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<\/a><\/p>\nRepairing fire damage would cost more than entire program’s budget<\/strong><\/p>\n By William Cole A one-of-a-kind SEAL mini-sub based at Pearl City Peninsula that has been plagued by years of development problems and cost overruns won’t be repaired after a November fire because the work would cost $237 million and take nearly three years, U.S. Special Operations Command said yesterday.<\/p>\n The decision could be a final blow to a program that once envisioned a fleet of the 65-foot mini subs, designed to ride piggyback on much larger attack submarines and deliver SEALs dry and rested to an insertion point.<\/p>\n The Advanced SEAL Delivery System, or ASDS, originally was expected to cost about $80 million per sub. But the Northrop Grumman program spiraled to more than $885 million, with only one sub built, according to a 2007 U.S. Government Accountability Office report. Delivery of ASDS-1 was accepted in 2003.<\/p>\n One of Special Operations Command’s biggest investments was beset by battery, noise and propulsion problems, and in April 2006, the Defense Department canceled plans for follow-on ASDS boats and directed the Navy and Special Operations Command to set up an ASDS-1 improvement program.<\/p>\n The $237 million repair estimate from the Nov. 9 fire is $180 million more than the entire budget for the ASDS program, according to Special Operations Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.<\/p>\n The command said “competing funding priorities” for current and projected special operations budgets prevent it from repairing ASDS-1.<\/p>\n The fire broke out while the submersible’s batteries were recharging at its Pearl City home port. The 8:30 p.m. fire occurred during routine maintenance, which included the battery recharging, the Navy said in a news release.<\/p>\n The fire damaged the ASDS’ operations compartment, which affected all the boat’s operating systems, Special Operations Command said.<\/p>\n The battery system, sonar, motors and controllers, anchor assembly and hull were also damaged.<\/p>\n The “root cause analysis” – being done to determine the fire’s origin – is not complete, the command said.<\/p>\n new sub emerging<\/strong><\/p>\n Lt. Cmdr. Fred Kuebler, a Special Operations Command spokesman, yesterday said the final disposition of ASDS-1 has not been determined. He did not rule out the possibility of repair.<\/p>\n Kuebler had no information about possible manning changes at the Pearl City facility.<\/p>\n The command also has requested funding for the Joint Multi-Mission Submersible program to develop an alternative SEAL insertion craft.<\/p>\n The online publication Inside the Navy reported in June that $43.4 million was being sought for pre-design work on the mini-sub that would provide “improved performance” over the ASDS.<\/p>\n The ASDS was heralded as a “transformational leap ahead” design and was intended to deliver commandos dry and rested to a point of departure. The current SEAL Delivery Vehicles are open to bone-chilling cold water and require the use of scuba gear.<\/p>\n Big plans faltered<\/strong><\/p>\n Designed to ride piggyback on the Los Angeles-class submarines Greeneville and Charlotte, both based at Pearl Harbor, as well as on new Virginia-class submarines and former ballistic missile subs converted to carry conventional missiles and commandos, the boxy, 8-foot-diameter ASDS was designed to sneak up close to shore with two crew and up to 16 SEALs.<\/p>\n Its skin is the material used on stealth fighters, it could take and transmit pictures almost in real time, and its design allowed for long-range operations.<\/p>\n The Navy in 2004 celebrated the completion of a $47 million waterfront home for SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 on 22 acres at Pearl City Peninsula that included a 326,000-gallon freshwater test tank.<\/p>\n At the time, the team had 45 officers and 230 enlisted personnel – 93 of them SEALs.<\/p>\n The GAO said in 2007 that the ASDS had “encountered a difficult, long and costly development since the initial contract was awarded in 1994.”<\/p>\n Despite those problems, the Navy in July 2003 took delivery of the first ASDS.<\/p>\n The craft rode piggyback on the submarine Greeneville during a deployment to the Persian Gulf by Expeditionary Strike Group 1.<\/p>\n The ASDS was supposed to deploy with the USS Michigan, a former ballistic missile submarine converted to carry conventional missiles and commandos, shortly after the fire.<\/p>\n The entire program, including six mini-subs and facilities in Hawai’i and Little Creek, Va., originally was to cost $527 million.<\/p>\n Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.<\/p>\n Source: http:\/\/www.honoluluadvertiser.com\/article\/20090725\/NEWS08\/907250321\/Prototype+mini-sub+shelved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Posted on: Saturday, July 25, 2009 Prototype mini-sub shelved Repairing fire damage would cost more than entire program’s budget By William Cole Advertiser Military Writer A one-of-a-kind SEAL mini-sub based at Pearl City Peninsula that has been plagued by years of development problems and cost overruns won’t be repaired after a November fire because the … <\/p>\n
\nAdvertiser Military Writer<\/p>\n