NGC Hosts Keel Laying Ceremony for Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

[Metallic]

NGC Hosts Keel Laying Ceremony for Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)
UNITED STATES - 16 NOVEMBER 2009

The First Ship in the Next Generation of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers

Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Shipbuilding sector hosted a keel laying ceremony today for the next generation aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), in Newport News, Va.

Susan Ford Bales, daughter of President Gerald R. Ford, served as the ship's sponsor and keel authenticator for the ceremony. Bales authenticated the keel by chalking her initials onto a metal plate. Her initials were then welded onto the plate, which will be permanently affixed to the ship.

"The shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman shipyard, many of whom are second- and third-generation shipbuilders -- everyday they bring a level of patriotism, skill, and commitment to excellence -- that is, quite simply, without equal," said Bales. "When a new carrier sets to sea, her shipbuilders quietly and proudly leave the construction site often to become a faint memory in the history of the carrier. Let us resolve, today that this will not be the case when the USS Gerald R. Ford sets to sea."

Other ceremony participants included principal speaker U.S. Senator Carl Levin, (D-Mich); Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Mike Petters; U.S. Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.); U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Va.); Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus; and Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, Adm. Kirkland Donald.

"It's very fitting that our next carrier, a ship that will calm the unknown crisis of the future by its very presence offshore, will be named for President Gerald Ford," said Mabus. "Throughout his life, President Ford -- as a naval officer, a Congressman, as President -- projected a calm confidence, reassuring all those around him that all would be well. As President, he took action in the midst of a troubled time and presided over the healing of America following the bitter divisiveness of the previous few years. His example will live on in the USS Gerald R. Ford to inspire generations of young Americans who will serve on that ship."

U.S. Senator Carl Levin, the principal speaker spoke about Ford's legacy. "Not so long ago, Gerald R. Ford was the sturdy beam who held our nation together -- the beam on which so much else depended," said Levin. "This ship will bear the name of a man who assumed our nation's highest office at a time of great anguish and confusion, a time of great distress and doubt...At a time of great danger, Gerry Ford took the helm. At a time of instability, Gerry Ford kept our country on an even keel."

"Aircraft carriers should remain the cornerstone of our future defense planning. No other platform has been as effective in enabling the United States to project power and protect our interests around the globe," said Nye.

Petters paid special tribute to the men and women who build aircraft carriers. "Integrity, commitment, steadfastness, honesty and uncompromising ethics.These are the qualities we will model as we take steel, electronics and millions of components, to create a fitting tribute and living testament to a president who took a country in need and in pain and provided a much needed sense of calm and unity," said Petters. "We are shipbuilders, this is our duty, our obligation, a job we take very seriously, and one we are honored to perform."

Named after the 38th president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the first ship of the new Gerald R. Ford class. The Ford class will continue the legacy of highly capable U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ship platforms. Enhancements incorporated into the design include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems, and a redesigned island, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie rates. It will also include new nuclear power plants; increased electrical power generation capacity; allowance for future technologies; and reduced workload for the sailors, translating to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy. Delivery to the Navy is scheduled for 2015.

(Left to right) U.S. Senator Carl Levin, (D-Mich); Ship Sponsor Susan Ford Bales; Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Mike Petters; and Shipbuilder Robert Bowker. Bowker welded Bales initials onto a plate, which will be permanently affixed to the ship.




Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation


Artist depiction CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford-class Super Aircraft Carriers (U.S. Navy). Length: 333 m

 

[Metallic]

Raytheon Completes Critical Design Review for CVN 78's Dual Band Radar
UNITED STATES - 16 NOVEMBER 2009

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the U.S. Navy recently completed a critical design review (CDR) for the Dual Band Radar, which will be installed on the Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).

The DBR, produced by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), is the Navy's most advanced multifunction radar; it will provide superior surveillance capabilities supporting air operations and ship self defense. Leveraging advanced technologies to meet the carrier mission requirements in both deep water and littoral environments, DBR will be the U.S. Navy's most capable radar and a critical asset for the fleet.

The review demonstrated that the radar, currently in production for the Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000), meets the critical operational requirements of the Ford-class aircraft carrier. As a result of DBR's modular, open architecture design, only minor modifications need to be made to accommodate specific platform differences between DDG 1000 and CVN 78. The DBR's open architecture design provides the flexibility to adapt the radar to different naval surface combatant platforms, combat systems and missions.

"This review validates the open architecture benefits and the advanced capabilities of the Dual Band Radar, which is a tremendous advantage for America's new aircraft carrier class as well as other ships in the fleet," said Raytheon IDS' Bob Martin, vice president and deputy of Seapower Capability Systems. "The system provides the warfighter with an unmatched combination of capability, interoperability, affordability, and reliability."

The successful critical design review confirms that the DBR components tailored for CVN 78 have been assessed by the Navy as ready to transition into production. Captain Frank Arata, U.S. Navy Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare Systems (CVN Integration), validated the program milestone and declared the CDR "outstanding."

The Dual Band Radar combines the benefits of S-band and X-band radar capabilities to provide superior performance in a broad range of environments against a variety of threats; its innovative design greatly reduces manning.

The radar supports a wide variety of mission requirements, including ship self defense and anti-air warfare; anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; situational awareness; land attack; naval gunfire support; surface search; navigation; and air traffic control. The radar's capabilities include horizon search; volume surveillance; and fire control tracking, missile guidance and illumination for the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and Standard Missile.

Designed to support growth requirements to meet emerging missions, Dual Band Radar is easily enhanced to add new mission capabilities, such as ballistic missile defense.

Work on CVN 78 DBR is performed at Raytheon IDS Headquarters, Tewksbury, Mass., and at the Surveillance and Sensors Center, Sudbury, Mass.


Source: Raytheon Company

 

[Metallic]

Northrop Grumman Completes Detail Design of Gerald R. Ford Product Model
UNITED STATES - 24 NOVEMBER 2009

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has completed the development of the detail design phase for the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) in the 3-dimensional Product Model. Gerald R. Ford is being built by the Shipbuilding sector in Newport News, Va., and is the Navy's first aircraft carrier to be completely designed using a 3-dimensional Product Model.

The 3-dimensional Product Model is the key enabler to execute the design/build process for manufacturing, construction, and testing through delivery, and includes definition of the ship's geometry, and technical definition of the ship's parts including the procurement, planning and manufacturing data. CVN 78's product model has over three million parts.

"This milestone is an important accomplishment for our design, engineering and construction teams, who have been working on the product model since 2001," said Mike Shawcross, vice president of aircraft carrier construction programs. "We will continue to develop, mature and extract the engineering and planning instructions for construction from the product model, but we have reached the point where all the initial design data have been loaded into the Product Model and the entire carrier now exists in the virtual environment. This virtual environment is very beneficial to our construction teams on the waterfront as it allows them to see and walk through the spaces before they actually build them."

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) class will continue the legacy of highly capable U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ship platforms. Enhancements incorporated into the design include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems, and an island design that incorporates the government's latest technology in warfare, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie rates. It will include advanced nuclear power plants with increased electrical power generation capacity; allowance for future technologies; and reduced workload for the sailors, translating to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy. The keel of the first ship of the class, Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), which is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015, was laid Nov. 14, 2009.


Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation

 

[DavyJones]

maybe the US will be well served spending money on CI and infantry rather than carriers.