Carderock Team Applies Expertise to USS DEFIANT Model

Carderock Team Applies Expertise to USS DEFIANT Model

By Alisha Tyer, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division Public Affairs

BETHESDA, Md. - Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division is applying decades of technical fabrication expertise to refine a scale model of the proposed future battleship USS Defiant (BBG 1).

The model, which debuted at the Surface Navy Association's National Symposium, returned to Carderock at the request of the Navy for final enhancements before its final delivery.

On March 3, Rear Adm. Pete Small, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers, and PAE Maritime Christopher Miller, current executive director of NAVSEA, visited Carderock to check progress and recognize team members with bravo zulus for their work on the project.

While Defiant is high-profile, the team's precision stems from years of model fabrication experience supporting Navy research and testing.

Display models are not part of the team's typical workload. "This isn't typically the type of model our team builds, but given the nature of the request, we were able to apply our existing capabilities to support it," said Josh Crum, branch head of the Subtractive and Additive Manufacturing Branch. "We are a fabrication and technical support division, and we actually developed this skill set for a completely different purpose, which translated well into this particular requirement."

For more than a decade, Carderock's Fabrication and Technical Support Division has produced scale ship models for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to support wind tunnel testing. According to Crum, the work requires precision from design through fabrication and supports validation of computational fluid dynamics tools used in aircraft simulations. This experience positioned the team to support the USS Defiant effort.

Earlier this year, a six-person team from the Fabrication and Technical Support and Future Concepts and Design Integration divisions fabricated multiple 1/150 scale ship models under an urgent NAVSEA request.

Three team members - Alexis Colon, Jeremy Salmon and Adam Smith - played especially critical roles, collaborating with technical leads to determine which complex features were essential for the timeline.

The four-week sprint spanned the Christmas and New Year holidays, with Colon and Smith canceling leave and working extended hours to meet the deadline.

"I didn't have to tell them to do this," Crum said. "They willingly volunteered."

Crum said the effort required the team to manage additive manufacturing operations, troubleshoot production challenges and maintain schedule under pressure.

"They were able to manage the printing operations and the intricacies of manufacturing these ship models while solving major problems along the way," he said. "But due to their execution, we were able to deliver on time, and I'm proud to be a part of their team."

The current round of enhancements for Defiant includes refining bridge windows, updating flight deck markings, a nameplate and adding intricate details like Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells, miniature helicopters and scale shipping containers.

The team also crafted a new wooden base for the model using salvaged material from USS New Jersey (BB 62) - the nation's last commissioned battleship - linking the Navy's storied past to its conceptual future.

The completed model represents the culmination of years of technical expertise, rapid execution and cross-divisional collaboration.