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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The LPD 17 will be a diesel-powered amphibious assault ship capable of transit through the Panama Canal. It will transport and deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Brigades as a key component of amphibious task forces. LPD 17 will be capable of transporting and debarking forces by surface assault craft, including assault amphibious vehicles (AAVs or AAAVs) and landing craft air cushion (LCAC) vehicles, as well as helicopters and the tilt-rotor V-22 OSPREY, contributing to dominant maneuver, precision engagement, and focused logistics. Side ports will enable the embarkation and debarkation of troops and rolling equipment, and a floodable well deck will permit operation of LCACs and AAV/AAAV craft. Storage and offload capabilities will be incorporated for all classes of supplies, including fuel, ammunition, and food for amphibious forces ashore. Ship spaces will be configured for amphibious craft logistic support and limited aviation maintenance and refuel/rearm servicing on the flight deck.

Self-defense capabilities of the LPD 17 will include a cooperative engagement capability with other task force vessels, plus own-ship self defense against sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles. Command, control, communications, computer and intelligence (C⁴I) systems will be interoperable with other service systems through a modern Ship-Wide Area Network.

LPD 17 is being designed to replace several classes of aging amphibious ships, including the LKA, LPD 4, LSD 36, and LST 1179. With minor exceptions, the LPD 17 will be required to perform most of the functions of the four classes it will replace.

As the first major ship design program initiated under the revised DoD acquisition regulations, LPD 17 completed a Milestone II review in June 1996. DOT&E approved the TEMP in May 1996.

Early Operational Assessments (OT-IA and OT-IB) were conducted by COMOPTEVFOR in FY95 and FY96, respectively. The results thereof had definite impact on the preliminary design process.

The LPD 17 LFT&E program consists of a combination of surrogate tests, component and system tests, a Shock Trial, a Total Ship Survivability Trial (TSST), and analyses and modeling. Results of these tests and analyses are being reported in a series of Vulnerability Assessment Reports (VARs) at the end of various stages of ship design and construction.

OT&E was not conducted during the past year. A TEMP update to describe next year's EOA activity is being developed. That EOA will be on the final, detailed design of the first ship of the class.

In FY98, DOT&E witnessed and provided oversight for a fire test of the LPD 17 deck fire insulation conducted at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX. DOT&E actively participated in various LPD 17 working group meetings. During these meetings, DOT&E provided insight to revisions that will update and improve the LFT&E Strategy contained in the Navy's proposed revision of the LPD 17 TEMP, and reviewed the Navy's LFT&E plans for preparation of the LPD 17 detailed design VAR.

Severe funding shortfalls in the LPD 17 program have caused the Navy to delete several self-defense systems from the planned configuration of the ship. Elimination of the Vertical Launch System and the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile will leave only the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) as an active self-defense system for the ship and embarked landing force. We have significant concern that the planned defensive weapons suite will not provide adequate self-defense capability for the LPD 17. This will dictate operational choices between accepting relatively high vulnerability for LPD 17 during single-ship operations or the operational burden of providing escorts in hostile waters.

The consensus of the EOA team following OT-IB was that the LPD 17 will provide a significant increase in capability in amphibious mission performance, combat systems performance and C⁴I over the ships it is replacing in the fleet.

The LPD 17 deck insulation fire test provided the basis for acceptance of this insulation for use in LPD 17. The satisfactory results of this test provide increased confidence that the fire insulation to be installed in LPD 17 will help to retard the vertical spread of fire in the event of a shipboard fire. DOT&E and the Navy have reached agreement on draft revisions to the LPD 17 LFT&E Strategy in the Navy's proposed revision of the LPD 17 TEMP. The Navy's approach for preparation of the detailed design VAR provides confidence that the LPD 17 VAR will meet LFT&E objectives.