The LMSR ships are not armed and do not have a combat system. They do have a \( \mathbf { C } ^ { 3 } \) I suite sufficient to perform their intended mission in conjunction with other naval vessels.

# BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The program currently plans for 19 ships, five of which are conversions of existing commercial container vessels, and 14 of which will be newly constructed ships. All 19 ships use common cargo handling systems procured by the Navy. Three contractors are building LMSRs. A performance type procurement description was used; therefore specific ship configurations differ as the respective builders interpret the mission requirements.

The current TEMP was approved in June 1996. In view of the single ship mission and similarities in the LMSR configurations, the test approach is for a single ship class, with four "flights." A mix of operational test events and operational assessments will address the minor hardware variance.

As non-developmental items, DT has been limited, focusing on production assurance testing in conjunction with the builders. Systems and integration testing is witnessed by Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and American Bureau of Shipping representatives.

Operational Testing (OT-IIA) of the LSMR conversion ship was planned and administered in accordance with the DOT&E-approved TEMP and OT Plan. OT-IIA was conducted during September 1996, aboard United States Naval Ship (USNS) Shughart (T-AKR 295) at Savannah, GA and Norfolk, VA. The OT was conducted in conjunction with a planned Army sealift deployment exercise, which moved a representative load of Army equipment (over 1,000 pieces and included tanks, trucks and various helicopters) from the 3d Infantry Division in Savannah, GA to Ft. Story, VA. The USNS Shughart was assessed as operationally effective and potentially operationally suitable. No significant deficiencies were observed.

Due to cracking cloverleaf tie downs on the decks of the USNS BOB HOPE, the operational test (OT-IIB) scheduled for USNS BOB HOPE in July 1998, was rescheduled to 1QFY99. OT-IIB was subsequently rescheduled for 3QFY00 and the USNS FISHER was designated the OT-IIB test article.

# TEST & EVALUATION ACTIVITY

An OA of the first NASCO new construction LMSR ship, USNS WATSON, was conducted in FY99. Assessment and reporting of the assessment by the Multi-service Test Team have not been completed and will be reported in the FY00 Annual Report. Initial observations of the USNS WATSON loadout are: (1) the NASCO new construction LMSR ships are easier to load compared to the two classes of renovation LMSR ships previously evaluated; (2) the NASCO new construction LMSR ship holds approximately one-third more cargo than two renovation classes of LMSR ships; (3) efficient stow planning was hindered by inaccurate ship data (repeat finding); and (4) the final stowage plan did not appear to take full advantage of all available space (either additional equipment could have been stowed or available space could have been used to facilitate the exercise and maintenance of pre-positioned equipment).

The multi-Service Test Team spent most of this year refining plans for the OT-IIB to be conducted 3QFY00. To potentially reduce the scope of required testing on OT-IIB, plans were developed to capture useful pier-side on-load/off-load data from the BRIGHT STAR exercise in