Tag Archives: LX(R)

Navy

Transitional ship

The keel for the future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) was authenticated during a ceremony at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), October 13.

Ship’s Sponsor Meredith Berger traces her initials onto a steel plate that will be welded inside the amphibious transport ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28). Pictured with Berger are (left to right) Howard Sparks, a structural welder at Ingalls; Captain Brian Metcalf, the U.S. Navy’s LPD 17-class program manager; and Steve Sloan, Ingalls’ LPD program manager (Photo by Lance Davis/HII)
Ship’s Sponsor Meredith Berger traces her initials onto a steel plate that will be welded inside the amphibious transport ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28). Pictured with Berger are (left to right) Howard Sparks, a structural welder at Ingalls; Captain Brian Metcalf, the U.S. Navy’s LPD 17-class program manager; and Steve Sloan, Ingalls’ LPD program manager (Photo by Lance Davis/HII)

Keel laying is the traditional start of ship construction. In the age of wooden ships, «keel laying» referred to the laying down of the piece of timber serving as the backbone of the ship or keel. Although modern manufacturing techniques allow fabrication of portions of a ship to begin many months earlier, the joining together of modules is considered the formal beginning of a ship.

The keel was authenticated to be «truly and fairly laid» by the ship’s sponsor, Meredith Berger, former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the U.S. Navy who previously served as a senior policy advisor within the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Florida.

«I’m very honored to have Ms. Berger here today to take part in this event», said Captain Brian Metcalf, LPD-17 class program manager for Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «Authentication of the ship’s keel is a major ship event and we’re looking forward to leveraging the experience and expertise of the Ingalls Shipbuilding team to achieve future production milestones».

San Antonio-class ships are designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing elements of over 800 Marines by landing craft, air cushion vehicles, helicopters, or MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. These ships support a variety of amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions, operating independently or as part of amphibious readiness groups, expeditionary strike groups, or joint task forces. The versatility of these ships also allows support of humanitarian efforts; USS New York (LPD-21), a sister ship, is currently underway from Mayport, Florida, offering support in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

LPD-28 is named in honor of the Florida city and will be the first U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name and will be the Navy’s 12th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) is planned for delivery in 2021. Eleven LPD-17 ships have been delivered, the most recent being USS Portland (LPD-27), which was delivered September 18, 2017. HII is also procuring long lead time material and advance procurement in support of LPD-29.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and boats and craft.

Fort Lauderdale is a «transitional ship» between the current San Antonio-class design and future LX(R) vessels
Fort Lauderdale is a «transitional ship» between the current San Antonio-class design and future LX(R) vessels

 

General Characteristics

Builder Huntington Ingalls Industries
Propulsion Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels, two shafts, 41,600 shaft horsepower
Length 684 feet/208 m
Beam 105 feet/32 m
Displacement Approximately 24,900 long tons (25,300 metric tons) full load
Draft 23 feet/7 m
Speed In excess of 22 knots/24.2 mph/38.7 km/h
Crew Ship’s Company: 374 Sailors (28 officers, 346 enlisted) and 3 Marines. Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge capacity to 800
Armament Two Bushmaster II 30-mm Close in Guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers, fore and aft: ten .50 calibre/12.7-mm machine guns
Aircraft Launch or land two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft or up to four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, AH-1 or UH-1 helicopters
Landing/Attack Craft Two LCACs or one LCU; and 14 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles/Amphibious Assault Vehicles

 

San Antonio-class

Ship Builder Launched Commissioned Homeport
USS San Antonio (LPD-17) Avondale 07-12-2003 01-14-2006 Norfolk, Virginia
USS New Orleans (LPD-18) Avondale 12-11-2004 03-10-2007 San Diego, California
USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) Ingalls 11-19-2004 12-15-2007 Norfolk, Virginia
USS Green Bay (LPD-20) Avondale 08-11-2006 01-24-2009 San Diego, California
USS New York (LPD-21) Avondale 12-19-2007 11-07-2009 Norfolk, Virginia
USS San Diego (LPD-22) Ingalls 05-07-2010 05-19-2012 San Diego, California
USS Anchorage (LPD-23) Avondale 02-12-2011 05-04-2013 San Diego, California
USS Arlington (LPD-24) Ingalls 11-23-2010 02-08-2013 Norfolk, Virginia
USS Somerset (LPD-25) Avondale 04-14-2012 05-01-2014 San Diego, California
USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) Ingalls 11-02-2014 10-08-2016 San Diego, California
USS Portland (LPD-27) Ingalls 02-13-2016
USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) Ingalls
LPD-29

 

Navy

Contract Design Work

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been selected to perform the majority of the contract design work for the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warfare ship replacement, known as LX(R). The Department of Defense made the announcement Thursday, on June 30, 2016, at the same time Ingalls was awarded a contract to build the next large-deck amphibious assault warship, LHA-8.

LX(R): The Future of Amphibious Warships
LX(R): The Future of Amphibious Warships

LX(R) will replace the Navy’s Harpers Ferry- and Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships and will use the same hull as the San Antonio (LPD-17) class. Ingalls has delivered 10 of the LPD-17 ships to the U.S. Navy, is currently building the 11th, USS Portland (LPD-27), and has received more than $300 million in advance procurement funding for the 12th, USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28).

«With a hot production line, skilled workers, a strong supplier base and deep experience building San Antonio-class LPD amphibious warships, Ingalls stands ready to close the gap between LPD-28 and LX(R), the next generation amphibious warships the Navy-Marine Corps team needs today», Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said.

 

CHARACTERISTICS

DIMENSIONS
Overall length 684 feet/208.5 m
Beam, Datum Waterline (DWL) 105 feet/31.9 m
Full load Draft 21.7 feet/6.6 m
WEIGHTS
Lightship 17,890 long tons/18,177 metric tons
Full load at delivery 24,085 long tons/24,471.5 metric tons
SURVIVABILITY
Collective Protection System (Single Zone)
Strengthened Structure Against Whipping
Water Mist Fire Extinguishing System
Degaussing System

 

HULL, MECHANICAL, & ELECTRICAL (HM & E) ATTRIBUTES

MACHINERY SYSTEMS
20 MW Main Propulsion Diesel Engine (MPDE)
Direct Drive Reduction Gears
2 × Controllable Pitch Propellers
ELECTRIC PLANT
AC Zonal Distribution System
10 kW
400 Hz Frequency Converters
AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
Air-Conditioning (A/C) Plants, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) Free 1,500 tons installed
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plants 72,000 Gallons per Day (GPD) installed
Cargo Elevators 12,000 lbs/5,443 kg capacity
Lift Platform 6,000 lbs/2,722 kg capacity

 

CAPABILITIES

PERFORMANCE
Sustained Speed 20+ knots/23+ mph/37+ km/h
Installed Power 26,820 SHP/20 MW
Service Life 40 years
AMPHIBIOUS SYSTEMS
Vehicle Square (net) 24,900 feet2/2,313 m2
Cargo Cube (net) 18,000 feet3/510 m3
Cargo Fuel, JP-5 310,000 gal/1,173,478 L
Landing Craft 2 × LCAC or 1 × LCU
Well Deck Operations Wet/Dry
AVIATION FACILITIES
Full Maintenance Hangar
4 Land/Launch Spots
2 × CH-53E or
2 × MV-22 or
2 × CH-46 or
2 × AH/UH-1
MEDICAL FACILITIES
Medical Operating Rooms 1
Hospital Ward Beds 8
Dental Operating Rooms 1
ACCOMMODATIONS
Ship’s complement 396
Troop 506 Total

 

COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS (C4)

SURVEILLANCE
2D/3D Radars
AN/SPQ-9B – Fire Control Radar
AN/UPX-29 Central Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF)
COMMUNICATIONS
Special Intelligence (SI) COMMS
HF/VHF/UHF Voice/Data
Digital Wideband Transmission System (DWTS)/Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS)
UHF/SHF/EHF SATCOM
SMS
Secure Video Teleconference (VTC)
Shipboard Wide Area Network (SWAN)
ELECTRONIC WARFARE (EW) & DECOY
AN/SLQ-25
AN/SLQ-32A
MK-36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures Chaff and Decoy Launching System (SRBOC)
WEAPONS
2 × Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Launchers
2 × 25-mm Mk-38
4 × .50/12.7-mm Caliber Machine Guns
NAVIGATION
Navigation Sensor System Interface (NAVSSI)
AN/UQN-4A Sonar Sounding Set
AN/WQN-2 Doppler Sonar Velocity Log (DSVL)
AN/SPS-73 Surface Search Radar
AN/WSN-7
AN/URN-26 Tactical Air Navigation System (TACAN)
Anti-Jam GPS
Integrated Bridge
COMMAND AND CONTROL
Links 11, 16
AN/SPQ-12V
Naval Tactical Command Support System (NTCSS)
Global Command and Control System – Maritime (GCCS-M)
Ships Gridlock System (SGS)/Automatic Correlation (AC)
Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIX)

 

Navy

Navy needs new «docks»

It is not a secret of the Universe our World is changing. After the Russian-Georgian and Russian-Ukrainian war, NATO revised its understanding of Russia. Moscow made no secret of his ambition with regard to its neighbors. Thus, the United States understood the need to maintain amphibious fleet in a constant state of readiness to be able to move troops in Europe.

LPD Flight II
LPD Flight II, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.

As said Sam LaGrone, the USNI Online Editor at the U.S. Naval Institute, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has revised its plan to use the hull form of the San Antonio-class amphibious warship (http://navyarm.blogspot.ru/2014/11/san-antonio-class-lpd.html) as a candidate for the Navy’s next generation amphibious warship – LX(R).

HII’s new Flight IIA modifies the original LPD-17 design by removing some of the higher end capabilities of the San Antonio and creating a so-called amphibious truck to replace the existing class of aging Whidbey Island (http://navyarm.blogspot.ru/2014/11/whidbey-island-lsd.html) and Harpers Ferry (http://navyarm.blogspot.ru/ 2014/11/harpers-ferry-class-lsd.html) 16,000-ton landing ship docks (LSD).

The largest improvement in capability will be to the ship’s communication and aviation ability.

The current LSDs have a minimal command and control capability – the ability to communicate with other U.S. military forces and coordinate different types of aircraft and smaller vessel – and no native ability to host and maintain the aircraft of the trio of ships that make up the Navy’s Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs).

The LX(R) will be much bigger than the ships it will be replacing – displacing about 7,000 more than the current LSDs at 23,470 tons, HII officials told USNI News.

Instead of the four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, HII’s model reduces the prime mover count to two unspecified main propulsion diesel engines (MPDE).

The Mark-46 30mm gun weapon system is replaced with a Mark-38 Mod 2 remote controlled 25mm chain gun providing offensive and defensive ability.

The AN/SPS-48E air search radar is replaced with a TRS-3D, which is currently outfitted on the National Security Cutter providing a more suitable sensor for its mission.

The Flight IIA retains about half of the medical spaces on the LPD. Company officials also said the current iteration would feature two spots for the Navy’s LCAC hovercraft or one utility landing craft (LCU) – which is in line with the Navy’s current thinking for requirements for the LX(R). Other changes include reducing the troop capacity from 800 to 500 with a crew of about 400 sailors.

Though HII is original designers and builders of the LPD-17 ships, they are not guaranteed the design and construction contract for the new LX(R) ship class. General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, California has also helped the Navy in its current push to lower the cost at the start of the acquisition process and is considered likely to bid on the final work.

The Navy’s frontend analysis of alternatives process for LX(R) has been described as, «the best ship design conversation we’ve had in a long time inside the government», NAVSEA chief Vice Adm. William Hilarides said in May.

HII officials didn’t announce a cost estimate for their version, but according to past information from the Navy a San Antonio LX(R) could cost about $1.64 billion for the lead ship with follow-ons costing about $1.4 billion for a total of 11 ships.

Flight II vs. LPD 17
Flight II vs. LPD 17

 

Dimensions

Overall length: 684 ft, 208.5m

Beam, DWL: 105 ft, 31.9m

Full load Draft: 21.7 ft, 6.6m

 

Weights (long tons)

Lightship: 16,600

Full load at delivery: 22,800

 

Performance

Sustained Speed: 20+ knots

Installed Power: 26,820 SHP

Service Life: 40 years

 

Machinery Systems

20 MW MPDE

Direct Drive Reduction Gears

2 x Controllable Pitch Propellers

 

Amphibious Systems

Vehicle Square (net): 24,600 sq ft

Cargo Cube (net): 17,000 cu ft

Cargo Fuel, JP-5: 310,000 gal

Landing Craft: 2 x LCAC or 1 x LCU

Well Deck Operations: Wet/Dry

 

Navigation

NAVSSI

AN/UQN-4A Sonar Sounding Set

AN/WQN-2 DSVL

AN/SPS-73 Surface Search Radar

AN/WSN-7

AN/URN-26 TACAN

Anti-Jam GPS

Integrated Bridge

 

Communications

SI COMMS

HF/VHF/UHF Voice/Data

DWTS/EPLRS

UHF/SHF/EHF SATCOM

SMS

Secure VTC

SWAN

 

EW & Decoy

AN/SLQ-25

AN/SLQ-32A

MK-36 SRBOC

 

Aviation Facilities

Land/Launch Spots

2 x CH-53E or

2 x MV-22 or

2 x CH-46 or

2 x AH/UH-1

 

Electric Plant

AC Zonal Distribution System

10 KW

400 Hz Frequency Converters

 

Auxiliary Systems

A/C Plants (CFC Free): 1,500 tons installed

RO Plants: 72,000 GPD installed

Cargo Elevators: 12,000 lb capacity

Lift Platform: 6,000 lb capacity

 

Medical Facilities

Medical Operating Rooms: 1

Hospital Ward Beds: 8

Dental Operating Rooms: 1

 

Accommodations

Ship’s complement: 396

Troop: 506 Total

 

Surveillance

2D/3D Radars

AN/SPQ-9B – Fire Control Radar

AN/UPX-29 Central IFF

 

Weapons

2 x RAM Launchers

2 x 25mm Mark-38

4 x .50 Caliber Machine Guns

 

Command and Control

Links 11, 16

AN/SPQ-12V

NTCSS

GCCS-M

SGS/AC

CENTRIX

 

Survivability

Collective Protection System (Single Zone)

Strengthened Structure Against Whipping

Fragmentation Protection

Water Mist Fire Extinguising System

Degaussing System