Marine Design: SNAME Preview
VADM Sullivan to Address SNAME
By Greg Trauthwein
Though Vice Admiral Paul E. Sullivan serves as Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command -- an organization with more than 53,000 people and an annual budget of approximately $25b; an organization tasked with cradle to grave responsibilities in the building, designing, testing, overhauling, modernizing and disposal of the world's most dominant navy fleet -- it is comforting to realize that many of his concerns are perhaps similar to yours. Attracting and retaining qualified, quality people and juggling constantly to do more with less is standard operation procedure for the man who leads the organization that will help define U.S. military might for generations to come. VADM Sullivan was tapped as the featured speaker for the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) Annual Banquet, scheduled for Thursday, November 15, 2007, part of the festivities planned for the 2007 SNAME Maritime Technology Conference & Expo and Ship Production Symposium, scheduled for November 14-16, 2007 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. VADM Sullivan recently spent some time with MR to discuss his perspectives on the perpetual evolution of the maritime industry in the United States, specifically addressing his charted course for the Naval Sea Systems Command and its mission, including some enlightening comments on the future technology being developed for tomorrow's navy. "We are in the midst of a game changing evolution," VADM Sullivan said, referring both to the large number and types of U.S. Navy ships currently being designed and built, as well as the integration of next-generation technologies -- particularly in the area of electronics and information technology -- being incorporated in to the fleet's operation and warfighting systems. "The electronic and information age has carried on over to our ships," affecting every area of the ship, VADM Sullivan said. "The demand for shipboard electric power has skyrocketed, and next generation electric integration is very important." To lend perspective, he noted: "The
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technology of a propeller does not change that fast, and a propeller design should last the life of a ship. On the other hand, if I design a signal processor, I might have to change it five or six times during the life of the ship, because the technology is changing so rapidly." At the time of the interview, VADM Sullivan had not yet drafted his presentation for the SNAME event, but he admitted that -- given the audience -- his discussion will likely be directed to ship structure and design technology and the technological needs of the nextgeneration fleet, with insights on how industry and the navy can work together to fulfill those needs. In fact, the Navy has increasingly relied upon contractors and the industry to supply its solutions, as, for example, the headquarter staff at the Naval Sea Systems Command has been reduced from 4,800 in 1992 to about 2,350 today.
Technology Tomorrow
"We are in the midst of a game changing evolution," said Vice Admiral Paul E. Sullivan, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command.
The surface combatant Integrated Power System (IPS) propulsion Engineering Development Model (EDM) for the U.S. Navy's new Zumwalt-class DDG 1000 destroyer is being tested at the Land-Based Test Site (LBTS) at the Ships Systems Engineering Station, Philadelphia, PA. The new destroyer will be an all-electric ship; the Zumwalt-class ships will have two large gas turbine generators and two smaller ones that provide power that can be used for propulsion, weapons or ship services.
The U.S. Navy is embarked on a plan to increase its fleet size to 313 ships following decades of decline from the end of the Cold War and from the President Reagan-era mandate for a 600-ship Navy. Today, the fleet stands at 277 vessels. The push for the 600 ship navy in the 1980s "took a huge investment" according to VADM Sullivan, and there were a large number of ships and ship types being built. Following the end of the Cold War, however, he said "we took a procurement holiday, and now we are faced with block obsolescence of ships." Currently under design and evaluation are a new aircraft carrier, complete with a new propulsion plant and electromagnetic catapults; the new Zumwalt-class DDG1000, which will be an all-electric ship; the CG(X) cruiser, to replace the Ticonderoga class AEGIS cruisers; and last, but certainly not least, the two different Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) types, which are multi-modular vessels designed to operate closer to shore. While the roster is full of new ships and types, VADM Sullivan is striving to reduce the overall number of ship types, from the current level of 21 to about 15, in order to make training and maintenance more efficient. In overview, he counts the following as the top five chalMaritime Reporter & Engineering News