Category Archives: US Navy

New Contracts: SSN 812 and SSN 813, T-AO 213, Next Gen Sub Tech

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These three interesting mentions from DOD in the past week include the next two Virginia-class hunter killers (SSN 812 & 813)– which will be Block V subs if not improved Block VI boats, which will be the 38th and 39th of the class.

General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $1,075,896,000 undefinitized contract action modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-2100 for long lead time material associated with the Virginia class submarines SSN 812 and SSN 813. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, California (34%); Florence, New Jersey (5%); Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (3%); Spring Grove, Illinois (2%); Tucson, Arizona (2%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (2%); Annapolis, Maryland (2%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (2%); Peoria, Illinois (1%); Ladson, South Carolina (1%); Warren, Massachusetts (1%); and other locations less than 1% (45%), and is expected to be completed by September 2033. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) $352,017,000 (33%); and fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) $723,879,000 (67%) funding will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The statutory authority for this sole source award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

If curious about the Virginias, the Navy recently released a very good short tour of classmember USS Delaware (SSN-791): 

The recent contracts include a ninth ship (T-AO 213) in the John Lewis-class fleet oiler program (which have some of the worst names possible– can we just go back to rivers for oilers?).

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, California, is awarded a $736,160,588 modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-2229 to exercise the option for the detail design and construction of T-AO 213. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (58%); Iron Mountain, Michigan (8%); Crozet, Virginia (5%); Beloit, Wisconsin (4%); Mexicali, Mexico (4%); Chula Vista, California (2%); Chesapeake, Virginia (2%); National City, California (1%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1%); Walpole, Massachusetts (1%); and various other locations less than one percent (14%), and is expected to be completed by March 2028. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $736,160,588 (100%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded May 19, 2023)

Class leader, the future USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205) on sea trials.

More on the T-AO 205 program via NASSCO. 

In 2016, the Navy awarded NASSCO with a contract to design and build the first six ships in the next generation of fleet oilers, the John Lewis-class (T-AO 205), previously known as the TAO(X). Designed to transfer fuel to U.S. Navy carrier strike group ships operating at sea, the 742-feet vessels have a full load displacement of 49,850 tons, with the capacity to carry 157,000 barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and up to a speed of 20 knots. The first ship, the future USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), was delivered to the Navy last year. The future USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), the future USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), the future USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208), the future USNS Lucy Stone (T-AO 209), and the future USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) are currently under construction.

And going back to submarines, this contract is interesting:

Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $48,627,265 modification (P00034) to previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00014-19-C-1002 for the Next Generation Submarine Science and Technology Research effort. The contract modification adds five new option periods. The proposed effort is to develop technologies for transition to the Virginia and Columbia submarine acquisition programs, and to provide technology options for the next SSN class that improve submarine performance, operations, life cycle and affordability. The effort includes development of numerical modeling and simulations tools, development of engineering analysis methods, development and demonstration of component and system concepts, technology assessment, and application of ship builder expertise in engineering and submarine arrangements to evaluate and transition technology into submarine designs. The total cumulative value of this contract is $88,289,172. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2028. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,899,265 are obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Cold Warriors in Kodachrome

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Official caption: “A Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 2 (HC-2) SH-3G Sea King helicopter takes off from the stern of the dock landing ship USS Mount Vernon (LSD 39). A Mark 33 3-inch/50-caliber anti-aircraft gun is in the foreground.”

Note that the autoloaders on the Mk33 are filled with 13-pound shells at the ready while the Sea King, likely of the “Desert Ducks” detachment out of Bahrain, has a beautiful full-color livery.

U.S. Navy image DN-ST-88-03592 via NARA.

Filed October 1987 in the Persian Gulf by PH2 (SW) Jeffrey Elliott, this image dates from Operation Earnest Will in the midst of the Tanker War phase of the Iran-Iraq war which saw Kuwaiti-owned tankers reflagged as American vessels and placed under the protection of the Navy.

Mount Vernon, a 14,000-ton Anchorage-class dock landing ship, was commissioned in 1972 and, as with the other four members of her class, had been fitted with a quartet of MK 33 twin 3-inch AAA DP mounts when constructed, a system that first entered service in 1948.

Another Mount Vernon shot from 1987. The 16-ton MK33 twin mount had a AAA ceiling of 30,400 feet and a surface engagement range of 14,600 yards, capable of 40-50 rounds per minute per gun, at least until the auto-loader ran out. They required an 11-man crew. It was believed one Mk33 was successful in an AAA role, with USS Biddle (DLG-34) credited with damaging a North Vietnamese MiG fighter in the Tonkin Gulf on 19 July 1972.

The fire-control directors for these dated mounts, of questionable use even in the 1970s, were removed from the Anchorage class during the Carter administration, while the first two tubs and then the last four were deleted by the early 1990s as the weapon was sunsetted. They were replaced by a pair of CIWS and another pair of Mk 38 25mm chain guns during late-career refits.

Mount Vernon would be decommissioned on 25 July 2003, the same year the last of her class left active service and was sunk as a target two years later.

The last 3-inch guns in U.S. maritime service were the 3″/50 singles on the 210-foot Reliance class cutters of the Coast Guard, which were removed during the completion of the cutters’ midlife maintenance availability in 1996.

As for the mighty Sea King, which first entered Navy service in 1961, they retired in late 2006 when the final unarmed UH-3H model was paid off from support duty at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, although the “white top” VH-3Ds of Marine One would continue to serve for much longer.

A U.S. Navy Sikorsky VH-3A Sea King (BuNo 150613) and an SH-3G of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 2 (HC-2) stand on the flight line following their arrival at the Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia (USA), in 1991. HC-2 was the last squadron that operated the type, finally retiring them in 2006 for H-60 models. Photo by Capt. Joe Mancias, USN – U.S. DefenseImagery photo VIRIN: DN-ST-91-07128.

USS Mannert L. Abele, found

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The only warship named for CDR Mannert Lincoln “Jim” Abele (USNA 1926), a posthumous Navy Cross-earning submarine skipper who was thought to have bagged three Japanese destroyers in a single day before disappearing with his command (USS Grunion, SS-216) off Alaska in 1942, the Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) was laid down at Bath in Maine in late 1943, sponsored by his widow, Catharine, and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard, on Independence Day 1944.

USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) Off the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 1 August 1944, soon after commissioning. She is wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 11A. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 46646

Our destroyer soon transited to the Pacific and was part of Kelly Turner’s Task Force (TF) 51 off Iwo Jima and later Okinawa, where, unfortunately, she was the first U.S. warship sunk by a Japanese suicide rocket bomb– the same day Franklin Roosevelt passed.

One of these, as seen at the Pima Air and Space Museum (Photo: Chris Eger)

As noted by NHHC:

On April 12, 1945, Mannert L. Abele was operating 75 miles off the northern coast of Okinawa, when enemy aircraft appeared on radar. Mannert L. Abele engaged with, and damaged, multiple enemy aircraft, until eventually an aircraft managed to crash abreast of the after-fireroom on the starboard side, penetrating the after-engine room. A minute later, the ship was hit at the waterline by a Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) rocket-powered human-guided bomb, and the resulting explosion caused the ship’s bow and stern to buckle rapidly.

Now, the NHHC has confirmed the identity of a wreck site located in Japanese waters as USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) on 25 May.

NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) used information provided by Tim Taylor, an ocean explorer and CEO of Tiburon Subsea, and Taylor’s “Lost 52 Project” team to confirm the identity of the destroyer.

WWII Sumner Class Destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele multi-beam sonar 4500 feet deep offshore Okinawa Japan (Lost 52 Project)

WWII Sumner Class Destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele Bow Hull Number 733. (Lost 52)

“Mannert L. Abele is the final resting place for 84 American Sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired). “My deepest thanks and congratulations to Tim Taylor and his team for discovering this wreck site. Its discovery allows some closure to the families of those lost, and provides us all another opportunity to remember and honor them.”

Contested Logistics: Pacific War

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This photograph shows four Vought OS-2 Kingfishers of Scouting Squadron 2 (VS-2) on Bora Bora. A Quonset hut is visible behind the line of trees and camouflage netting. Bora Bora, whose conditions were primitive in the extreme, was one of the Navy’s first logistical lessons in early 1942. It would not be its last (NHHC, UA 460.08)

Just published by the Naval History and Heritage Command is a fantastic 108-page pdf on the most unsung part of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific War- logistics.

Vermont, heading out

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How about these epic shots via General Dynamics Electric Boat of the Block IV Virginia-class hunter killer USS Vermont (SSN-792) heading out from the Groton shipyard on sea trials on 6 May following her Post Shakedown Availability (PSA).

She is the 19th boat of the class and the third vessel of the Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Vermont, following in the wake of the Great White Fleet era Connecticut class battleship and an unfinished ship of the line authorized in 1816.

First Flight III Burke Just Finished trials

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The future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, has been quietly under construction at Ingalls since 2019, just marked the successful completion of acceptance trials. 

The below images from HII:

Flight III configured destroyers include the new AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and the Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System.

Of note, the final Ingalls-built Flight IIA ship, Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), sailed away from Ingalls in April and was commissioned this month in Key West, Florida.

Remembering Scorpion

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Still on patrol, USS Scorpion (SSN 589)

There are no roses on a sailor’s grave,

no lilies on an ocean wave,

the only tribute is the seagull’s sweeps,

and the tears that a sweetheart weeps.

Billions on missiles, Austal gets new T-AGOS contract, FFG 65 ordered

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Pentagon contracts of note that were released yesterday.

Make of them what you will. Emphasis mine.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Missile and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $750,552,869 firm-fixed-price contract for Lot 21 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile B-2 missiles with containers, tooling and test equipment, and spares. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida; and Troy, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 18, 2027. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Australia. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2023 Air Force missiles procurement funds in the amount of $737,669,116; fiscal 2023 Air Force operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $209,098; fiscal 2022 Air Force missiles procurement funds in the amount of $4,840,000; and FMS funds in the amount of $7,834,655 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8682-23-C-B003).

Lockheed Martin Corp., Missile and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $443,760,469 firm-fixed-price contract for Lot 7 of Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, spares, Dummy Air Training Missiles, and tooling and test equipment. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida; and Troy, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 18, 2027. This contract action does not involve Foreign Military Sales. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2023 Air Force missile procurement funds in the amount of $211,058,011; Fiscal 2023 Navy weapon procurement funds in the amount of $192,036,293; Fiscal 2023 Navy research and development funds in the amount of $17,277,571; fiscal 2023 Department of Defense research and development funds in the amount of $5,760,000; fiscal 2023 Air Force research and development funds in the amount of $15,840,000; fiscal 2023 Air Force operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,188,796; fiscal 2022 Navy weapons procurement funds in the amount of $108,132; fiscal 2021 Air Force missiles procurement funds in the amount of $470,526; and fiscal 2021 Navy weapons procurement funds in the amount of $21,140 are being obligated at time of contract award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8682-23-C-0001).

Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin, is awarded a $526,293,001 fixed-price incentive (firm target) modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2300 to exercise an option for detail design and construction of one Constellation class guided-missile frigate, FFG 65. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (51%); Camden, New Jersey (17%); Chicago, Illinois (7%); Green Bay, Wisconsin (4%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (3%); Hauppauge, New York (3%); Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (3%); Cincinnati, Ohio (3%); Kaukauna, Wisconsin (2%); Charlotte, North Carolina (2%); Bethesda, Maryland (2%); Millersville, Maryland (2%); and Atlanta, Georgia (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2028. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $526,293,001 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded a $113,906,029 fixed-price incentive (firm target) and firm-fixed-price contract for detail design of the Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship T-AGOS 25 Class. The contract includes options for detail design and construction of up to seven T-AGOS 25 class ships, special studies, engineering and industrial, provisional items orders, post-delivery mission system installation period, and data rights buy-out, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $3,195,396,097. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama (42%); Houma, Louisiana (13%); Camden, New Jersey (13%); Shelton, Connecticut (6%); Cincinnati, Ohio (5%); Grove City, Pennsylvania (3%); Semmes, Alabama (3%); Chesapeake, Virginia (2%); Milford, Delaware (2%); New Orleans, Louisiana (1%); and various locations across the U.S., each less than 1% (10%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024. If all options are exercised, work will continue through June 2034. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $113,906,029 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 SAM.gov website, with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-2203).

More on the T-AGOS 25 Class (Previously TAGOS[X]), via Austal:

Austal Limited (ASX:ASB) is pleased to announce that Austal USA has been awarded a US$113,906,029 fixed-price incentive (firm target) and firm-fixed-price contract for detail design of the Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship T-AGOS 25 Class for the United States Navy. The contract includes options for detail design and construction of up to seven T-AGOS 25 class ships which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to US$3,195,396,097.

T-AGOS ships, operated by United States Military Sealift Command (MSC), support the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission of the commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets by providing a platform capable of passive and active anti-submarine acoustic surveillance. The 110 metre, steel ‘small waterplane area twin hull’ (SWATH) vessels support the Navy’s Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) by gathering underwater acoustical data using Surveillance Towed-Array Sensor System (SURTASS) equipment.

Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the T-AGOS contract adds to Austal USA’s growing portfolio of steel shipbuilding programs and is a further demonstration of the US Government’s trust in Austal USA’s capabilities.  

“T-AGOS is a unique auxiliary naval platform that plays an integral role in supporting Navy’s anti-submarine warfare mission. Austal USA is honoured to be selected to deliver this critical capability for the Navy, utilising our advanced manufacturing processes, state-of-the-art steel shipbuilding facilities and our growing team of shipbuilders.

“The T-AGOS contract is a clear acknowledgment of Austal’s capabilities in steel naval shipbuilding, that includes the Navy’s Towing, Salvage and Rescue (T-ATS) ships, an Auxiliary Floating Drydock Medium (AFDM), and the US Coast Guards’ Offshore Patrol Cutters.

“These four steel naval shipbuilding projects, and our continuing successful delivery of the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship and Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport programs, are positioning Austal USA exceptionally well to meet the growing demands of the US Navy and Coast Guard,” Mr Gregg said.

As prime contractor for the contract, Austal USA is teaming with L3Harris Technologies, Noise Control Engineering, TAI Engineering, and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors to deliver the TAGOS-25 program, from the company’s new steel shipbuilding facility in Mobile, Alabama.

Utilising proven, advanced manufacturing processes and innovative production techniques that incorporate lean manufacturing principles, modular construction, and moving assembly lines, Austal USA is currently delivering multiple naval shipbuilding programs and sub-contracted projects, including;

  • Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships (17 of 19 vessels delivered)
  • Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (13 of 16 vessels delivered, including the largest uncrewed capable vessel in the U.S. Navy, USNS Apalachicola, EPF-13)
  • Four Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue (T-ATS) Ships
  • Up to 11 Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters for the US Coast Guard
  • An Auxiliary Floating Dock Medium (AFDM)
  • Elevators for the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-80)
  • Command modules for Virginia-class Submarines (SSN)

This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Gregg.

And the one-pager on T-AGOS 25 via the Congressional Research Service:

Logging that Pattaya Beach time

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The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) series of bilateral military exercises conducted between the U.S. Pacific Fleet and allied nations in Southeast Asia, never really gets a lot of attention, although it has been a thing since 1995.

It isn’t anywhere as big and sexy as the biannual RIMPAC exercises, or involves a large dynamic ground force element such as Balikatan, so it doesn’t provide a lot of great images.

However unsung, CARAT allows USPACFLT to interface with all the old SEATO allies in the region at sea but without the 1960s Cold War vibes, although the Chinese are now the proxy for the Soviets.

The current ex has seen the recently completed Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26), in a good sort of flag waving use for the class, hanging out in and around Sattahip, Thailand for CARAT 29 8-16 May.

Besides the normal feel-good ship tours, festivities, and community relations events, Mobile got some underway formation time with three Thai assets that are very interesting in the respect that two are Chinese exported warships and while the third is a rather modern ROK-built vessel.

These included:

HTMS Naresuan (FFG-421), a modified version of the 3,000-ton Chinese-made Type 053 frigate, albeit outfitted with largely 1980s American gear.

HTMS Bangpakong (FFG-456), a 2,000-ton variant of the Chinese-built Type 053H2 frigate complete with YJ-8/C-801 anti-ship missiles and a full Eye Shield/Square Tie/Sun Visor/Rice Lamp sensor/EW suite. While dated, it is always nice to get an up-close look at stuff like that from both ends.

HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej (FFG-471), a 3,700-ton variant of the So Korean Gwanggaeto the Great-class “stealth” frigates. She only entered service a few years ago and has a mix of European sensors and American weapons.

Spotted in the Mississippi Sound: Cool Little Haze Gray AUSVs

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So we came across this interesting little guy while wandering around the small craft harbor in Gulfport last week.

A closer look shows lots of solar panels on the folded sail over a torpedo-shaped hull, a forward-facing camera, and a FLIR gimble over the stern.

This is it being towed into the harbor past the Gulfport Yacht Club by a 25~ foot RHIB workboat with sparse markings.

CF 9065 LE. Looks to be a repurposed old CG 26ft RB-S, note the painted-over red sides

They motored up to the recreational boat ramp by the repro Ship Island Lighthouse where a guy with a pickup truck and a wheeled recovery cart was waiting.

Up she comes.

The hull form has a centerline thruster stem/stabilizer.

It could be deployed by two-three men. While we watched they unloaded two of these, towing them each off with a Toyota Tundra.

Stumped? It is an Ocean Aero Triton, which is capable of sailing autonomously for 3 months on solar and wind power at speeds of up to 5 knots.

The TRITON is the world’s first and only Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV). It can sail and submerge autonomously to collect data both above and below the ocean’s surface and relay it to you from anywhere, at any time.

The TRITON was built to be versatile and to handle a range of missions across a number of industries. Our pre-packaged payloads will cover 90% of the applications in the defense, research, and off-shore energy sectors, but the system is designed to support rapid NRE efforts for more specific use cases. Optional state-of-the-art payloads include advanced modal communications for high bandwidth data transfer in remote areas as well as obstacle avoidance software/hardware to ensure autonomous reactions to unexpected mission complications.

The Specs, and some shots from Ocean Aero of the Triton submerged:

Click to big up 3452×2154

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