By Ann Roosevelt
The new Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) is moving toward construction of ships for the Army and Navy, according to the program manager.
“The program is on track to start construction at the conclusion of detailed design and continue on into sustained production,” Capt. George Sutton, JHSV Program manager, said at the Surface Navy Association symposium earlier this month.
“Our acquisition strategy is a single step to full capability, meaning there are no increments or no spirals we’re going to our objective and threshold capability for our Joint High Speed Vessel, “he said.
A joint program office led by the Navy manages the JHSV program, currently expected to consist of five ships for the Army and another five for the Navy. The first ship will go to the Army.
“From a strategic perspective, JHSV fits in between low-speed sealift and high-speed air lift,” Sutton said. “It also contributes to the maritime security mission. It also can contribute to the humanitarian and disaster relief missions.”
The conclusion of Milestone B in November concluded the technology development phase.
“We completed that in two and a half years–faster than most shipbuilding programs–but we had a head start with some of the ACTDs and the prior development and the risk reduction,” Sutton said.
In November, Austal USA was awarded a Phase II $185 million contract as the prime contractor, with General Dynamics [GD] Advanced Information Systems as the Platform Systems Engineering Agent (Defense Daily, Nov. 14). The award is for one vessel, with an option for nine more. The work will be done at the company’s American site in Mobile, Ala., and completed by November 2010.
The concept of operations for JHSV is for it to self-deploy from the United States and operate intra-theater. It will be required to interface with the Mobile Landing Platform, part of the incremental Maritime Prepositioned Force Future.
Before the creation of the JHSV program, there were at least four technology demonstrators operated by the Army and Navy that informed the requirements process and reduced risk for the acquisition program, Sutton said.
The Military Sealift Command’s Westpac Express was one of the demonstrators. Austal also constructed it. The 101-meter vessel is still in service in the Pacific area. The Incat-built Joint Venture and Spearhead, wave-piercing catamarans were both used by the Army and Navy to shape their requirements process. Another high-speed vessel, the Swift, was modified to meet other requirements, such as aviation.
“The current Joint High Speed Vessel that currently is under detailed design and construction and built by AustalUSA meets or exceeds all key performance parameters,” Sutton said.
The aluminum hull boat is to be 103 meters to accommodate a crew of 41.
Highlighting transport capability, Sutton highlighted the iron triangle of requirements–speed, payload and range–the JHSV speed is 35 knots, the threshold payload is 600 short tons at a range of 1,200 nautical miles. Austal has been able to achieve the objective capability of 700 short tons at the same speed and range.
Among the vessel’s key features is a requirement for 20,000 square feet of mission bay, with interface connections for water, power, air and network connections for the (20- foot equivalent units) TEUs–containers that come on board in the mission bay. The vessel also can structurally support M1A2 tanks structurally in the mission bay that has an overhead clearance requirement of 15.5 feet. Boats can also be launched and recovered.
The JHSV will also be able to move 27,000 pounds from the mission bay to the flight bay and move 40,000 pounds from the mission bay to the pier, he said. The ship has a telescoping boom crane. The stern ramp can support an M1A2 tank and can slew out 45 degrees.
The vessel can support logistics-type aircraft–the H-60, CH-53, and H-46–day and night and in all weather, Sutton said.
“One of our key performance parameters is to have austere port access. You see a draft of 12.5 feet offers supreme maneuverability with the water jets,” he said.
JHSV will be operational in sea state 3 and survivable in sea state 7.
For self-protection, Sutton said the current requirement is to have an Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP)-type suite. The ship has space, weight and services available for mounts on the four corners with 360-degree coverage. The mounts meet the threshold requirement for .50 caliber-equivalent guns, though the final decision on what kind of weapon has not been made.
The program has leveraged commercial technology and used some “state-of-the-shelf” technology for such things as propulsion control, navigation and electronics control, Sutton said.
Once the vessel has been delivered, there will be tests, trials and certifications and operational tests.