From Team Submarine Public Affairs
GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- The Navy accepted delivery of PCU
North Dakota (SSN 784), the 11th ship of the Virginia Class, on Aug. 29, two
days prior to its contract delivery date.
North Dakota is the first of eight Virginia Class Block III
ships. Approximately 20 percent of North Dakota was redesigned as part of the
Virginia Cost Reduction work done to lower acquisition cost and increase
operational flexibility. The changes include a ship's bow redesign, replacing
12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each
capable of launching six Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.
"North Dakota delivered ahead of schedule and under
budget," said Capt. David Goggins, Virginia Class program manager.
"When one considers the scope of design changes, this represents a
tremendous achievement."
Only six days ago North Dakota successfully completed Alpha,
Bravo, and Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) trials, which evaluate the
submarine's seaworthiness and operational capabilities. During the trials, the
crew took the submarine to test depth, conducted an emergency surfacing, and tested
the submarine's propulsion plant.
"North Dakota and her crew delivered an outstanding
performance," said Program Executive Officer for Submarines Rear Adm.
David C. Johnson. "It was almost 10 years ago that the first ship of the
class, USS Virginia delivered on Oct. 12, 2004. Since then, this program has
delivered 10 ships, with North Dakota the latest. We continue to meet the
Virginia Class standard of delivering submarines early, under cost, more
complete and ready for tasking right out of the shipyard. North Dakota set a
new benchmark for excellence in what is the arguably the best performing
program in defense acquisition."
The Navy postponed North Dakota's original May commissioning
date because of quality issues with vendor-assembled and delivered components
that required an unplanned dry-docking to correct. Additional design
certification work was also required on the submarine's redesigned bow.
"Now that certifications are complete, and we're armed
with lessons learned,we can move forward knowing that we are providing our
fleet with the most capable, and battle-ready submarine possible," said
Goggins.
North Dakota will spend the next two months preparing for
its Oct. 25 commissioning in Groton, Connecticut.
Virginia-class submarines are built to dominate the world's
littoral and deep waters while conducting Anti-Submarine; Anti-Surface Ship;
Strike; Special Operation Forces; Intelligence, Surveillance, and
Reconnaissance; Irregular Warfare; and Mine Warfare missions. Their inherent
stealth, endurance, firepower, and sensor suite directly enable them to support
five of the six Maritime Strategy Core Capabilities - Sea Control, Power
Projection, Forward Presence, Maritime Security, and Deterrence.
Team Submarine oversees the submarine force's research,
development, acquisition, maintenance and life cycle support.
No comments:
Post a Comment