The control room of the USS Virginia would astonish a submariner who retired only a few years ago. Commissioned in October, the Virginia is the first of a new class of attack submarines. For members of the crew, it is a step into the 21st century.
Oversized computer touch screens have replaced dials and switches at the various work stations, the yokes for the planesman and helmsman have been exchanged for joysticks and the periscope is gone, replaced by a television camera atop one of the masts and a few yards of fiberoptic cable.
Capt. Arnold O. Lotring, commander of the Submarine Learning Center in Groton, Conn., said such dramatic changes in the fleet mean the schools that prepare sailors have to transform as well. You cannot use an Industrial Age education system to prepare sailors for the 21st century, he said.My mission is to bring submarine training into the Information Age," Lotring said. He is constructing a model for education that includes more computer simulations and self-paced learning, and an ability to deliver "just-in-time" training to sailors who are getting ready to deploy, or already on deployment.
Lotring's mantra has become "right training, right time, right place."
Virginia and the USS Hyman G. Rickover, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine based in Norfolk, Va., will soon become the first submarines to deploy with the Integrated Learning Environment (ILE), a computer network that will be loaded with training software specific to the missions those submarines will conduct. The ILE will.deliver high-quality content to the learners, and instant feedback on their progress to on-board mentors or instructors.
"We never had the ability to do that before. It was a pipe dream two years ago, even 18 months ago, but now we're getting ready to put it on deploying submarines," Lotring said. "We want to be able to flow learning to the sailor when he wants it and where he needs it."
The advances in sub training are indicative of a major realignment of training functions within the Navy. All submariners once were trained under the auspices of the Commander, Naval Education and Training (CNET), but the Navy has created 14 learning centers to push control down closer to the fleet operators. Lotring now oversees six submarine schools, 1,400 instructors and 500 other staff, and an annual budget of more than $80 million. The creation of the Submarine Learning Center last year was the first step toward delivering a training system that is rapidly responsive to fleet needs.
With the Learning Center operational, Lotring's staff told him it would be more effective to modify software used in the big, expensive navigation simulators, which can accommodate only two students at a time, to run in a limited fashion on desktop computers, on a network that can be expanded with a few mouse clicks. Students now master basic skills before they get to the simulator, so the throughput has increased.
"This is going to put training decisions much closer to the instructor," Lotring said. "I can see the benefits and say, 'let's go invest in that,' much more quickly than if we had to go up through CNET."
Naval Submarine School, the hub of submarine training, has long used advanced technology to train its students. During the last couple years, for instance, it has constructed a networked submarine navigation trainer.
It started with VESUB, the Virtual Environment Submarine Shiphandling Trainer. Built by RDR of Centreville, Va., it is a virtual reality system in which an officer of the deck under instruction dons a helmet that feeds him a view of a harbor that he must safely navigate, outbound or inbound. An instructor monitors his progress on a large screen that shows what the pilot is seeing, and can change wind, currents, ship traffic patterns and other parameters to make the trip more challenging. That was followed by RDR's Submarine Piloting and Navigation System, a virtual reality system that re-creates a control room.
But unlike bulky trainers in the past that were dedicated to a specific class of submarine, the new off-theshelf systems in the trainers can be rapidly reconfigured, by changing a few cables or loading a new CD in an internal drive. The Submarine Multimission Team Trainer, or "Smitty" as it is known at Submarine School, is produced by Lockheed Martin's Maritime Sensors and Systems unit, and will take that one step further, by running the same tactical software in the combat control systems of different classes of submarines. Changing the trainer will require only a few minutes at a keyboard.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
HALF MOON'S 'NAM Tour, The
The discovery of an old cruise book rekindles fond memories of a veteran Coast Guard cutter's Vietnam deployment
Since writing two earlier articles on AVP's - "Whatever Became of the Coast Guard's Casco-class Cutters" in May 2002 and "Whatever Became of Those AVPs?" in February 2003 - I have received numerous communications from fellow AVP sailors. Most recently, I was honored to receive a copy of the USCGC Half Moon's (WHEC-378) 1967 cruise book documenting the ship's deployment to Vietnam during 1967. It came from one of the ship's former crew members, David Lockwood, via his brother John Lockwood, also an AVP sailor on the USCGC Rockaway. What a wonderful time capsule!
In reading it, I was so impressed with its contents that I was inspired to write this article and share some of the story. An interview with the former Lt. Bill Barry, USCG, engineering officer on the Half Moon during 1967, provided me with some additional first-person insights into the Half Moon experience. Bill also happened to be my classmate at the US Coast Guard Academy, and is affectionately referred to as "Bos'n Bill" by the class of 1961.
The story starts in early 1967, when decisions were made to form a Coast Guard squadron to carry out a coastal surveillance mission in waters off the coast of South Vietnam. Although the Coast Guard had already started a building program to modernize its High Endurance Cutter fleet, the current work-horses of the time were still the venerable AVP class of cutters. The 311's, affectionately known as the "White Elephants" by many of their CG crews, had already served two lives of active service: First as sea plane tenders (AVPs) for the Navy during WWII, and next as weather ships (WAVPs) for the USCG from the late 1940s through the late 60s. The High Endurance Cutters WHEC (designation changed in 1966) were called upon to assume a third role during the Vietnam conflict where they would carry out the assignment of coastal surveillance/interdiction, in-shore gunfire support, and logistical support for the numerous smaller craft that were actively engaged in the theater of war.Historically the USS Half Moon (AVP-26), a Barnegat-class sea plane tender, was built by the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington. Her keel was laid down on 15 August 1941. Launching followed on 7 December 1942, and she was finally placed in commission on 15 June 1943 where she was deployed on various assignments throughout the Pacific during the war.
She was deactivated on 1 December 1945 and was again reactivated on 14 August 1948, placed on loan to the US Coast Guard and commissioned as USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378) where she served in the North Atlantic as an Ocean Station Weather Ship for the next 20-plus years. On 1 May 1966 she was designated as a AVHEC High Endurance Cutter. She was returned to the US Navy on 15 July 1969 for decommissioning and ultimately sold to Italy for scrap on 18 June 1970.
Because of their relatively shallow draft (approximatly 13-ft) and their high-endurance diesel propulsion plant (25,000-miles without refueling at 10-knots) they were ideal platforms for the assignment in spite of their age (some were built in the late 1930s and most in the early 1940s).
The first hint of a new assignment for the Half Moon's crew came when she was ordered to have an air conditioning system installed onboard. This was a rare luxury for the crew, who at once suspected that a "free lunch" courtesy of the CG's Commandant was certainly not being served up. Something big was in the air and scuttlebutt was rampant.
By early March, orders were at last received to make preparation for deployment to the South China Sea off the coast of South Vietnam and become part of the newly-formed CG Squadron Three under the command of Capt. John E. Day, USCG. Four other cutters were assigned to the Squadron. They were the US Coast Guard Cutters Yakutat (WHEC-380), Gresham (WHEC-387), Barataria (WHEC-381) and the Bering Straits (WHEC-382).
Since writing two earlier articles on AVP's - "Whatever Became of the Coast Guard's Casco-class Cutters" in May 2002 and "Whatever Became of Those AVPs?" in February 2003 - I have received numerous communications from fellow AVP sailors. Most recently, I was honored to receive a copy of the USCGC Half Moon's (WHEC-378) 1967 cruise book documenting the ship's deployment to Vietnam during 1967. It came from one of the ship's former crew members, David Lockwood, via his brother John Lockwood, also an AVP sailor on the USCGC Rockaway. What a wonderful time capsule!
In reading it, I was so impressed with its contents that I was inspired to write this article and share some of the story. An interview with the former Lt. Bill Barry, USCG, engineering officer on the Half Moon during 1967, provided me with some additional first-person insights into the Half Moon experience. Bill also happened to be my classmate at the US Coast Guard Academy, and is affectionately referred to as "Bos'n Bill" by the class of 1961.
The story starts in early 1967, when decisions were made to form a Coast Guard squadron to carry out a coastal surveillance mission in waters off the coast of South Vietnam. Although the Coast Guard had already started a building program to modernize its High Endurance Cutter fleet, the current work-horses of the time were still the venerable AVP class of cutters. The 311's, affectionately known as the "White Elephants" by many of their CG crews, had already served two lives of active service: First as sea plane tenders (AVPs) for the Navy during WWII, and next as weather ships (WAVPs) for the USCG from the late 1940s through the late 60s. The High Endurance Cutters WHEC (designation changed in 1966) were called upon to assume a third role during the Vietnam conflict where they would carry out the assignment of coastal surveillance/interdiction, in-shore gunfire support, and logistical support for the numerous smaller craft that were actively engaged in the theater of war.Historically the USS Half Moon (AVP-26), a Barnegat-class sea plane tender, was built by the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington. Her keel was laid down on 15 August 1941. Launching followed on 7 December 1942, and she was finally placed in commission on 15 June 1943 where she was deployed on various assignments throughout the Pacific during the war.
She was deactivated on 1 December 1945 and was again reactivated on 14 August 1948, placed on loan to the US Coast Guard and commissioned as USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378) where she served in the North Atlantic as an Ocean Station Weather Ship for the next 20-plus years. On 1 May 1966 she was designated as a AVHEC High Endurance Cutter. She was returned to the US Navy on 15 July 1969 for decommissioning and ultimately sold to Italy for scrap on 18 June 1970.
Because of their relatively shallow draft (approximatly 13-ft) and their high-endurance diesel propulsion plant (25,000-miles without refueling at 10-knots) they were ideal platforms for the assignment in spite of their age (some were built in the late 1930s and most in the early 1940s).
The first hint of a new assignment for the Half Moon's crew came when she was ordered to have an air conditioning system installed onboard. This was a rare luxury for the crew, who at once suspected that a "free lunch" courtesy of the CG's Commandant was certainly not being served up. Something big was in the air and scuttlebutt was rampant.
By early March, orders were at last received to make preparation for deployment to the South China Sea off the coast of South Vietnam and become part of the newly-formed CG Squadron Three under the command of Capt. John E. Day, USCG. Four other cutters were assigned to the Squadron. They were the US Coast Guard Cutters Yakutat (WHEC-380), Gresham (WHEC-387), Barataria (WHEC-381) and the Bering Straits (WHEC-382).
Trash or treasure: Argentines strike out on their own with new technology, from the stinky to the delicious
A noisy garbage truck reminds you to take out the trash. A foul smell is all the truck leaves behind. It's pretty much the same worldwide, although in Quilmes, Argentina, things do smell a little nicer.
Transportes Unidos de Quilmes, the waste-collection company in the city located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, has equipped its fleet with technology from Argentina's Ecologic Motor, a producer of environmental-friendly motors and buses, for decontaminating and deodorizing rubbish as collectors toss it in. It does so by treating the waste with ozone, a gaseous form of oxygen that kills bacteria and odors 3,000 times faster than chlorine, leaving behind the smell of a fresh spring rain.
Nice-smelling trash? That's the Argentine way. Argentine inventions range from the ballpoint pen to the disposable syringe, urban bus service and the first system for making animated movies.
In terms of the number of inventors-to-population, Argentina ranks 14th in the world--the highest in Latin America--with 3,000, according to the Argentine Association of Inventors (AAI), an industry group. Despite a drop in patents, the economic crisis of the past few years has spurred invention to meet demand for lower-priced technology. In the 1990s, a strong domestic currency--it was pegged one-for-one with the U.S. dollar--made it cheaper to import than produce locally. Now with the peso 70% weaker, foreign technology is out of reach. Hence, there is a market for homegrown products, sold cheaper in dollar terms than imports because of low labor costs. Take Matriceria Estmar, a 33-year-old company that manufactures molds for car-body and engine components. This year, it began selling a machine that semi-automates the production of empanadas, a meat pie made by hand since colonial times.
The Empamec M2000, its top machine, uses a conveyor-belt system. As it rotates, one worker lays dough on a mold, and another adds a savory filling. The mold clamps shut, sealing the meat pie. A third operator takes it off. The machine cranks out 2,000 beef, chicken and other varieties of empanada an hour, nearly seven times more than the three people could do manually.
The machine sells for US$12,500, a sixth of the cost of an imported machine, says Esteban Porco, a partner in the company.
What's more, foreign machines don't work well for empanadas, he says. They are designed for jelly and other fillings, not chunks of beef and chicken, hard-boiled eggs and olives. Estmar's machine, too, can brand and code empanadas, doing away with a system of shapes and notches in the crust to identify fillings.
Estmar is supplying a growing industry. Over the past five years, empanada chains have sprung up around the country and now are venturing abroad. A main reason is a low-budget eating habit, a result of the economic crisis. Three of them, a filling lunch, cost $1.
In its first months, Estmar sold nine machines, including one to also El Gaucho Food in Miami. Inquiries have also come from Colombia. The invention now generates half its revenue. At the same time, diversification helps. "The volatility of the automobile industry makes it hard to plan business. The food industry is more stable," says Porco.
Transportes Unidos de Quilmes, the waste-collection company in the city located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, has equipped its fleet with technology from Argentina's Ecologic Motor, a producer of environmental-friendly motors and buses, for decontaminating and deodorizing rubbish as collectors toss it in. It does so by treating the waste with ozone, a gaseous form of oxygen that kills bacteria and odors 3,000 times faster than chlorine, leaving behind the smell of a fresh spring rain.
Nice-smelling trash? That's the Argentine way. Argentine inventions range from the ballpoint pen to the disposable syringe, urban bus service and the first system for making animated movies.
In terms of the number of inventors-to-population, Argentina ranks 14th in the world--the highest in Latin America--with 3,000, according to the Argentine Association of Inventors (AAI), an industry group. Despite a drop in patents, the economic crisis of the past few years has spurred invention to meet demand for lower-priced technology. In the 1990s, a strong domestic currency--it was pegged one-for-one with the U.S. dollar--made it cheaper to import than produce locally. Now with the peso 70% weaker, foreign technology is out of reach. Hence, there is a market for homegrown products, sold cheaper in dollar terms than imports because of low labor costs. Take Matriceria Estmar, a 33-year-old company that manufactures molds for car-body and engine components. This year, it began selling a machine that semi-automates the production of empanadas, a meat pie made by hand since colonial times.
The Empamec M2000, its top machine, uses a conveyor-belt system. As it rotates, one worker lays dough on a mold, and another adds a savory filling. The mold clamps shut, sealing the meat pie. A third operator takes it off. The machine cranks out 2,000 beef, chicken and other varieties of empanada an hour, nearly seven times more than the three people could do manually.
The machine sells for US$12,500, a sixth of the cost of an imported machine, says Esteban Porco, a partner in the company.
What's more, foreign machines don't work well for empanadas, he says. They are designed for jelly and other fillings, not chunks of beef and chicken, hard-boiled eggs and olives. Estmar's machine, too, can brand and code empanadas, doing away with a system of shapes and notches in the crust to identify fillings.
Estmar is supplying a growing industry. Over the past five years, empanada chains have sprung up around the country and now are venturing abroad. A main reason is a low-budget eating habit, a result of the economic crisis. Three of them, a filling lunch, cost $1.
In its first months, Estmar sold nine machines, including one to also El Gaucho Food in Miami. Inquiries have also come from Colombia. The invention now generates half its revenue. At the same time, diversification helps. "The volatility of the automobile industry makes it hard to plan business. The food industry is more stable," says Porco.
GloBug lights it up for Multiquip
Multiquip Inc. is lighting up party, special event and construction sites with its new GloBug lighting systems, the newest addition to its 2005 product line. The new illumination balloons provide 360[degree] of glare-free illumination as a solo light unit or as part of a complete gen-set package, the company said.
In either configuration, the GloBug uses a single 1 kW metal halide lamp encased by a 45 in. balloon. According to the Carson, Calif. company, the lights can illuminate in excess of 150 ft. in a complete 360[degree] area, making it ideal for use during parties, road construction, parking lot lighting, maintenance, mining, disaster relief, landscaping, special events and ag applications.
The lights use 2.9 kW of 120 V power and can self-inflate their balloons in less than 20 seconds, Multiquip said. The balloon is made of a waterproof, glare-free material and is attached to a three-stage mast on the stand-alone unit which extends 13 ft. In the gen-set option, a four-stage mast is used. It extends 16.5 ft. using a manual winch. The solo unit uses gas shock absorbers for extension and a locking latch to lock in height.
When configured with the gen-set option, the GloBug light is attached to a rolling cart which supports the generator unit. Multiquip said the light can be fitted with most OEM generators that have an output of 2.9 kW or more. The light system is available with Multiquip's GA-6H gen-set, a portable gasoline unit powered by a 337 cc, single-cylinder Honda GX340 engine. The 11 hp engine drives a brushless Denyo generator end for 6 kW of peak power and 5 kW of continuous power. As a generator unit, the GloBug weighs in at 243 lb. including gen-set, rolling cart and pneumatic tires. The cart features an internal ballast and counterweights to lock the outriggers in place to prevent tipping. It also has a quick disconnect power cable, lifting hook, parking brake and safety winch.
The stand-alone GloBug weighs 139 lb. and is fitted with a caster wheel stand which is designed for easy transportability in areas with limited space. The stand has five outriggers to stabilize the unit and removable ballast box.
Multiquip offers both GloBug light systems with a series of balloon options induding a reflector balloon and a drum balloon with Velcro strips to adhere signage. Balloons can also be customized for special occasions and events.
In either configuration, the GloBug uses a single 1 kW metal halide lamp encased by a 45 in. balloon. According to the Carson, Calif. company, the lights can illuminate in excess of 150 ft. in a complete 360[degree] area, making it ideal for use during parties, road construction, parking lot lighting, maintenance, mining, disaster relief, landscaping, special events and ag applications.
The lights use 2.9 kW of 120 V power and can self-inflate their balloons in less than 20 seconds, Multiquip said. The balloon is made of a waterproof, glare-free material and is attached to a three-stage mast on the stand-alone unit which extends 13 ft. In the gen-set option, a four-stage mast is used. It extends 16.5 ft. using a manual winch. The solo unit uses gas shock absorbers for extension and a locking latch to lock in height.
When configured with the gen-set option, the GloBug light is attached to a rolling cart which supports the generator unit. Multiquip said the light can be fitted with most OEM generators that have an output of 2.9 kW or more. The light system is available with Multiquip's GA-6H gen-set, a portable gasoline unit powered by a 337 cc, single-cylinder Honda GX340 engine. The 11 hp engine drives a brushless Denyo generator end for 6 kW of peak power and 5 kW of continuous power. As a generator unit, the GloBug weighs in at 243 lb. including gen-set, rolling cart and pneumatic tires. The cart features an internal ballast and counterweights to lock the outriggers in place to prevent tipping. It also has a quick disconnect power cable, lifting hook, parking brake and safety winch.
The stand-alone GloBug weighs 139 lb. and is fitted with a caster wheel stand which is designed for easy transportability in areas with limited space. The stand has five outriggers to stabilize the unit and removable ballast box.
Multiquip offers both GloBug light systems with a series of balloon options induding a reflector balloon and a drum balloon with Velcro strips to adhere signage. Balloons can also be customized for special occasions and events.
New MTU power unit developed
A NEW environmentally-friendly power unit for power cars has been developed by MTU, Germany. The MTU Sports Stage 3A-PowerPack is a low-emission compact drive unit incorporating a 6H-1800 engine which has been upgraded to perform at up to 360kW.
The new unit, based on the original PowerPack unit developed two years ago with a 350kW 6H-1800 engine, will meet new European Union Stage 3A regulations on emissions which are due to be introduced in 2006. MTU hopes to begin trials of the unit in a Turbostar dmu next year.
Like its predecessor, the new modular unit offers a complete system for subfloor drive in power cars. It comprises the engine, transmission/generator, hydraulics, cooling system, oil and air filter system, exhaust system, and compressors, plus peripheral components for the drive and power supply.
The latest model is lighter in weight as well as more powerful. It has a six-cylinder horizontal motor with a 12.8-1itre cubic capacity. The engine is designed using four-valve technology and has a high-power injection system in which the pumps are equipped with solenoid valves. A two-cylinder brake air compressor and an enlarged oil pan with a capacity of more than 40 litres supplement the fittings.
MTU says the modular construction of the Stage 3A-PowerPack means that it can be customised to adapt to most standard vehicle types. A varied range of components and auxiliary units can be integrated into the robust common frame, including components for onboard power supply, climate control, and the oil and air filter system. All mechanical and electrical interfaces within the overall system are retained. The PowerPack can be supplied with a diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, or diesel-electric power system.
The new unit, based on the original PowerPack unit developed two years ago with a 350kW 6H-1800 engine, will meet new European Union Stage 3A regulations on emissions which are due to be introduced in 2006. MTU hopes to begin trials of the unit in a Turbostar dmu next year.
Like its predecessor, the new modular unit offers a complete system for subfloor drive in power cars. It comprises the engine, transmission/generator, hydraulics, cooling system, oil and air filter system, exhaust system, and compressors, plus peripheral components for the drive and power supply.
The latest model is lighter in weight as well as more powerful. It has a six-cylinder horizontal motor with a 12.8-1itre cubic capacity. The engine is designed using four-valve technology and has a high-power injection system in which the pumps are equipped with solenoid valves. A two-cylinder brake air compressor and an enlarged oil pan with a capacity of more than 40 litres supplement the fittings.
MTU says the modular construction of the Stage 3A-PowerPack means that it can be customised to adapt to most standard vehicle types. A varied range of components and auxiliary units can be integrated into the robust common frame, including components for onboard power supply, climate control, and the oil and air filter system. All mechanical and electrical interfaces within the overall system are retained. The PowerPack can be supplied with a diesel-mechanical, diesel-hydraulic, or diesel-electric power system.
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