Login Tuesday, 7 February 2012

•• CURRENT ISSUE:        DIGITAL EDITION •• Volume 10, Issue 1 February 2012   KMI MEDIA GROUP WEBSITES SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

Five years after accepting delivery and slightly more than a year after being declared operational, the Advanced SEAL Delivery System program went up in flames. While recharging its batteries at its homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a fire broke out that damaged the ASDS operations compartment, which affected all of the boat’s operating systems. The battery system, sonar, motors and controllers, anchor assembly, and hull were also damaged. According to USSOCOM, “Naval Sea Systems Command and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard estimates it will cost $237 million, $180 million more than USSOCOM’s ASDS budget, and 32 months to repair the submersible.” With that number in the air, USSOCOM announced that “competing funding priorities for the current and projected USSOCOM budgets prevent the command from repairing the Advanced SEAL Delivery System.” The program proved technologically challenging even as some elements validated the requirement sought by Naval Special Warfare. A separate project under way to continue to provide a current operational capability is for a submarine launched, free-flooding, shallow water combat submersible (SWCS) vehicle. This capability is currently maintained by the MK 8 MOD 1 SEAL Delivery Vehicle. Although cost is certainly a factor in the ASDS, and even if there had not been a fire, the program was not necessarily going to move beyond its current status, and the need for a dry submersible can be made. Despite engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan with limited amounts of exposed coastline, the future will certainly play out in the littorals. Expensive tactical systems need only prove their premise once to be considered a success, but are they worth it? Drop me an e-mail on your thoughts on the value of an ASDS-like platform (jeffm@kmimediagroup. com). As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. All the best. Jeffrey D. McKaughan    Editor-In-Chief 301.670.5700 x130 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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