Delores Etter News

Six Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) San Diego researchers were selected for the Department of the Navy Top Scientists and Engineers Program 2006, Sept. Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition Dr. Delores Etter selected Dr. Roy Axford and Jeff Waters for the category of "Top Scientists"; and Michael Thorpe, Estrellina Pacis, Dr. Richard Waters, and Dr. Joseph Neff for the "Top Emerging Investigators" category. "This is wonderful news and a testament to your support of Department of the Navy objectives in the advancement of science, engineering, and technology," said Rear Adm. Mike Bachmann, Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Dr.

The Navy rolled out its new Mine Warfare Mission Package for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in a ceremony on Sept. 14 at the ARINC Engineering Services facility near Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Panama City, Fla. Congressman F. Allen Boyd, Jr. (D-Fla.-2), leader of the Mine Warfare Caucus, Dr. Delores Etter, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, and James Thomsen, Program Executive Officer Littoral and Mine Warfare, all spoke at the event. "These mission modules will revolutionize warfighting in the littorals and will fill critical requirement gaps that exist in the fleet today. We urgently need them as we continue to fight the Global War on Terrorism," said Etter.

The Navy rolled out its new Mine Warfare Mission Package for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in a ceremony on Sept. 14 at the ARINC Engineering Services facility near Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Panama City, Fla. Congressman F. Allen Boyd, Jr. (D-Fla.-2), leader of the Mine Warfare Caucus, Dr. Delores Etter, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, and James Thomsen, Program Executive Officer Littoral and Mine Warfare, all spoke at the event. "These mission modules will revolutionize warfighting in the littorals and will fill critical requirement gaps that exist in the fleet today. We urgently need them as we continue to fight the Global War on Terrorism," said Etter.

The option for a second Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has now been confirmed following the announcement in October 2005 for the first General Dynamics / Austal LCS. Based on the 127 metre advanced Austal trimaran seaframe, which forms the platform for the ship’s operational and combat systems, the new vessel will be built alongside “Independence” which is currently in an advanced stage of construction in Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard. Recent Navy reports have speculated on an expanded acquisition strategy, from four to a possible seventeen, for the Flight 0 fleet of LCSs that also includes an alternate monohull ship design. In addition…

According to Reuters, U.S. Navy shipbuilding has long been plagued by billions of dollars of cost overruns and lengthy, schedule delays, but acquisition chief Delores Etter says she sees encouraging signs of progress. But the former Naval Academy electrical engineering professor said both the Navy and U.S. shipbuilders have begun making changes that should lead to improvements. She said Navy officials were working with U.S. lawmakers to move toward greater funding stability for shipbuilding. Frustrated by chronic cost overruns and keen to maintain well-paying jobs in their home districts, lawmakers have in the past tweaked Navy budget plans, adding ships, delaying ships and blocking plans to have just one shipyard build a ship.

Following the official opening of the new ship construction facility last November, Austal USA today hosted a traditional US Navy keel-laying ceremony to signify the start of construction on the Navy’s new breed of surface combatant, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Whilst the ceremonies have been updated to reflect modern ship construction techniques, Navy tradition dictates that each new ship for the service be honoured on four historic ceremonial occasions: keel-laying, christening (or launching), commissioning and decommissioning. The object of today’s ceremony is a component in the modular construction arrangement that will form part of a 127 metre aluminium trimaran capable of providing high speeds, multi-mission capability and superior aviation operations.

According to a Reuters report, President George W. Bush's nominee to head Navy acquisition vowed to make shipbuilding a top priority and said she would try to avert funding disruptions that tend to push costs higher. Delores Etter, an engineering professor at the Naval Academy who served in the Pentagon during the Clinton administration, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that technologies need to be fully developed and tested before being added to new arms programs. Etter also vowed to investigate ways to better finance shipbuilding, which is done on an annual basis now, rather than over the four to eight years it takes to build a ship.