Naval Foundry and Propeller Center executes another record casting

ByRyanBevitz

Naval Foundry and Propeller Center

PHILADELPHIA

TheNavalFoundry and Propeller Center continues to innovate as it executed the pouring of the largestnon-ferrousringinUnitedStateshistory on Thursday at its facility on the Philadelphia Navy Yard Weighing in at 112.5 tons this casting is anticipated to greatly reduce manufactur- ing time and continue to bolster the organization’s ability to support the Navy’s challenging needs Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Frederick J. Stefany and Dr Brett Seidle, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy Research, Development, Test, and Engineering were on hand to witness the record-breaking pour “We are well underway in Colum- bia-class production as evidenced by the large casting poured today at the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center for the Wisconsin (SSBN 827), said Matthew Sermon, who is the Executive Director, Program Executive Office for Strategic Submarines, “This pour, at approximately 220,000 pounds, is the second largest type in NFPC’s history Today’s pour was the result of NFPC’s casting process improvementsandlessonslearnedfromtheirpours for the District of Columbia (SSBN 826). These improvements have enabled NFPC tostayonthecuttingedgeoflargenon-ferrous castings. Locatedat1701KittyHawkAvenueatthe PhiladelphiaNavyYard,theNavalFoundry andPropellerCenterisamodernmanufacturingfacilitythatemploysahighlyskilled and versatile workforce of engineers, tradespeople, and support personnel.

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Naval War College professor shares history, breadth of unmanned systems with NUWC Division Newport workforce

ByPublicAffairsOffice

Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport NEWPORT, R.I. Robotic and unmanned systems are having an impact in many aspects of American culture. How thesesystemsareusedformilitaryandcivilian purposes was the topic of a Knowledge ManagementForumattheNavalUndersea WarfareCenter(NUWC)DivisionNewport onJan.18

Thelecture,titled“RobotsthatFly,Swim and Crawl,” was given by professor John E. Jackson of the Naval War College (NWC) andbroadcastvialivestream.

Basinghispresentationonhisbook“One Nation,UnderDrones,”publishedbytheU.S. NavalInstitutein2018 Jacksoncoveredthe historyofunmannedsystems currentapplications,andaglimpseatwherethetechnology is headed. The majority of examples Jacksonprovidedhavebeenusedforsurveillanceanddefensepurposesbythemilitary

“I hope the audience learned about the fullrangeofroboticsystemsinuseandthose being developed, and understand the capabilities and limitations of these ‘robots,’ ” Jacksonsaid.“Thesesystemshavematured due to the engineering and scientific developments made by the military in labs at NUWCandelsewhere.”

Mark Dalton, chief strategist in Division Newport’sStrategicPlanningOffice,invited Jacksontogivehisunclassifiedpresentation as part of the ongoing Knowledge ManagementForum.

“IinvitedprofessorJacksonasaneffortto expandthetopicareascoveredbytheforum and to build a greater connection between NUWCandtheNavalWarCollege,”Dalton said “While the professor covered UUVs, I thinkit’simportantforNUWCpersonnelto have a broader view of unmanned systems indomainsoutsideoftheunderseavariety.”

Jackson,whoholdstheE.A.SperryChair ofUnmannedandRoboticSystemsatNWC, has taught about national security decision-making, logistics, and unmanned and roboticsystems,formorethan20years He is also the program manager for the Chief of Naval Operation’s Professional Reading Program, and serves on the President’s Action Group and as Chairman of the 9-11 MemorialCommittee

From the Sperry Automatic Airplane in 1918tounmannedsystemsbeingusedinthe warinUkraine Jacksonprovidedexamples throughouthistoryofaerial,underwaterand surfaceunmannedsystems

The devices Jackson described varied in design, power source, purpose and size. They ranged as small as the hand-held Instant-EyeQuadrotor,whichusesacamera to show soldiers in real time what might await them on the other side of a hill, to the Lockheed KMAX helicopter that could lift 6,000 pounds, to Boeing’s 80-foot-long EchoVoyagerunmannedsubmarine capable of launching unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles,mines,ortorpedoes,carryingNavy SEALs,anddivingtoadepthof11,000feet.

The Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV), christened at Division Newport’s Narragansett Bay Test Facility last February was amongJackson’sexamples.

“SnakeheadisaverylargediameterUUV thathasdemonstratedthepotentialtomeet theoperationaldemandsofthewarfighters for long periods and stealthy surveillance intheunderseabattlespace,”Jacksonsaid

The proliferation of drones and other unmanned vehicles has raised some ethical questions such as attaching biological weapons to a drone or using potentially dangerous sources of power to operate them, Jackson said.

“TheChinesearedevelopingaversionof the Echo Voyager that has extreme range becauseitusesareactorasapowersource, as opposed to the diesel/electric power that the U.S. version uses,” he said. “The U.S. position is we’re not going to allow a radioactivesourcetobewanderingaround in the ocean by itself. China appears to not have those compunctions.”

Jackson estimated that 47—50 countries aredevelopingunmannedsystemsformilitary purposes. As technology has evolved, finding ways to combat potential threats has been difficult.

“Oneofthethingswe’reconcernedabout is swarms of drones,” Jackson said. “What if someone sends dozens or hundreds of drones against you? It is a very big challenge.”

There are a few proven ways to counter unmanned aerial systems. Sky Wall uses a compressed air canister and a viewfinder to shoot a projectile that splits open and drops a net with a parachute attached to safelybringdownadrone Dronekilleruses electronics to jam a drone’s control signal to force it off target or to land. A pitfall of using electronic counter measures is they can interfere with other frequencies in the vicinity Hawks have also been trained to bring down drones

While this was Jackson’s first visit to Division Newport in recent years, he’s had plenty of interaction with the Division’s engineers and scientists at the Naval War College

“NUWC has a multi-media tradeshow boothatthecollegetwiceayear,”Jacksonsaid.

NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869 Commanded by Capt Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and AndrosIslandintheBahamas aswellastest facilitiesatSenecaLakeandFisher’sIsland, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond,Connecticut

Joinourteam!NUWCDivisionNewport, one of the 20 largest employers in Rhode Island, employs a diverse, highly trained, educated, and skilled workforce We are continuously looking for engineers scientists andotherSTEMprofessionals aswell as talented business, finance, logistics and othersupportexpertswhowishtobeatthe forefront of undersea research and development Please connect with NUWC DivisionNewportRecruitingatthissite-https:// www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/Career-Opportunities/ and follow us on LinkedIn @ NUWC-Newport and on Facebook @ NUWCNewport.