Warship Discussions

[Rashid Mahmood]

M80 Stiletto
The M80 Stiletto is equipped with four C32 1232 kW (1652 HP) engines manufactured by the Caterpillar, Inc., yielding a top speed in excess of 50 knots (90 km/h) and a range of 500 nautical miles (900 km) when fully loaded. It can be outfitted with jet drives for shallow water operations and beaching. This extreme performance is based on M Ship Co.’s proprietary, globally patented technology, retaking the bow wave using its energy to create an air cushion for more efficient planing. It weighs 45 tons and carries 2,000 sq. ft. of cargo.

The design and construction of this vessel made from carbon fiber for reduced weight and added rigidity. You will be seeing these vessels operational in littoral or coastal zone. The M80 Stiletto is also notable because it is the largest U.S. Naval vessel built using carbon fibre composite and epoxy building techniques, which yields a very light, but strong hull.

 

[vostok]

concept of future Russian corvette.

 

[Penguin]

"We are Russian, and God is with us." Alexander Suvorov

The Imperial Russian motto, "Съ нами Богъ!" ("S' nami Bog'!")?

Gott mit uns? Nobiscum deus ('God with us') was a battle cry of the late Roman Empire and of the Byzantine Empire, used for the first time in German by the Teutonic Order

 

[Slav Defence]

The Verge

REPORT

Christening the USS Gerald Ford: inside the most advanced, most expensive warship ever built

By Mattstroud 11.12.2013

The United States Navy christened what many claim is its greatest engineering achievement: the USS Gerald Ford supercarrier, the first in a completely new line of warships called the Ford class.
The ship, seated in a huge dock on the James River near the southern district of Newport News, Virginia, is the most technologically advanced, the most expensive, and one of the largest
warships ever built. That's according to the Navy, but there's not much reason to doubt the assertions. The ship is huge.
Rising out of the ocean to the height of a large office complex and stretching out toward the horizon as far as a couple
football fields, it’s able to house a town’s population of more than 4,500 people, and, when it’s finally commissioned for duty on the high seas in 2016, it will
weigh an astonishing 90,000 tons.
What’s more, the USS Gerald Ford —identified by its hull number, CVN 78, and known conversationally as "the Ford" — is also outfitted with electromagnetic catapults designed to shoot fighter jets
into the sky (these had previously needed pneumatic systems; Ford-class carriers offered all-new technology), and the most
advanced radar system ever deployed by the US military.
But all this heft and tech prowess isn’t cheap. At the moment, it’s estimated that the Ford will cost taxpayers at least $13 billion — an amount that, despite years of
planning and calculation, has risen at least $2.3 billion since the ship’s construction costs were approved at a $10.5 billion budget in 2008. And it might rise higher still. While Newport News Shipbuilding
(NNS), the company contracted to
construct the Ford, is confident it has built an aircraft carrier that will last well into the 21st century, high-profile critics such as Senator John McCain are asking
whether the Ford is worth the cost and the monumental effort it will take to bring it to life.
Brian Nehrbass, the Ford’s Ship Design Manager at NNS, insists there’s a mountain of history one should understand before
making any conclusions. He would know:
as a designer with NNS, he’s worked on every iteration of the Ford project since it was introduced as a mere concept. That was back in 1996. At that point, the Navy’s state-of-the-art aircraft carriers were Nimitz-class — a fleet of 10 nuclear warships designed in the late 1960s and
commissioned in May 1975.
The Nimitz class is still in operation to this day. But in March 1996, Navy officials anticipated they’d need " a new tactical
aviation sea-based platform for the 21st century ." By October 1998, a concept ship was authorized, with requests for a large deck that would hold 75 aircraft and a new nuclear propulsion plant. As designs
progressed over the next decade, those requests became more precise and more numerous.
"Nimitz class was designed in an era when, in essence, manpower and sailors were free," Nehrbass says. "It was designed to operate with the draft. People were easy to get."

 

[Slav Defence]

Page 02 of The Verge
-----------------------------
"EVERYTHING ELSE IS FAIR GAME."

In 1975, the Navy included a total
of 545,725 active-duty sailors. By 1996 that number had dropped to 419,075.Today, it’s even fewer; at 323,951, Navy personnel numbers have declined by about 41 percent since the first Nimitz-class carrier was commissioned. These warships were designed for 6,100 sailors.The next class would need to do more with fewer people. That meant deploying more planes faster, building longer-lasting and more advanced on-board tools, and generating more electricity to support these advanced tools.With these requests in hand, NNS moved
forward on its own. "The Navy’s ship specifications tell us what we must do and what we can’t do," Nehrbass explains.
"Everything else is fair game." NSS used advanced 3D-modeling tools to put together a dream warship based on its constraints and its designers’ creativity.They arrived at some ambitious ideas.While Nimitz-class designs used steam to keep ships running, the Ford will use electricity exclusively. That’ll allow many of the ship’s components to operate longer
(because steam causes rust) and it’ll also allow for many innovations that have been desired among sailors for years, but will only make their operational debuts on the Ford.
Four innovations stand out.
The first is something called "flexible infrastructure architecture." This is a modular design that will allow spaces on
the ship to be adaptable, like snap-in-place building blocks, without the use of "hot work" such as welding. So if the Navy
wants to convert a room from being a storage space, for example, or living quarters, into an office or a boardroom, it can do that easily and quickly without
having to hire big crews to take care of the work.

AN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD
THAT CATAPULTS AIRCRAFT INTO
THE SKY

The Advanced Weapons Elevators are another innovation. Relying on electromagnetic fields instead of cables,these massive elevators can carry twice as much material than their predecessors on Nimitz-class warships and can operate
with fewer sailors at the helm.
A third major change is the use of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMAL). These use an electromagnetic field to catapult aircraft into the sky. Previous
versions of these launchers operated via steam and cables. Compared to their predecessors, EMALs are lighter, smaller,more efficient, and more reliable. They can also launch a fighter jet every 45 seconds— a major improvement over past tech that, Nehrbass says, got an additional
boost because designers studied pit stops during NASCAR races to make sure planes were situated on the flight deck to get up and running as quickly as possible.
And then there’s the multifunction radar.Known as a Dual-Band Radar, it combines the tools used for big picture scans and precision targeting. In the past, those
activities were completely separate,involving two different pieces of equipment. This means fewer radar antennas spinning at the ship’s 555-metric-ton island — the control center rising from the ship's deck — and fewer
people required to keep tabs on
surroundings.Are innovations like these worth the $13 billion tab? A report from the Government
Accountability Office in September looking specifically at the Ford suggested perhaps not.
The Navy awarded a multibillion
dollar contract for detail design
and construction of CVN 78 in
2008, even in light of substantial technology development risks and an overly optimistic budget. Now,
nearly 5 years later, the cost of
the lead ship has increased by
more than $2.3 billion and many risks still remain which are likely to lead to further cost increases before the ship is completed. Although the ship is now more than half constructed, and promises significant capability increases over existing carriers, it is still grappling with land-based
testing delays and system reliability deficiencies for critical
government-provided technologies, a high-risk operational testing strategy, potentially unachievable
performance requirements, and
cost estimating uncertainties.
Nehrbass doesn’t refute the conclusions,but asks for some leniency."There’s a lot of risk involved in bringing all this technology together and making it work," he says. "As good as we engineers think we are, we’re not always able to make things go the way we want them to."
Plus, Nehrbass says:
"The unpredictability of some of these things do drive costs up."

 

[vostok]

"We are Russian, and God is with us." Alexander Suvorov

The Imperial Russian motto, "Съ нами Богъ!" ("S' nami Bog'!")?

Gott mit uns? Nobiscum deus ('God with us') was a battle cry of the late Roman Empire and of the Byzantine Empire, used for the first time in German by the Teutonic Order

Suvorov had a right to say so. He - one of the few generals in history who never lost a battle. This motto is especially relevant today, when Christianity in Russia is experiencing a renaissance.

 

[Slav Defence]

The verge page 03:
----------------------------
"THERE’S A LOT OF RISK
INVOLVED IN BRINGING ALL THIS
TECHNOLOGY TOGETHER AND
MAKING IT WORK."

Indeed, most of the advanced technology on the Ford has never been tested at sea,let alone deployed for battle. So it’s difficult
to predict how it’ll operate in a real-time event, or what it’ll require to function optimally.
Budget uncertainty aside, the christening ceremony was a nautical tradition. With US warships, the tradition is to have a female sponsor (in this case,
it’s former president Gerald Ford’s
daughter, Susan Ford Bales) break a champagne bottle on the ship’s bow. She’ll then do her best to regularly communicate with the ship's crew. That’ll be an ongoing
commitment — one that will continue for the next three years as the ship is readied for commissioning and departure, as well as into its operation as a military vessel,which, if history is any indication, could extend for another half-century.

"This is a brand-new ship," Nehrbass continues. "There were a lot of things we had to learn about how to build it. It’s a
learning process in every way''

 

[Penguin]

Suvorov had a right to say so. He - one of the few generals in history who never lost a battle. This motto is especially relevant today, when Christianity in Russia is experiencing a renaissance.

No doubt. Nonetheless, 'in God we trust' sounds better to me ( but that's just personal preference ;-)

 

[vostok]

No doubt. Nonetheless, 'in God we trust' sounds better to me ( but that's just personal preference ;-)

And do not you think that writing about God on coins and banknotes - is blasphemy?

 

[Penguin]

And do not you think that writing about God on coins and banknotes - is blasphemy?

No, and unlike US President Theodore Roosevelt, I do not. At least not any more than putting 'Gott mit Uns' on uniform belt buckles, that is ;-) But then again, going back to the case of Teddy Roosevelt, that particular motto was not adopted untill many years later, in 1956. I hope you are not taking all this too serious (I sure am not)

 

[vostok]

No, and unlike US President Theodore Roosevelt, I do not. At least not any more than putting 'Gott mit Uns' on uniform belt buckles, that is ;-) But then again, going back to the case of Teddy Roosevelt, that particular motto was not adopted untill many years later, in 1956. I hope you are not taking all this too serious (I sure am not)

I can not talk about God and not be serious. The motto on the belt buckles - this one matter. This is similar to how a Muslim dying says: "God is great!" But money - is quite another. There are place to the Devil, not God.

 

[Penguin]

I can not talk about God and not be serious. The motto on the belt buckles - this one matter. This is similar to how a Muslim dying says: "God is great!" But money - is quite another. There are place to the Devil, not God.

God (also) gave man a sense of humor (although, admittedly, He endowed some more than others ;-)

 

[vostok]

God (also) gave man a sense of humor (although, admittedly, He endowed some more than others ;-)

There are things which could non be joking.

 

[Penguin]

There are things which could non be joking.

Never in the absolute. C.U.

 

[Manticore]

Royal Navy’s final type 45 Destroyer enters service early
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013
HMS Duncan, the UK’s sixth Type 45 Destroyer, has entered into service with the Royal Navy four months ahead of schedule.

The ship was scheduled to enter service in early 2014, but thanks to the hard work of both the ship’s company and industry since her arrival in Portsmouth, HMS Duncan is ready to take up duties.

The 7,500 tonne vessel will now embark on a programme of trials to prepare the ship and her crew for operational deployment.

HMS Duncan is the final Type 45 to enter service with the Royal Navy. Her handover to the Fleet marks the end of a 13 year build programme with BAE Systems to deliver the six ships – Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan.

Armed with the world-leading Sea Viper missile defence system which can neutralise threats up to 70 miles away, the Type 45s are the most powerful air defence destroyers ever used by the Royal Navy.

Measuring in at 152 metres in length, HMS Duncan and her sister ships are longer than 16 double decker buses and as tall as an electricity pylon. Her onboard power plant can supply enough electricity to light a town of 80,000 people.

Minister for Defence, Equipment, Support and Technology, Philip Dunne MP said:

“Thanks to the skill and hard work of the Commanding Officer, the Ship’s Company and their MoD and Industry partners, HMS Duncan has entered service four months early. It is testament to the improving control of projects across the Armed Forces and significant dedication across Defence that all six ships of the Type 45 class are now in the hands of the Royal Navy.

“The Type 45 programme has provided the Royal Navy with one of the most sophisticated and effective air defence ships available anywhere in the world. We expect these vessels to see decades of service protecting the UK’s interests around the world, including providing humanitarian aid as we saw recently with HMS Daring’s efforts in the Philippines.”

Commander James Stride RN, HMS Duncan’s Commanding Officer, said:

“The Ship’s Company is rightly proud to be on-board such a cutting edge warship as she becomes a fully fledged member of the operational Fleet.

“HMS Duncan joins the Royal Navy as the most advanced ship we have ever operated alongside the rest of the Type 45 class, able to operate across the globe protecting the Fleet.”

The first Type 45, HMS Daring, arrived in Portsmouth in January 2009 and has since been involved in operations across the globe. Last month the ship provided vital aid and support to the people of the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

The Type 45 Destroyersare committed around the world 365 days a year hunting pirates, drug runners or submarines and defending the Fleet from air attack. All six Type 45s are based at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth which will also be the home to the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.

Source: MoD