Seapower - August 2009

Rella, a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Spring Hill College who has been building ships since 1990, said Austal has about 140 employees engaged in the design of the JHSV, including about 50 engineers in the United States and about 50 in Perth, Australia.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is the lead contractor for the JHSV’s mission systems.

The JHSV successfully completed its Initial Critical Design Review in April. The Final Critical Design Review is scheduled for September. The Defense Acquisition Board’s program review, necessary for authorization to start production, is slated for November. Construction of the first hull is scheduled to begin Nov. 13. The ship is scheduled for delivery Nov. 13, 2011.

The first JHSV will be delivered to the Army. The next two ships will be delivered to the Army and Navy.

At delivery, there will be no significant differences between the ships,

but the services could modify them post-delivery to meet their unique requirements, Sutton said.

The program office is looking at options to provide bridge simulators for the JHSV. The Army already operates a sophisticated simulator at Fort Eustis, Va., that has been used to train LCS crews for the Navy.

“I’m working with the Army and MSC to see if we can leverage that capability and make some modifications and have a simulator for Joint High-Speed Vessels,” Sutton said.

Commenting on why Austal was selected to build the JHSV, Sutton said, “If you look at technical approach, management approach, costs and facilities, they provided best value to the Navy.”

Sutton attributes program success so far to high design maturity of the technology incorporated in the design — proven in commercial HSVs and military experiments — and the stable requirements for the JHSV.

“That’s a biggie,” he said. “No major changes to requirements, no additional requirements to our baseline. There have been some minor clarifications that would constitute a change, but no additional requirements.” ■

AUSTAL USA ILLUSTRATION

The JHSV’s cargo bay will provide 20,053 square feet of space, and be able to accommodate the M1A2 tank, Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement and Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Its flight deck can accommodate helicopters, including the H- 60, CH-46 and CH-53E, in seas up to Sea State 3.

The JHSV will not have an alongside underway replenishment capability, Rella said, although it can receive vertical replenishment via rotary-wing aircraft.

Sutton said the Navy plans for its JHSV to be manned by about 22 civilian mariners from Military Sealift Command (MSC). The Army plans for a crew of 31. The ship will feature 15 staterooms for crew berthing for a capacity of 41 personnel.

Four .50-caliber machine guns will provide 360- degree defensive coverage for the JHSV, which is designed to operate independently in permissive environments or under the protection of the Navy’s Sea Shield. The Navy still is in the process of deciding the issue of who will operate the guns, given that the crew will be civilian mariners.

The JHSV is being built in accordance with High-Speed Naval Craft Rules which, Rella said, are less stringent than the Naval Vessel Rules under which General Dynamics’ LCS is being built.

The design is making maximum use of commercial, high-speed craft standards, including American Bureau of Shipping, U.S. Coast Guard and commercial, off-the-shelf equipment, with limited modification for military applications, according to Sutton.