Special Operations.Com

Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS)
Copyright 1999-2001 Special Operations.Com



Hot Link:
Photo and Program Update



Background and Overview

The U.S. Navy SEALs have long made use of "wet" submersibles (SEAL Delivery Vehicles, or SDVs) for their medium-range undersea transportation. And while the SDVs have served the Naval Special Warfare community with distinction, they have long suffered from one consistent drawback: all embarked members had to endure extended periods of time in frigid ocean waters with only a wet or dry suit to protect them from the elements (and no, just because it's a "dry" suit doesn't mean it's a "warm" suit). And while this factor, in and of itself, may not seem to be of great concern, experience has shown that human body performance degrades on a predictable scale in relation to the time spend in a given temperature. This has little consequence for the average person, however for a commando who is expected to perform at an exceptionally high level for an unknown period of time in a potentially dangerous environment, the stakes are much, much higher.

Essential to Naval Special Warfare is the ability to conduct clandestine insertions and extractions of SEAL squads into high threat environments. The Advanced SEAL Delivery System does just that. Transportable by C-5 and C-17 aircraft, the ASDS is a manned, dry interior, combatant submersible with the requisite range endurance, speed, payload, and other capabilities for operations in a full range of hostile environments.

The first ASDS system was built in fiscal year 1997 and tested in fiscal year 1998. The host platform for this battery-powered craft is a fast attack submarine or landing ship dock. The first 688-class fast attack submarine host platform completed support modification in fiscal year 1997.

The details of the range and speed of the ASDS remain classified, however reports indicate it can travel at approximately 8 knots to a distance of at least 125 miles. The 65-foot ASDS is operated by a pilot drawn from the Submariner community, alongside a SEAL navigator. Behind these crewmen, between eight and sixteen (16) SEALs can be accommodated, depending on how they are equipped. Exit from the ASDS is accomplished through a lock-in/lock-out chamber in the floor of the craft, which has also been manufactured so that it can dock with a parent submarine, much like a deep submergence rescue vehicle.

This craft will be adapted to the next class of U.S. nuclear submarines, the New Attack Submarine (NSSN). Already optimized for use by Naval Special Warfare personnel with increased room for men and gear, the NSSN will also be built with a nine-man lock-out/lock-in chamber for the insertion and recovery of Special Operations Forces. When fitted with an ASDS-capable Dry Deck Shelter (DDS), the NSSN can deliver a significant number of Special Operations Forces and their equipment quickly and quietly while remaining submerged and undetected. The primary delivery vehicle for the Advanced SEAL Delivery System will be launched the Los Angeles (SSN-688), Seawolf (SSN-21) and NSSN Class Submarines. GREENEVILLE is especially equipped for submarine rescue. Capable of performing the mother submarine role for the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV), she may fulfill bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements with allies to assist in the rescue of a downed submarine. GREENEVILLE will become the Pacific test platform for the ASDS.

Numerous manufacturers have contributed to this project. Alliant Techsystems/Valence Technology has submitted a proposal to replace current zinc-silver oxide batteries in three Navy underwater vehicle applications (MK-30 target, MK-8 SEAL Delivery Vehicle and the Advanced SEAL Delivery System) with commercial lithium ion polymer batteries. These systems procure $5M plus of batteries per year because of finite recharge cycles and wet life requiring their replacement every 12 to 18 months. Lithium ion batteries will provide over 10 times the cycle life of the silver-zinc. Draper Laboratories designed and developed an integrated control and display system, including the primary control system, navigation system, sensors, and displays, and dual-redundant flight control computers and operational software for the ASDS as well.



ASDS Characteristics

Length: 65 feet

Beam: 6.75 feet

Height: 8.25 feet

Dry Weight: 55 tons

Range: 125+ miles

Speed: 8+ knots

Propulsion: 67 hp electric motor (Ag-Zn battery)

Diving Depth: Classified

Crew: Two (2) (pilot and navigator)

Masts: 2 (Port - periscope, Starboard - Communication + Global Positioning System)

Sonar: Forward Looking - detect natural/man made obstacles
Side Looking - terrain & bottom mapping, mine detection

Passengers: Up to sixteen SEALs, depending on equipment loads



(Note: The above information was derived entirely from open unclassified sources

_______________________________

2 ASDS (Our needs...my opinion) mounted on our new Subs...and you have the best possible "stealth" and secure aproach on any Island or coast....
Nothing fancy...nothing to expensive...Just realistic

Mission
Provide clandestine undersea mobility for SOF personnel and their mission support equipment



Description
Manned, dry-combatant mini-submarine
Operates in a wide range of environmental extremes and threat environments
Provides increased range and payload capacity, robust communication, loiter capability, and diver protection from the elements
Ample, dry habitable environment for SOF personnel and equipment
Rapid lock-out/lock-in capability
Transportable by sea, air or land



Status
ASDS contract awarded in 1994 for design, construction, and testing of the lead ASDS vehicle, a Land Transport Vehicle, host submarine conversion, and options to construct up to five follow-on production units
First ASDS constructed and delivered: FY 2000



Contractor
Northrop Grumman Corporation; Annapolis, Maryland

ASDS is a really fine vessel but it has a great disadvantage:it's American....Now to be serious i think that we need a large variety of underwater vehicles:from "wet" SDV and "dry" SDV(like ASDS or others like the Italians ones or like the German "ORCA") to mini-submarines with strike capabilities like British "Piranhas" or a newiest type.Aegean Sea is the ideal environment for the operational use of that kind of vessels.We also consider the possibility to converse a Type 209 to Special Operations submarine.That would be the ideal solutions for the filling of DYK operational needs.

Indeed KonTim...

You could provide us with any analysis on this Boots...if you have some...

Thanks

Yeah i have some technical details/datas Lord and i would be liked to post them here but i don't have many knowledge about computer functions.Could any member of the forum provide me some help to post here some interesting articles?It's the last thing i can do.For so much time here i just asked for infos,never posted an article...

You scan whatever you want to be scanned in high resolution

then you edit, cut frames, compress, etc, with a picture editing program.. the most easy-usable software is the "Microsoft Office Picture Manager". ;) (I think it got in my computer with the "MS Office 2003" I installed.)

Then you upload the pics in http://imageshack.us and you paste the links of the uploaded pics here.

:thumbsup:

Quite easy IMO.

Indeed KonTim..like Pytheas wroted its not difficould...if you though have any problem...please tell...we will help you.

Regards and Thanks

I hate to rain over your parade but... The ASDS is may not perform as it has been advertised.

Here are some links reporting about the problems encountered in the project:

Little boat, big problems

Mini-sub bugs: noisy, shaky and years late

ASDS Mini-Sub Program Taking On Water

Not at all Cem...iam lisening to your specialized opinion allways with care...Thanks for the Links ...will have a look at it...

Regards

Thanks!! It is also possible that there is nothing wrong with the ASDS. May be they are siphoning the money that is given by the Congress for this project to a top-secret project for US Special Forces. When everybody is interested in the problems and budget overruns of the ASDS, the military is running another secret project behind closed doors. May the alleged problems and budget overruns are just a cover story but they may be true as well.

If the cost is $300 million per vehicle,i doubt that we are going to see it anytime soon in this part of the world.IF the americans are willing to sell it to us....

Cam...

How difficould could it be to build something simiular in our own yard...?
I mean 300 mil...ok that the offiicial announce..cause of development etc etc...
But in the end of the day...this is an somehow treiler...to a sub...we gained Know how...by building the new Subs in Elefsis...and i think the Germans have allready something simiular...(though i have to search a bit more abouted...)

It could be builded with less money...than 300 mil...(my opinion)

Regards

@Lord

I guess that we could build something similar at low cost,since the know how already exists.But i don't think that our navy would pay for its developement costs.As we know,our military isn't very trusting in indigenous projects.....

Guys i own some technicals datas and pics to that thread.Promised to be fixed by my obligation too soon.

Hey guys, check this .pdf, that is a quite good guide to the equipment of the Special Operation Forces.. ;) : http://www.armada.ch/05-6/complete_05-6.pdf


It has a special chapter for the sea operations (better read it from the pdf):


Where says that the SpecOps SDVs (Special Delivery Vehicles) out in the market are the following:

1-2 operators:
USA's Anteon - Sea Shadow
Serbian - Brodosplit R-1
Croatian - Brodosplit R-2
Italy's Cosmos - CE2F/X100-T
USA's Columbia Research Corporation - Piranha
Emirates Marine Technologies - Class 4
Emirates Marine Technologies - Class 5

6-16 crew and divers:
USA's Northrop Grumman Electronics Sensors and Systems Division - ASDS (16 personnel)
USA's Columbia Research Corporation - Dolphin (space for 8 persons)
Emirates Marine Technologies - Class 6 (4 personnel)
Emirates Marine Technologies - Class 8 (8 personnel)
Italy's Cosmos - MG120/ER (21 personnel) (it comes with AIP also!!)
Italy's Cosmos - X201, even larger than the previous
Sweden's Kockums - Sea Dagger multipurpose submarine (more here: http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dagger )

USA Spending $7.1M to Upgrade SEAL Delivery Vehicles


SEAL Delivery Vehicle

DID has covered the problems with the USA's ASDS special forces mini-sub program, and the corresponding need to extend and upgrade existing "wet delivery" SEAL Delivery Vehicles (SDV). Now Sonatech Inc in Santa Barbara, CA has received a $7.1 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to provide for life-cycle maintenance, spare parts and new obstacle avoidance sonar fabrication support of SDV. Sonatech will furnish five Obstacle Avoidance Sonar (OAS) systems, along with diagnostic evaluation, repair and upgrade, OAS spares, field support, and obsolescence studies.
Work will be performed in Santa Barbara, CA (98%) and various government sites (2%), and is expected to be complete by March 2011. This contract was a sole source effort issued by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division in Panama City, FL.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/0...icles/index.php

Costs sink Navy minisub program


By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer



A 12-year Navy program to develop six minisubs for commando missions has been canceled after a $446 million investment, leaving the one and only sub at Pearl Harbor with an uncertain future.

With an original estimate that a single sub would cost about $80 million, the price tag for the one vessel that was delivered is $366 million above projections.

The 65-foot Advanced SEAL Delivery System, or ASDS, was heralded as a "transformational leap ahead" and was intended to deliver commandos dry and rested to a point of departure — rather than in the current underwater vehicles that are open to bone-chilling cold water and require the use of scuba gear.

But after years of battery, noise and propulsion problems, the Pentagon canceled the Northrop Grumman project on April 6 because of performance and reliability concerns, the Navy said.

An "improvement program" will be pursued for the sole ASDS, based at a SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 facility on Pearl City Peninsula.

U.S. Rep. Robert Simmons, R-Conn., whose state includes sub builder Electric Boat, has railed against the Northrop Grumman effort at congressional hearings while suggesting the program be re-bid.

"It worries me greatly that the Advanced SEAL Delivery System, which is something our special operations forces drastically need, is 700 percent over budget, 12 years behind schedule and still hasn't delivered a workable first SEAL delivery system," Simmons said in March.

At the current rate of expenditure for the minisub, "you could build it out of 14-karat gold," he said.

John Pike, director of military think tank GlobalSecurity.org, said it is puzzling that the program was allowed to limp along so long.

"It has not been a shining moment," Pike said.

Neither U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie nor U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, both Hawai'i Democrats, was available for comment yesterday.

Designed to ride piggyback on the Los Angeles-class submarines Greeneville and Charlotte, both based at Pearl Harbor, the boxy, 8-foot-diameter ASDS is designed to sneak up close to shore with two crew and up to 16 SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) commandos.

Its skin is the material used on Stealth fighters, it can take and transmit pictures almost in real time, and its design allows for long-range operations.

DRY TRANSPORT

One of the minisub's biggest advantages is that it keeps commandos dry before they exit the sub. Existing SEAL Delivery Vehicles are convertible-like craft launched from "dry deck" shelters on larger submarines that expose troops to energy-sapping cold water long before they reach their final destination.

The Navy in 2004 celebrated the completion of a $47 million waterfront home for SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 on 22 acres at Pearl City Peninsula that includes a 326,000-gallon freshwater test tank.

At the time, the team had 45 officers and 230 enlisted personnel — 93 of them SEALs.

Five Hawai'i-based SEALs died in connection with an ill-fated reconnaissance mission and failed rescue last June 28 in the mountains of Afghanistan.

ONE DEPLOYMENT

The Navy in July 2003 took delivery of the first ASDS, and it rode piggyback on the 360-foot Greeneville during a deployment to the Persian Gulf by Expeditionary Strike Group 1.

The entire program, including six minisubs and facilities in Hawai'i and Little Creek, Va., was to cost $527 million. According to the Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch, the subs originally were expected to cost $80 million each.

Lt. Cmdr. Steve Mavica, a spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command in Florida, said that in November, the decision was made to restructure the ASDS program. Investment in hulls 2 and 3 was canceled.

More recently, the remainder of the program was canceled.

A March 31 Government Accountability Office report on ASDS said that silver-zinc batteries were replaced with lithium-ion versions, and an aluminum tail was replaced by titanium.

Acoustic or noise-level problems — a critical issue for submarines — were "being addressed," the report said.

In earlier tests, a propeller was the source of the most significant noise, and a new composite propeller was added.

In October 2005, meanwhile, the ASDS experienced a propulsion-related failure, and the Navy decertified the ASDS from operational test readiness, the GAO report said.

"While the performance of ASDS-1 has been generally satisfactory, the overall reliability is still a concern," Mavica said. "Given the importance of the mission and the need to ensure the safety of our personnel, (Special Operations Command) and the Navy must be completely confident in the reliability of the craft."

COSTS UNJUSTIFIABLE

Debbi McCallam, a Northrop Grumman spokeswoman, said vibration, noise and battery problems were identified, addressed and fixed last summer. McCallam said the rationale for the recent cancellation was based on the prospect that keeping the future boats in the program might cause a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy law, which requires the secretary of defense to certify that programs with a 25 percent cost increase are necessary for national security.

McCallam said Northrop Grumman is involved in a $69.4 million ASDS-1 improvement plan, and Special Operations Command could resurrect the larger program. "Of course we'd like to begin construction of the next vessel as soon as possible, since we've got the history and expertise," she said.