Navy Can't Track Shipboard Gadgets

San Diego -- The Navy has a whole bunch of ships -- 286 of them -- loaded with a mess of computer and communications gadgets, but the service's top network guy has no clear idea of what kinds of gizmos have been installed on these vessels over the past decade or so.

Capt. D.J. LeGoff, program manager for the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) told a packed crowd here at the annual the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association-West Conference that the Navy does "not know what we have" in terms of communications and computer equipment installed in the fleet in an incremental fashion over the years.

Marine Gen. Gregg Sturdevant, assistant commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said he has a problem with stuff disappearing after installation by Marines.

He said the Marines install nifty antennas on amphibious ships, only to have the Navy take them off when the ships go into yards for maintenance.

LeGoff said that when the Navy starts installing the new CANES networks on ships, nothing will be installed in a willy-nilly fashion and there will be a master plan that will allow for no deviation.

Hopefully this plan will include Marine antennas.