Defense Industry Notes

Sea Power,  Jul 2004  

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* Northrop Grumman Newport News has been awarded a $1.39 billion Naval Sea Systems Command contract for construction preparation for CVN-21, the design of the next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The three-year contract covers advanced procurement and advanced construction of components, as well as further design work. Procurement of the first ship, CVN 78, is expected to be funded in the fiscal year 2007 budget.

* Raytheon Missile Systems delivered the first production Block IV Tomahawk long-range cruise missile - the Tactical Tomahawk - to the Navy on May 27. The Tactical Tomahawk offers greater flexibility in employment through a two-way data link that enables a controller to redirect the missile to a new target, direct it to loiter awaiting a new target, or direct it to transmit imagery of a target for battle damage assessment. The missile also features a jam-resistant Global Positioning System receiver.

* Lockheed Martin has delivered the first seven Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems (AMNSs) to the Navy ahead of schedule, company officials said. The AMNS is an expendable, remotely operated mine neutralization system that is deployed from MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters to identify and neutralize bottom and moored sea mines. A key component of the system is the Seafox, an unmanned underwater vehicle built by Atlas Elektronik - a German subsidiary of BAE Systems - that can acquire a mine by its on-board sensors or be maneuvered to a target by an operator in the helicopter. The Seafox neutralizes a mine by firing a self-contained shaped explosive charge at it.

* Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has shipped the fifth kinetic war-head for the Standard SM-3 missile to Raytheon Missile Systems, which will install the warhead on an SM-3. The warhead, designed to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in flight, is the final unit ordered as part of the planned initial deployment by the Missile Defense Agency of the SM-3 in the ballistic-missile defense role later this year.

* Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has begun fabrication of the X-45C Joint Unmanned Combat System, a larger version of the company's X-45A demonstrator for the program. The X-45C, with a 49-foot wingspan and a 39-foot length, is larger than the X-45A and is scheduled to fly in mid2006. The X-45C is designed to fly at 40,000 feet at a speed of 0.85 Mach and carry a 4,500-pound mission payload to a radius of 1,300 nautical miles. In a related development, the two X-45As taxied together during tests on June 7 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

* Northrop Grumman Ship Systems ?has been awarded a $100.4 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract for advance procurement of materials for the sixth San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, the San Diego. The lead ship of the class is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy later this year.

* The Pride of Aloha (ex-Norwegian Sky) was reflagged as a U.S. ship on June 7 as the first major modern passenger ship to be reflagged in 50 years. The 2,000-passenger ship, owned by Norwegian Cruise Line America, is the first of three of the company's cruise ships that will be reflagged. Maritime Administration officials said that the three ships, planned to cruise the Hawaiian Islands, are expected to create more than 20,000 jobs in the United States and generate more than $825 million in expenditures in the U.S. economy by the end of 2007.

Copyright Navy League of the United States Jul 2004
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