Diego Garcia is one of the most important and most secretive US bases. It sits in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In 1971 the British government removed all the civilians from the islands, so only military personnel are on site.
The base serves as a naval refuelling and support station. It also serves as the home to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two, the naval unit responsible for the readiness of the ships in Military Sealift Command Prepositioning Program in the Indian Ocean, a vital strategic asset to the United States. Diego Garcia also has an airbase that supports the largest of modern aircraft. B-52s, other bombers, and aerial refueling tanker aircraft have been deployed to Diego Garcia to execute missions to Iraq in support of the Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War, and also to Afghanistan during what the U.S. government termed Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Iraq again during the 2003 invasion. High-tech portable shelters to support the B-2 bomber were built on the island before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
And now a new submarine base will be built on the islands.
more after the fold.
A $31.9M for SSGN Support Facilities at Diego Garcia contract was awarded to DGM21 LLC in Montrose, CO.
DGM21 LLC in Montrose, CO received a $31.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the FY 2007 consolidated construction projects for U.S. Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories. This is a design-build project is for wharf improvements and Shore Support Facilities related to the new SSGN submarines, with performance and prescriptive requirements provided by the Government. Work will be performed in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories, and is expected to be complete April 2009.
What are those new SSGN submarines?
From DefenseNews.com comes these quotes:
Modern submarines, including massive fleet ballistic-missile submarines, have long been able to sneak close to shorelines undetected. However, the Ohio and three former boomers now under conversion deliver additional capability.
They can launch people and Tomahawk missiles, not nuclear warheads.
"The added benefit is we can bring Special Forces with us, and they can carry out strikes with the intelligence we get," Cockey said.
Cockey and his crew can stay underwater for about as long as he wants, conducting long-term surveillance missions, intercepting signal traffic from shore and waiting for targets. They can launch a clandestine SEAL reconnaissance mission or a missile strike. Or both.
More details:
Ohio formally returned to service Feb. 7 after being reconfigured from a ballistic-missile submarine to an SSGN. After evaluations and further modifications, it will deploy in late 2007.
Once slated for the scrapyard, the 25-year-old boat will join three younger sisters — Michigan, Florida and Georgia — for another 20 years of service as special operations/guided-missile strike boats.
The Navy plans to spend $4 billion to convert all four boats. Georgia, the last in line, will return to the fleet in September 2007. They will be forward deployed and manned with alternating blue and gold crews of 15 officers and 139 enlisted sailors, with an O-6 in command. Ohio will work out of Guam and Florida will be based in Diego Garcia in 2008.
Another back grounder
Overview of SSGN Capabilities
Now that the program has been established, it’s a good time to regroup and summarize the status of SSGN. Here is a quick summary of the capabilities the baseline SSGN brings to joint warfare:
TRIDENT stealth and reliability, with more than 20 years of service life remaining for
each SSGN
Large-volume precision strike, with up to 154 Tomahawk and Tactical Tomahawk
cruise missiles
Sustained Special Forces operations, to include insertion, extraction, and support of 66 Special Forces personnel, conditioned and ready, with onboard periods much longer than on SSNs
Command center for mission planning and execution
Capacity for conducting other SSN missions, such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (ISRT); anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare;
and mine warfare
High-data-rate connectivity and joint command/control capability with a "Virginia-class" advanced SSN radio room and ISR suite
70 percent operational availability by using two crews – to achieve a continuous, 2.65-ship deployed presence in support of CINC mission requirements
20 times the payload of an SSN, with large ocean interfaces (22 seven-foot diameter launching tubes, two for SOF lock-out); opportunity for payload experimentation and development
Two additional websites with more details;
Ohio-class SSGN-726
Trident SSGN also provides the CINCs and Battle Group commander a large SOF contingent (4 platoons) capable of carrying out a sustained and continuous level of effort of Special Forces missions. Each boat could carry up to 66 SEALs or other commandos, and a minisub currently under development would be affixed to the bow. However, there are not many missions in which such a large force of SEALs would play a significant role.
A minisub?
and
Ohio-class SSGN-726 Tactical Trident
The SSGN will not serve as a simple replacement for existing platforms. A submarine of any kind is not an effective vehicle for showing the flag. Rather, the vision for the Trident SSGN focuses on stealth, payload, versatility, and endurance – a vision that does not lend itself to overt power projection.
Hmmm... over 150 cruise missiles and up to 70 SEALS. A lot of possibilities there...
One of the details on those websites is that the US Navy plans on rotating the crews on these subs. That means that there are 2 different crews each spends approx. 90 days on board and then they rotate.
By basing on Diego Garcia you don't have to return to the states to change crews which means that the subs can stay on station longer, (that long trip to the US is gone).
Persian Gulf, anyone?
Thank you for reading
jeff