Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2001)

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Top Navy Officer Supports DD-21

Admiral Vernon Clark, the chief of naval operations and the top U.S. Navy officer, last month was reported as rec- ommending that the service stick to its plan to build a multi-billion-dollar class of new destroyers despite a crunch on funds for new warships. "I'd love to have DD-21," Adm. Clark is reported as saying, referring to the Zumwalt- class destroyer designed chiefly to support

Marines ashore with long-range fire- power. He called the program central to our transformation effort for the 21st century.

The DD-21 is one of the biggest U.S. arms programs apparently in danger of being killed in Defense Department strategy reviews under way. On May 31, the Navy announced it was delaying the selection of a team to build as many as 32 of the ships at a combined value of up to $30 billion pending the outcome of the studies.

The rival teams - headed by General

Dynamics Corp.'s Bath Iron Works

Shipyard and Lockheed Martin Corp. on the one hand and by Litton Industries'

Ingalls shipyard division and Raytheon

Co. on the other - had been scheduled to make their "best and final" contract pro- posals to the Navy in early June.

The budget provides for six new ships and 88 naval aircraft next year, three fewer than needed to sustain the approx- imately 316-ship Navy recommended in the 1997 congressionally mandated

Quadrennial Defense Review, the most recent such blueprint.

The budget also provides continued research and development funds for the

DD-21, which features electric-drive engines, reduced manning concepts, advanced radar technology and a power- ful new gun. At current funding levels, the Navy would shrink to 230 ships over time, not enough to cover the force pro- jection requirements of the United

States for the foreseeable future, Clark said. Low orders were also undercutting the defense industrial base.

Austal Breaks Into U.S. Military

Austal Limited has signed a premiere contract with the U.S. Marine Corp to charter a 331 ft. (101-m) high speed

Theatre Logistics Vessel, which is being chartered by the Third Marine Expedi- tionary Force (III MEF) for the rapid deployment of Marine battalions and equipment in the Western Pacific.

The contract involves an initial 'proof of concept' period of approximately two months but it is anticipated that this will be extended for a longer period once the vessel demonstrates its ability to meet the Marines' needs.

Operations will be conducted between

White Beach Okinawa, Yokosuka Naval

Base, Iwakuni, and other ports in Japan.

The vessel will be named Westpac

Express in recognition of the Western

Pacific region in which it will operate.

Austal developed the high speed The- atre Logistics Vessel to enhance the capability of military organizations to rapidly move large numbers of troops and cargo during military operations.

The vessel has large bow and stern ramps enabling it to load and unload military vehicles in low infrastructure ports. With strengthened decks, internal hoistable ramps and mezzanine decks the vessel can carry a wide mix of mili- tary vehicles.

Circle 1 on Reader Service Card www. maritimereporterinfo. com $30M For Title XI Guarantees

The House Committee on Appropria- tions approved a bill that would provide $30 million for Title XI loan guarantees in Fiscal Year 2002, the highest level of

Title XI funding reported out of the

House Committee since its Fiscal Year 1998 Appropriations bill. "We're pleased that the Committee has provided $30 million in loan guarantees to fund this vital program," said Allen Walker, pres- ident of the Shipbuilders' Council of

America. "But that level will only guar- antee a small fraction of the $5 billion in projects pending Title XI approval." The bill, which also includes $4 million for administering the program, is expected to be considered on the House floor next week. If approved, the funding provided by the House Committee will be a major victory for supporters of the Title XI program, particularly since the Adminis- tration's Fiscal Year 2002 budget request eliminated Title XI funding.

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August, 2001

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