Coating on Virginia subs detaches

[ErnstBlofeld]

Theday.com/Jennifer McDermott :

Sections of the coating used on the outside of Virginia-class submarines have come off, prompting the Navy to change the way the coating is applied.

The coating makes the submarines difficult for sonar to detect. Three of the first four Virginia-class submarines, USS Virginia (SSN 774), USS Texas (SSN 775) and the USS North Carolina (SSN 777) experienced the most "debonding," the Navy said in a statement Monday.

The problem was noticed first on the Virginia in March 2007, after the post-shakedown availability, or the maintenance period following delivery, was completed at Electric Boat.

Sections of the hull coating later came off other submarines as they spent more time at sea. The Navy and Electric Boat investigated and made changes to the way the hull coating is applied, according to the Navy.

Submarines in the class exhibited "substantially less debonding" as a result of the process improvements implemented during construction and the maintenance period, the Navy said. The Navy did not specify the nature of the process improvements.

The Virginia lost the most coating, which totaled "only a few percent" of the surface area, according to the Navy.


"This is not a severe problem and has not measurably affected the performance of the ships," the statement said.

Electric Boat builds Virginia-class submarines under a teaming arrangement with Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia. Both shipbuilders now apply the hull coatings on portions of each ship, the Navy said.

The hull coating on the Virginia, Texas and North Carolina was applied during the post-shakedown availability at EB. Starting with the USS New Hampshire (SSN 778), the fifth member of the class, the coating was applied during construction to shorten the maintenance period.

EB referred all questions to the Navy since the issue involves operational submarines, not those under construction.

The Navy and the shipbuilders plan to monitor the performance of the coating to ensure the improvements to the application process solve the problem. Sections of hull coating have come off of other classes of submarines in the past as well, the Navy said.