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The boat drivers in US Naval Special Warfare Command
Special Boat Units (SBUs) likely say only nice things
about the equipment acquisition folks at US Special
Operations Command (SOCOM). That's because in 1994-95
SOCOM's acquisition arm accelerated the off-the-shelf
procurement of the 50-knot Mk V Special Operations
Craft, a new 25-meter high-speed patrol boat used
by the SBUs to insert and extract up to 16 Navy
SEAL (Sea-Air-Land) commandos offshore on clandestine
missions. SOCOM managed to get competing boats in
the water for evaluations within 13 months of releasing
a request for proposals to industry, unheard of
in DoD acquisition circles. (Halter Marine of New
Orleans, LA has delivered eight of 20 funded Mk
V craft.)
SOCOM is now coming through for the SBUs again,
speeding an off-the-shelf procurement of a sorely
needed new Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RIB) to be
used for short-range SEAL insertions and extractions.
Two earlier Naval Special Warfare (NSW) RIB procurements
conducted by the Navy itself foundered, the first
when the supplier went out of business and the second
when the selected boat rode too low in the water.
SOCOM awarded contracts to three firms last June
to supply a test craft for a competitive evaluation.
Those craft were delivered on 25 November for 150
days of operational testing by Navy SEALs and SBU
boat drivers in the Gulf of Mexico near SOCOM headquarters
at MacDill AFB, FL on Tampa Bay. The three companies
are Intermarine USA, Savannah, GA; United States
Marine, New Orleans, LA; and Willard Marine, Anaheim,
CA. SOCOM plans to pick a winner for low-rate initial
production this spring. A total of 70 NSW RIBs are
funded in SOCOM's Fiscal Year 1997-2001 budgets.
The NSW RIB and its trailer must be C-130-transportable,
dictating a maximum boat length of 36 feet. Its
top speed requirement is 34-40 knots; the craft
must have a range of 150-175 nautical miles at a
speed of 27-32 knots. It must carry eight passengers,
or a payload of 3,200 pounds.
There are two types of older RIBs with smaller
payloads in the SBU inventory: a 24-foot craft with
a speed of 25-plus knots and a 30-footer with a
speed of 30-plus knots. They have a normal hull
of fiberglass-reinforced plastic with an inflatable
tube or sponson fitted to the gunwales. The sponson
aids in spray reduction and combat swimmer launch
and recovery, and allows a close approach to other
craft. RIBs can be operated at various speeds in
rough seas.
While the three competing firms were tight-lipped
about their entries, Intermarine revealed that its
design uses waterjet propulsion with twin inboard
diesel engines to achieve speeds near 40 knots.
SEALS AND SUBMARINES
Navy submarines have long been used for long-range
clandestine insertion and extraction of Navy SEALs
ashore from the sea. SEALs, wearing SCUBA gear or
"bubbleless" rebreathers, can exit submerged
submarines close to shore. For longer transits to
hostile beaches, they use the Mk VIII SEAL Delivery
Vehicle (SDV). This 22-foot-long "wet"
submersible typically carries two to four SEALs
in fully flooded compartments; the SDV is launched
from a dry-deck shelter mounted atop specially fitted
Navy submarines and rests on the bottom while the
SEALs go ashore. SOCOM is funding a service life
extension program for 10 of the 14 existing Mk VIII
SDVs that will improve their range, speed, and sensors.
Two former ballistic missile submarines, USS Kamehameha
(SSBN-642) and USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645), currently
serve as dedicated special operations platforms
with the Navy's Pacific and Atlantic Fleets, respectively.
Two dry-deck shelters (DDS) were added to both in
1993, and they were modified to carry special operations
forces (SOF). In addition, six aging SSN-637-class
attack subs can carry a single DDS, but they have
limited internal space for SEALs or other SOF. These
eight submarines are slated for decommissioning
by 2001. As a result, the Navy is funding the addition
of a single DDS to six newer SSN-688 Los Angeles-class
attack subs in FY96-FY2000.
The third and final new Seawolf-class nuclear attack
submarine under construction at General Dynamics
Electric Boat, SSN-23, will incorporate NSW-friendly
features not available in the first two subs of
the class. These include the ability to mate with
a dry-deck shelter and a new, specially designed,
nine-man combat swimmer lock-out/lock-in chamber.
Current lock-out chambers handle only two swimmers
at a time. SSN-23 will be commissioned in about
three years.
The nine-man lock-out chamber and other SOF features
are integral to the design of the follow-on New
Attack Submarine (NSSN). The NSSN will offer dedicated
stowage space for SEAL equipment, such as Combat
Rubber Raiding Craft. This will be possible because
of the ability to reconfigure the submarine's torpedo-handling
room to provide up to 2,400 cubic feet of space
for SEALs or other SOF and their equipment, including
high-density housing for 40 men. The NSSN will have
space reserved for a special-purpose SOF communications
mast or antenna. It will also be able to carry a
dry-deck shelter and a new manned submersible, the
Advanced SEAL Delivery Vehicle (ASDS), externally.
Unlike the Mk VIII SDV, the larger 65-foot ASDS--funded
by SOCOM--will have a dry and warm interior and
will carry eight SEALs and their gear as well as
a two-man crew. It will have a range of 125 nautical
miles at a speed of eight knots, allowing it to
be launched from much farther out at sea. Some SSN-688
Los Angeles-class subs will also be converted to
carry the ASDS. The ASDS prototype, designed by
Northrop Grumman Ocean Systems, Annapolis, MD, will
begin testing in FY98.
