Navy ship $840 million over budget and still unfinished

THE HIGHLY TOUTED nerve center of the new, $1.8 billion amphibious ship San Antonio is fraught with computer hardware crashes that could cripple operations.

The ship lacks basic safety equipment, such as hand rails and reliable guns to battle close-in attacks.

In all, Navy inspectors found 30 major flaws aboard the San Antonio, according to an internal report obtained by The Virginian-Pilot.

Despite the deficiencies, the Navy has earmarked $13 billion to purchase nine amphibious ships in the San Antonio class.

The report reflects some of the same problems disclosed by The Pilot in July 2005. Two years later, the San Antonio is still incomplete and $840 million over budget.

Navy version of F-35 clear for production

All three versions of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter have now cleared the final milestone needed before entering the production phase.

The carrier version of the cutting-edge F-35 recently passed its Air System Critical Design Review, putting it on track for Low Rate Initial Production.

The conventional and short-takeoff, vertical landing variants of the plane passed the CDR earlier and have been approved for LRIP.

Russia holds successful missile test

Russia said a new sea-based ballistic missile made its first successful test flight Thursday after several previous failures, in what was the country’s second major test of new rocket technology in a month.

Capt. Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian navy, told The Associated Press that the Bulava missile was fired from the submarine Dmitry Donskoi in northern Russia’s White Sea and hit its target on the Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka, about 4,200 miles east of Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin has hailed Bulava as a key component of Russia’s nuclear forces for years to come, saying it has the ability to penetrate any prospective missile defenses. However, three earlier tests in recent years failed, raising doubts about the missile.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst, said a successful launch would be a good sign for Russian missile forces, but he said he had doubts because of the Bulava’s past track record and the military’s penchant for secrecy.

Will Chavez buy submarines from Russia?

The Venezuelan authorities are exploring the possibility of purchasing Russian submarines. A confirmation of this, says the daily Izvestia, has come from President Hugo Chavez’s adviser, representative of the General Staff, General Alberto Muller Rojas.

“The chances of concluding a such a deal are being discussed, but no funds have been allocated yet,” he said.

Chavez was evasive, when asked about the possibility his country might acquire Russian-built submarines, but did not deny such a possibility, either.

“Why not?” Chavez said in reply. “A decision has not been made yet, but we are faced with the task of protecting a long maritime border.”

Brahmos Airspace to design submarine-launched missiles

The Russian-Indian joint venture Brahmos Airspace has been designing a variant of a Brahmos supersonic cruise missile to be launched from submarines to track surface targets.

The joint venture’s CEO, Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, said Indian specialists have already conducted talks with designers of the Rubin Design Bureau for Marine Engineering.

Specialists found out that Brahmos may be launched from 877EKM Kilo-class diesel submarines. The Indian Navy has ten such submarines in its fleet.

If India buys Russia’s fourth-generation Amur-1650 submarines, they can be equipped with eight vertical launch tubes.

India plans to begin Brahmos test launches from 877EKM submarines soon.

Russia May Export Up To 40 New Diesel Submarines By 2015

Russia could sell up to 40 fourth-generation diesel submarines to foreign customers in the next seven and a half years, the state-run arms exporter said Wednesday. “Analysis of the demand on foreign markets shows that 30 to 40 new Russian submarines could be sold by 2015,” Rosoboronexport said in a statement posted on its Web site. Russia has ensured high export potential in this segment of the submarine market by developing state-of-the-art Project 636 and Project 677 diesel submarines.

The Project 636 Kilo-class submarine is thought to be one of the most silent submarine classes in the world. It has been specifically designed for anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations in relatively shallow waters.

Russia has built Kilo-class submarines for India, China and Iran.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 and is filed under Acquisition Policy, India, Maritime Strategy News, Navy, Russia, Venezuela. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.