OCT01-03: SECNAV Visits NAVSEA Activities
From Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communications
WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus visited two Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) field activities in September to witness firsthand how they are supporting the fleet.
Mabus visited Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP) Groton and Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), two NAVSEA activities that play a major role in building an affordable future Fleet and sustaining the current Fleet.
During Mabus' Sept. 23 visit to SUPSHIP Groton; he reviewed improvements to the Virginia-class submarine program. He also viewed the ongoing construction of the future USS Mississippi (SSN 782), as well as the Command and Control Off-hull Assembly and Test Site facility where the future submarine's command and control station is assembled before being installed. The facility allows the ship's crew to train on the actual equipment they'll use at sea before the control equipment is installed within the submarine's hull.
SUPSHIP Groton serves as the liaison between the Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation who designs, constructs, repairs and modernizes U.S. Navy submarines. SUPSHIP personnel provide oversight during design, execute NAVSEA technical authority locally, execute the payments on a contract and coordinate communication between the contractor and the government.
A few days later on Sept. 28, Mabus visited Norfolk Naval Shipyard where he received an overview of the shipyard operations, toured the waterfront and observed the shipyard's "sub hub" maintenance project facilities for USS Tennessee (SSBN 734).
With much of the shipyard's infrastructure dating back to the first and second world wars' expansion periods, Mabus was briefed on the planned waterfront modernization to occur in the coming years as part of the shipyard's "Vision 2035" ? part of NAVSEA's ongoing efforts to increase fleet readiness within the current budget. Large-scale enhancements include the "Superpier" construction that will enable berthing of two aircraft carriers simultaneously, as well as the proposed adjacent "carrier hub" that will conveniently locate project teams next to the carriers.
"There's a big economic operation here at a highly historic place dating back more than 200 years," said Mabus. "There's a very important plan for the shipyard's future, and it was also good to see some of the current work happening here, such as with the recent USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) undocking."
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