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April 2011www.sname.org/sname/mt signatures, combat systems integration, and battle force interoperability. e NVR denes the perimeter within which the navy is willing to accept an ABS certicate, with ABS ship classing activity being considered to be sufficient effort as delineated in the rules. It should be noted, however, that the navy only wants to engage ABS in doing those things in which they were already procient. In embracing this initia- tive, the navy understood that ABS processes, and to some extent their talent base, would be shared with their many commercial shipping customers. ose resources would represent a shared infrastructure that could be leveraged to meet the needs of the naval combatant ship programs. For these reasons, the NVR does not contain requirements for the military-unique or warghting aspects of a ship. It is intended that design standards for those aspects will be maintained in separate documents, and those areas of a ship will be certied by the naval technical authorities or their designated certication agents. Development and application Another recognized advantage has been the closed-loop nature of the ship classi- fication process. The fact that ABS would be engaged with the Navy in developing the combatant rules, and then apply them directly in a rigorous and comprehensive fashion has been highly valued by the Navy. at aspect is viewed as building a legacy of expertise and corporate memory at ABS that will begin during the early design phases of a program, crest with initial classing of each vessel during new construction, and then enable additional benets when those com- batant ships are maintained in ABS class (in accordance with the same rules set) during in-service operation. e intent has been for ABS to be empowered to handle the majority of day-to-day involvement directly with the shipbuilder and/or design agent, with all of that activity being tasked and funded under the ship classication contract. at posture allows the navy to be involved in class-related matters only by exception, when specic cir- cumstances arise. All of this has resulted in an ever- strengthening relationship between the navy, the coast guard, and ABS. e trust and credibility that has been established has laid the foundation for the navy and the coast guard to engage ABS to provide engineering assessment and in-service condition survey of existing platforms as embodied in the Achieving Service Life Program outlined earlier. Joint training, continuous communication, and institu- tionalization of associated processes in both navy and ABS documentation will provide the tools whereby mutual under- standing and trust continue to evolve. e eorts begun in 1996 have created a strong, enduring, and mutually benecial relation- ship which will continue to provide benets long into the future. Since the establishment of the ini- tial cooperative relationship between NAVSEA and ABS, developments of the NVR and ASLP have brought great ben- ets to the navy through the adoption of independent third-party certication. e NVR has resulted in a formal documenta- tion of design and fabrication rules for use in navy combatant ship construction. is has advanced a broader understanding of navy shipbuilding standards across the U.S. Navy, shipbuilders, and vendors. Activity under the agreement has also produced a mature repository of naval engineering requirements, and these requirements are continually updated through a rigorous process that includes all parties that have a stake in their successful application. The ASLP will provide a structured, third-party periodic condition assessment process for selected systems and structures on multiple navy vessels. is will aid the navy in identification and prioritization of maintenance actions required on these vessels. It will provide the means whereby the continuing health of these systems and structures may be tracked and pro- jections made for future planning of work. Not only are technical rules and standards being developed, but practices are being put in place to bring the industrys latest shipbuilding practices into the building of government vessels as well as programs to address the most cost-eective ways to approach maintenance. MTRADM (Ret.) Craig Bone is vice president of Government Operations with ABS. RADM Thomas Eccles is chief en- gineer and deputy commander with NAVSEA. The USS Cole is one of four vessels that initially participated in the ABS-NAVSEA Service Life Assessment Pilot. GROWING COOPERATION THE FUTURE OF NAVAL VESSEL RULES