NEWS
PEOPLE & COMPANY NEWS
Gibbs & Cox Wins Navy Deal The U.S. Navy awarded a Lockheed Martin led industry team a fixed price incentive fee contract to construct the Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Gibbs & Cox, Inc., naval architects and marine engineers, is the Design Agent for the Lockheed Martin Team. The Lockheed Martin team design for LCS is a semi-planing steel monohull that is designed to provide outstanding maneuverability with sea-keeping characteristics and innovative design features to support launch and recovery operations of manned and unmanned vehicles. Reaching speeds of more than 40 knots, the ship is a networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and the potential for a wide range of additional missions, including maritime interdiction and humanitarian/disaster relief. T-AKE Class Grows The Lewis and Clark-class of dry cargo/ammunition ships (T-AKE) continued to grow last month with the launch of the eighth ship in the class and the delivery of the seventh to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. USNS Wally Schirra was christened and launched during an early morning ceremony March 8 at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. Ship's sponsor Josephine F. Schirra, wife of the ship's namesake, broke the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow. Hawaii Super Ferry Ceases Operations According to a report from the Associated Press, Hawaii's Supreme Court on March 16 ruled that a state law allowing a high-speed ferry to operate while an environmental study was being conducted was unconstitutional. The ferry has consequently ceased operations.
High-Speed Network for Navy Ships
Atlas-Elektronik -- in cooperation with Tesat-Spacecom and Synopta -- is offering what it terms a 'quantum leap' in maritime communications technology, a system which will be designed to allow naval vessels to interconnect their combat systems and, for example, exchange large quantities of reconnaissance data in real time. The three partners are developing a hybrid technology: a radio connection with a very high bandwidth is supplemented by an integrated optical link offering an extremely high bandwidth. This hybrid connection is designed to be available during all weather conditions, and will form the backbone of the highspeed link. The first systems for the purpose of interconnecting ships within a particular operational area will be rolled out this year. In the second phase, a satellite network will be used to connect vessels beyond the boundaries of their operational area, even globally. The systems of the first generation are already designed with this capability in mind.
Among other features, the new highspeed link permits the continuous transmission of real-time reconnaissance videos between two ships.
GE to Supply RAN
the AWD program will be manufactured at GE's Evendale, Ohio, facility. The base and enclosure assemblies for the LM2500s will be manufactured by Thales Australia Limited, through a business component in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Thales manufactures all of the LM2500 bases and enclosures for the United States Navy and international customers that select the U.S. Navy-configured propulsion module.
The New ZF 9000 Series
The new ZF 9000 Series transmissions from ZF Marine are the latest in a long line of marine transmissions designed to handle the demands of high-power engines. With its design flexibility, the ZF 9000 Series is suited for any vessel -- including patrol craft, fast ferries, and luxury yachts -- that require compact, lightweight, high-performance propulsion. The series is available in several configurations, including parallel offset (vertical or horizontal), down-angle, and V-drive, and offers ratios of approximately 1.5 to 5.2. The 9000 series is available with accessories such as trailing pumps and Power Take-Offs (PTO). Some models have optional Power TakeIns (PTI) to take advantage of ZF Marine's Hybrid technology. This enables a vessel to carry out extensive duties using only an auxiliary power source, extending operating range, reducing emissions, and improving fuel economy. The first production series models for N. America will be installed in a 170 ft yacht from Palmer Johnson.
www.zf-marine.com Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
GE Marine will supply ASC Shipbuilding, Adelaide, Australia, with six LM2500 gas turbines to power three Royal Australian Navy (RAN) advanced Air Warfare Destroyers (AWD). Each Hobart class AWD will feature two LM2500s configured into a COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) arrangement with two diesel engines. The vessels will be built at the ASC's Osborne shipyard. The RAN's new destroyers will use the same design developed by Navantia of Spain and used for the Spanish Navy's F100 frigate program. The LM2500 gas turbines for
Contract for 12 Halifax Class Frigates
Northstar Network Ltd. (Northstar) won a $2.6m contract by L-3 Communications MAPPS Inc. to manufacture 66 Standard Marine Consoles and 60 Local Operating Panels as part of its Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), to modernize the Canadian Navy's 12 Halifax Class. L-3 MAPPS first implemented the Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS) on the Canadian Patrol Frigate program in the 1980's. Since then, the company has been continuously been innovating its open-architecture IPMS.
80