The briefing started with Capt. Christopher Polk explaining how NAVSEA successfully managed to re-initiate the production line for the Heavyweight Torpedo (HWT) MK 48 Mod7, a torpedo it had stopped building in 1996. “In FY16, when we re-initiated the production line, we faced several challenges, in particular the fact that, to use an analogy that can speak to everyone, we wanted to build the 1996 Mustang, we 1996 parts the way we used to build mustangs in 1996 but with today’s standards. All challenges across the board.”
NAVSEA addressed these challenges by initially improving workflow and processes through increased automation and workforce development. It also tackled obsolescence by making “thousands of changes” to the technical data package. Finally, it worked with the Blue Force Alliance and industry partners to identify supply chain weaknesses and strengths, removing duplications and supporting where necessary.
The next step is encouraging industry and government investment.
“We are now linked up with the submarine industrial base, and, in fact, for the torpedo enterprise alone, we got $7m this year to redesign the critical component in the after body and $20m next year for more test equipment to keep the production line hot and going and continuously add capacity.”
Capt. Christopher Polk, Program Manager, PMS404 (Undersea Weapons), US Navy
Next, Capt. David Vehon explained that NAVSEA is also working to modernise the submarines’ fire control system. “When we do modernisation, we do it all in one package – communications, EW, sonar, fire control – but we only have a limited number of technicians (industrial welders, fibre optic technicians), so this has to be a very orchestrated event, and we all have to be aligned.”
Capt. Vehon explained that there are multiple ways in which the industry can help in the process. First, it could find a way to decouple hardware and software to have hardware that can last multiple years while the software is regularly updated. Second, it can help with NAVSEA’s ability to track, fix, and correct legacy edge systems so that everything will be working when the modernisation is finished and the systems go into testing. Third, new systems often require more electrical power and cooling, affecting modernisation timelines. The industry could help by developing plug-and-play solutions requiring no submarine cooling or electrical distribution modifications. Fourth, it would be helpful to have solutions capable of reducing the time needed to connect all servers and systems inside the submarine to the fibre optics and electrical systems. Fifth, automation of all system testing would also considerably decrease modernisation timelines. Finally, digitalising predictive measures would go a long way to create a more efficient maintenance and/or modernisation schedule.
The last speaker, Capt. Keith Oswald explained, “The third priority is to expand undersea dominance through faster deployment of capabilities via resilient and modern architectures.” Currently, NAVSEA updates all the computer hardware onboard the submarines every two years, and then, in the alternating two years, it develops and deploys new software. “That model has served us very well, but it is about 25 years old, and it is time for us to start to act, think, and operate differently.”
To do this, NAVSEA will modernise the underlying code on which all submarine systems are running. This will include a new cyber secure-by-design code and a rewrite with a modern programming language. It will also introduce the use of containers for the codes. This will open multiple new opportunities, such as: rapidly deploying new codes as well as patches or fixes; managing shared computing resources like a data centre does, that is, adjusting to the level of demand per mission; developing and building a more resilient system that can sustain battle damage and gracefully degrade when there are material failures; use the containers as sandboxes to rapidly field prototypes and developmental software.
“This approach to modernising our code base would significantly reduce our exposure to obsolescence, and industry partners can be of great support in helping us deliver capability at the speed of relevance,” Capt. Oswald concluded.
Speaking of which, in answer to a question from the audience, Capt. Polk said that the production rate for the HWT MK 48 Mod7 is now up to 10 per month, and NAVSEA is looking to expand that to 12 per month. Mod 8 is still in development, with critical testing this year and production expected to start in FY27. “We have extended buys of Mod7 to FY27-28 to ensure that its production line will overlap with that of mod8,” Capt. Pol concluded.
