On December 7, 2006, the First Joint Annual Program on Naval Aviation was held. It was an AIAA SSTC event, jointly sponsored by the Baltimore and National Capital sections, and the Student chapter at USNA, in conjunction with SNAME (the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers), Chesapeake Section, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. The lecture hall was well-filled with USNA midshipmen. After a short pizza session starting at 6:30, brief welcoming remarks were given by Baltimore Section Chair, Dr. Pramud Rawat, and Prof Miller, SNAME-Chesapeake, with Prof. Miklosovic presiding.
Two excellent speakers were on hand: CAPT. Richard L. Brasel, USN, Program Manager, Navy UCAS Program Office; and Mr. John Woodward, standing in for CAPT. John S. Rosa, USN (Ret.), Head Aviation System’s Engineer, PEO Ships.
CAPT Richard L. Brasel, spoke on ‘The Unmanned Combat Air System Program – An Overview”
The development of the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System (Navy UCAS) Program was presented, providing a brief historical perspective, describing its transition to the Navy Program Office, reviewing current design and engineering efforts, and outlining future prospects. Issues relevant to unmanned aircraft and the maturing of the technology incorporated in these aircraft were discussed.
CAPT John S. Rosa, USN (Ret.) was scheduled to present “Shipboard Integration of Aviation Systems; Learning from History”; Mr. John Woodward gave this presentation in his absence.
The shipboard integration of aviation systems has presented designers and operators persistent challenges. The elements of these challenges and how the U.S. Navy (NAVAIR/NAVSEA/PEO Ships Team) addresses them were viewed from a historical perspective. Over the past few decades, the challenges of aviation systems integration have grown, which has been met with some but not complete success from the efforts of the stakeholders. Acquisition reform through performance specifications has only added more complexity. Over the last three years, great strides have been made in addressing current and past issues through joint teams, processes and policies. However, much remains to be done. This presentation addressed the issues and the way ahead.
Concluding the SSTC meeting, Mr. Jon Malay, from the National Capital Section, imparted some last words of advice for the midshipmen from personal experience. Jon mentioned that, although he too was a Naval Academy graduate, the personal connections he made through AIAA were as important as those from USNA.
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