Navy scientists and engineers are looking for ways to help the service lower the cost of designing and building weapon systems. One of the most effective cost-cutting techniques is to make projects less labor-intensive, says the Navy’s top science and technology official.

“This is where you’d invest in things like automated welding technology and friction stir welding,” says Rear Adm. Nevin Carr Jr., chief of naval research. Reducing the number of hours that workers spend on a project translates to lower costs, he tells National Defense.
 
ONR researchers helped develop a machine that crawls along the steel plates of a ship under construction to grind off weld joints. Workers previously stood there for hours with handheld grinders to accomplish the same task.

“It’s not glamorous like the free electron laser, but it saves money,” says Carr.

Once a ship is constructed, the Navy has to keep it steaming at sea, at huge costs. If the number of sailors and the energy that it takes to sail can be decreased, then the Navy’s operating costs also will decrease, says Carr. “We try to contribute science and technology solutions to do this.”

Science and technology can help at a time when there’s downward economic pressure, says Carr.

ONR maintains a list of 12 focus areas in its strategic plan. Carr last year added a new topic — total ownership cost — to the tally that includes information superiority, survival and self defense, naval war fighter performance, and power and energy.

The total ownership cost of a weapon system amounts to what the military will spent on a program from the system’s inception to its demise. The cost to design and build a system typically accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the budget. The bulk of the funds are spent on operating and maintaining the system.

Along with pursuing advances in ship automation, maintenance and modernization, ONR is funding green technologies to help the Navy eliminate its dependency on oil. The admiral visited an algae-based fuel production facility operated by Old Dominion University in Virginia to examine progress on alternative fuel technologies. “We’re helping to ensure that fuel is stable in the long term and can be mixed with other fuels,” he says.