Navy wants commando ‘mothership’ in Middle East

Ought Six · 01-29-2012, 02:31 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...rc=al_national

Ross · 01-29-2012, 07:00 AM

41 years old and about to be decommissioned !

Kinda cynical sending an aging rust bucket in to a high risk area to
deal with mines .

"Iranians this is your target . We are going to parade it up and down
the gulf in your face all day everyday until you take a swipe at it .
Then we will have a perfect excuse to pursue Iranian national
gender re-assignment ".

Glockd · 01-29-2012, 08:23 PM

Ever been on a U.S. Navy man of war? Not what I would call rustbuckets at all. The Navy found a new use for an old gal. I would venture to guess that at 41 years old, she has seen her share of high risk areas. But, hey, I am all for reactivating the USS Wisconsin for this task. Mines? Uh shit, get a can of paint. Anti-ship missiles? Pipe "Sweepers, Man Your Brooms".

The Ponce gives them a well deck, a helo deck, plenty of bunk space, a nice galley, plenty of room for gear, and training space. The Ponce's last high risk deployment was during the Libyan Civil War in March of 2011, and she only returned to port for decomissioning in December, just about a month ago. Still ready to fight, Id say. It is much better than taking a new LHD off the line for this. Not to mention, it saves the taxpayers some money.

Ought Six · 01-29-2012, 08:43 PM

It not only is cheaper, it can be refitted and sailing in just a few months. A new build would take many years. It already has 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts. I hope they add a RAM missile launcher or two to help protect against antiship missiles. I assume that it will get or already has 25mm Mk. 38 deck mounts in addition to .50 M2s to protect against small boat attacks.

Glockd · 01-29-2012, 09:11 PM

Dont know about the 25mm, but if she does not have them, she will. Possibly a RIM-66 launcher as well.

Oops, looks like she has the 25mm. Video tells it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=lCZbw1KJ568

Ought Six · 01-29-2012, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glockd

Possibly a RIM-66 launcher as well.

There is no way the will add a Standard missile launching system. They would have to cut open the ship and completely redesign it internally to take the launcher, missile magazines, RADARs and fire control systems. That would be extremely expensive and time-consuming. They could add on a Sea Sparrow/ESSM launcher, but I very seriously doubt that they will.

Glockd · 01-29-2012, 10:36 PM

Sorry, I meant the RIM-116, not the damn RIM-66. I must be channeling my old man, who served on a Charles F. Adams class guided missile destroyer, (USS Buchanan DDG-14). I have her armament memorized (from many tales over the years). You are of course correct, installing a RIM-66 system would be completely ludicrous. The RIM-116 on the other hand, a very real possibility. Plenty of space on board to convert to reload storage.

Ought Six · 01-29-2012, 11:52 PM

RIM-116 = RAM launcher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIM-116...rframe_Missile

---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

41 years old and about to be decommissioned !

Kinda cynical sending an aging rust bucket in to a high risk area to
deal with mines .

"Iranians this is your target . We are going to parade it up and down
the gulf in your face all day everyday until you take a swipe at it .
Then we will have a perfect excuse to pursue Iranian national
gender re-assignment ".

This vessel will most likely be stationed off of Somalia in the Arabian Sea to hunt pirates.

Sonny · 01-30-2012, 03:38 PM

Ross, Rust bucket ? I have you know that just this November the USS Ponce hosted visitors over several days at Port Cape Canaveral, FL. as Part of the "100 yr Anniversary in Naval Flight Air Show" over Cocoa Beach, FL. which just up the beach from the NCO's club at Patric AFB,, And I didn't see any Rust. So Hey mate, I think you've been smoking joey dung.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Ought Six

R
This vessel will most likely be stationed off of Somalia in the Arabian Sea to hunt pirates.

O6, Why do you say that??

I really can see the need for the USS Ponce with it's unique capabilities which Glockd mentioned earlier.

AFSB Market Survey MM-12-04 Revision 1 Dec 22.pdf (73.46

Solicitation Number: MM-12-04
Agency: Department of the Navy
Office: Military Sealift Command

A review of the above pdf Plainly states; destination Persian Gulf.
Work includes the addition of multiple refueling stations around the sides of the ship, to support refueling small craft which I suspect includes our unmanned surface craft that preform Anti Mine Detection activities. Because, Yes we have drones that do that now..

And it specifically mentions accommodations for the MH-53 class Helos on the flight deck..
The same MH-53 Sea Dragons that are assigned to our "Helo Mine Sweep Counter Measure Squads.
( see image MH-53 below.

!
Oh, I gota run...
also, Several new anti mine system have come on line just in the past few years.

Ought Six · 01-31-2012, 06:01 AM

As the original article said, the document you linked to was only one of several proposal documents outlining multiple requirements. You can just pick out one proposal and take it as the definitive factual description of the exact mission for this vessel. It will be used where it is needed in the region.

Ross · 01-31-2012, 06:06 AM

# Other than additional munitions storage there is not much I could see
suggesting the addition of defensive weaponry .

Catbird · 01-31-2012, 03:59 PM

Further details coming out today.

""It is not a special operations 'deathstar,' ""

But what caught my eye was the schedule. It's definitely on the fast track.

Quote:

"Navy officials want the modified Ponce ready for work in early June.

Harvey told reporters "there is no end date for Ponce," adding, in his mind, the ship's coming deployment to the Persian Gulf region is "indefinite.""

Ought Six · 01-31-2012, 04:12 PM

There are two potentially conflicting missions there; specops and small boat 'mothership', and anti-mine support platform. As is typically the case with scarce resources, there are likely different factions competing for use of the ship.

Sonny · 07-08-2012, 08:33 AM

Pentagon deploys the aging USS Ponce to Gulf region for countermine operations

Wichita Military Affairs Examiner July 6th, 2012

On 24 January 2012, the Military Sealift Command posted a bid request to retrofit the USS Ponce on a rush-order basis.

In response to requests from United States Central Command, the ship was converted to a staging base for mine countermeasures helicopters and ships/boats.

It was later reported that the Ponce would not be a “mothership” for special operations, but rather a "lilypad" for the MH-53 helicopters in a mine-clearance role, as well as for patrol craft.

The ships compliment includes 150 civilian contractors and 55 sailors…

We found a amateur video of a tour of the USS Ponce to give you an idea of what the ship looks like and some of its capabilities and weapons, including the MARK 38 25 mm machine gun cannon (see video:

You Tube

See also a live fire exercise of the Mark 28 25 mm machine gun on board the USS Ponce

You Tube

See also unauthorized tour video by U.S. troops on board the USS Ponce, which gives you a flavor of life on board the Ponce (see video:

You Tube

by Robert Tilford

http://www.examiner.com/article/pent...ine-operations

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