Engineers
at Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station (NAVSSES), Naval Surface Warfare
Center Carderock Division are harvesting weapon system components from
decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates (FFGs) for re-use on Coast Guard cutters.
The harvesting of components from four decommissioned frigates will
result in more than $24 million in cost avoidance, with more expected
from a fifth ship. The Navy's leveraging of decommissioned ships' assets
shows a judicious use of resources and collaboration between services.
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"The
Navy's FFGs will all be decommissioned by the end of fiscal year 2015,
but the Coast Guard cutters have the same gun weapons systems,"
said Abe Boughner, with Auxiliary Ships/Acquisition Support Branch at
NAVSSES.
The equipment includes MK 75, 76mm/62 caliber gun mounts, as well as
gun control panels, barrels, launchers, junction boxes and other components.
The Coast Guard can use all of this equipment on cutters during the
course of the ships' expected service life, which spans into the 2030s.
The harvesting effort began in December 2012 when Roger Raber of Naval
Sea System Command's Surface Warfare Readiness Directorate proposed
a plan to harvest equipment from five decommissioned FFGs docked at
the Navy's inactive ship maintenance facility in Philadelphia. Raber
coordinated with NAVSSES engineers E. Alan Karpovitch, the Navy's propulsion
program manager, and Ashley Ferguson, mechanical engineer, to oversee
the daily operations of removing items from the frigates. The Coast
Guard also provided a team to assist with removal of components from
the FFGs.
"If I get a request for a part and it's feasible for me to pull
it off a ship, I will," said Karpovitch. "Many of the pieces
of hardware on these ships are still serviceable and can be recycled."
Timothy Wallace, equipment specialist with the Coast Guard Surface Forces
Logistics Center (SFLC), provided a logistics asset request for the
gun mounts in early fiscal year 2013. The gun mounts were deemed serviceable
and a plan was enacted to remove them from the frigates. The SFLC worked
in conjunction with Stephen Remsey, the Navy's MK 75 In-Service Engineering
Agent, to coordinate the transportation of the gun mounts to U.S. Coast
Guard's Curtis Bay Yard in Baltimore, Maryland.
"From the Coast Guard's standpoint the FFG harvesting has been
a complete success," said Wallace. "The final cost avoidance
figure will not be known until harvesting of the fifth FFG is complete."
Some of the MK 75 mounts will be placed into the overhaul cycle at the
Coast Guard Yard Ordnance Shop and returned to service onboard Famous
Class cutters. One mount is slated to support the Coast Guard's sustainment
program for parts no longer manufactured or in short supply. Other components
will also be placed in the overhaul cycle for later return to service.
"This is the right thing to do," said Raber. "I sleep
well knowing that we are outfitting the cutters with reliable equipment
that is vital to their mission."
The Surface Warfare Directorate maintains more than 50 inactive ships
for future disposal, donation, or transfer. It also provides follow-on
technical support to more than 150 active ships in more than 50 partner
navies and the U.S. Coast Guard.
from : Joseph Battista, NAVSSES Public Affairs |
