Articles & Publications

Northrop Grumman's Newest Submarine
Comes to Life as Crew Moves Aboard

On April 7, 2006, sailors ate the first meal ever prepared on the Virginia-class submarine Texas. Higher Resolution Image Texas sailors Williams and Pearson take meal orders on board the Virginia-class submarine Texas (SSN 775). Higher Resolution Image Sailors from the pre-commissioning unit Texas, Pederson (top) and Warren (bottom), load mattresses onto the submarine in preparation for the crew moving aboard. Photos by John Whalen Higher Resolution Image

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – April 7, 2006 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) reached a milestone in the life of the newest Virginia-class submarine, Texas (SSN 775), as the crew began moving aboard and ate the first meal prepared in the ship’s galley.

“The milestone of moving the crew aboard a new warship is much more than just getting the many systems and spaces built and turned over,” said Capt. John Litherland, prospective commanding officer of the pre-commissioning unit Texas. “It represents the moment when the ship really begins to come to life, as the crew starts living and working aboard on a daily basis.”

Texas is in the final stages of construction at the company’s Newport News sector. It is the second ship of the Virginia class and will be the first submarine delivered by Newport News since 1996.

“This is the first time we’ve served a meal on a new submarine in a decade,” said Becky Stewart, vice president for the submarine program at Northrop Grumman Newport News. “It’s a very special time for the shipbuilders and the Navy crew, and this is an experience we’re looking forward to repeating as we continue to build future ships of the class with our construction partner Electric Boat.”

“Getting Texas to this point has required a tremendous effort by the shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman Newport News, and my crew appreciates the skill and dedication that went into producing our new ‘home,’” Litherland said. “This event marks a major step toward taking Texas to sea, and my crew and I are looking forward eagerly to the upcoming crew certifications, sea trials and delivering Texas to the Navy.”

The next construction milestone is sea trials, an aggressive series of operational tests to demonstrate the submarine's capabilities. Sea trials are scheduled for early May with delivery to the Navy in June.

Northrop Grumman Newport News is teamed with General Dynamics Electric Boat to build the first 10 ships of the Virginia class. Current plans call for 30 Virginia-class submarines in the fleet. The first ship of the class, USS Virginia (SSN 774), was delivered in 2004 and is the first major combatant delivered to the U.S. Navy that was designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind. The keel for Texas was laid on July 12, 2002, the ship was christened on July 31, 2004 and launched on April 9, 2005. For more information about the Texas, please visit www.nn.northropgrumman.com/texas.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 125,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

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MARCH 2006

The CH-53K: An Essential Element of the Marine Corps’ Future Success

By JOHN A. PANNETON, National President

Members of Congress who want to obtain value for money should support the Marine Corps’ program to develop and build the CH-53K. The future heavy-lift helicopter will be a key element of the Corps’ contribution to the sea-basing concept to diminish U.S. reliance on other nations for access to the battlespace.

The CH-53K is to replace the CH-53E copter that transports troops, heavy weapons and materiel, providing Marine units with the operational reach to project power against critical points in littoral waters and far inland. The CH-53E is the workhorse of the Corps’ current aviation fleet. But after a quarter-century in the field, its operations and support costs have risen to an unaffordable $21,000 per flight hour, while operational availability — now about 64 percent — is dropping to unacceptable levels. Without huge investments, the inventory of mission-ready CH-53Es will drop below the needs of the Corps beginning in fiscal year 2012.

A 2003 analysis of alternatives by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton concluded that building the CH-53K is the most cost-effective approach, compared to the expense of buying other helicopters or upgrading the existing CH-53E fleet.

Some alternatives, such as the Army CH-47, were too large for shipboard operations. Others could not meet the Corps’ range and payload requirements. The Army is developing a concept for a potential aircraft tentatively called Joint Heavy Lift, but procurement — if it comes — lies far in the future.

At almost $19 billion for 156 copters, the new CH-53K won’t come cheap. Good hardware never does. But it will bring new capabilities to the Marine Corps. Able to carry 13.5 tons in high, hot conditions — twice the lift capacity of today’s “E” model — it will transport two armored versions of the Humvee and three times the load per sortie of the MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft, making it a prime factor in Marines’ ability to sustain troops ashore. That is vital in every tactical operation, but especially so as the Corps moves to greater reliance on sea basing.

Under the concept, Navy and Marine officials envision most logistical support and troop-staging operations being done at sea to foster more mobile and faster forces and eliminate the need to establish “iron mountains” of material or huge headquarters ashore when U.S forces are sent to increasingly less-hospitable hot spots around the world.

With its huge payload and substantial range that would provide critical “connections” between platforms at sea and troops ashore, the CH-53K will be central to the success of the sea-basing concept.

Moreover, the purchase of the new CH-53K is indicative of other procurement decisions to come as the Marine Corps resets its force for the future. The Corps has been continuously in combat since October 2001, when U.S. forces struck back at al Qaeda terrorists and routed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Its ground equipment is experiencing about eight times the use normally incurred during peacetime operations, and aviation hardware is rapidly wearing out, as well.

The decision to replace rather than repair major weapons — such as buying the lightweight 155mm howitzer to replace legacy howitzers — is, in most cases, the best option as the Corps deals with a continued high operational tempo and the need to keep its best equipment forward.

The Navy League strongly supports the acquisition of the CH-53K, a platform essential to the future success of the Marine Corps.

Semper Fidelis.