fleet is starting to see that,” he added. “As they see what’s possible they’re really thinking through how else I could employ this capability. There are lots of options here.”

Those options might be explored earlier than the Navy had planned. Delivery of the first mission module was intended to coincide with the arrival of the first LCS, originally planned for spring 2007. But the building effort has suffered a series of construction problems, delays and cost overruns, and delivery of the first Lockheed Martin ship, Freedom, now is not expected until sometime in the spring of 2008.

That’s also a few months before the first ship of the competing General Dynamics design, Independence, is to be presented to the fleet — unless it too falls further behind schedule.

But the program to develop and field the initial mission modules so far has not suffered the delays affecting the first ship. Navy program managers expressed confidence that their first module will do what it’s intended to do.

The goal of the mine package “is to get the sailor out of the minefield,” said mine warfare program manager Gary Humes. “With this set of systems, we’ve been able to accomplish that goal.”

The “spiral alpha” package won’t include all the goodies it’s intended to eventually include, but it still will provide a significant capability. Among the components are the AQS-20A mine-hunting sonar, an Airborne Laser Mine Detection System and an Unmanned Surface Sweep system, along with a developmental unmanned surface craft.

Among the major systems not yet ready for the mine module are the Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS) 30mm mine-killing gun, the Organic Air and Surface Influence Sweep (OASIS) and the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) sensor system for the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle.

OASIS and COBRA should be ready for the third mine package scheduled for delivery in 2010, the officials said, while RAMICS is scheduled for delivery with the fourth package in 2011, the officials said.

The mine package is the first of three different warfare packages being developed by NAVSEA. The first Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) package is due for delivery in early 2008, with the first Surface Warfare package scheduled for mid-2008.

A total of 64 mission packages are planned for 55 LCS ships in the Navy’s shipbuilding program. Sixteen of the packages are for ASW, while the service intends to buy 24 each of the mine and surface packages.

The mine package is possibly the most complex of the three packages, with more vehicles and moving parts than the other two. That complexity is reflected in the price: $68 million apiece for the mine module, $43 million for the ASW package, and nearly $17 million for the surface module.

Training of the first two crews to operate the modules is about 70 percent complete, Good said. Without an LCS to practice on, Good was asked if the Navy was looking at other platforms to take the mission module to sea in advance of the first ship’s delivery. Several options were being examined, he said, including the Sea Fighter, an experimental ship developed by the Office of Naval Research that now is at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla. Sea Fighter, Good said, could be “an opportunity” to get in some sea training with the module.

The official rollout of the mine warfare package is to take place Sept. 14 at Panama City.

Thanks Brad. I was poking around yesterday trying to find an update on the LCS program, and it now appears from your article that "Freedom" was planned for Spring 2007 but due to the usual delays and cost overruns it now looks like Spring 2008.

The Navy does have a bunch of old amphibious ships in mothballs they could load em up on.