Corps commandant voices his support for DD(X)

[USMCRET6391]

By Andrew Scutro
Times staff writer

The Marines want DD(X) as much as their brothers in blue, said Gen. Mike Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps.

“When we have forces ashore, and especially as they are moving ashore, and before we get all of our heavy weapon systems ashore,” Hagee said, “we need [fire] support and that is going to come from the sea. DD(X) is part of that.”

Hagee gave his endorsement of the embattled future Navy destroyer Oct. 26 during a media availability at an expeditionary warfare conference in Panama City, Fla.

Among other capabilities, DD(X) plans envision two 155mm automated guns that can fire precision barrages at distances of up to 83 miles. The ship would also carry vertical launch missile tubes capable of shooting land attack Tomahawks.

The focus of the conference was new concepts for amphibious assault from a networked flotilla called a “seabase” and the attendant framework initiated by Seapower 21.

“DD(X) provides an all-weather support and it provides a Sea Shield that’s critical in any expeditionary amphibious operation,” Hagee said.

Standing next to the Commandant as he spoke was Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Mullen.

Mullen is hard pressed to find ways to pay for a future Navy fleet as well as the sailors who serve it.

DD(X) has faced some stiff opposition on Capitol Hill because of its hefty price tag. Official Navy estimates put the first ship at $3.3 billion and $2.2 billion for follow-on models. per ship for those following.

Everyone agrees that’s too expensive.

“That’s one of my challenges with respect to its future,” Mullen said.

[Grimmy]

wow, sounds like the DD(x) concept is a good replacement for the old Battleships.

Can do shore bombardment out to as far as needed with either guns or missles. 155mm may not be 16"ers but would still lay the smack down on newer, smaller ships in service in all Navies around the world and 80+mile range is nothing to sneeze at in a gun that sized.

All that in a smaller package than the old battleships.

[ArchAngel]

What is a DD(X)??

[Grimmy]

Arch, an easy google of DD(X) will answer all questions you can dream up on the subject. Give it a try.

[USMCRET6391]

DD(X), 21st Century Destroyer

Description: DD(X) is the U.S. Navy’s future multi-mission surface combatant designed to deliver precision strike and fire support, dominate the littoral environment and defeat the most challenging threats. It is a member of the Navy’s family of 21st century surface combatants, which is also comprised of the next-generation air dominance cruiser, CG(X), and the Littoral Combat Ship, LCS. Together these warships will deliver balanced and complementary capabilities to the fleet, providing U.S. and allied forces with the full spectrum of maritime warfighting capabilities.

DD(X) provides the technological foundation for generations of U.S. warship classes, including surface combatants, aircraft carriers, amphibious ships and auxiliaries. DD(X) is not only developing several critical technologies and systems for the future fleet but will integrate them into a complete warfighting system that introduces powerful and effective operating principles to naval warfare. These include the employment of optimal manning through human systems integration, low operations and support costs, multi-spectral signature reduction, balanced warfighting design for littoral operations, improved quality of life, survivability, and adaptability.

With its stealthy signature and unprecedented mix of precise, volume naval gunfire, DD(X) will shatter the traditional notion of a surface combatant.

Its lethal offensive punch includes Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) and two 155mm Advanced Gun Systems. DD(X)’s battery of two AGS will fire precision-guided Long-Range Land Attack Projectiles that reach 85 nm, nearly seven times farther than and cover more than 100 times the area of current Mk 45 5-inch guns. Military operational experience since the end of the Cold War and a series of evaluations have repeatedly emphasized and validated DD(X)’s requirement to provide this type of low-cost, all-weather, sustainable precision naval gunfire.

The ship’s payload of 1,000-nautical-mile-plus TLAMs will be housed in the peripherally mounted Advanced Vertical Launch System, a new damage-tolerant system that directs explosive damage outward, reducing the chance of a single-hit ship loss.

DD(X) will use a wave-piercing tumblehome hull designed to reduce signature and to provide stability in high sea states. The ship’s open architecture Total Ship Computing Environment will use “plug-and-play” systems to provide adaptability and scalability to cost effectively upgrade and modernize the class throughout its service life. Utilizing spiral development, DD(X) will ensure compatibility with future ships, such as CG(X), and accommodate insertion of new technologies and operational capabilities.

Equipped with state-of-the-art, network-centric information systems, DD(X) will operate seamlessly with other naval, ground, and land-based air forces. The ship’s advanced command, control, and computing systems and persistent time-critical strike capability will revolutionize joint fire support and ground maneuver operations, while also providing strike group or joint task force commanders the freedom to direct aircraft to other high-value targets of opportunity, as appropriate.

The ship’s cutting edge sensors and combat system – which includes the Integrated Undersea Warfare System and the Dual-Band Radar suite comprising an X-band Multi-Function Radar and S-band Volume Search Radar – will enable the ship to counter the most challenging maritime threats on, above and below the sea for decades.

Paving the way for future U.S. warships, DD(X) will introduce integrated electric propulsion via the Integrated Power System, consisting of two main and two auxiliary turbine engines that will produce and efficiently distribute power for all of the ship’s electrical needs, from the motors that drive the ship to its combat systems and “hotel” services. The ship’s IPS will generate and efficiently distribute sufficient power to enable future employment of directed-energy weapons such as electromagnetic rail guns, lasers and high-power microwave devices.

Program Status: Currently in preliminary design, DD(X) has achieved all of its development milestones on schedule. The program completed a successful system-level preliminary design review on 18 March 2004 and separate preliminary design reviews of all 10 Engineering Development Models over the past two years. The program’s Phase IV acquisition strategy for detail design and construction of the lead and first five ships of the class was approved on 24 February 2004.

A National Team, led by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (prime contractor) and Raytheon (weapon and electronic systems integrator), is leading the DD(X) design effort. The Navy plans to award detail design and construction for the lead ship of the class in March 2005. The lead ship is scheduled for fleet delivery in 2011 and to enter service in 2013.

[Grimmy]

So, seeing as how this new ship class type will be the base that all future ship class types will be built upon for along time to come... yeah, good reason to be messing around with the cost and budget now. That way the US Congress can ensure that the tradition of compromized and half assed systems production remains unchanged for at least one more generation.