Navy to Convert UCLASS Program Into Unmanned Aerial Tanker

In part informed by the Pentagon’s UAV strategic program review (SPR) led by Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) effort is being retooled as primarily a carrier-based unmanned aerial refueling platform. Read more

[May 19 2013 USS George H. W. Bush: Northrop Grumman X-47B launches,touch and go

The prototype X-47B took off successfully May 14 from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia and made two low approaches to the ship before heading back toward land.

The test aircraft, which has been designed and built by the weapons maker Northrop Grumman, isn't intended for operational use; instead, the military is using the information it gathers during these demonstrations to develop the drone program.

The Navy already operates two other unmanned aircraft: the small, low cost ScanEagle, which does not carry weapons; and the Fire Scout, which is armed but built more like a helicopter.

The program cost is $1.4billion over eight years. A planned variant of the craft, the X-47C will have a larger payload provision of 10,000lbs and a wingspan of 172ft.
[May 2]

The U.S. Navy is inaugurating its first squadron that mixes advanced unmanned drones with conventional aircraft.   The maritime strike squadron, nicknamed the "Magicians," will be officially launched at the Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado, near San Diego.   Along with eight manned helicopters, the squadron will include a number of unmanned helicopter drones, known as MQ-8B Fire Scouts, that can track targets at sea or on land.

[June 22 2011]
The aircraft was conducting a targeting mission, meaning it was using its onboard sensor package to lase a target for another aircraft, the program source says.

The aircraft was launched from the USS Halyburton frigate during a deployment to support anti-piracy and littoral missions around the Middle East. The ship was recently diverted to support the NATO mission in Libya, . Two Fire Scouts were deployed on the Halyburton earlier this year.

Last year, a Fire Scout lost communications with its ground station during a test flight out of NAS Patuxent River, Md. The incident drew national attention because an anomaly occurred that allowed the aircraft to slowly head into restricted airspace 40 mi. away from Washington, which is under strict airspace rules. Flight testing of the Fire Scout restarted last September after about a six-week testing pause owing to the incident; a fix has been implemented.

The testing standdown pushed back timing for a formal operational evaluation slated for last fall. Instead, Navy officials opted to deploy the Fire Scouts for operations on the Halyburton. Aviation Week
A team of Northrop Grumman engineers and operators on board the ship helped re-familiarize Navy operators with Fire Scout’s control systems. Northrop Grumman is the Navy’s Fire Scout prime contractor.
here

USCGC POLAR STAR (WAGB-10) arrives in McMurdo Sound, Antarctic

Icebreaker Polar Star first U.S. Coast Guard ship to McMurdo since 2006-07, to reach the U.S. Antarctic Program's External U.S. government site largest research station through nine miles of sea ice on Jan. 16

[January 10]




USCG vessel 'Polar Star' The United States Coast Guard Cutter 'Polar Star' was released by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority from search and rescue duties this week, following confirmation the Russian-flagged 'Akademik Shokalskiy' and Chinese-flagged 'Xue Long ' were freed from the Antarctic ice


[January 5]

USCGC POLAR STAR (WAGB-10) in Sydney.

Departing at 5am December 5 from Sydney US Coast Guard's Polar Star icebreaker will assist stranded Russian vessel, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, and ice-locked Chinese ship Xue Long. Coast Guard Pacific Area Command Center received the request January 2 from AMSA and determined there is sufficient concern that the vessels may not be able to free themselves from the ice


Polar Star is the US's only active polar-capable icebreaker and one of the world's most powerful non-nuclear ships, able to crack though 1.8m of ice while moving or more than 6m by ramming.


The ship was expected to take seven days to reach Commonwealth Bay, where the Chinese and Russian ships were stranded.


Class & type: Polar-class icebreaker
Displacement: 10,863 long tons (11,037 t) (standard) 13,623 long tons (13,842 t) (full)
Length: 399 ft (122 m)
Beam: 83 ft 6 in (25.45 m) Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)[3]
Installed power: Six Alco 16V-251F diesel engines (6 × 3,000 hp) Three Pratt & Whitney FT-4A12 gas turbines (3 × 25,000 hp) Propulsion: Combined diesel-electric or gas (CODLOG) Three shafts; controllable pitch propellers Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) in 6-foot (1.8 m) ice
Range: 16,000 nautical miles (30,000 km; 18,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) 28,275 nautical miles (52,365 km; 32,538 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement: 15 officers 127 enlisted 33 scientists 12-person helicopter detachment
Aircraft carried: 2 HH-65A Dolphin helicopters

Commissioned: 1976

[December 14]
A Chinese helicopter transferred all 52 passengers aboard a stranded Russian vessel to safe ice near an Australian rescue ship on  January 2 10 days after the MV Akademik Shokalskiy became stuck in sea ice off Antarctica. The passengers, as well as luggage, scientific instruments and equipment, were flown to safe ice near the Aurora Australis by Xueying 12, a helicopter on board China's icebreaker Xuelong, and are aboard the Australian ship. An earlier flight examined the surrounding area to prepare for landing on ice.


[January 1]
The Xue Long is within about 18 kilometres of pack ice  which is needed so it can operate its helicopter when the rescue begins. “[Captain Wang] has been sitting there because his helicopter doesn't have floats, so it can't fly over water.” But to avoid getting caught in the pack itself, the Xue Long has been slowly moving back towards open water, Captain Doyle said.

[December 31 2013]

Xue Long had a helicopter on board, it was too heavy for the Aurora's helideck.

Or perhaps, When the rescue does occur, passengers will be transported via helicopter in groups of 12. The helicopter, Young said, will land on a makeshift helipad created on ice and shuttle back and forth. All 52 passengers will then be picked up by the Aurora Australis, which will then transport everyone to Hobart, Australia.

"It's now up to us three ships [the Shokalskiy, the Aurora and the Xue Long] to agree on a [rescue] strategy,"Aurora's captain, Murray Doyle said.

While the Xue Long had a helicopter on board, it was too heavy for the Aurora's helideck.

"We also can't use the helicopter at the moment because there is no visibility," he said.

"The helicopter wouldn't be able to differentiate the horizon from the ice."
The Xue Long, which has been waiting near the Mertz Glacier since Boxing Day, was also making its way back to open water.

"They're trying to make it back into open water so they're not trapped as well," Captain Doyle said.




Captain Doyle also feared that the 55-kilometre south-easterly wind running up the ship's stern would blow ice in and around the back of the vessel.

"It was pushing those same types of floes in behind us," he said.

"If we got into that compact stuff it would have sealed us in, we would have lost our manoeuvreability and we wouldn't have been much use to anybody.

"Having been caught in ice before, I know by experience when to get out. I didn't want to add to the drama, instead of being part of the solution," he said.

A low-hanging fog also hampered rescue efforts.

"We had no visibility so we couldn't really see if there was a way through."

Captain Doyle had informed the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Canberra of the situation.

The passengers on the stranded Shokalskiy would most likely be evacuated to the Aurora or Chinese ice-breaker the Xue Long, which was also in the area.

Bad news: Aurora couldn't get through. Tried twice. Low visibility & heavy ice. Returning to open water. Try again tomorrow? #spiritofmawson
— Chris Turney (@ProfChrisTurney) December 30, 2013

[12/27] A second rescue vessel, the French-flagged icebreaker L'Astrolabe, was released from the rescue operation yesterday.

Our rescue boat, the Xue Long, has had to turn back because the ice was too thick for it to get through. We're now awaiting Aurora Australis
— Alok Jha (@alokjha) December 27, 2013

The icebreakers en route are China’s Xue Long (Snow Dragon) from Fremantle, the French vessel Astrolabe and the Australian Antarctic Division vessel Aurora Australis.



Name: Xuě Lóng (雪龙) Port of registry: Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Builder: Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine
Completed: 25 September 1993
Refit: 2007
Identification: IMO number: 8877899
Call sign: BNSK
MMSI number: 412863000[1]
Status: In service
General characteristics
Type: Research vessel
Tonnage: 14,997 GT[1]
4,499 NT[2]
10,225 DWT[3][Note 1] Displacement: 21,025 tons Length: 167 m (548 ft) Beam: 22.6 m (74 ft) Draft: 9 m (30 ft) Ice class: CCS B1 Installed power: BMZ 8DKRN60/195 (13,200 kW) Propulsion: Single shaft, ducted controllable pitch propeller Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (max) 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph) in 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) ice Range: 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km; 23,000 mi)[3]
Complement: 34 crew, 128 passengers or researchers
Aircraft carried: One helicopter
Aviation facilities: Helipad

Early on December 25, Christmas morning, MV Akademic Shokalskiy, a tourist ship recreating Sir Douglas Mawson’s 100-year-old Australasian Antarctic Expedition, signalled it was stuck in heavy pack ice.


While ships often get surrounded by pack ice around Antarctica, the Russian Shokalskiy, a medium-sized vessel with about 74 crew and passengers, was in danger of being hit by a large iceberg.


Just before 5am the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, part of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra, ordered three ships, a Chinese and French vessel and the Aurora Australis, to lend assistance.

Name:    Akademik Shokalskiy
IMO:    8010336
Flag:    Russia
MMSI:    273458210
Callsign:    UBNF
   
       
    Technical Data   
Vessel type:    Passengers Ship
Gross tonnage:    1,764 tons
Summer DWT:    620 tons
Length:    72 m
Beam:    12 m
Draught:    0.5 m
   

    Additional Information   
Home port:    Vladivostok
Class society:    Russian Maritime Shipping Register
Build year:    1982
Builder (*):    Stx Finland Turku
Turku, Finland
Owner:    Far Eastern Research Institute
Vladivostok, Russia
Manager:    Far Eastern Research Institute
Vladivostok, Russia
   

USS Ponce (LPD-15) : Afloat Forward Staging Base

"We are moving four more mine sweeps to the theater," [Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month]. "That'll make eight. We are moving airborne mine countermeasure helicopters. That'll take us to eight in theater. And ... those, working with the British mine sweeps there, which we exercise with frequently, sets us up a little bit there."
Each of the ships - the USS Sentry (MCM 3), USS Devastator (MCM 6), USS Pioneer (MCM 9) and USS Warrior (MCM 10) - carries a crew of about 60. All are equipped to detect and neutralize mines.
The Navy this month also sent to the region four additional MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters, which also have the capability to locate and destroy mines.
The Navy will also be sending the USS Ponce (LPD-15) to the region in the next few months to act as a floating staging base. Manned by a military and civilian crew, the vessel will provide refueling, resupply and maintenance operations for minesweepers, aircraft and patrol craft at sea in the region
The retrofit will transform the long-serving amphibious transport dock ship into an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB-I) with a habitability structure to support a combined Navy/civil service mariner crew. Slated for deployment this summer, the modernized Ponce will provide maritime mobility, support and refueling capabilities in the U.S. Central Command Theater, an area that includes the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
[January 27]Lt. Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fleet Forces Command, declined to elaborate on the floating base’s purpose or to say where, exactly, it will be deployed in the Middle East. Other Navy officials acknowledged that they were moving with unusual haste to complete the conversion and send the mothership to the region by early summer.

Fairchem Bogey: released after helo drops ransom

FAIRCHEM BOGEY imo 9423750 V7UB6 dwt 25390 2010 chemical tanker carrying just a partial load of methanol, was released yesterday afternoon, for an estimated $8 million.. A helicopter was observed hovering over the vessel yesterday in anticipation of making the ransom drop
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HNLMS Tromp: helicopter crew released by Libya

Frigate HNLMS Tromp's three Dutch Marines, seized in Sirte, Libya while on a mission to evacuate a Dutch and a Swedish national, were released on March 11. The Tromp helicopter was not released.

The White House announced March 11 that it will send a government aid team into rebel-held parts of Libya
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Pirates attacked the 73,821 dwt products tanker ‘Hellespont Protector’ in the Gulf of Aden, according to Hellespont, but were unsuccessful in their bid to capture the vessel.

The tanker was approached by the pirates’ vessel while it was sailing in a Thai navy convoy.

“When the attack occurred, the master took evasive action to deter the pirates. The Thai navy launched a helicopter in response to the request for assistance by the vessel,” the company said.

Hellespont Ship Management GmbH & Co KG.

HELLESPONT PROTECTOR General Specifications
General Specifications P&I Club
Call Sign: A8LD3 P&I Club Britannnia
Flag: Liberia
Hull: Double hull Capacities
Built: 2007-12 Oil @ 98% m3:: 81,302
Yard: NCS Oil @ 98% Barrels: 531,198
Class: ABS Slop tanks only @ 98% 2,833
IMO number: 9351452

Syria Star: pirates let go - not apprehended

Pirates left Syria Star of their own accord utilising a launch from the ship. Helicopters had found an abandoned skiff containing fuel and ammunition near the cargo ship when it was hijacked-- carrying a cargo of sugar. earlier

SYRIA STAR, imo 7608136 General Cargo Ship 18831 1977 St Vincent

Filitsa: American helicopters watched ransom

100125-N-4236E-217 RED SEA (Jan. 25, 2010) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Rampagers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 catapults off the flight deck of the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility.

The helicopters were presumed to be American, because EU NAVFOR insisted they had no vessel nearby.

The Fortress Shipping Co. Marshall Islands-flagged Filitsa was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, where it and its crew were to be checked over, then was to continue to Durban, South Africa,

Ariana: helicopter dropped $2.6 m onto its deck

"We've paid the ransom and we are waiting for the pirates to release the Ariana," Spyros Minas, head of Alloceans shipping, declining to disclose the amount of ransom paid.

Maltese-flagged Ariana and its 24 Ukrainian crew were seized on May 2 north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil.

Earlier on Thursday, a pirate source that a helicopter had dropped $2.6 million (1.59 million pounds) onto its deck.

"We have taken a $2.6 million ransom to release the Greek ship," one of the gang, Farah, said by telephone. "We are now dividing the money and will disembark in the afternoon."

Irene E.M.: helicopter brought ransom

Irene E.M. ex: Maria C.K.

"We already left the vessel

Irene E.M. (Ex:Maria C.K.)

and now we are dividing our money. A helicopter brought the cash this morning."