WASHINGTON — The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28), the Navy’s 12th San Antonio class-amphibious transport dock ship, conducted builder’s sea trials Oct. 26, Team Ships Public Affairs said Oct. 27. 

Builder’s trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the Navy and the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding Division, to assess the ship’s systems and readiness prior to acceptance trials and delivery to the Navy. 

“The completion of builder’s trials is a great first step in ensuring operational readiness of the vessel and the capabilities it will soon bring to the fleet,” said Capt. Scot Searles, San Antonio Class Program Office, program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “The collaboration between the Navy and our industry partners ensures that we’ll have a capable and ready ship for our Sailors.” 

The San Antonio-class is designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing Marines and their equipment by conventional or air-cushioned landing craft. The ship’s capabilities are further enhanced by its flight deck and hangar, enabling the ship to operate a variety of Marine Corps helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Because of the ships inherent capabilities, they are able to support a variety of amphibious assault, special operations, expeditionary warfare, or disaster relief missions, operating independently or as part of Amphibious Readiness Groups, Expeditionary Strike Groups or Joint Task Forces. 

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding Division is currently in production of the future USS Richard S. McCool (LPD 29) and the future USS Harrisburg (LPD 30). LPD 28 and 29 will serve as transition ships to LPD 30, the first LPD 17 Flight II ship. 

GOTLAND, Sweden — Sweden and the United States conducted a recent exercise to deploy a mobile rocket launcher to a remote location and quickly engage targets.

Both Swedish and American C-130 Hercules aircraft demonstrated the ability to land on roads in a remote location on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea Oct. 23.   

A U.S. MC-130J Commando II Special Operations aircraft carried a Wisconsin Army National Guard M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) long-range artillery system on board. The HIMARS was promptly unloaded and assembled for firing, then loaded onto the Swedish C-130H (designated as a TP 84 in the Swedish Air Force) and flown to another location in the northern part of the country, escorted by Swedish air force JAS 39 Gripen fighters, for a live firing event. The launch was successful.

According to the Swedish armed forces, “Within a few minutes, the system was assembled and ready to launch. It was then loaded on board the aircraft again and transported up to northern Sweden to demonstrate live firing. It was the first time this feature was fully exercised.”

“During the ongoing special forces exercise, new capabilities and weapon systems have been tested to enhance the joint operational capability in the vicinity of Sweden,” said a statement from the Swedish Ministry of Defense.

“Everything went very well. The joint exercises conducted this past weekend demonstrate how far we’ve come in our cooperation with the U.S.,” said Swedish Army Lt. Gen. Michael Claesson, Sweden’s chief of joint operations.

Gotland is Sweden’s largest island, and one of tens of thousands of islands strategically located in the Baltic Sea. Sweden is a neutral and independent country, and not a member of NATO treaty. It does, however, follow NATO military procedures and frequently participates in NATO and U.S. bilateral exercises.

The exercise demonstrates the ability to rapidly deploy lethal capabilities to remote locations, a key to the Navy and Marine Corps distributed maritime operations concept.

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Bahrain — U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) completed exercise New Horizon, the first at-sea evolution for its new unmanned task force, the command’s public affairs said Oct. 26. 

During the two-day training exercise, Task Force 59 integrated and evaluated new MANTAS T-12 unmanned surface vessels (USV) that operated alongside manned U.S. patrol craft and Bahrain Defense Force maritime assets. 

This marked the first time NAVCENT integrated USVs with manned assets at sea in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. New Horizon was also the first time for NAVCENT’s integration of USVs with manned assets at sea alongside partner forces. 

“Working with our regional partners on unmanned systems integration is crucial to enhancing collective maritime domain awareness,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “Bahrain, as our first regional partner to collaborate with Task Force 59 during an at-sea exercise, demonstrates the strengthening of our strategic relationship.” 

The first phase of New Horizon, conducted Oct. 20, featured operators controlling the USVs aboard patrol coastal ship USS Firebolt (PC 10), while the vessels conducted high-speed maneuvers in formation. 

The final phase on Oct. 26 brought together a larger force of manned and unmanned maritime and aerial assets from NAVCENT, the Royal Bahrain Naval Force and Bahrain coast guard. Participating units also included patrol boat USCGC Maui (WPB 1304), an MH-60S helicopter, a V-BAT unmanned aerial vehicle and Bahrain naval force patrol craft. 

Both U.S. and Bahraini forces practiced operating the vessels in formation to strengthen mutual understanding and interoperability. 

“This is a significant milestone for our new task force as we accelerate the integration of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into complex, cross-domain operations at sea,” said Capt. Michael Brasseur, commander of Task Force 59. “Real-world evaluation is essential.” 

NAVCENT established the task force Sept. 9 to focus U.S. 5th Fleet efforts on unmanned systems and artificial intelligence integration. 

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The expanse is comprised of 21 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen. 

TYSONS, Va. — CORAS, an enterprise decision management software company in Tysons, Virginia, has won a prototype project agreement under the other transaction authority with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic for the Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP).

The focus of the prototype is to improve and troubleshoot shipboard information technology systems. As part of this effort, CORAS will leverage artificial intelligence and natural language processing software from Plasticity Inc. Other transaction authority refers to the authority of the Department of Defense to carry out certain prototypes, research, and production projects.

The combined efforts of the IWRP team, Advanced Technology International, the manager of the IWRP consortium, and CORAS staff were critical in the speed of awarding the PPA.

CORAS President Dan Naselius said, “We are excited to expand CORAS’ footprint within the U.S. Navy. Implementing Plasticity’s superior AI/NLP capabilities within CORAS’ FedRAMP High Cloud security will help the Navy leverage data and root cause analysis to run tactical systems expediently and efficiently, and simultaneously gather and identify more information.”

Alexander Sands, Plasticity cofounder, said, “Natural language processing is driving even deeper insights from data to power government and commercial decision-making. We’re excited to integrate Plasticity into CORAS’ OTA effort to bring secure, state-of-the-art NLP to a tactical DoD environment.”

Plasticity provides NLP and machine learning software to companies across a variety of industries including government, finance, commerce, and healthcare. Plasticity’s software is used by more than 200 companies for semantic language understanding, question answering, and entity extraction, as well as in machine learning pipelines.

LONDON — The USS The Sullivans, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, has departed the U.K. Carrier Strike Group after a five-month contribution to the global deployment, the U.K Ministry of Defence said Oct. 26. 

Having worked with the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) for the last 13 months, USS The Sullivans has departed from the group after seven months deployed alongside Royal Navy vessels.   

The destroyer and its 280-strong crew have made a significant contribution, both in the pre-deployment exercising off the coast of Scotland last spring and throughout the CSG’s deployment since May.  

USS The Sullivans played a key role in numerous exercises from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and back, including countries like Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore, as well as NATO. Such exercises develop interoperability between militaries, enhancing regional stability and security. 

“The Sullivans’ ship’s motto says everything about the special relationship between the U.K. and U.S. navies: ‘We stick together,’” said Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey. “I’d like to thank all of her ship’s company for their outstanding contribution to the Carrier Strike Group deployment.” 

Commissioned in 1997 and named after the five Sullivans brothers who tragically lost their lives when their ship was sunk in World War II, USS The Sullivans is one of the escort ships providing air defense to aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during its inaugural global deployment.  

“USS The Sullivans have been tremendous representatives of the United States during Carrier Strike Group 21,” said Brig. Gen. Simon Doran, U.S. senior national representative for the CSG. “From the North Sea to the South China Sea, from supporting combat operations in Operation Inherent Resolve to more than a dozen exercises with foreign Navies, the sailors on The Sullivans embodied their ship’s namesake — we stick together.” 

In a tangible demonstration of the United Kingdom’s closest defense and security relationship, U.S. involvement in this deployment has significantly contributed to development of the UK carrier strike capability. In June, the UK CSG operated alongside French carrier Charles De Gaulle in a landmark moment for NATO.  

“I am immensely proud of every Sailor on The Sullivans for consistently providing an integrated multi-domain capability to Carrier Strike Group 21 in support of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s maiden deployment,” said Cmdr. James R. Diefenderfer Jr., commanding officer of USS The Sullivans. “We gained a tremendous amount of respect for our CSG21 counterparts as we sailed together across the globe demonstrating our shared commitment to uphold freedom of navigation of our seas, and it was impressive to be a part of their seamless integration with many other allies and partners along the way.” 

“We could not have operated as well as we did without the genuine support of Commodore Moorhouse, Brig. Gen. Doran, and the ship’s crews and squadron personnel that made up CSG21,” the CO said. “Everyone was exceedingly welcoming every step of the way, and all were true partners in every theatre of operation going all the way back to our first operation together in the North Sea in the fall of 2020.” 

The CSG has covered over 40,000 nautical miles through the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Philippine Sea. The main body of the group is currently visiting India in a powerful demonstration of the U.K.-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.  

USS The Sullivans will return to national tasking in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean over the coming weeks. 

WASHINGTON — Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships stood up their newest program office, U.S. Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Boats and Craft (PMS 300), with a small ceremony Oct 21., said Team Ships public affairs. 

PMS 300 was established to ensure programmatic resources are aligned to efficiently and effectively deliver capability to requirements after the current Support Ships, Boats and Craft Program Office (PMS 325) portfolio had grown significantly. 

“The creation of this program has further empowered this hard-working team to get things done,” said the PMS 300 program manager, Capt. Eric Felder, “I’m looking forward to working alongside this talented team of acquisition professionals as we navigate the growth of this new program to ensure collaboration and readiness with our domestic and allied partners remains strong.” 

PMS 300 will be responsible for commercial-based naval acquisition of craft and boats for the Navy, other Department of Defense and non-DoD customers. There will be three product line divisions, including Foreign Military Sales, Boats and Combatant Craft and Service Craft & Seaborne Targets, which will support all aspects of planning, budgeting, acquisition and life cycle management for boats and craft. Additionally, there will be two support divisions: Business and Financial Management and Integrated Logistics Support. 

PMS 325 will be renamed the Auxiliary and Special Mission Shipbuilding Program Office and will oversee auxiliary ships and special mission ships including the T-AO 205, NGLS, T-ARC(X), T-ATS, T-AGS, NOAA NAV, and T-AGOS(X) class programs. 

The United Kingdom’s deployment of its HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group on its CSG21 mission has provided opportunities for F-35 joint strike fighter user countries to conduct combined integration and training in the Indo-Pacific region, senior U.S. Navy and U.K Royal Navy officers told the Pacific Future Forum conference in October.

The CSG’s airwing is already an integrated, combined F-35 unit, with the 18 embarked F-35B Lightning II short take-off/vertical landing JSFs comprising 10 U.S. Marine Corps and eight Royal Navy or Royal Air Force aircraft.

However, recent activities in the Indo-Pacific theater have enabled much wider F-35 training and demonstration of multinational integration, U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Chris Aquilino told the U.K. government-backed conference, held Oct. 20-21 on the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales at HM Naval Base Portsmouth.

Aquilino highlighted CSG21’s presence in a multinational exercise, in the Philippine Sea in early October, which involved four “large deck” carriers: three aircraft carriers, the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth and the U.S. Navy’s USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan; and an amphibious ship, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Ise.

“You can see these strike groups conducting multidomain operations, flight operations, air-defense exercises, simulated strikes, mixing together F/A-18 Super Hornets from Ronald Reagan, F-35Bs from the [U.K.], USMC F-35Bs, and F-35Cs from Carl Vinson. That’s an impressive gathering of fifth-generation aircraft that can be moved and put anywhere at a place and time of our choosing,” he said.

“This kind of combined military operation needs to become more normalized. We need to orchestrate it through the lens of campaigns, to ensure we can counter any anti-access threat,” Aquilino said. “This effort to plan, coordinate and execute these kinds of operations is at the core of US INDOPACOM’s approach that you’ll hear referred to as ‘seize the initiative’.”

In what he referred to as “quad-carrier’ operations,” Commodore Steve Moorhouse — the Royal Navy’s commander, U.K. Carrier Strike Group, embarked at sea in Queen Elizabeth for CSG21 — said the Philippine Sea exercise brought together “a combined fourth- and fifth-generation airwing of well over 120 aircraft.”

Briefing the conference from the carrier, Moorhouse said, the “exercise not only helped us to develop our tactics and procedures, but it also allowed us to pursue increasingly complex and integrated activities.”

“Carrier strike has … a convening power to bring together like-minded countries, and indeed air forces and navies of all sizes and all types around the world,” Moorhouse said.

He highlighted some examples relevant to F-35 capabilities.

“During our time out here, we’ve supported Japan operationalizing its F-35A capability, and [to] introduce into service their F-35B variant. We’ve engaged with the Republic of Korea, which also strengthened understanding of how to operate big decks and how it will integrate its own F-35B capability into the maritime.”

South Korea is developing an aircraft carrier capability, under its CVX program, as the host platform for its F-35Bs.

Moorhouse also discussed how the Queen Elizabeth CSG’s combined U.K./U.S. F-35B airwing had provided effects in the Euro-Atlantic theater, during the first phase of the CSG21 deployment.

“If I look back to our time in the Mediterranean, we were launching the first F-35 sorties from the Mediterranean north into the Black Sea — a round-trip of well over 1,000 miles — whilst also sending jets east into Iraq and Syria on six- and seven-hour missions in support of Operation Shader,” the U.K.’s counter-insurgency activity. Throughout, we were maintaining an on-deck, ready alert capability to respond to Russian air incursions and overflights.”

In the latter case, Moorhouse said over 30 live intercepts of armed Russian fighter and bomber aircraft were conducted in just over two weeks during that part of the mission.

BASEL, Switzerland — UMS Skeldar’s V-200 unmanned helicopter has successfully completed five-day long surveillance flight trial demonstrations aboard the OPV Turva as part of the Valvonta2 project led by the Finnish Border Guard and funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the company said in a release.

The project aims to achieve an understanding of how authorities could use unmanned aircraft for diverse and demanding operations at sea both now and in future scenarios.   

As part of the trials, UMS Skeldar’s V-200 completed multiple operational flights and successfully demonstrated a range of features including automatic takeoff and landing (ATOL) capabilities, vessel identification at different ranges and altitudes, search and rescue during day and night, Automatic Identification System and transponder demonstrations. To perform the missions, the Skeldar V-200 was simultaneously carrying a multiple sensor suite of AIS, Wescam MX-8 electro-optical and infrared sensors as well as the high-capacity Leonardo Pico-SAR synthetic aperture radar.   

“These flight trials demonstrate that the Skeldar V-200 platform is the perfect fully-developed ATOL choice for maritime missions,” said Stefan Hyltberg, program manager for UMS Skeldar. “Its adeptness at operating from a range of naval ships using market-leading heavy-fuel Hirth Engines in combination with its multiple sensor carrying capability give the Skeldar V-200 a real advantage over its competitors. Our team is proud to have its work recognized by the Finnish Border Guard.”    

The platform of choice for maritime-based missions worldwide, the V-200 has been previously selected by the German, Royal Canadian, Belgian and Royal Netherlands navies, providing embedded “eye in the sky” intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to enhance its capacity to perform primary and secondary missions.   

“As we have proven with these trials, the Skeldar V-200 continues to provide best-in-class capabilities for customers,” Hyltberg said “Continuous development of our Skeldar V-200 and V-150 aims to not only validate the platforms’ capabilities but also analyze customer requirements with a view to increasing the service suite UMS Skeldar provides.”    

SOUTH CHINA SEA — The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and JS Kaga (DDH 184) are conducting maritime security operations and exercises, Lt. Cmdr. Miranda Williams, USS Carl Vinson, said in an Oct. 25 release. 

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Izumo-class helicopter destroyer JS Kaga (DDH 184) and U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 are conducting bilateral operations in the South China Sea for the first time since Vinson Carrier Strike Group (VINCSG) deployed this summer. 
 
While in the South China Sea, Japan and U.S. Navy units are conducting maritime security operations, to include flight operations, coordinated tactical training between surface and air units, refueling-at-sea evolutions and maritime strike exercises. 
 
Cooperative maritime engagements and U.S. carrier operations in the South China Sea are part of the U.S. Navy’s routine presence in the Indo-Pacific. 
 
“Bilateral operations are one key component in our collective maritime readiness,” said Rear Adm. Dan Martin, commander, CSG 1. “The Indo-Pacific is a dynamic region and by continuing to conduct routine operations with our allies and partners throughout international waters and airspace, we demonstrate our unwavering commitment to upholding international law, on the sea and in the air, and to ensuring that all nations can do the same without fear or contest.” 
 
Since arriving in the U.S. 7th Fleet region, CSG 1 units have participated in multiple operations and exercises with JMSDF units, most recently MALABAR 2021 and Maritime Partnership Exercise. JMSDF Rear Adm. IKEUCHI Izuru, Commanding Officer of IPD21 force, Commander of Escort Flotilla 3 said maritime alliances and partnerships are vital to maritime security and underpin the free flow of commerce and access to resources in the region. 
 
“Through a series of large-scale exercises, the JMSDF was able to enhance its tactical capabilities as well as strengthen its cooperative relationship with the navies of participating countries,” said Rear Adm. IKEUCHI Izuru, Commanding Officer of IPD21 force, Commander of Escort Flotilla 3. “Our activities in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, which are important international maritime traffic routes, together with the navies of our allies and partners who share our fundamental values and strategic interests, demonstrate our unity and strong will to realize a “free and open Indo-Pacific” based on law.” 
 
Led by Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1, U.S. Navy units operating in the SCS include aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70); Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and USS Shiloh (CG 67); Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 1; and nine squadrons of embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2. 
 
CVW-2 consists of an F-35C squadron, the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147; three F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons, the “Bounty Hunters” of VFA-2, the “Stingers” of VFA-113, and the “Golden Dragons” of VFA-192; the “Gauntlets” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136, operating the EA-18G Growler; the “Black Eagles” of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 113, operating the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye; the “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30, operating the CMV-22B Osprey; the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4, operating the MH-60S Seahawk; and the “Blue Hawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 78, operating the MH-60R Seahawk. 
 
This marks the second time that a carrier strike group is operating in the South China Sea with the advanced capabilities of the F-35C Lightning II and Navy CMV-22B Osprey. 
 
CSG 1 is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of USCGC Legare (WMEC 912) returned home Thursday after an eight-week counter-narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South and the Coast Guard 11th District, the Coast Guard 5th District said Oct. 22. 

The crew patrolled over 12,650 nautical miles through the heart of the Eastern Pacific Ocean in support of Campaign Martillo, working in conjunction with Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other partnering nations. 

With the assistance of an embarked Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron aviation detachment from Jacksonville, Florida, and a two-person Law Enforcement Detachment Team from San Diego, Legare’s team was successful in the interdiction of over 1,300 pounds of illegal narcotics worth an estimated street value of more than $24.6 million. 

En route to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Legare also stood by to support the Coast Guard’s 1st District in the Northeast following hurricane Henri and assisted in transferring two migrants in support of the 7th District in the Southeast. 

Cmdr. Malcolm Belt, commanding officer, said, “I’m extremely proud of the Legare crew, and our HITRON aviation detachment for the perseverance demonstrated during this patrol. Despite significant equipment failures and logistics hurdles experienced this patrol for both our helicopter and the cutter, the crew always rose to the occasion to ensure we stayed mission effective.” 

The Legare is a 270-foot Famous-class medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, under the command of U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area. Based in Portsmouth. U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area oversees all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. Also, they allocate ships to deploy to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific to combat transnational organized crime and illicit maritime activity.