Since 06-28-05
Submarine News Daily for 28 June 2005
Since 06-28-05
The Daily Internal Information Source for the U.S. Navy Submarine Force
For more news and information about the submarine force, visit our website at http://www.sublant.navy.mil/.
to view photos from around the submarine force.
By Tom Philpott, Colorado Springs Gazette, June 25, 2005
At least one member of the Joint Chiefs supports alternatives to the military's prized 20-year retirement plan, urging adoption of more modern ways to compensate ambitious, skilled workers.
Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations, said the 21stcentury Navy needs to protect its "intellectual capital" of highly trained sailors with a different mix of pay and benefits, including more retirement options and a less paternalistic approach to compensation.
"What I've told our sailors is, 'Look, we'll spend whatever we need for every sailor we have to have to provide for the kind of national security the United States needs. But I don't want to spend one thin dime for an individual that we really don't need,'" Clark said during a Monday address at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
With more capable sailors needed to crew a smaller, higher-tech fleet, Clark said, "we're going to have to remunerate them in different ways - be more innovative. We're going to have to do some things like this: Instead of having a one pat retirement system, I think we're going to have to do what the really progressive companies are doing in industry.
They have a cafeteria kind of remuneration system and people get to pick the kind of benefits that they want. So I'm talking about going down to the baseline and starting over, with one simple goal in mind: How do I get the intellectual capital that is going to be required to win in the future?"
A Navy official later said Clark doesn't want Congress to lower retirement benefits for current sailors. But he does endorse giving them more options than a rigid retirement plan that pays no annuities and provides no vesting in benefits until members serve at least 20 years.
Clark, who will retire in late July after 37 years of service, said the military lacks a "human capital strategy" to sustain a high-tech, all-volunteer force in the new century.
"I believe that we have to change our belief in what a (military) career even looks like. (Some) want to make the world the way it was when I came into the Navy, and today's world isn't like that," Clark said. "You go out into industry and you don't find very many people who have been with the same company for 37 years like I have. We've got to focus on a system that allows you to bring the skill sets into play that we need, not to cling to some architecture that fits a model that was really great in the Cold War."
Clark said the percentage of sailors re-enlisting has been higher during the past several years than at any time in recent Navy history. He credited not the carrot of an annuity after 20 years, re-enlistment bonuses or the fact that ground forces primarily are doing the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Instead, Clark cited the Navy's commitment to sailors' growth and development.
When he entered the Navy in 1968, Clark said, it was rare for an enlisted member to have a college degree. Today, 56 percent of top enlisted – the fleet and force master chiefs - have college diplomas. Among junior enlisted, he said, the Navy even has 17 third-class petty officers (E-4s) with their doctorates.
"This is a different world," Clark said, and "if we're not competing economically, we're going to let that incredible intellectual capital walk out the door and the nation is going to be the loser."
The solution, he suggested, is not to pay more money to all 400,000 active duty sailors but to encourage individuals to excel and then to compensate properly based on their individual skills and talents and the needs of the service.
Today's sailors, he said, "are willing to go take on a job for three years, knowing there is no lifetime guarantee to it."
For them, he implied, a retirement system that requires that they stay for 20 years to get any benefits is an anachronism. "They want a chance to carve out their own future. So I believe that a mobile workplace - which is the kind of world we live in - needs to have a retirement system that can adapt," Clark said.
Joe Barnes, national executive secretary for the Fleet Reserve Association, which represents current Sea Service members and retirees, credited Clark with expanding sailors' professional responsibilities and educational opportunities while CNO. He endorsed Clark's call for more pay reforms.
But Barnes disagreed with Clark's contention that the 20-year retirement system is less attractive to the current generation of sailors. Also, he bristled at comparing military service with industry employment or necessarily embracing the kind of pay incentives found there.
Barnes also noted that the Navy and Air Force are preparing to draw down their active forces - the Navy by 13,000 sailors in 2006. But the Army and Marines Corps face significant recruiting challenges tied to the war in Iraq, as they attempt to expand active-duty force strength.
A Defense Department advisory committee on military compensation is studying a proposal, for future service members, that would allow earlier vesting in retirement benefits, perhaps after five or 10 years, but with reduced annuities for anyone who would leave service before age 60.
By Gregory Piatt, The Florida Times-Union 27 Jun 05
Terrorists in shrimp boats lay mines in the sea approaches to the St. Johns River, hoping to sink naval or commercial ships coming or going. Littoral Combat Ships, most likely based at Mayport Naval Station and tasked with anti-mine warfare patrol, find the mines and dispose of them.
Converted from carrying Trident nuclear missiles to carrying cruise missiles and Navy SEALs, Ohio-class submarines from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base sail off the African coast, sending their special-forces troops to operate in a failed state.
The P-8 Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, which is expected to replace the P-3 Orion and be based at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, patrols the Caribbean Sea for drug runners or is dispatched to global hot spots for intelligence collecting, monitoring a battlefield or search-and-attack duties.
Those are some of the new missions the region's naval forces will be performing in a decade, according to admirals and analysts. The Navy is preparing now for those future missions by contracting for or beginning to build some new ships and planes that would be used at bases on the First Coast in 2015.
Moves suggested by the Pentagon in last month's base realignment and closure (BRAC) recommendations are prompting Navy bases here to face new missions, which are unlike the ones faced during the Cold War or prior to Sept. 11, 2001.
By consolidating its forces through the BRAC process, the Navy is trying to make Jacksonville and Kings Bay in St. Marys, Ga., one of four large fleet concentrations in the continental United States.
"The Jacksonville-area bases are very important since it is the southernmost fleet concentration on the East Coast," said Robert Work, a naval analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
"From Jacksonville you have good access to South America, the Gulf of Mexico, the mid-Atlantic and West Africa," said Work, who has written extensively on the future of the Navy. "Regardless if there is an aircraft carrier [stationed] there, it will be an important naval hub that can do counter-drug missions, maritime interdiction of terrorists and support carriers using Florida [bombing] ranges to train."
Florida and Jacksonville officials say they hope at least one carrier will be based at Mayport in 2015. They are trying to get the Navy to make upgrades at Mayport so a nuclear powered carrier can be stationed there.
The Floridians want a nuclear carrier because the Navy said it wants to mothball Mayport's only carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, next year. If a carrier isn't based at Mayport, Jacksonville would be the only one of the four large-fleet sites without a flattop.
Navy officials have said they would like to move a nuclear carrier to Jacksonville, but no concrete moves have been made, because of a fight in Congress to prolong the JFK's life. One admiral indicated a carrier and large warships are most likely in Mayport's future.
"There is still going to be a requirement for a heavy force to conduct regional engagements and fight large wars," said Vice Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, commander of the Navy's 2nd Fleet. Attack submarines will become important because smaller nations, terrorists and drug runners will be able to afford cheaper diesel subs. Anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping will also become important, Fitzgerald added.
However, he said that because there will still be terrorist networks, the Navy will need a fast and mobile flotilla that can operate in the coastal regions and intercept terrorists or drug runners at sea.
While 75 percent of the ships now in the Navy are expected to be around in 10 years, the fast and mobile ships will come from the Littoral Combat Ships of the new Freedom class. The keel for the USS Freedom, the first ship in the class, was laid this month. The Navy is expected to build 84 of the Littoral Combat Ships by 2020.
The new Freedom class and Jacksonville-based anti-submarine warfare helicopters will comb the sea for drug runners, who are trying to evade detection by using small submarines, Work said. And Mayport-based Freedom-class ships will patrol the Gulf of Mexico, protecting against any terrorist attacks on oil drilling platforms, Work added.
Mines, submarine warfare and missile attacks all could be initiated near U.S. coastal cities, said retired Navy Capt. Karl Hasslinger, a former submariner, at conference last week about the Navy's future.
"The undersea sea approaches to the United States could be a staging area for attacks," said Hasslinger, who works for General Dynamics Electric Boat Division in Washington. More emphasis will be put on protecting the United States, Work said at the same conference. The Coast Guard ships could be based at Mayport and more closely integrated with the Navy's fleet defending the homeland, Work said.
There also will be a maritime defense of the country to prevent a missile, biological, chemical or nuclear attack, he said. Despite the Navy's new missions protecting the United States, Mayport ships and Jacksonville-based aircraft will carry out missions in global hot spots as they do now, said Rear Adm. (select) Michael Mahon, director of Deep Blue, the Navy's operations group.
In a decade, the region's forces could be facing hot spots in the Balkans, the Black Sea region and South America, said retired Rear Adm. Mike McDevitt, director of strategic studies at the Center for Naval Analyses, a Washington-based think tank serving the Navy.
But as long as the Middle East remains unstable, Mayport ships will continue to have a mission there in 10 years, Mahon said. "Looking at the time and distance, it's much faster to get to the [Middle East region] from the East Coast than it is from the West Coast," Mahon said.
Senator cites repairs now done here by EB workers
By Robert A. Hamilton, New London Day, 28 Jun 05
Norwich - Six years ago the Navy eliminated 431 military jobs in the repair yard at the submarine base in Groton and turned the work over to 263 Electric Boat employees, a program that has repeatedly been praised at the highest levels of Navy leadership for the savings it generated.
Now the Navy contends that it can save money by having sailors replace the EB workers at shipyards in Norfolk, Va., and Kings Bay, Ga., if the Naval Submarine Base is closed, said U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., at a meeting Monday with local business leaders.
"The Navy found that one Electric Boat worker can do as much work as three sailors - that was the rationale for giving EB the contract in the first place," Dodd said. "If the work is transferred to Kings Bay, it is going to cost the country more money, not less."
The Navy has said that the average EB employee working at the base has almost a quarter-century of experience and so is more productive than sailors who often are learning on the job. In addition, the Navy has said EB employees don't have all the military duties of a sailor, which can take up a large portion of the work week.
Dodd questioned the Navy's estimate that can eliminate 1,500 military positions, about one in four of the jobs in Groton, if it consolidates operations down South, "a claim that has never been adequately explained by the Defense Department."
Dodd, speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut at the Economy Inn, said the Navy recommendation to close the Groton base "seems to me to be nothing more than a strike at the heart of the submarine force (with) dangerous implications for our country."
While he understands the need to make the most efficient use of defense dollars, Dodd said he wonders whether, given the evolving threat faced by the United States from terrorists and other transnational groups, it is a good idea for the country to be closing any military bases.
And in particular, he said, he worries that the Pentagon's latest recommendations would remove from New England all vestiges of the Navy except for an air station in Maine that would have no planes and a naval station in Rhode Island that would have no ships.
Perhaps from a financial standpoint consolidating smaller installations might make sense, Dodd said.
"But there is a value, as well, for our country to have these installations spread out across the country," Dodd said. "What about the connection between our civilians and these installations? I think there's a cost to that, I think there's a number, but I don't know how you put it on a piece of paper."
Also Monday the Subase Realignment Coalition met Monday in New London to continue honing the presentation it will make to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission on July 6.
Coalition Chairman John Markowicz said he and others who will be presenting the case to take the Groton base off the closure list will travel to Boston next Tuesday to do a "practice run" in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, where Wednesday's hearing is planned.
Markowicz said the coalition will get a half-hour to talk about the military value of the base, leaving about 90 minutes for other presentations by state and federal officials, and by a Strategic Overview Panel, composed of retired top-ranking Navy officers and an EB official.
He said he has seen some of the comprehensive reports produced by the governor's "save-the-base" strike force, including the Department of Labor, Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Economic and Community Development.
Markowicz said Tuesday's dry run will be the first time the various groups will see each others' presentations. The trial run will allow them to adjust the material if they see areas where they are overlapping too much.
New London Day, 28 Jun 05
Gov. M. Jodi Rell met on Monday with leaders of the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on environmental advocacy throughout New England, in regard to environmental cleanup issues at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.
Dennis Schain, spokesman for Rell, said the governor sought the expertise and advice of the group as part of the state's efforts to gather as much pertinent information as possible before the July 6 hearing before the Military Base Closure and Realignment Commission on the proposed closure of the Groton facility.
The foundation has been involved in environmental cleanup issues involving other military bases in New England, including those that handled nuclear materials, Schain said. The Groton base has berthed nuclear-powered submarines since the 1950s.
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press (Record-Journal), 28 Jun 05
WASHINGTON - He's known as Big Al, the Sailor's Pal. But next week, retired Navy Vice Adm. Al Konetzni just may be Connecticut's best friend.
Konetzni, who began his career as a submariner and retired last year as a highly decorated deputy and chief of staff for the Atlantic Fleet, will give part of the presentation to the base closing commission next week in defense of the submarine base in Groton.
A graduate of the Naval Submarine School who spent nearly 40 years in the Navy, Konetzni has been an outspoken advocate of the need for a larger submarine fleet. And that argument will play a key role in the ultimate decision to shut down the Groton base or keep it open.
While some military brass tend to quietly toe the line, Big Al - who has said he's proud of his nickname - made a name for himself by giving speeches, while still serving in the Navy, that were critical of efforts to scale back funding for shipbuilding, including submarines.
In 2000 he told a Sea Power forum that the Navy needs as many as 68 attack submarines - vastly more than the 37-41 that some recent studies have suggested. And in 2002, he spoke at a warfare symposium, saying that the country needs to know the dire consequences of shrinking the number of ships in the fleet.
Konetzni met with Connecticut's congressional delegation for the first time last Friday, along with two other consultants from The Washington Group, who also are helping to coordinate the presentation for the hearing July 6 of the independent Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC).
"The Admiral is one of the nation's top experts on submarines," said Casey Aden-Wansbury, spokeswoman for Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. "He brings a real weight and credibility to the important argument for the strategic value of submarines to our future security and for the critical role that the right bases, located in the right places such as New London, will play in realizing the full capability of our nation's submarine force."
Also speaking at the hearing will be John Casey, president of submarine-builder Electric Boat, which is near the base. During a brief presentation to BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi and three other commissioners who visited the base June 1, Casey talked about the relationship between the plant and the base. Lawmakers asked him to speak about that issue again.
And George Sawyer, former assistant secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration, will also take part in the presentation, along with John Markowicz, who is chairman of a regional coalition to keep the base open.
The Boston hearing is expected to give officials in New England the chance to argue against the Pentagon's proposed shutdown of the Naval Submarine Base New London, which is in Groton, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and the Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod.
BAE Systems press release, 27 June 05
The latest PC-based variant of the Submarine Command System (SMCS) supplied by BAE Systems will soon be fitted throughout the whole Royal Navy submarine fleet.
Following the successful installation of SMCS NG (Next Generation) in HMS TORBAY in 2004, the Ministry of Defence has placed two further contracts with BAE Systems to extend the fit out to all eleven Vanguard, Trafalgar and Swiftsure submarines that will continue to run beyond 2008. The move to commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) technology will offer the MOD the potential of reducing costs by up to £25 million over the life of the system.
In addition to the systems for Vanguard, Trafalgar and Swiftsure submarines, the contracts also include three systems for shore installations to be used for training and testing. BAE Systems through its Integrated System Technologies (Insyte) business has also supplied the related Astute Combat Management System (ACMS) for the three new Astute class submarines.
The total value of the two SMCS NG contracts, placed in November 2004 and April 2005 is £24.5m.
The contract which includes a five-year comprehensive support service, has been placed by the Attack Submarines Integrated Project Team (IPT) working in partnership with the Submarine Support IPT.
The decision to use commercially available hardware and software whilst migrating to an open systems architecture will deliver major through-life cost savings without compromising system performance. SMCS NG software is issued as a single, 'fits-all' release that is configurable for the sensor and weapon fit of each submarine. This eliminates the duplication of effort that occurred previously when introducing new capability, which a separate version of software had to be produced for each class of submarine in which SMCS is fitted. A series of annual software upgrades will also deliver generic open interfaces to SMCS. This open systems approach will make it much easier to introduce new capability when it is required by the MOD.
The obsolescence issues associated with COTS hardware and software are addressed within the scope of the support service. Periodic technology refreshes are planned which will keep the system up to date.
Captain Ian Hughes, Project Leader for the Trafalgar Class Update Programme and SMCS NG within the Attack Submarines IPT in the DPA, said, 'Although the driver to move to the latest technology was the potential for whole life cost savings, there is also the added benefit that any new capability could be deployed more quickly into the combat system including from innovative third parties.'
Captain Jay Hart, Deputy Team Leader for the Submarine Support IPT in the DLO, said. 'The shift to COTS with an innovative support solution is expected to deliver significant savings in the through-life costs of SMCS.'
BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced defence and aerospace systems. BAE Systems has major operations across five continents and customers in some 130 countries. The company has more than 90,000 people and generates annual sales of over £13 billion through its wholly-owned and joint venture operations.
Thales UK press release, 21 June 05
Thales UK has been awarded a contract by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) for the development and manufacture of submarine Optronic Mast technology for the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force.
The Optronic Mast's innovative design means that it is non-hull penetrating and so can be easily integrated with combat systems and allows greater flexibility in craft design. The MELCO deal represents the first export contract for the Optronic Mast, which uses high-resolution cameras that are mounted in the submarine's sensor head. The images provided are then displayed on console screens in the submarine's Operations Centre via an electronic link. Thales UK has already delivered the system to two Royal Navy ASTUTE class submarines.
Commenting on the new contract, Chris Gane, vice-president of Thales UK's Defence Optronics, said: "This contract represents a significant breakthrough for our Naval export business and continues a long-standing relationship between Thales and the high technology industries of Japan."
While this specific technology has not yet been exported, the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force will become the latest in a long line of defence agencies currently using Thales UK designed and manufactured periscopes, both hull-penetrating and non hull-penetrating.
Earlier this year the firm successfully completed the acceptance and delivery of the first upgraded CK038 hull-penetrating periscope system for the Swedish submarine service. The contract, worth £8 million, was awarded by the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) and included the design, modification, installation and setting-to-work of five CK038 periscope systems in addition to the provision of dedicated operator and maintainer training. Under the terms of the deal a further four upgraded systems are scheduled for delivery later in 2005.
In this specific case the modification of each periscope involved the addition of a thermal imaging capability, a new generation image intensifier, colour TV camera, digital still camera and GPS antenna.
The Defence Optronics division is only one arm of Thales' highly active maritime research development and manufacturing activities. The firm's leading role in this dynamic market is based on over 70 years of experience and success, making the firm a world leader with a comprehensive naval capability as a prime contractor, system integrator, equipment supplier and service supplier.
These cutting edge and diverse industry roles are well illustrated by Thales UK's current alliance with the MoD. The Royal Navy's new generation of aircraft carriers will be designed and built through joint projects between the MoD and industry, bringing together the best design capability and project management expertise. Thales UK will be performing a major role as key supplier and the project will be using its design of the Future Carrier.
The two vessels will be the largest and most powerful surface warships ever built in the UK and are expected to displace around 60,000 tonnes each.
Asahi Shimbun, 06/25/2005
YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Prefecture-Since everything here revolves around the sprawling U.S. naval base, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the status of a ship is a major theme of campaigning in Sunday's mayoral election.
The ship in question is an aircraft carrier-and one that is nuclear-powered.
And just possibly, the election outcome could have ramifications for the Japan-U.S. security alliance under which Japan is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Admittedly, it is rare for world politics to figure in such a local election. But given this country's well-known "nuclear allergy," residents here are nervous about Pentagon plans to decommission the conventionally powered USS Kitty Hawk in 2008 and replace it with a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
In a sense, the will of the residents on this contentious issue has already been expressed since all four candidates are opposed to allowing a nuclear-powered U.S. flattop to use Yokosuka.
An obvious concern, no matter how remote, is the possibility of a nuclear accident occurring.
But some city officials fear that the next mayor, no matter who it is, will face major hurdles in exercising the right to say how the port is run.
Among voters, though, there is a sense of apathy. Many people said in street interviews that it was pointless to put up resistance on an issue so closely connected to this nation's security.
The fact is, the local economy is dependent on the base.
With all the candidates campaigning on seemingly identical platforms, despite their different political affiliations, they are having a hard time selling themselves in the minds of voters.
"Basically, I say `no' to the deployment of a nuclear flattop, and I will demand the government insists on a conventionally powered ship," Masataka Kimura, a 62-year-old independent, told a gathering in downtown Yokosuka on Monday night.
The Kitty Hawk has been based at Yokosuka since 1998. It is due to be decommissioned around 2008. Of the 12 U.S. carriers in service, 10 are nuclear-powered. Only the Kitty Hawk and the USS John F. Kennedy, based in Mayport, Florida, are conventionally powered. However, the latter is due to be decommissioned in a few years, and possibly as early as 2007.
Another candidate is Ryoichi Kabaya, a former deputy mayor who is running as an independent and as the successor to three-term Mayor Hideo Sawada.
Kabaya, 60, told The Asahi Shimbun that he, too, would demand a conventionally powered carrier to replace the Kitty Hawk.
Toru Kobori, 56, a dentist, is calling for closure of the naval base because he fears it could be targeted in an attack.
Takatoshi Aritani, 56, an independent running with support from the Japanese Communist Party, told an audience in the city center: "Whether or not it is conventionally powered or nuclear-powered, we must explicitly state that we do not accept deployment of an aircraft carrier in the first place."
What has been missing from the debate is how to prevent the U.S. government from deploying such a vessel.
But many Yokosuka residents appear guarded on an issue that has generated fallout in Tokyo.
"My biggest concern is how to convince my people that it is a good idea to bring the nuclear aircraft carrier after the Kitty Hawk," said Taro Kono, a lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and head of the party's Kanagawa Prefecture chapter.
He was speaking at a conference attended by James Kelly, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state.
"Japan, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't have a severe allergy to nuclear power, having been in many respects very successful in using this to reduce its dependence on fossil energy," Kelly said. "The U.S. Navy has had an exceptional record of safety in operating its nuclear-powered ships."
But that view does not sit well with many people here.
"One thing that the Americans never understand is the Japanese people's allergy to things nuclear," Nagatoshi Esashi, who handles U.S. base issues for the Yokosuka city office, fumed in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun.
Having had the huge U.S. naval facility as a neighbor for nearly 60 years, residents here are particularly mindful of the threat of nuclear contamination.
They note that there are frequent visits by nuclear-powered submarines and there have been five port calls by nuclear-powered flattops. They also harbor suspicions that U.S. military vessels routinely carry nuclear weapons in contravention of the government's three principles of not possessing, manufacturing or introducing nuclear weapons to this country. The policy reflects nationwide abhorrence to things nuclear as a result of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In July 1998, a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine called at Yokosuka and city officials said they detected abnormally high radioactivity in the water.
While the central government did not make an issue out of it, city officials felt compelled to consider what measures to adopt in the event of an accident involving a nuclear-powered vessel. The plan was publicized in 2000.
The city's initiative prompted the central government in 2002 to adopt a national plan for such an emergency.
Officials here say nuclear-powered aircraft carriers pose a higher risk of contamination than submarines with nuclear reactors.
A Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, which is expected to replace Kitty Hawk, has two reactors-each capable of generating about 300,000 kilowatts of electricity. That compares to the energy output of the No. 1 reactor at the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture operated by the Kansai Electric Power Co., according to Hiromichi Umebayashi, who heads the nonprofit organization Peace Depot.
In street interviews with The Asahi Shimbun, a 53-year-old resident said: "An accident could threaten our lives. We have only ourselves to blame if we always obey the United States."
However, a 39-year-old woman said, "It can't be helped, really. After all, so many people make their living here from business related to the base."
By Alice Hung, Reuters, 28 Jun 05
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan risks losing its military edge over ideological foe China -- and support from the United States -- if parliament fails to approve a US$15 billion arms budget, a senior defense ministry official said.
The United States, which recognizes China and not Taiwan, offered the package of advanced weapons in 2001 in what would be the biggest arms sale to Taiwan in more than a decade. Taiwan has since cut its budget for the arms from $18 billion to $15 billion
"Failure to pass the arms purchase bill means our fighting power cannot be improved at a time when Communist China's defense spending is growing at double-digit percentage points every year," Hu Chen-pu, director-general of the General Political Warfare Bureau, told Reuters late on Monday.
"The reason Communist China has not used force against us is not because of its goodwill, but because of a lack of capability," Hu said in his first interview with foreign media since taking office in February.
"As the gap grows wider and wider, we are in fact encouraging them to attack."
Beijing has viewed Taiwan as part of Chinese territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the self-governed democracy of 23 million people back to the fold -- by force if necessary. The United States recognizes the mainland as China's sole legitimate government -- the "one-China" policy -- but in a deliberately ambiguous piece of foreign policy it is also obliged by law to help Taiwan defend itself.
Hu said the package of six Patriot anti-missile batteries, eight diesel-electric submarines and 12 P-3C Orion submarine-hunting aircraft would deter China from waging war and ensure peace for 30 years in the Taiwan Strait -- seen by some security analysts as one of the most dangerous hot spots in Asia.
Without it, China would be capable of launching an attack against the island in two years, he said, citing U.S. experts. "If we don't buy the weapons we need, other people will think we don't have the determination to defend ourselves," said Hu, whose bureau has launched a series of campaigns to win public support for the budget.
"If we are too weak to fight, they will give up on us. Will the Americans risk its soldiers being killed because of Taiwan?"
Taiwan's delay in approving the arms deal has fueled worries in Washington that Taipei is not serious about its own defense, with some senior U.S. officials calling the budget a litmus test for U.S.-Taiwan relations. The Pentagon has raised the alarm over China's military modernization for years. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused China earlier this month of expanding its missile forces and capabilities and enhancing its ability to project power at a time when it faced no threat.
Last year, the Pentagon said China had more than 500 short-range ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan and its defense spending of $50 billion to $70 billion was third behind the United States and Russia and aimed at winning a possible conflict with Taiwan and exerting power. But Taiwan opposition parties, which hold a slim majority in parliament, say the U.S. weapons are overpriced and the money can be better spent on education and social welfare.
Parliament is in recess and does not meet again until September. Hu also said Taiwan was trying to prepare soldiers for a possible war as closer trade ties and private exchanges with China may confuse them as to who was the enemy.
For the first time in years, the military had included a week of psychological warfare training in this year's annual Han Kuang, or "Chinese Glory," war games to counter threats from China -- both militarily and psychologically, Hu said.
"What worries us the most is that our soldiers may mistakenly think a war is unlikely," he said. "It is very dangerous for the military to think that way."
From ITAR-TASS, 27 Jun 05
SEVERODVINSK (Archangel Region), June 27 (Itar-Tass) - The diesel-electric "Sindugosh" submarine of the Indian Navy, which was modernized at the "Zvezdochka" defence wharfs of Severodvinsk, has sailed out into the Barents Sea for performance trials, press secretary of the ship repair plant Nadezhda Scherbinina told Itar-Tass here on Monday.
The tests of the submarine systems are being carried by the plant's delivery commission and the submarine's crew. "The sub's first cruise will last about three weeks. One more cruise is planed afterwards, after which the submarine will be handed over to the client," an official of the wharf said.
"Sindugosh", meaning sea soul in Hindi, came off the slips in April. Its repair and modernisation at the "Zvezdochka" wharfs lasted from August 2002 to this day. The submarine was built at the Admiralty wharfs of St. Petersburg in 1985 according to project (Kilo -- according to NATO classification). It was designed by the St. Petersburg "Rubin" naval designing bureau. The submarine has a crew of 52 men and is armed with six 533 mm torpedo tubes.
According to the "Zvezdochka» press service, the modernized version of the submarine has a Russian "Club-S" missile complex, designed to knock our surface craft, submarines, and ground targets within a distance of about 200 kilometres. It is also provided with some Indian devices: a hydro-acoustic "USHUS" complex and a CCS-MK radio-communication system.
The "Sindugosh" is the third of the eight Indian submarines modernized at the "Zvezdochka" plant during the past eight years. The third Indian "Sinduvidjai" (Naval Victory) submarine has been delivered for modernization to the said plant.
By Martin Agüera, Defense News, 27 Jun 05
Germany's biggest shipyard - ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) – has scuttled the idea of a grand merger of Europe's naval industry, at least for the time being.
The concept of a so-called "naval EADS" had been discussed for several years, and French, German and Spanish firms and government officials had tried to drum up European enthusiasm for the idea in the past 12 months. But the idea never caught fire, and little meaningful progress can be achieved without the support of the major German player in the market.
Top TKMS executives said June 20 they feel no urgency to merge. "There is no reason for us to push a European consolidation," said Olaf Berlin, chief executive of ThyssenKrupp Technologies, Essen. Its subsidiary, Hamburg-based TKMS, was formed in January from German firms Blohm+Voss, Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft and Nordseewerke Emden.
Berlin predicted TKMS' naval business would reach 2.2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in sales this year and increase to 3 billion within three years. A TKMS spokeswoman cautioned that this "was not a declaration against consolidation."
"What clearly was said by our top management was that we as well as the other European companies still have to do their homework before we can consolidate," said Andrea Wessel, but "consol-idation is not on our agenda now."
That sentiment is shared by many in the German government. Several defense officials said a pan-European linkup of naval firms would probably not make sense for another decade. They said the most likely catalyst would be a multinational shipbuilding program; no such project is in sight.
To start such a program, Germany would have to change its procurement plans - say, by abandoning plans to build F-125 frigates and joining the French-Italian program to build 27 Frégate Européenne Multi-Missions (FREMM) vessels. This is unlikely, the German officials said.
A top Italian shipyard executive said Europe builds too few ships to make a super-merger practical.
"The numbers are just not right to carry out consolidation in the naval industry along the lines of what has happened in, for instance, the aerospace industry," said Giuseppe Bono, chief executive of Fincantieri. "I have, however, been proposing for some time a putting together of engineering and marketing efforts, but with each country continuing to operate its own shipyards."
Britain and Spain, which are preoccupied with restructuring their domestic shipbuilding industries, are even less interested in any big merger. In Britain, slow progress is reported in months of discussions between government and shipbuilding officials about alliances or mergers to consolidate warship building and ship repair efforts.
But nothing substantial is expected until government and industry officials decide later this year how to structure the program to build two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers, which are expected to enter Royal Navy service in about a decade.
In France, the Navy chief of staff is still urging consolidation, arguing that it behooves European industry to act now rather than delay. In meeting reporters June 21, Adm. Alain Oudot de Dainville compared Europe's 20-some naval yards to the far fewer U.S. yards.
De Dainville said France should merge its own firms first, then seek an international tieup.
"I think it is better to consolidate the naval industry in France, to allow a better redistribution of the cards in Europe," Oudot de Dainville said. The admiral said France should find a cooperative program with Germany, as it is a partner with Italy on the FREMM frigate, Spain on the Scorpene submarine and Britain on the PA2 aircraft carrier.
DCN Executive Chairman Jean-Marie Poimboeuf takes a more cautious view of European consolidation, saying that governments everywhere are unlikely to accept large job losses. He envisions sharing new programs' development costs, which typically take one-third of their budgets; common purchasing of subsystems to obtain economies of scale; and pooling export marketing expenses.
In Germany, consolidation is likely to continue when BAE finds a buyer for naval systems maker Atlas Elektronik.
This is tied up with a 189.4 million euro program to upgrade German Navy F-122 and F-123 frigates, which is set to be awarded the week of June 27 by Defense Ministry State Secretary Peter Eickenboom, said a senior Ministry of Defense official. But political sensitivities may push the decision off until after parliamentary elections in September, analysts said.
Bidders for the upgrade program include Atlas and three other firms - EADS, Lockheed Martin and Thales Deutschland - that are interested in buying Atlas.
Some officials have speculated that the German government would give the contract to Atlas to raise the firm's purchase price.
But a higher price tag could stymie another German desire: to have Atlas return to German control through a purchase by ThyssenKrupp. "I could imagine they would back down if Atlas becomes even more expensive through such a contract," a defense official said.
By Susan Nolan, Portsmouth Herald, 27 Jun 05
PORTSMOUTH - While much of the crew of the USS Montpelier looks forward to leaving port next month when the submarine leaves Portsmouth Naval Shipyard bound for Norfolk, Va., Petty Officer 3rd Class Chad Truax, 20, does not want to go.
The best part about Portsmouth was "the girls," Truax said.
Actually, he meant "the girl." That would be Emily Marden, 21, a 2002 Portsmouth High School graduate and St. Anselm's College junior whom he met while both were volunteering at St. John's Soup Kitchen eight months ago.
The two have been inseparable since.
Truax and Marden were among more than 150 crew members and their families and friends who gathered at Four Tree Island for a farewell barbecue Sunday.
It was hosted by Nancy Sununu and husband, John, former governor of New Hampshire. Nancy Sununu had christened the Montpelier in 1993 when it set to sea from the Newport News Shipyard, where it was built.
Although thunderstorms Sunday hit surrounding towns, the picnic on the island overlooking the Piscataqua missed the torrential downpours. USS Montpelier Cmdr. Mark Davis said he has enjoyed his stay.
"The people here are very supportive of military people," he said.
The four Sowa boys - Paul, 13, Chris, 8, Mark, 15, and Matt, 18 - say that moving is what the Navy's all about. Their mom, Mary, home-schooled them. Their father, Mike, was just promoted to commander, and they're not sure where they will go after Portsmouth.
"We've moved more than 10 times already ... ," Matt said. "You kind of get used to it," Mark piped in. "It's cool."
When asked whether he would join the Navy when he grows up, Jordan Brisco, 10, said he's "still a child."
"I'm still getting my chores and getting paid for it," he said. "That's all I'm worrying about right now." Payday is every two weeks. His salary is $5. "I've saved $6 or $7," he said.
Most crew members said they enjoyed their stay. "I love it," said Ensign Jared Sweetser of Sarasota, Fla.
Fred Williams, a storekeeper chief, agreed. Still, he'll be glad return to his home port of Norfolk, where his wife is a schoolteacher.
Machinist mate Nick Shaw is excited about leaving. He's being stationed in Italy, and his wife and daughter will join him there. For sonar technician James Montelongo of El Paso, Texas, the USS Montpelier was his first assignment. Though he liked meeting new people, "The worst part was the weather," he said. "I just wanted to stay inside."
The USS Montpelier, which came to dry-dock in May 2004, is expected to leave in about a month, Cmdr. Davis said.
By PAT McGOWAN, Democrat Staff Writer
PORTSMOUTH — Not even an overcast sky threatening rain could put a damper on the mood of the crew of the USS Montpelier as they enjoyed the hospitality of the Sununu family during a cookout on Sunday.
The cookout, sponsored by Nancy Sununu, the mother of Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), had it all, including an inflatable house for children and a Hurdy Gurdy Man and his monkey.
Sununu said she almost cried when she saw the Montpelier return to Portsmouth last year for refitting at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
"I christened this submarine in 1993 and it has changed hands over that time," Sununu said during the event at Four Tree Island. "I have kept up with the captains and we always said we would hold some kind of barbecue when they left."
According to Montpelier commander Mark Davis, the boat is scheduled to leave Portsmouth near the end of July.
"The last two months are very intensive for the crew. They work seven days a week, so this (barbecue) is a welcome relief," Davis said.
The crew has appreciated interacting with their host city of Portsmouth, Davis added. "The mayor has been great to us and the community has been great to us," he said.
Wesley Schuman and his wife, Carolyn, said they were thankful for the support Portsmouth has given the crew while they were away from their home in Virginia.
"It's nice to have whatever city we are in support us," Wesley Schuman said.
With 14-month-old Weston by her side, Carolyn said she was happy to have a reason to bring the "little ones" out.
Carolyn said she expects to give birth to another child shortly before leaving for Virginia.
Crew member Joe Hores said he appreciated the various events Portsmouth has hosted for the crew.
"It mean a lot to me because my wife is still in Virginia," he said. "This means more to me because I can get away with people outside of work."
Hores said he also believed Sununu really supported the Montpelier, instead of some who just gave "lip service" in their support of the military.
"When I saw that lady's face, I knew she meant it. Some people say it, but she meant it," he said.
During a small ceremony, Davis presented Sununu with a watercolor depicting the Montpelier arriving in Portsmouth last May. He also gave Sununu a picture of the entire crew.
Sununu said she purchased tickets for crew members who wished to attend a show at the Prescott Park Arts Festival before they left.