Nekron,

Thanks for that. First I'd heard of it. Guess I can still learn something new once in awhile.

INTERNATIONAL ICE PATROL

PATROL ESTABLISHED IN 1914 BY THE AGREEMENT OF 16 NATIONS WITH SHIPPING INTERESTS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN AFTER THE TITANIC COLLIDED WITH AN ICEBERG AND SANK (1912) THE PATROL LOCATES ICEBERGS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC FOLLOWS AND PREDICTS THIER DRIFT, AND ISSUSES WARNING SHIPS
IN THE VICINITY. RECONNAISSANCE IS CONDUCTED
BY THE U.S. COAST GUARD ,USING PLANES EQUIPPED
RADAR THAT CAN DETECT ICEBERGS IN ALL THE ROUGHEST SEA CONDITIONS. THE COAST GUARD EXCHANGES INFORMATION WITH THE CANADIAN ICE SERVICES AND ALSO RECIEVES REPORTS FROM PASSING SHIPS DURING THE PATROL SEASON, WHICH NORMALLY EXTENDS FROM MARCH THROUGH AUGUST THE COAST GUARD BROADCASTS TWICE DAILY BY INMARSAT SATELLITE AND BY HGH FREQUENCY RADIO FACISIMILE
, ISSUING REPORTS ON THE LOCATIONS OF ALL KNOWN SEA ICEAND ICEBERGS. APPROXIMATELY 1,000
ICEBERGS ARE TRACKED EACH YEAR. DESTRUCTION OF DANGEROUS ICEBERGS HAS BEEN ATTEMPTED, BUT WITH LITTEL SUCCESS.

Senator: Proposed LCS cut likely to stand

By William Matthews - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 13, 2007 17:11:30 EDT

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said it would be hard for him to reverse a decision Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to cancel construction of a second Littoral Combat Ship to be built in an Alabama shipyard.

Senate appropriators unanimously approved a $459.3 billion defense spending bill for 2008. That’s $3.8 billion less than President Bush requested for fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1.

In July, the House Appropriations Committee passed a $459.6 billion defense spending bill for 2008. Differences between the two bills will be resolved by a conference committee made up of members from both houses of Congress.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting Wednesday, Shelby complained that the Senate version of the 2008 budget eliminates $910.5 million that the Navy had requested for the Littoral Combat Ship program.

The ship’s ability to operate in shallow water, hunt submarines and find mines make it “extremely important to the Navy,” Shelby said.

But he conceded that the LCS program has been plagued by “huge cost overruns.” Shelby blamed those on the Navy, which he said has repeatedly made costly design changes to the ship.

Originally priced at $233 million apiece, the Navy has acknowledged that LCS costs have ballooned by 50 percent to 75 percent.

Shelby declined to try to amend the Defense Appropriations Act to restore funding for an LCS that was to be built by Austal USA in a shipyard in Mobile, Ala.

“I don’t think an amendment would carry right now,” he said. Senators won’t restore funding until the Navy develops program reforms to keep costs under control, he said.

Shelby voted with the rest of the Appropriations Committee to approve the spending bill minus money for the LCS.

The House version of the bill cut $571 million from the program for 2008, leaving $339.5 million. That money and materiel from prior years would be used to build a single LCS, House lawmakers said.

Austal and its partner, General Dynamics, were supposed to build two LCS prototypes. A rival team headed by Lockheed Martin was supposed to build two others, whereupon the Navy was to pick one design and buy a total of 55 ships.

Because of spiraling costs, the Navy canceled the second Lockheed Martin ship last April. Now Senate appropriators have voted to cancel the second Austal-General Dynamics ship.

In a report on their bill, the appropriators said the two ships should be delivered to the Navy next summer, and by the end of 2008, the Navy should decide which ship it wants to continue building. The committee also directs the Navy to produce “a new acquisition strategy for the future procurement of the LCS class.”

RRW, JSF Engines

Funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) may become a last-minute target when the full Senate takes up the spending bill later this month.

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said the Senate should cut $30 million now in the bill for engineering planning on how to place the RRW on a Navy Trident missile.

The spending is premature because no decision has yet been made to go forward with the RRW, she said.

The House has cut all funding for the program, and Feinstein urged senators to do the same. The warhead, which the Defense Department insists is an upgrade of an existing design, will be seen by other countries as a new warhead, and as such, “is going to be interpreted as an opportunity for nuclear proliferation,” she said.

Feinstein hinted she may try to amend the spending bill to remove RRW funding during debate on the Senate floor.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, urged his colleagues to halt spending on an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

Having competing engine suppliers for the fighter is supposed keep costs down, but Harkin said three reports have concluded an engine competition would save little or nothing.

Having to maintain two engines will lead to parts mix-ups and training problems for JSF engine mechanics, he said.

“We’re not talking about chicken feed,” he said of the $480 million expense in the 2007 budget.

The Defense Department has consistently opposed developing a second engine for the fighter, and so have the eight countries working with the United States on the plane, Harkin said.

“There was a competition” to determine who would build the JSF engine and “one company lost.” Since then, it has been lobbying Congress to build an alternate engine, Harkin said.

Pratt & Whitney is the Joint Strike Fighter engine supplier. General Electric wants to produce the alternate.