{"id":28165,"date":"2019-01-10T21:14:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T21:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/10\/oh-me-what-will-become-of-flight-iii-ddg-the-drift-xiii\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:24:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:24:06","slug":"oh-me-what-will-become-of-flight-iii-ddg-the-drift-xiii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/the-drift\/2019\/01\/10\/oh-me-what-will-become-of-flight-iii-ddg-the-drift-xiii\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh me! What will become of Flight III DDG?: The Drift XIII"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n
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Navigation Brief<\/h2>\n\n

WASHINGTON – Good \n\nEvening, Drifters<\/p>\n\n

It’s Surface Navy Association time, the most wonderful time \n\nof the year as far as I’m concerned.<\/p>\n\n

Look for some coverage to drop Monday and Tuesday, stories \n\nI’ve been working on for a long-damn time that I think will \n\ngive folks a good idea of where the future of the U.S. surface fleet \n\nlies. But for now I want to hone in on one issue that a good friend \n\nand trusted resource of mine has raised repeatedly over the past \n\nyear.<\/p>\n\n

Bryan Clark, the retired submariner and brilliant naval analyst \n\nwith the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, has been \n\nsaying for months now that there was a shift happening in the surface \n\nforce toward more passive sensors, and that the DDG Flight III may \n\nnot be best suited for that new model.<\/p>\n\n

We’ll dive into that today in this week’s issue of The \n\nDrift.<\/p>\n\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n

DBL<\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n

The Navy is knee-deep in its newest surface combatant project, the \n\nDDG Flight III.<\/p>\n\n

First, a little primer on the Flight III: It’s a larger \n\nversion of the Flight IIA, with the extra space being used up largely \n\nto support power and cooling for Raytheon’s new SPY-6 Air and \n\nMissile Defense Radar<\/a>. The first in the class, DDG-125, was \n\nawarded to Huntington Ingalls in June 2017 and was followed by DDG-\n\n126, which will be built at Bath Iron Works.  <\/p>\n\n

The Navy last year inked a 10-hull multiyear contract which gave \n\nsix to Huntington Ingalls and four to Bath Iron Works. All told there \n\nhave been 13 awarded and the breakdown goes thusly:<\/p>\n\n

HII: DDG 125, 128, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137  <\/p>\n\n

BIW: DDG 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138<\/p>\n\n

So as of today, the Navy is planning to buy 29 Flight IIIs, but \n\nthere is reason to doubt that the Navy will end up with that \n\nmany.<\/p>\n\n

That’s where Bryan Clark, naval analyst extraordinaire at \n\nCSBA, comes in. During the past few months I’ve had a number of \n\nconversations with him where he mentioned that the DDG Flight III may \n\nnot be the best use of the Navy’s money considering the \n\ndirection it wants to go in the way it fights the wars of the future. \n\nI gave him a call to flesh that out a bit.<\/p>\n\n

Note<\/span>: \n\n“Multistatic” means taking in sensor inputs from multiple \n\nsensor platforms spread out in a network.<\/p>\n\n

The Quote: <\/strong>“So, the surface Navy probably \n\nneeds to think about how they intend to do sensing and missile \n\ndefense in the future. [Chief of Naval Operations’ surface \n\nwarfare director Rear Adm. Ron] Boxall has been talking about \n\nshifting to this new surface fleet that focuses on passive and \n\nmulti-static sensing. That would mean that big, monostatic sensors \n\nlike the SPY-6 are less important for offensive operating in the \n\nfuture.”<\/p>\n\n

Basically that means that the Navy wants to have multiple sensors \n\naloft and on the water that can passively detect and triangulate \n\ntargets and relay that information back to a shooter such as an FFG\n\n(X) or a large surface combatant. See this article for more \n\ndetails:<\/p>\n\n

The US Navy’s \n\nsurface fleet: Here’s what’s ahead in 2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Now, on its surface it might seem like Clark is saying that the \n\nNavy is buying precisely the wrong platform for the kind of fleet the \n\nNavy wants to build. But there are some caveats: For missions like \n\nballistic missile defense patrols or carrier defense, you need a big, \n\nmonostatic SPY-6 radar. Also, the SPY-6 has “very capable \n\npassive sensing technology” that may be useful if there is \n\nanother platform acting as an illuminator. But the question is, is \n\nthe current SPY-6, designed largely for BMD, the right version?<\/p>\n\n

“Is there a version that may be better at passive sensing \n\nthan the current configuration?” Clark asks?<\/p>\n\n

The Navy is looking at starting a large surface combatant in 2024. \n\nThat might mean that the Flight III would be capped early as the Navy \n\nlooks to move to something that fits more into this passive \n\nmultistatic scheme of the future.<\/p>\n\n

Just something to think about.<\/p>\n\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n

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The Hotwash<\/h2>\n\n

A couple of interesting pieces \n\nover at USNI this week.<\/p>\n\n

Sam Lagrone reports that the destroyer Dewey rattled off 20 \n\nhypervelocity projectiles from the Mk. 45 five-inch deck gun.<\/p>\n\n

Excerpt:<\/strong> The test, conducted by the Navy and \n\nthe Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office as part of the Rim \n\nof the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 international exercise, was part of a \n\nseries of studies to prove the Navy could turn the more than 40-\n\nyear-old deck gun design into an effective and low-cost weapon \n\nagainst cruise missiles and larger unmanned aerial vehicles.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

While the HVP was originally designed to be the projectile for \n\nthe electromagnetic railgun, the Navy and the Pentagon see the \n\npotential for a new missile defense weapon that can launch a guided \n\nround at near-hypersonic speeds. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

Read More: <\/strong>Navy Quietly Fires 20 Hyper \n\nVelocity Projectiles Through Destroyer’s Deckgun<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Secondly, SECNAV Spencer said he’s going to have the \n\nelevator problem on the Ford-class Carrier fixed by this summer.<\/p>\n\n

Excerpt: <\/strong>“I asked him to stick his hand \n\nout; he stuck his hand out. I said, let’s do this like \n\ncorporate America. I shook his hand and said, the elevators will be \n\nready to go when she pulls out or you can fire me,” Spencer \n\nsaid, adding that someone had to take accountability over the ongoing \n\nelevator challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

“We’re going to get it done. I know I’m \n\ngoing to get it done. I haven’t been fired yet by anyone; being \n\nfired by the president really isn’t on the top of my \n\nlist.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n

SECNAV to Trump: Ford Carrier Weapons Elevators Will be Fixed by \n\nSummer, or ‘Fire Me’<\/a><\/p>\n\n

More Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Navy officer funded high-stakes poker \n\nhabit with almost $3 million in stolen government cash<\/a><\/p>\n\n

CSIS Commentary: Taking a \n\nBi-Partisan Approach to Combatting Illegal Fishing<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Is the Navy’s new boot a flop?\n\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n

US Navy Plans To Send More Ships Into The Arctic As \n\nIt Looks To Establish New Polar Port<\/a><\/p>\n\n

MBDA Mistral Missile Gets \n\nAnti-Surface Capabilities<\/a><\/p>\n\n \n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n

\n \n

Send me \n\nyour feedback!<\/h2>\n\n

Thank you for supporting The \n\nDrift! If you like what you see, please tell your friends to sign up<\/a>. If you \n\nhave any questions, concerns or feedback, or if you are a public \n\naffairs officer wishing to gripe about something, please email me at \n\ndlarter@defensenews.com<\/a>.<\/p\n\n>\n \n \n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/table>\n \n \n \n

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