By Geoff Fein
The Navy has no plans to terminate the Maritime Preposition Force Future (MPF(F)) program, a key component of the service’s sea base concept, a Navy official said.
In June the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) gave approval to the Navy to proceed with Phase I of the MPF(F), which is made up of the T-AKE cargo ship and the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP).
Last month, the Navy issued a request for proposal for the MLP (Defense Daily, Sept. 22).
According to the notice at http://www.fedbizopps.gov, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) “intends to award multiple Fixed Price Incentive (FPI) contracts for Systems Design Part 1 (SD1) of the MLP Program, with an option for Systems Design Part 2 (SD2). NAVSEA may exercise one or more of the FPI contract options for SD2. The planned date of the contract award(s) is the first quarter FY ’09, with the first ship delivery planned for FY 2015.”
The MLP is the only new construction ship in the MPF(F).
“The MLP supports the critical mission requirement to launch and recover surface assault craft loaded with vehicles, cargo and combat personnel by providing two LCAC stowage lanes (two craft interface points), RO/RO cargo holds of sufficient size to accommodate one-third of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) Surface Battalion Landing Team (BLT) vehicles and accommodations for the combat troops being transferred ashore on the assault craft,” according to the solicitation.
The Navy has requested two T-AKEs in the current budget. The MPF(F) requirement is for three of the cargo ships, according to the Navy. The total buy is for 14 T-AKEs, 11 of which are for the Combat Logistics Force, according to the Navy.
The Navy has options on the T-AKE contract, Allison Stiller, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy ships, told Defense Daily in a recent interview.
“Those are price options,” she said.
Back when Ken Kreig was the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, he gave the Navy permission to include the cargo ships that would go toward the MPF(F) in the current T-AKE contract.
The Lewis & Clark class T-AKE is built by General Dynamics‘ [GD] NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
The MPF(F) will have 14 ships to move cargo, equipment and troops to forward sea bases and from those sea bases to shore.
The Navy had been trying to develop MPF(F) using a systems-of-systems approach. However, Stiller said the effort became so big that the service opted to break it up into three phases.
Phase II is the aviation centric ships and Phase III focuses on the Roll-on/Roll-off ships and the dense pack ships that would come from the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF), Stiller said.
Talks are going on right now with the requirements community about the aviation capability, she added. “At one point MPF(F) was thought to be forcible entry.”
“The Marine Corps has kind of changed their view of that. Now we need to define what are those aviation capable ships,” Stiller said. “So we are in that process. It’s a requirements debate right now and I am sure they will have the same kind of debate on Phase III, probably more on quantity…how many dense pack can you accept…that kind of thing.”
The original concept for the aviation component of MPF(F) was for T ships of the LHD and LHA variety. The question now is, Stiller said, is that what the Marine Corps still wants to pursue?
“Right now they are defining the requirement,” she added. “From an acquisition perspective, I’d sure like to [use] an exiting design if we can.”
Earlier this month, Stiller was on hand in San Diego for the christening and launch of the USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7). The ship is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter 2009.
Stiller pointed to NASSCO’s work on the T-AKEs as a good example of serial production.
“You can see more outfitting than you did in the early ships, and they are still driving hours out of the T-AKE. The workforce is energized…they are really trying to do more on land before you get into the water,” she said.
At one time the Navy was concerned that the Brashear might be delayed. NASSCO had sent a team of electricians from the ship to help with restoration of the USS George Washington (CVN-73) after it sustained damage from a fire in May.
Stiller said there was still a lot of cabling that remained to be done on the Brashear.
“There was a concern…were they going to be able to get the cabling done before launch? They did. They came back, and in the six weeks time before launch the electrical team went in and did what they had to do,” she said. “She may have been a little bit behind of where [T-AKE-6] was, but she’s far further along than we thought she was going to be, just because they had to divert the resources to help with George Washington.”