Oldest cruiser leads makeover program

[unhappycamper]

Oldest cruiser leads makeover program
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 25, 2008 7:41:13 EDT

When the cruiser Bunker Hill is scheduled to light off its Aegis combat system, the oldest cruiser in the fleet suddenly will become the newest. The Ticonderoga-class ship will be the first of 22 hulls to get upgraded machinery, combat gear and living spaces as part of the Navy’s new cruiser modification program.

The Navy is trying to ensure that the Bunker Hill and its siblings serve for more than 35 years, which will help the Navy get to its goal of fielding its largest fleet since the Reagan administration. The modernization will add five years to the ships’ lives.

“We think this program is off the right start,” said Rear Adm. James McManamon, deputy commander for surface warfare programs for Naval Sea Systems Command. The cruiser mod — which runs about $200 million per hull — is the most extensive upgrade the Navy has done to a surface ship in 30 years, he said, comparing it to the introduction of vertical launch missile tubes in the cruisers and destroyers of yesteryear.

The next step occurs in fiscal 2010, when the Navy begins upgrading its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, starting with the Arleigh Burke itself. In addition to mechanical and electronic improvements, each destroyer will be upgraded to perform ballistic missile defense, in keeping with what the Navy has described as a set of new ballistic- and cruise-missile threats around the world.

NavSea officials say the improved cruisers will provide a nicer ride for their crews. Taking out old radar equipment will make room for a new, comparatively spacious fitness room on the Bunker Hill, said Capt. Robin Russell, NavSea’s surface combatant program manager. The new fitness center — located in the forward part of the ship, on the O-3 level — can accommodate about eight treadmills, stationary bikes or stair machines, and will include several flat-screen TVs.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/08/navy_shipmod_082308w/%2e

[jimmil]

1. It makes me feel old

When the ships I personally worked on are being either scrapped or refitted. We thought that it was the cats meow back then. I had written a program in Fortran that did the ships piping drawing on an Autotrol plotter. It was around 100,000 lines of code. The hardest thing was doing hidden lines as the view changed. It took about 24 hours of wall time on an IBM 370 to complete all the figures before feeding the info into the Autotrol. Now it is done in the blink of an eye. Man I was proud of that program too. There were many weekends spent coding in the secure rooms we had the monitors in. The ships cost I believe around $350,000,000.00 if I remember right.