NLUS Meritorious Council 2002, 2005,
2006; Donald M. Mackie Award - Best Newsletter 1994; Best Member
Retention - All Councils 2002; NLUS Meritorious Council Runnerup 2004;
Donald M. Mackie Award - Best Newsletter Runnerup 2004; Best Member
Retention Runnerup 2004.
General Dynamics
Littoral Combat Ship Faces New Cost Growth
Christopher
J. Castelli, Inside The Pentagon – March 20, 2008 The
price of General Dynamics' Littoral Combat Ship design is rising again,
potentially putting the program into more hot water. The
as-of-yet-unspecified
price jump for the ship - known as LCS-2 - will force the Navy to redo
cost
estimates it recently sent to Congress with its fiscal year 2009
defense budget
proposal.
Paul
Kennedy Tribune Media Services Thursday,
April 5, 2007
To world historians, there is
nothing more
fascinating than to notice a coincidence or a disjuncture across space
but
within roughly the same time.
Was it just a coincidence, for
example, that
the new but fast-growing states of Germany, Japan, Italy and the United
States
"came of age" at the same time, after 1870 or so? And wasn't it an
odd disjuncture that the political culture in Britain, France and America in the interwar
years was so pacifist,
whereas the mood in Germany,
Italy
and Japan
was so aggressive and
militarist, virtually making World War II inevitable?
Solon
Economou, Febreuary 5, 2007
THE
U.S. NAVY has successfully tested a high-tech powderless,
electromagnetically driven rail gun that can hurl a projectile up to
300 miles inland to support Marine missions. In comparison, the range
for conventional naval 5-inch guns is less than 20 miles.
The
testing was performed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, an isolated
facility in Dahlgren, Va., which I’ve had the honor of having
visited a
couple of times myself. (I could tell you why, but then I’d
have to
kill you.)
Google Earth Spots New
Chinese Ballistic Submarine
A
commercial satellite image appears to have captured China's new
nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The new class, known as the
Jin-class or Type 094, is expected to replace the unsuccessful
Xia-class (Type 092) of a single boat built in the early 1980s
Defense officials are refereeing a control-and-culture
clash between
the Air Force and its sister services over a requirement to create 12
“joint bases” out of 25. The 25 bases, it
seems, already are run by their favorite service.
CHARLOTTE
HALL, Maryland - Lloyd Brown, the last known U.S. Navy veteran to fight
in World War I, has died. He was 105. Brown died Thursday at the
Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in Maryland,
according to family and the U.S. Naval District in Washington.
Compared with warships being built by the rest of the world, the U.S. Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) comes out a solid and cost-effective winner.
That's the conclusion reached by AMI International, a naval analyses group in Bremerton, Wash., in a study now being briefed to Navy leaders.
"LCS is a fabulous solution," said Guy Stitt, president of AMI.
"We demonstrated that the LCS is 26 percent cheaper than its European competitors," Stitt said. "It confirms to me that we in the U.S. are competent and effective shipbuilders." AMI's study showed that shipbuilders are responsible for only about 12 percent to 18 percent of a ship's cost.
By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff
writer
Posted : Monday Mar 10, 2008 11:24:18 EDT
Could a nuclear-powered version of the venerable Arleigh Burke DDG
51-class destroyer become the next missile cruiser for the Navy?
That’s the vision of at least one influential congressman.
Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., chairman of the seapower subcommittee of the
House Armed Services Committee, said Thursday he is seeking to add
money to the 2009 request to fund an effort to build a nuclear-powered
warship that would supplant construction of the DDG 1000 destroyers.
The new ship would be a slightly larger version of the 9,200-ton DDG
51s, powered by one nuclear reactor of the type developed for the new
Gerald R. Ford CVN 78-class aircraft carriers.
It
has now been four years since the fall of Baghdad concluded the U.S.
invasion of Iraq. We have said much about the Iraq war, and for the
moment there is little left to say. The question is whether the United
States will withdraw forces from Iraq or whether it will be able to
craft some sort of political resolution to the war, both within Iraq
and in the region. Military victory, in the sense of the unfettered
imposition of U.S. will in Iraq, does not appear to us a possibility.
Therefore, over the next few months, against the background of the U.S.
offensive in Baghdad, the political equation will play out. The action
continues. The analysis must pause and await results.
In the
stiff competition for professional talent and congressional dollars,
the Navy
needs to do more about its public image—and fast. Last
summer, a
civilian posed
a question to then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Mullen during
one of
his "conversations with the country."
"Admiral,
you have a room full of folks here who are supporters of the Sea
Services.
You've made a strong case for the importance of a coherent maritime
strategy.
Now, what would you like us to do?" Bill Butler asked.
Admiral
Mullen uncharacteristically hemmed and hawed and seemed surprised by
the
question. Finally, he said, "We want to hear from you. You each have
two
senators and a congressman. Be in touch with them."
Mr.
Butler, a top marketing executive, persisted. "But what should we be
asking of these officials? What, exactly, do you want from them?" The
admiral never did offer a clear answer. But he did make a telling
admission.
"We're not good at marketing. It's not what we do."
While the
admiral's candor was admirable, the comment was disturbing, especially
in light
of the Navy's dismal showing in a 2004 Gallup poll that asked two key
questions
of the public: Which is the most important branch of the military? And
which is
the most prestigious? The Navy came out next to last on both, just a
few
percentage points above the Coast Guard.
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