Military kills mini-sub effort, repair cost too high

The U.S. Special Operations Command has canceled its mini-submarine program, a project designed to deliver Navy commando s close to their target and protect them on the way.

Northrop Grumman's Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) hit numerous hurdles since it was conceived in the late 1990s. The latest, in November, was a fire that burned for six hours while the sub's batteries were charging at a Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shipyard.

The command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, said in a news release that it would scrap ASDS altogether rather than pay for repairs that would take almost three years. The fire affected all of the boat's operating systems, the release said, damaging its sonar, motor, controllers, anchor, battery system and hull.

The repair price, $237 million, dwarfed the command's $57 million budget for the mini-sub program.

A 2003 General Accounting Office report said the program, which initially called for six vessels, was six years behind schedule and almost 300 percent over budget.

Only one sub was delivered to the military. In 2006, the rest of the vessels were canceled.

The command took possession of the boat in 2003, and declared it operational in 2007. It offered several advantages to the way SEALs typically travel aboard submarines - transferring into small, open boats miles from their destination, exposed to heavy seas, bad weather and fatigue.

Kate Wiltrout, (757)446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com