By Geoff Fein

The Navy last week opened its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Package Support Facility (MPSF), a 46,000-square foot West Coast site to store, maintain and ready for transport the modules that make LCS mission capable.

The facility, located at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme, Calif., will be manned and operated by Northrop Grumman [NOC]. The service will also provide five personnel for the MPSF, including one officer in charge, Chris Parsell MPSF deputy, told reporters during a briefing last week at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

The Navy had looked at the possibility of building a maintenance center at Naval Base San Diego, where the first LCSs will be homeported, along with using a commercial location outside of the base. A third option looked at reusing an existing building, Capt. Mike Good, program manager for the LCS Mission Module Program Office, told reporters during the briefing.

Along with providing support for the three mission packages: Mine Countermeasures, anti-Submarine warfare, and surface warfare, MPSF will also be home to the mission package computing suite.

MPSF will be up and running for LCS’ first deployment, which has been moved up two years, he added (Defense Daily, Oct. 15).

For support and possible repair of any mission package components, the Navy is looking at distance support or, in particular cases, by pulling together a “fly away” team , good said.

Former Commander Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Terrance Etnyre wanted to go about developing MPSF in a well thought out manner, Good said.

An assessment was conducted examining how to make the MPSF effort cost effective; how to get it built and ready in an aggressive timeline; and how to avoid building a unique infrastructure, he added.

The plan was to build “the capability for the mission package support in the Southwest region,” Good said.

Building a new facility would cost between $10.4 million and $12.6 million, depending on the location, Good said.

Finding an existing site fared no better because of concerns about contractual obligations deriving from a lease.

Reusing an existing building became an attractive alternative, Good said, because the up front investment was reduced by half. That meant a savings of approximately $5 million if a suitable location were found, he added.

At Naval Bases San Diego, “the challenge was finding real estate,” Good said.

But a few hundred miles up the road at NSWC Port Hueneme, an old Air Force building previously used by NASA, would fit the bill for the Navy.

The service acquired the site in the late 1980s. In September ’07, word came down to convert the site to the MPSF. By using an existing location, the Navy’s investment dropped to $1.7 million to prepare the building to house the MPSF, Good said.

The Navy had to move out 11 different projects and programs before undertaking the MPSF project, Parsell said.

“All the pieces are already here, we have a deep water port, a rail system (that runs directly into the MPSF), we are a one-day sail from San Diego,” Capt. John Ailes, commander NSWC Port Hueneme division, told reporters during the briefing.

In addition, next door to NSWC Port Hueneme is Naval Air Station Point Mugu, which has an air strip that could accommodate a cargo plane, Good noted.

And NSWC Port Hueneme is a few miles from a major north-south transportation route in California.

The Navy is also standing up a MPSF annex on the waterfront at Naval Base San Diego, Good added. The facility will allow personnel to ready mission packages on the waterfront, he said.

And the Navy is taking a look at where LCS, strategically, should be homeported, Good added. That will help determine where else the service might consider opening a second MPSF, he said.