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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 1, 2002

Carrier on its way to tests at sea

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and part of its battle group pull into port today on their way to a unique mission: testing no fewer than six next-generation Navy technologies at sea.

On a previous Hawai'i visit, the USS Abraham Lincoln was on its way home to the West Coast after a six-month deployment. The crew's families, including Timmy Dolbin, were flown in for a reunion.

Advertiser library photo • Nov. 27, 1998

Among the "firsts" will be the evaluation of the Navy's newest warplane, the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet, and use of the Pearl Harbor-based Spruance-class destroyer USS Fletcher for a program to swap out crews on deployment so a ship can stay on station longer.

The Navy said the mission at sea will test more innovations than any other single battle group has in recent history.

"The deployment of the Lincoln Battle Group is an opportunity for the Navy to look at new ways to maximize efficiency using our current resources and state-of-the-art technology," a Pacific Fleet statement said.

Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations, has sought ways to make the Navy more efficient to free up money and modernize the force.

Defense Daily quoted Vice Adm. Timothy LaFleur, commander of Pacific Fleet surface forces, as saying: "We lose a lot of money to bad business practices. We need to develop strategies for how we can create dollars ... controlling costs to reinvest in ourselves."

The 1,092-foot Abraham Lincoln, home-ported in Everett, Wash., and its crew of 5,500 will arrive here with the fast combat support ship USS Camden and guided missile cruisers USS Shiloh and USS Mobile Bay, both home-ported in San Diego. The Camden's home port is Bremerton, Wash.

Anchors aweigh for highest tech

Other innovations being tested:

• "Optimal Manning" aboard the USS Mobile Bay. With new technology and policies and procedures, the cruiser is sailing with an 11 percent smaller crew.

• "Man Overboard Indicator," being tested on the Abraham Lincoln and Mobile Bay. It's a state-of-the-art transmitter system that can pinpoint the location of a person who fell overboard.

• The "Area Air Defense Control" system, which provides real-time technology for theater air defense missions.

• "Naval Fires Network," a warfare system providing real-time intelligence correlation, sensor control, target generation, mission planning and battle damage assessment capabilities. The network will allow ships to share data with each other and Army and Air Force units in a joint task force.

Other Pearl Harbor-based ships that will join the battle group for deployment to the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea include the guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, frigate USS Reuben James and submarine USS Honolulu. The Lincoln is expected to be in port for two days.

For the destroyer Fletcher, tomorrow's deployment represents its permanent departure from home port and the last six-month tour for its crew.

The 563-foot ship, commissioned in 1980, will receive two subsequent crews while on deployment as part of the "Sea Swap" initiative to cut down on transit time and increase the time a ship remains on station.

After six months, the Fletcher's crew will be flown back to the United States from a foreign port, and the crew of the USS Kinkaid, based in San Diego, will take over.

The plan allows the Kinkaid, another 20-plus-year Spruance destroyer, to be decommissioned a year early. The Navy has said it can save $86 million in manpower from the early decommissioning.

A third crew will take over the Fletcher after 12 months at sea, after which time the ship will be decommissioned.

The battle group deployment also is expected to be a likely combat test for the Super Hornet, which can land at 44,000 pounds total weight, with 9,500 pounds of fuel or ordnance, compared to the F/A-18C's total landing weight of 34,000 pounds with 6,000 pounds of fuel or ordnance.

The Super Hornet, $57 million apiece, is expected to replace earlier F/A-18s and the aging F-14 Tomcat.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.