To Provide and Maintain a Navy: Understanding the Business of Navy Shipbuilding

By Senators Jack Reed and Jim Inhofe

July 2021 Proceedings

USNI.org

As we noted in Proceedings last year, leaders in the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill, and in industry all agree: We must accelerate innovative research and development, acquire new capabilities faster, and transform the way the U.S. military fights in order to implement our defense strategy.

Before major changes to Navy shipbuilding are proposed, all stakeholders should have a fulsome discussion of the business of Navy shipbuilding and implications of big changes. There are a range of options available to transition from an existing shipbuilding program to a new program. Each option has trade-offs and requires careful consideration that takes into account the realistic schedule needed to mature new designs and technologies, develop new tooling and facilities, and adapt the workforce in advance of starting construction on a new shipbuilding program.

1. “China: Naval Construction Trends vis-à-vis U.S. Navy Shipbuilding Plans, 2020-2030 [2021 Update],” Office of Naval Intelligence, March 2021,
   

2. As former Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias testified, “If the construction intervals get too long, it is like we are starting at square one again. For instance, the optimal production rate for LHA‐ class amphibious ships is between three and four years, depending on some variables. Presently, the program of record reflects a break in production between LHAs 8 and 9 of seven years, which would result in a cost increase of as much as $700 million above the optimal build plan. In another example, we experienced a five‐year break in production in the Arleigh Burke‐class destroyer program between DDGs 110 and 113, which resulted in a vessel labor cost increase of more than 20 percent for the first ship in the restart. These disruptions to the optimal build interval ripple through the industry down to our suppliers, many of whom are not as well situated as Ingalls [Shipbuilding] to weather the ups and downs.”
   

3. Based on changes in the Chief of Naval Operation’s requirements, the Constellation-class frigate program is an example of a recent competitive transition from the Littoral Combat Ship to a more capable small combatant. The transition from the Flight I through Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Block I through Block V Virginia-class submarines, and Flight I to Flight II San Antonio-class amphibious ships are examples of other deliberate Navy shipbuilding production transitions. The emerging acquisition strategy for the more capable DDG(X) destroyer program as the transition from the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program also appears promising.

House Bill Cuts Money for Navy Nuke Cruise Missile, Saves 3 LCS from Decommissioning

By: Sam LaGrone

June 29, 2021 3:22 PM

USNI.org

Three littoral combat ships in various stages of construction at Marinette, Wisconsin during July 2015. The Navy is seeking to decommission USS Detroit (LCS-7), at right, and USS Little Rock (LCS-9), in the background. The ships were commissioned only in 2016 and 2017, respectively. USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), commissioned in 2015, is to remain in service. Christopher P. Cavas Photo used with permission

House appropriators are cutting development money for the Navy’s ship-launched nuclear cruise missile, preventing the service from decommissioning three Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships and adding funds for a second destroyer, according to the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee’s draft of the Fiscal Year 2022 defense spending bill issued today.

The changes to the Navy budget are part of a $706 billion defense spending package that’s in line with the Biden administration’s proposed top line when a separate $11 billion military construction proposal is added in.

Development of the nuclear cruise missile for the Navy has become a divisive topic through the current round of the FY 2022 budget hearings with the House and Senate. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker issued an internal planning memo for the FY 2023 budget process that included language to cut the missile, reported USNI News earlier this month.

Language in the bill also prevents the Navy from using any funds appropriated in the bill to decommission three LCS. The service in its recent budget submission proposed decommissioning the relatively young USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), commissioned in 2012; USS Detroit (LCS-7), commissioned in 2016; and USS Little Rock (LCS-9), commissioned in 2017. Two of the three ships have had issues with the German-built gearing system that links its engines, a problem Naval Sea Systems Command declared a class-wide issue in January, USNI News reported at the time. Fort Worth has a U.S.-built gear that doesn’t have the same flaw, USNI News understands.

USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118) at Bath Iron Works

The appropriations bill also funds $3.33 billion for two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers – one more than the Navy asked for in the budget.

During the rollout in late May, Navy budget director Rear Adm. John Gumbleton told USNI News that cutting the destroyer “was absolutely an affordability question, where the goal of the department was to balance the first priority, which was investment in Columbia [ballistic missile submarine] recapitalization.”

Adding the second destroyer was the Navy’s top unfunded budget priority and it was widely expected that Congress would add funding for the destroyer back into the budget.

The bill also keeps Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet line open with a buy of 12 additional fighters for $977 million. The service was set to end the line and instead invest in development the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems.

Other stipulations of the bill include $300 million in the shipbuilding account for the service to buy five used merchant ships for the National Defense Reserve Fleet and restrictions on buying foreign-manufactured components for the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate program (FFG-62).

Six Littoral Combat Ships to Deploy by Year’s End as Navy Continues to Refine Operations

By: Sam LaGrone

June 28, 2021 9:18 PM

• USNI.org

USS Charleston (LCS-18) arrives for a contactless port visit ahead of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka on June 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Navy will have six Littoral Combat Ships deployed by the end of the year – a record for the program, several Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News.

Later this year, two Independence-class LCS will join USS Tulsa (LCS-16) and USS Charleston (LCS-18) in the Western Pacific. The two ships kicked off an expansive deployment across the Western Pacific earlier this year that began in Oceana and has ranged to as far as the Indian Ocean. Two other LCS will deploy soon to U.S. Southern Command later this year.

The deployments come as the service has begun to better understand how to use the two LCS variants. Two commanders recently told USNI News how they are improving the reliability of the platforms and refining how to deploy the ships.

Within the last year, seven LCS have operated in U.S. 4th Fleet as part of a counter-narcotics force expansion that began in 2020, 4th Fleet Commander Rear Adm. Donald Gabrielson told USNI News in a June interview.

“As a platform, [LCS] got a lot of utility in the kind of work that we’re doing, which from a naval perspective is about building the capacity and the capability of our partners in the region,” Gabrielson said.
“We’ve got lot of successes on that front. The ships are doing the other things that people would expect here as well – the detection and monitoring with the [Joint Interagency Task Force] South counter-narcotic mission, which also includes a lot of partner interaction. We’ve got 23 different nations that are connected to that effort.”

In addition to the counter-narcotic effort, LCS was key to expanding how the U.S. worked with partners in the region. Most of the forces the U.S. operates with in the region have smaller ships that work more easily with LCS than the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers that are three times the tonnage of both classes of LCS, he said.

USS Tulsa (LCS-16) conducts routine operations in the Philippine Sea on June 13, 2021. US Navy Photo

“If you look at how our partners are operating, it’s kind of amazing. They have these tiny boats that are out there for weeks at a time – pretty far off the coast, even, you know, several hundred miles in some cases for a couple of them,” Gabrielson said.
“The advantage that LCS has is the size and the draft of the ship. [Those] enabled it to get into places where other ships cannot.”

In the Western Pacific, the Navy has found that the Independence-class ships USS Montgomery (LCS-8) and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) have opened up places for the Navy to operate where they had not been for years, Capt. Tom Ogden, commander of the Singapore-based Destroyer Squadron 7, told reporters earlier this month.

“Gabby Giffords and Montgomery did stops, pre-COVID, in ports that we hadn’t been in a number of years. Puerto Princesa in the Philippines was one of them,” he said.
“The ability for the ship, with the steerable water jets that they have, even with less powerful tugs, you can do a lot of things on your own. Getting a DDG in and out of an austere port requires a little bit more support.”

In U.S. 7th Fleet, the Navy has operated its LCS out of the Changi base in Singapore, but is looking to expand to other places in the region, Japan-based fleet commander Vice Adm. Bill Merz said in May.

“Do we want to keep them in Sasebo, [Japan]? We’re kind of done parking things in the first island chain if I can avoid it,” he said.
“Right now, it’s still Singapore because that’s where the maintenance model is.”

The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), transits the Caribbean Sea, April 10, 2021. Sioux City is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. US Navy Photo

As originally envisioned, LCS would be supported by contractor-led maintenance while they were forward deployed, but the service is moving toward more sailor-led maintenance. For example, the service positioned a maintenance team in Guam, Ogden said.

“The last two availabilities that we had on Tulsa and Charleston on Guam, we had maintenance execution teams from the LCS division 12 in San Diego. They came out and conducted maintenance on the ship,” he said.
“Not only did they do all the checks that were scheduled for them to complete, they completed checks that had been deferred in availabilities in the past … They’re building a level of knowledge and understanding of the equipment, which allows them to not only need new preventive maintenance, but then corrective maintenance as needed. The maintenance execution team expansion is a huge step forward.”

While maintenance is improving, it’s still not perfect, Merz said in May.

“I’m [not] okay or happy with the sustainability of LCS. That has to be fixed,” he said.

Upcoming MCM package components. Navy Image

In 4th Fleet, maintenance is at the forefront of operating in the region. “The challenge for us or the, or the necessity for us is to develop the facilities piece of this in terms of the footprint for the maintenance,” Gabrielson said.

The Navy is beginning to slowly bring additional mine countermeasures and surface warfare capabilities into the Western Pacific.

For the Independence-class ships headed to 7th Fleet, that means each ship would deploy with the capability to field the anti-ship Naval Strike Missile and parts of the MCM mission package – a grab-bag of anti-sea mine capabilities that are being developed for LCS to replace several legacy MCM platforms.

Every ship that deploys to 7th Fleet now has some combination of the MCM mission package board and works in coordination with MCM Squadron 7 based in Japan, Ogden said.

“Tulsa and Charleston both deployed with versions of the mine warfare, or the mine-countermeasure mission module. They have systems onboard that allow them to do mine hunting, and mine warfare,” he said.
“We’re able to think through the command and control, the tactical availability, and how we would use a multi-mission ship to do maritime warfare, and mine warfare, at the right time and in the right spot. And so, [we’re] integrating with the capabilities that come with LCS, the expertise that MCMRON 7 has, then I would say the expertise and the capabilities that some other [larger] task forces have.”

USS Tulsa (LCS 16) conducts routine operations in the Philippine Sea on June 13, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Navy has backed away from its previous plan to have mission package sailors augment a core crew of sailors trained to just run the ship.

“When a crew is on board it’s not separate from the core crew and the mission package, they are one, and they are a team that stays through no matter which ship they’re on or which hull they’re on at the time they are one crew,” he said.

Ogden would not go into detail on the crew makeup, but LCS deploy with a total of 94 sailors – 70 for the core crew, including the MCM force, and an additional 24 that make up the aviation detachment for the MH-60 aboard, a Navy official confirmed to USNI News.

With more LCS moving into the fleet, Gabrielson said that the ships’ experiences in SOUTHCOM – particularly in counter-narcotics missions – are offering new lessons for LCS in other places around the globe.

“We spend every single day trying to find people that are trying to not be found in waters that are not easy to always operate in,” he said.
“They’re trying to take advantage of the terrain and the geography and they’re well-resourced. If we can find those guys, well, it’s going to make problems in other parts of the world much more solvable for us.”

Navy Awards 5 Companies Light Amphibious Warship ‘Concept Design’ Contracts

By: Mallory Shelbourne

June 17, 2021 9:47 AM

USNI.org

The Navy this week issued “concept design” contracts to five companies for the Light Amphibious Warship ahead of the Fiscal Year 2023 design selection, a service spokesman confirmed to USNI News.
Fincantieri, Austal USA, VT Halter Marine, Bollinger and TAI Engineers were selected for the contracts, Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Alan Baribeau said.

“A Concept Studies (CS) contract has been awarded to five offerors with a follow-on option for Preliminary Design (PD),” Baribeau said in a statement. “The CS/PD efforts include engineering analyses, tradeoff studies, and development of engineering and design documentation defining concepts studies/preliminary designs.”

The Navy did not disclose the amount of money each company received to perform the work, but Baribeau confirmed to USNI News that the total combined amount of the contracts was less than $7.5 million. The service is slated to issue the construction award in FY 2023, Baribeau said.

“The Navy is aggressively developing requirements and the acquisition strategy to begin procurement and deliver the Lightweight Amphibious Warship (LAW),” Baribeau said. “The Navy is planning for the Detail Design and Construction award in FY23.”

The service’s FY 2022 request, unveiled at the end of May, is seeking $13.18 million in research and development funding for LAW. According to the budget documents, the Navy expects to begin the request for proposals process for LAW’s detail design and construction during the second quarter of FY 2022.

Marine Corps officials have expressed the need for the Navy to move fast in pursuing LAW, which has emerged as a key portion of the Marines’ island-hopping strategy in the Pacific.

“The Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) is a medium-sized landing ship that enables distributed maneuver and logistics such as Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO), Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE), and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) in support of the newly established Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR),” the budget books read. “It is designed to fill the gap in capability between the Navy’s large, multipurpose amphibious warfare ‘L’ class ships and smaller landing vessels. This vessel will deploy tailored logistics, select power projection and strike capabilities.”

The EABO concept would see the Marines moving between islands and shorelines in the Pacific, operating in the littorals to help the naval force. The LAW would help move the smaller units of Marines between those expeditionary bases on the islands and shorelines.

USNI News in January reported that 10 to 11 industry teams were participating in NAVSEA’s competition for LAW. Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the former director of expeditionary warfare on the chief of naval operations’ staff (OPNAV N95), said at the time that the Navy planned to downselect to three teams for the design portion in the middle of next year and then one team to build the LAW toward the end of FY 2022.

The Navy planned to buy 28 to 30 LAWs starting in FY 2023, but the Trump administration’s proposal for an FY 2022 shipbuilding blueprint, released in December, had showed the service buying the first LAW in 2022. But the Navy only sought the research and development funding in the recent FY 2022 request.

Pentagon Reissues FY 22 Shipbuilding Totals to Congress In Lieu of 30-Year Plan

By: Sam LaGrone

June 17, 2021 8:09 PM • Updated: June 18, 2021 4:06 AM

USNI.org

The Pentagon submitted an abbreviated long-range shipbuilding report to Congress that does not show construction past the Fiscal Year 2022 budget request, according to the document reviewed by USNI News on Thursday.

Instead, the Navy issued a summary of the eight-ship FY 2022 shipbuilding request, with a promise for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the service to further refine the needs of the Navy for a complete outlook as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget submission.

“The Navy, working closely with the OSD Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), continues to develop comparative assessments of naval force structure options consistent with Interim National Security Strategic Guidance and designed to maximize the maritime contribution to the joint force,” reads the report that was released on Thursday evening.
“The results of these efforts and ongoing experimentation and prototyping will be reflected in the FY2023 shipbuilding plan.”

In lieu of the traditional tables that would have outlined the Navy’s projected buys through 2052, the Thursday plan published a chart that, “depicts ranges for critical naval platforms that, taken together with broader Naval and Joint Force capabilities, incorporate combat effectiveness, production feasibility, and likely fiscal limits. Investment priorities include ensuring sufficient capacity in our survivable and lethal submarine force, maintaining the Joint Force’s most survivable and adaptable aviation base in the aircraft carrier, and increasing the small surface combatant force to better support distributed maritime operations.”

*Full report on USNI.org website.

The range shows a fleet size from 321 to 372 manned ships, along with a range of 77 to 140 unmanned vessels with no timeline for completion of the work.

The Navy’s previous goal had been 355 hulls laid out by the service’s 2016 force structure assessment. The Trump administration issued a December shipbuilding plan that would have pushed the shipbuilding budget to $34 billion a year by FY 2025.

“355 is a good goal to shoot for,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee when asked about the shipbuilding budget on Thursday.

Range of ships proposed by new FY ’22 shipbuilding plan

“You have my commitment that I will continue to work with the committee to do everything I can to resource our Navy. We have the dominant naval force on the face of the planet. It has been so in the past. It is so now. It will remain so going forward. I absolutely agree that 355 ships is a good goal to shoot for,” he said. “I want to make sure that we have the right mix of capabilities – size matters – but capabilities also matter. We’re going to continue to work with the Navy and with this committee to make sure the right capabilities are in place.”

The scant report reflects the limited long-range budget information that was included as part of the overall FY ‘22 submission. The Pentagon did not include a summary of the Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) that presents a five-year spending outlook for the Defense Department and the individual services.

It’s not uncommon for a new administration to not file a 30-year plan with its first budget, “on the grounds that they were spending that year reviewing and revising the previous administration’s defense strategy, plans, and programs, so as to create a basis for subsequently devising a 30-year shipbuilding plan,” according to the Congressional Research Service.

The placeholder report issued at the direction of OSD is a departure from not issuing a report at all and instead a preview of the report that will be issued the next year.

“Ongoing analysis and experimentation will define required combat effectiveness and emphasize the focus on warfighting capability and readiness. This analysis and experimentation will be informed by operationally relevant metrics including, but not limited to, lethality, survivability, operational reach, vertical launch system cells, torpedo tubes, sortie generation rates, lift capacity, affordability, and industrial base viability and capacity,” reads the plan.

The report drew complaints from at least one lawmaker. 

“The law requires a 30-year shipbuilding plan and a future years defense plan (FYDP). Neither has been provided by the Pentagon,” Rep Elaine Luria (D-Va.) said in a statement.
“If we assume that next year’s budget will also fail to enable the force structure that we need, we will be forced to make broad cuts to other programs to fund the force structure that the Navy cannot articulate themselves. When the Navy provides ranges of ships needed it is clear that they do not have a strategy that defines actual requirements, otherwise it would be a discrete and defensible number.”

Lockheed Martin Outlines Pitch for Hellenic Navy Frigate Competition

By: Sam LaGrone

June 16, 2021 7:23 PM

USNI.org

Artist’s concept of a Lockheed Martin Multi-Mission Surface Combatant. US Navy

The Hellenic Navy is considering a variant of the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship as part of a program to refresh its surface combatants, a Lockheed Martin official told USNI News this week.

Greece, a NATO member, is considering buying four of the multi-mission surface combatants based on the version of the Freedom-class initially developed for Saudi Arabia, Lockheed Martin vice president for international strategy and business development Tom Rowden told USNI News on Tuesday.

“Very high on their priority list is the modernization of their navy. They’re currently operating four MEKO-class frigates and various other patrol craft that are working pretty hard. It’s pretty busy in the Eastern Mediterranean right now,” Rowden said.

The request from the Greek government came to the U.S. Navy in March and outlined four main components: build four new frigates, upgrade the existing Hydra-class frigates in service, find an interim naval capability while the ships are being upgraded and participate in the Constellation-class (FFG-62) program, USNI News understands. The Greeks asked specifically for information about the Lockheed combatant and the potential for a Foreign Military Sales case.

The Hellenic Navy is built around a quartet of German-designed MEKO 200 frigates that entered service in Greece in the early 1990s.

The 4,000-ton multi-mission frigates will be upgraded as part of an overall modernization package, Rowden said.

In late May, Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos and Chief of Hellenic Navy Vice Adm. Stylianos Petrakis met with the U.S. Navy’s head of international programs, Rear Adm. Frank Morley, and U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt to talk about future defense cooperation.

“Greece has invested over $1 billion in U.S. Navy equipment and capabilities, including upgraded P-3Bs and the MH-60R. The U.S. Navy’s proposal for the Hellenic Future Frigate, which is backed by a government-to-government agreement, will capitalize on Greece’s current defense investments, and ensure the most advanced maritime capability in the region,” said Navy Capt. Tim Ketter, a senior defense official for the U.S. in Greece, in a Tuesday statement.
“Our commitment to domestic production will result in substantial and significant investments in the Greek shipbuilding industry.”

Lockheed’s pitch calls for building the initial frigate in Italy and the follow-ons in Greece.

The Lockheed frigate would be built around the same propulsion system used on the Freedom and the Saudi frigates – two Rolls Royce MT-30 gas turbines and two Colt-Pielstick diesel engines.

Rowden said the new ships would include a Lockheed-derived fix to the combining gear that links the gas turbines and the diesels. Naval Sea Systems Command and Lockheed are working to fix the fault tin the gearing system hat has limited the operations of the U.S. fleet of Freedom-class LCS.

“That fix is being tested right now and it will be backfilled obviously on the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships and forward-fit on these,” he said.

Lockheed is also proposing upgrades to the Hellenic Navy Hydra-class frigates with a combat system derived from the Aegis Combat System.

“The combat management system for both the MEKOs and the frigates would be COMBATSS 21, a derivative of the Aegis weapons system,” Rowden said.
“I think it makes them much more compatible operating with U.S. Navy ships.”

Greece has already purchased Lockheed MH-60R multi-mission helicopters, which would be easily compatible with the Component-Based Total-Ship System – 21st Century (COMBATSS-21) combat system.

The Saudi Frigates, currently under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, are outfitted with an eight-cell Mk-41 vertical launch system and a 4D air search radar. The ship will also field eight RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles (ASM), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sonar suites and torpedoes.

Specific sensors and weapons are still to be determined for the Hellenic Navy’s frigates, Rowden said.

Lockheed Martin will be entering a competitive contest for the frigate program.

Several European shipbuilders specialize in ships in the 4,000-ton size range.

According to Naval News, other competitors include:

• Naval Group, Thales, MBDA teamed to offer the 4,500-ton FDI/Belharra frigate;

• Dutch shipbuilder Damen with the a new frigate design called the SIGMA 11515;

• British shipbuilder Babcock with the Type 31/Arrowhead design being built for the U.K. Royal Navy;

• German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with an updated MEKO frigate; and

• Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri with an unspecified design.

Nation’s Shipyards Contribute $42 Billion to America's GDP

Shipbuilding industry is making significant contributions to the US GDP (file photo)

PUBLISHED JUN 16, 2021 8:38 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 

The United States' private shipyards contribute over $42 billion annually to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD). The report was released in support of a proposal by the Biden administration to include significant investments in the maritime industry as part of President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure investment legislation.

“Shipyards create good jobs and support economic growth, not just in the areas surrounding our ports and waterways, but across the nation,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The report measured the economic importance of the shipbuilding and repairing industry at the national and state levels for the calendar year 2019. They found that in 2019, the nation’s 154 private shipyards directly provided more than 107,000 jobs and contributed $9.9 billion in labor income to the national economy. On a nationwide basis (including direct, indirect, and induced impacts) the industry supported 393,390 jobs, $28.1 billion of labor income, and $42.4 billion in GDP. The report detailed a trade surplus created by the U.S. shipbuilding industry in six out of the last 10 years. They measured the cumulative trade surplus at $7.3 billion over the 10-year period. 

There are currently 154 private shipyards in the United States, spread across 29 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, that are classified as active shipbuilders. In addition, there are more than 300 shipyards engaged in ship repairs or capable of building ships but not actively engaged in shipbuilding. Although the majority of shipyards are located in the coastal states, active shipyards are also located on major inland waterways such as the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Ohio River. 

“The report issued by MARAD confirms that shipyards are vital economic engines in addition to being essential components of our industrial base,” said Acting Maritime Administrator Lucinda Lessley. “The skilled jobs created by shipyards are not only essential to supporting our military and our commerce, but they are also contributing to the economic success of communities all over the United States.”

In 2020, U.S. shipbuilders delivered a total of 608 vessels and over the last five years (2015 to 2020) they delivered a total of 5,024 vessels of all types. This includes tugs and towboats, passenger vessels, commercial and fishing vessels, and oceangoing and inland barges. More than 60 percent of vessels delivered during the last six years have been inland tank and dry cargo barges. 

The Biden administration has proposed $17 billion in investments for the inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries. According to MARAD, these investments would make the U.S. infrastructure more resilient while improving efficiency and creating new capacity to enhance freight movement in the United States. 

Since 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation has provided nearly $262.5 million in grant funding through its small shipyard grant program to nearly 300 shipyards in 32 states and territories to improve infrastructure at U.S. shipyards.  

The final report, The Economic Importance of the U.S. Private Shipbuilding and Repairing Industry, can be found online.

Two LCSs, Reagan Carrier Strike Group and America ESG on Patrol in the Western Pacific

By: Dzirhan Mahadzir

June 16, 2021 5:54 PM

USNI.org

Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Trenton B. Coble, from Edgewood, Texas, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, guides an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter during a vertical replenishment exercise aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16). US Navy Photo

KUALA LUMPUR – Two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships – USS Tulsa (LCS-16) and USS Charleston(LCS-18) – are currently on their first deployments to the Indo-Pacific region, with Charleston recently conducting a refueling stop in Singapore at Changi Naval Base and Tulsa operating in the Philippine Sea.
Capt. Tom Ogden, the commodore of Destroyer Squadron 7 (DESRON 7), confirmed the activities of the two LCSs, both of which are assigned to his command.

“After arriving to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility in April and May respectively, USS Tulsa (LCS 16) and USS Charleston (LCS 18) are on their maiden deployments to the Indo-Pacific region. LCS rotational deployments to C7F provide operational commanders great adaptability to support Allies and Partners across the region; offer persistent presence; and contribute to our shared commitment to maritime security; there’s no better demonstration of our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific than U.S. Naval operations in the region,” Ogden said in response to a query from USNI News.

Ogden stated that the Charleston conducted a contactless brief stop for fuel at Changi Naval Base, Singapore, noting that the ability to provide logistic support from Singapore is one of the cores of the U.S.-Singapore security relationships and the support allows the rotationally deployed LCSs to conduct operations in the U.S 7th Fleet area of operations.

He also confirmed that Tulsa had stopped in Okinawa recently.

“As one of the many stops in port that will happen during their deployment, USS Tulsa is visiting Naval Base White Beach, Okinawa. Naval personnel including staff from Expeditionary Strike Group 7 and U.S. Marines from III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) and subordinate commands are spending time aboard Tulsa for familiarization of the platform, and to explore integration methods for future operability with the Marine Corps,” he said.

USS Tulsa (LCS 16) conducts routine operations in the Philippine Sea on June 13, 2021. US Navy Photo

The U.S Pacific fleet Facebook page posted photos on June 15 showing Tulsa in the Philippine Sea. Prior to operating under U.S 7th Fleet, both ships had been under U.S 3rd Fleet, conducting joint missions of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI). The OMSI program is a Secretary of Defense initiative that leverages Department of Defense assets transiting the region to improve maritime security and domain awareness in Oceania, along with reducing and eliminating illegal, unregulated, unreported (IUU) fishing, combat transnational crimes, and enhancing regional security, according to to the Navy. Both LCSs, in conducting the tasking, carried an embarked U.S Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on them.

Subsequently, the two LCSs moved on to Guam, where Charleston on May 28 hosted German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was visiting Guam. Tulsa’s and Charleston’s rotational deployment marks the sixth and seventh Littoral Combat Ship that have oeprated in the Indo-Pacific, which include USS Freedom(LCS-1), USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), USS Coronado (LCS-4), USS Montgomery (LCS-8), USS Gabrielle Giffords(LCS-10).

Meanwhile, the Navy announced this week that the Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which is on its spring patrol, has moved into the South China Sea.

“The South China Sea is pivotal to the free flow of commerce that fuels the economies of those nations committed to international law and rules-based order,” said Rear Adm. Will Pennington, commander, Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group said in a statement.

In the next several weeks, Reagan will move to 5th Fleet to cover the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Eisenhower Strike Group is set to leave the Middle East and return to Norfolk, Va.

On June 10, the Japan-based America Expeditionary Strike Group and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit formally started their patrol in the Western Pacific, the Navy announced.

“Together, the forward-deployed ships of PHIBRON 11 and elements of the 31st MEU are operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” reads a Navy statement.

U.S. Navy Wants to Decommission Six Littoral Combat Ships

LCS 7, USS Detroit, was commissioned four years ago and is now on the proposed list for decommissioning (U.S. Navy file photo)

PUBLISHED JUN 8, 2021 11:08 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 

The U.S. Navy is doing what it can to high-grade its troubled fleet of Littoral Combat Ships, repairing persistent defects in the best vessels while attempting to dispose of the worst - including two Freedom-class ships that are just a few years old. 

The Navy has already received congressional approval to decommission LCS 1 and 2, which have long been relegated to a test and training role due to breakdowns. In the Pentagon's defense budget proposal for FY2022, the service now seeks authorization to decommission hulls 3, 4, 7 and 9, for a total of six to be removed from the fleet and written off. 

LCS 3 and 4 were put on the chopping block last year, but Congress declined to authorize their deactivation. LCS 7 and 9 - commissioned in 2016 and 2017, respectively - are newly added to the request. 

In its budget overview, the Navy explained that LCS 7 and 9 have sustained major propulsion casualties related to the Freedom-class vessels' notorious combining gear problems, and they "will incur significant associated repair costs." By taking these ships off active duty, the repair costs could be avoided and the funds redirected to building a tougher, better-armed, more reliable replacement - the new Constellation-class.

After disposing of the lowest-performing vessels, dozens of LCS hulls will still remain in the fleet, where they will require an estimated $50-70 million per year each to operate and maintain - approaching the opex for a larger and more capable Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. According to the Navy, that price tag is driven by multiple component failures, coupled with a maintenance program that relies heavily on paid contractors during port calls. 

To get after these issues, the Navy has assigned a longtime LCS program officer - Qualcomm engineer and Navy reservist Rear Adm. Robert Nowakowski - to run a task force on remediating the worst of the problems. The task force has identified 32 failure-prone components across both vessel classes, and it is focusing in on the four or five parts in each class that have the biggest impact on readiness. 

The task force is also re-examining the maintenance model for the vessels. In a press conference Monday, Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener told media that the current timeline for an in-port contractor repair session is as long as 14 days, and it can take up to 21 days to find and deliver the right contractor to a forward-deployed LCS. The Navy wants to get that timeline down and to shift a greater share of the workload onto the crew - or onto a team of supernumerary U.S. Navy personnel. 

"I think one of the toughest challenges we’ve had is quite frankly one is how we do the maintenance [with contractors]," said Nowakowski. "It left us with the inability quite frankly to troubleshoot to the level that the Navy is used to doing."

Navy Taps One-Star To Drive LCS Program Improvements

By: Mallory Shelbourne

June 7, 2021 9:21 PM

USNI.org

Information Specialist 1st Class Matthew Stephenson mans the lines as the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS-11) gets underway on Aug. 30, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy has installed a one-star admiral to oversee a task force focused on refining the employment, maintenance and reliability of the Littoral Combat Ship program, the service announced today.

Rear Adm. Robert Nowakowski, the deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Command and Naval Education and Training Command Force Development, is spearheading the effort – called Task Force LCS. Nowakowski, a reservist now on active duty, took the reins of the task force in April of this year, a Navy spokesperson told USNI News.

His new job to oversee the task force comes after commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener initiated an LCS follow-up study last September focusing on both the reliability and maintenance of the LCSs, USNI News previously reported.

Kitchener said the study he led fed into the new task force focus, which has four lines of effort, told reporters today. The task force seeks to incorporate all of the groups working on LCS-related work – including the director of the surface warfare division on the chief of naval operations’ staff (OPNAV N96), the director of expeditionary warfare (OPNAV N95), and the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants – and streamline the effort.

Rear Adm. Robert C. Nowakowski

“Between the deployments and then some of the analysis we did during the study, we came up with a couple of things to go look at. And that was basically, A) How do we make them more reliable? B) How do we sustain them forward into the future, as we looked at sort of some expeditionary maintenance concepts? [C)] We looked at the lethality – can we make them more lethal? And then finally, [D] we looked at the force generation piece, which was really, ‘okay how do we train them and then how do we properly man them and how do we move them forward?’” Kitchener said of the effort.

As part of Kitchener’s LCS study, Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants Rear Adm. Casey Moton has been leading an LCS Strike Team, which Kitchener said has been focusing on the reliability portion of the new task force.

“But the idea was how do we quickly identify fixes and to improve LCS reliability and sustainability, right – the difference being on the reliability side what we found was we were having high failure rates on some critical parts that were reducing our number of days underway and obviously we wanted to solve that quickly,” Kitchener said.

With 32 reliability issues between the two LCS variants – Freedom-class and Independence-class ships – the Navy picked a few problems with each variant that, if fixed, would have the greatest effect.

“Remember, 32 is two variants. So if they were one variant, then the number – you would expect it to be maybe less,” Nowakowski told reporters. “But when you’re talking two variants, they’re not all the same parts and pieces.”

The top issue for the Freedom-class is the combining gear problem that has hamstrung the propulsion plants for the class. Kitchener said a fix for it has completed ground-based testing in Germany and is slated for installation on the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS-21).

“On the Independence-class, we identified four, which were the water cylinder replacements, pressure switch replacements, diesel engine replacements and some water jacket stuff on the diesel engines as well,” Kitchener said.

As for the sustainability portion, Kitchener noted that a 2016 study concluded that the Navy should move toward having sailors perform more maintenance instead of contractors. The entire process of having a contractor come out to a ship and perform a maintenance task takes 21 days, Kitchener said, but the Navy wants to reduce that timeframe to five days.

The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8) conducts routine operations near Panamanian flagged drillship, West Capella, May 7, 2020. Montgomery is on a rotational deployment to USINDOPACOM, conducting operations, exercises and port visits throughout the region and working hull-to-hull with allied and partner navies to provide maritime security and stability, key pillars of a free and open Indo-Pacific. US Navy photo.

While he acknowledged the Navy will still need to use contractors for some maintenance tasks, Kitchener said he wants sailors to perform most of the LCS maintenance, a departure from previous plans for contractors to do the bulk of it.

On the lethality piece, Kitchener pointed to the Navy’s plans to outfit the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) on the LCSs, with the service prioritizing ships who will deploy to the Indo-Pacific region to get the capability first.

“We’re also looking at other options of things that we can put on these ships to give them a longer reach and hope to do some kind of proof-of-concept demonstration for increased surface lethality next spring, or perhaps in the summer. [We’re] targeting a couple of exercises for that,” he said.

As for how to use the ship operationally, Kitchener said asking numbered fleet commanders what types of missions they would like to use the LCSs for has helped them refine the options.

“One thing on the force [generation] side was how do we train? As you know, we have a really good train-to-qualify program and then the ships go into the basic side. And then we have an advanced and integrate phase. And quite frankly we needed to kind of solidify the advanced and integrated phase training. And we’ve done that,” he said. “And we did that through a process of one – and this was very helpful – is going out to the numbered fleet commanders and saying ‘okay, what is it? What are those key missions you want LCS to do?’ And when they came back with that, that allowed us to really tailor the training down.”

“It’s tailored to the specific mission that those fleet commanders want it to do. So that’s helped us sort of streamline the force generation side of it,” Kitchener added.

While the Navy has struggled to find its footing with the LCS program, combatant commanders have started using the ships for region-specific missions like counter-drug operations in U.S. Southern Command. Kitchener has previously pointed to the LCSs as a potential platform for the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept, which would see the Marines moving between islands and shorelines in a region like the Pacific to help the naval force. During the call with reporters today, Kitchener noted that the size of the flight deck on the Independence-class ships, along with their well decks, makes them a good option for Marines operating in the littorals in the Pacific.

Both Kitchener and Nowakowski noted that the Navy designed the LCSs before the military strategy shifted to a period of preparing for great power competition and away from a focus on counter-terrorism operations.

“If you put strike missile on those and perhaps some other promising things that we can use to increase its offensive capability, it’s a viable ship platform of choice with those weapons against great power competition, against our adversaries,” Kitchener said. “I know every time we put them out there in the Western Pacific, they make a difference – whether it’s being a known quantity out there with some capability, a lethal capability with the Chinese, or if it’s supporting the Marines or the [Special Operations Command] guys in the littorals. And it’s been the same thing down south and eventually, you know our goal is to push them forward into [U.S.] 6th Fleet and out to [U.S.] 5th Fleet.”

While there have been several studies on the LCS over the years, including a 2016 study led by then-Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Tom Rowden that helped the Navy understand how to crew the ships, Kitchener said the maintenance portion has been the biggest obstacle.

“I think one of the toughest challenges we’ve had is quite frankly one is how we do the maintenance. That was very different for us – going to the [contractor]-based maintenance and sailors being more of an operational role and maybe picking up 10 to 20 percent of the work to be done. It left us with the inability quite frankly to troubleshoot to the level that the Navy is used to doing. You know, on all the ships I served [on] that’s why we have them – sailors there and we have all the things, the tools needed,” Kitchener said.

Gunners Mate 2nd Class Casey Nice lubricates the MK 50 Modular Weapons System aboard the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) on Sept. 10, 2020. Detroit is deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. US Navy photo

“We struggle a little bit and I would tell you we still struggle a little bit with the right parts and making sure we have what we need in-depth. I think we’re getting better at that. We focused – because of the good work from the strike team – on where we need and what we need. But I would say that was the biggest issue that was holding us back,” he added. “And then with any new class, just kind of working through those problems that we’ve had with the reliability. And again, I’m not declaring victory on that. I think once we get through these and get these installed on these ships, we’ll see where we are.”

With more deployments under the class’ belt, the Navy now has more data and information it can use to inform the maintenance, reliability and operational practices for the class. Kitchener plans to update Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday with more information this summer.

“I’ve told the CNO and the corporate board there that we’ll come up and give them an update once a quarter,” Kitchener said. “I think the timing is probably right soon – sometime this summer – that we get some of the results back from our deployers and how we’re doing.”