NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division ceremonially has authenticated the keel of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Harrisburg (LPD 30), the company said Feb. 23.

The ship’s sponsor, Alexandra Curry, a resident of Middletown, Pennsylvania, and wife of the Middletown mayor, was unable to attend the ceremony, so Program Executive Officer Ships Rear Adm. Tom Anderson stepped in to declare the keel “truly and fairly laid.” 

“While she could not join us, we welcome Mrs. Curry in spirit as she is now an important part of our shipbuilding family,” said Kari Wilkinson, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding. “We look forward to being with her throughout the life of the ship, and we are very grateful for her commitment to this crew. She is a true patriot, with deep respect and gratitude for military service.” 

The keel ceremony marked the start of construction for Harrisburg by welding the initials of the ship’s sponsor into a ceremonial plate. 

Harrisburg is being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding and will be the first Flight II amphibious ship in the San Antonio class. LPD Flight II is the next generation amphibious ship to replace Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) classes of dock landing ships. Ingalls has delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships to the U.S. Navy and has three more under construction. 

The San Antonio class is a major part of the Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century. 

TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned the USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC 1146), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia’s fifth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter, into service at the Port of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, Feb. 23, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a release. 

Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, presided over the ceremony. Nancy Vannoy, John Scheuerman’s niece, is the ship’s sponsor. 

The cutter’s namesake is Seaman 1st Class John Scheuerman, a native of Toledo, Ohio, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves from Oct. 16. 1942, to Sept. 9, 1943. While serving aboard the U.S.S. LCI (L) 319 during the amphibious allied invasion of Italy, Scheuerman exhibited conspicuous gallantry and intrepidness in action. Observing an enemy fighter plane diving for a strafing attack as his vessel approached the assault beaches in the Gulf of Salerno, Scheuerman manned his battle station at an exposed antiaircraft gun and, with courage and aggressive determination, exerted every effort to direct accurate gunfire against the hostile aircraft. Although mortally wounded before he could deliver effective fire, he remained steadfast at his post in the face of imminent death, thereby contributing materially to the protection of his ship against further attack. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart Medals to Scheuerman posthumously for his heroism. 

“This is an exciting time for each member of the crew,” said Lt. Trent Moon. “We’re honored to be a part of this historical day and look forward to our upcoming transit to Bahrain and continuing the legacy of the ship’s namesake.” 

The John Scheuerman was officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 21, 2021, in Key West, Florida. It is the 46th Sentinel-class fast response cutter and the fifth of six Fast response cutters to be homeported in Manama, Bahrain, which will replace the aging 110-foot Island-class patrol boats, built by Bollinger Shipyards 30 years ago. Each of these cutters carries the name of a U.S. Coast Guard enlisted hero. 

AMARILLO, Texas — Bell Textron, a Textron company, has started production of the first AH-1Z Viper for the Czech Republic at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center, the company said Feb. 23. The production of the Viper joins UH-1Y production as part of the Czech Republic Foreign Military Sale FMS of mixed fleet aircraft. 

“Bell understands what it means to execute a successful international program,” said Mike Deslatte, vice president and H-1 program director for Bell. “We understand the importance of providing the unmatched capability of the H-1 aircraft to our customers. Bell remains focused on producing exceptional combat aircraft and providing modern capabilities for the Czech Air Force as a partner in the H-1 program, along with the U.S. government.” 

Bell’s work beyond aircraft manufacturing includes building a flight training device for the Czech Republic, essential to integrating the new helicopters into the Czech Armed Forces. 

Bell began production on the Czech Republic UH-1Y in 2021, marking the first production for an international operator of the UH-1Y. The Czech Republic’s purchase of both the AH-1Z and UH-1Y takes full advantage of the 85% commonality between parts and enabling full mission capabilities between both aircraft.  

In addition to the Czech Republic, Bell is actively producing AH-1Zs for the U.S. Marines Corps and the Kingdom of Bahrain. In total, the H-1 program is on track to produce 217 AH-1Zs and 168 UH-1Ys, with more than 100 consecutive H-1s delivered on time for the USMC and FMS customers. 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The CH-53K King Stallion test team, part of the Heavy Lift Program Office, PMA-261, is the recipient of the Department of the Navy Test and Evaluation Working Integrated Product Team award for 2021, Naval Air Systems Command announced Feb. 22. 

The 18-person WIPT will be honored in a virtual ceremony this spring. According to the award announcement, the team “demonstrated superior performance in delivering outcomes while overcoming significant challenges in execution.” 

During the past year, the CH-53K King Stallion WIPT successfully kept the program on track toward operational test in support of initial operational capability and full-rate production. That success came despite late technical discoveries, solution implementation timelines and some unresolved deficiencies. 

When findings surrounding internal cargo handling in the aircraft and engine performance capabilities put program timelines at risk, the team was able to leverage the close alignment of developmental test and operational test within the WIPT to keep the program on track. 

“Our team did a fantastic job collaborating and focusing efforts to bring the CH-53K to operational test, supporting the fleet’s critical need for heavy lift capability,” said Gene Clark, former assistant program manager for test and evaluation for PMA-261 in 2020 and 2021. Clark drafted the award nomination prior to moving to his current position as assistant program executive officer, Test and Evaluation for Program Executive Office – Unmanned and Weapons. 

BAHRAIN — The crewmembers of Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship USS Firebolt (PC 10) marked the end of the ship’s U.S. Navy service during a decommissioning ceremony Feb. 23 at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. 
 
The nearly 27-year-old ship was one of 10 patrol craft currently forward-deployed to the Middle East in support of regional maritime security operations. Firebolt commissioned in June 1995 and began conducting routine coastal patrol operations under U.S. 5th Fleet in 2003. 
 
“The crew is what makes Firebolt special to me,” said Senior Chief Engineman Paul Dixon, who completed two tours aboard Firebolt. “The history behind Firebolt makes everything we do more meaningful.” 
 
Prior to operating from Bahrain, the ship helped secure New York City’s harbor immediately following the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Months later, Firebolt conducted coastal patrols in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
 
In 2004, two Firebolt Sailors and a Coast Guardsman were killed as Firebolt provided security for the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in the Northern Arabian Gulf. After spotting a suspicious vessel, Firebolt deployed a rigid-hull inflatable boat and the suspicious vessel exploded in an apparent suicide attack. 
 
“We thank the hundreds who served on this great ship and honor the brave Sailors and Coast Guardsman killed in the 2004 terrorist attack at sea. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. 
 
Firebolt has conducted several major rescue operations during its storied service. In 2005, the ship’s crew rescued 89 people off the coast of Somalia after their boat sank. Additionally, Firebolt rescued an Iranian mariner from a capsized fishing vessel in 2012. 
 
“We have so many memories here,” said Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Pedro Benitez. “We would be here working late hours in engineering, but still smiling and joking. It’s stuff like that that’s irreplaceable.” 
 
During the decommissioning ceremony, Lt. Cmdr. Raymond W. Miller, Firebolt’s commanding officer, expressed appreciation for his team. 
 
“They’ve proven their dedication to mission success over and over again,” said Miller. “They’ve never let me or each other down.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Addressing the topic of future force structure after it submerged again into the depths of analysis, the Navy’s top officer laid out his views for a “bigger, more capable Navy” in the future informed by a series of exercises over the last year, estimating a requirement for a fleet of more than 500 manned and unmanned ships, including 12 aircraft carriers. 

“We’re going through another force-structure assessment right now, based on the hard work we’ve done over the last five or years in really thinking about how we would fight differently in terms of in a distributed fashion, across a wide, vast ocean like the Pacific, in terms of integrating all domains simultaneously,” said Adm. Michael Gilday, speaking Feb. 18 at the West 2022 Symposium sponsored in San Diego by the U.S. Naval Institute and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. 

“In thinking about what the future fleet looks like, we spent time taking a look at a couple of different force structures assessments in 2019 and 2020,” the CNO said. “The one that I base my best advice on is the one that we finished up in 2020 that we did along with the Marine Corps, but it was actually led by OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense]. I found that to be an important stakeholder in that process because this wasn’t just Marine Corps-speak or Navy speak or Department of the Navy-speak, but it was more broadly supported by OSD. 

“Based on that [and] large-scale exercises like we did last summer — leveraging live virtual construct [LVC]— based on the integrated battle problem we just did over in 5th Fleet with some 100 unmanned platforms over the past few weeks, I’ve concluded, constant with the analysis, we need a naval force of over 500 ships,” he said. 

Gilday said his view on carrier aviation “remains unchanged. I think we need 12 carriers.”  

The CNO also said “we need a strong amphibious force to include probably nine big-deck amphibs and another 19-20 [medium amphibious warfare ships] to support them [and] perhaps 30 or more smaller amphibious ships to leverage maritime littoral regiments — and the punch that they’re going to provide in places close inside the fight — to 60 destroyers and probably 50 frigates; 70 attack submarines; a dozen ballistic-missile submarines; to about 100 support ships. And probably, looking to the future, 150 unmanned [vessels]. 

“We’re doing a lot of work inside the FYDP [future years defense plan] now. I think it speaks out to the vulnerabilities that we hear called out by the Joint Staff and the chairman in his risk assessment,” Gilday said. “So, in the long term, I’m sighted on a bigger, more capable Navy. We’re working our way through that with respect to budgets but certainly not taking our eye off the ball with respect to requirements. We do think differently because the future is now in terms of bringing more capability out of the force that we have.” 

NORFOLK — The U.S. Navy reestablished Commander, Submarine Squadron (COMSUBRON) 8 during an official ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday, Feb. 18, commander, Submarine Force Atlantic said in a release. 
 
COMSUBRON 8’s reestablishment is intended to distribute and align the responsibility for command and control of submarines assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron 6, also based in Norfolk, during the submarines’ sustainment phase and maintenance shipyard periods. 
 
COMSUBRON 8 was initially disestablished in a ceremony on April 28, 2011, and the squadron’s original roles and responsibilities were merged with COMSUBRON 6. 
 
This move returns the control of new submarine construction and ongoing submarine operating maintenance schedules of Los Angeles-class attack submarines and Virginia-class submarines homeported in Norfolk to COMSUBRON 8. 
 
COMSUBRON 6 retains the operational responsibility of preparing Norfolk-based submarine crews in all facets of operations, to include tactical and operational readiness for war, inspection and monitoring duties, nuclear and radiological safety, and the development and control of submarine operating schedules and logistical support coordination of all submarine operations in the Virginia Capes operating areas. 
 
Vice Adm. William Houston, commander, Submarine Forces, was the keynote speaker for the establishment ceremony. 
 
“Normally we have a change of command which can be upsetting as it means someone is moving on, but this ceremony is nothing but good news as we are reestablishing a squadron,” said Houston. “The reestablishment will give us a squadron that can concentrate on maintenance and new construction and that skillset, while we have another squadron that is focused on operational units.” 
 
Capt. Brian Hogan took command of submarines previously under COMSUBRON 6, relieving Capt. Jason Pittman, commodore, COMSUBRON 6, of responsibility of new submarine construction and ongoing submarine operating maintenance schedules. 
 
“I would first like to congratulate Brian on assuming command of Submarine Squadron 8,” said Pittman. “He brings to the team a wealth of invaluable experience and I cannot think of anyone more right for the job than him. It is an important day for the entire submarine force and the entire Navy. We are building a dedicated team that will lean in and learn new and innovative ways to build and repair our submarines.” 
 
After assuming command of COMSUBRON 8, Hogan gave remarks on reestablishing the squadron. 
 
“Submarine Squadron 8 was established back in the 1940s, so we are simply restoring Submarine Force normalcy by reestablishing it here today,” said Hogan. “This time around, Squadron 8 is focused on shipyard readiness. It is difficult to transition a submarine and its crew into the shipyard and back out as the boat and crew both transform themselves for operational readiness. It is important we get these transitions right, and it is now our job to do it successfully.” 
 
COMSUBRON 8 will step in to provide administrative, manning, logistical, training, operational planning and readiness support for Los Angeles-class attack and Virginia-class fast attack submarine during periods of maintenance and improvement. 
 
Fast-attack submarines are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities — sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. They are designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare. Fast-attack submarines project power ashore with special operations forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or preparation of regional crises. 
 
 
 

LONDON — The United Kingdom and France have confirmed the launch of the preparation works for the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) program, after the signature today of a government agreement and associated contracts by the French Direction générale de l’armement and the British Defence Equipment & Support, MBDA said in Feb. 21. 

“The FC/ASW program is an example of the value of the ‘One MBDA’ integrated model,” said Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA. “By combining technology, industrial capacity and funding across borders, we can deliver unique and advanced sovereign capabilities. Following the conclusion of the FC/ASW Concept Phase, the confirmation of the launch of these preparation works testifies the renewed confidence of our two countries towards MBDA. The project will take advantage from our sustained French/U.K. Centers of Excellence. This reinforcement of MBDA’s portfolio of deep strike and anti-ship systems will allow MBDA to offer to our armed forces, whose satisfaction is our priority, a cutting-edge solution fitted to their requirements and adapted to all existing or future operational needs.” 

These preparation works will focus on the coordinated development of a program of next-generation deep strike and heavy anti-ship weapons. It will assess two complementary missile concepts, expected to be fielded at the end of the decade: a subsonic low observable concept and a supersonic, highly maneuverable concept. These concepts are to meet the requirements of France and the United Kingdom and will provide a game changing capability to overcome land-based and maritime threats, hardened targets and air defense systems, at very long ranges and in increasingly contested battlespace environments. 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Representatives Steven Palazzo and Trent Kelly, all Republicans from Mississippi, joined lawmakers from the Maine congressional delegation in a letter urging Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro to include funding for three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the fiscal 2023 budget, Wicker’s office said in a release.  

“As you work to finalize the Department of the Navy’s [fiscal] 2023 budget, we write to respectfully request support for a robust shipbuilding budget, and to include the procurement of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers,” began the lawmakers. “We urge the Navy to develop a multi-year procurement program of 15 destroyers which maximizes the procured number of ships under the contract, with the understanding that if adequately funded, the industrial base can support at least three ships per year.”  

The lawmakers highlighted the importance of Arleigh Burke-class ships to national defense — including their value in countering the growing threat of China — and the impact of the shipbuilding efforts on Mississippi and Maine communities. These ships are currently built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi and Bath Iron Works in Maine. 

“Furthermore, to address the growing threat of China and its increasing fleet size, hedge against a belligerent Russia and assure allies, we urge you to mature and submit the department’s acquisition plan for the next large surface combatant,” continued the lawmakers. “A strategy closely tied to the industrial base and with extensive oversight will help prevent the issues of cost increases, program delays and end-product reliability issues seen in other ship classes.

“These issues are imperative to maintaining our National Defense Strategy and advantage in the maritime commons, and sustaining our military-industrial base,” the lawmakers concluded. 

In addition to the Mississippi lawmakers, the letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats. 

The Mississippi and Maine congressional delegations have long championed funding for both Ingalls Shipbuilding and Bath Iron Works. In the recent 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, the lawmakers secured authorization of $3 billion for the procurement of two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Last month, Wicker, Hyde-Smith and Palazzo joined Del Toro at Ingalls Shipbuilding, where the secretary toured the facilities and saw the importance of the work being done at the shipyard. 

PENSACOLA, Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC-615) returned to homeport in Pensacola, Florida, Feb. 18, following a 52-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea in support of the Coast Guard 7th District. 

The Reliance crew supported the U.S. Coast Guard 7th District throughout their patrol, aiding in missions to interdict and disrupt the flow of illegal drugs and migrant trafficking while supporting national security and strengthening relationships with regional partners throughout the Caribbean. 

During the patrol, the crew traveled over approximately 8,631 miles, assisted in the transference of more than 12,564 pounds of narcotics with an estimated combined street value of $250 million and intercepted 157 undocumented migrants. The cutter’s crew also transferred eight suspected narcotics smugglers from other U.S. Coast Guard cutters operating in the region. 

Working jointly with the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore (WPC-1109), the Reliance’s crew also rescued 191 Haitian nationals from an unseaworthy vessel off the coast of Cuba. 

The patrol was critical in enhancing operational readiness through shipboard training and qualifications, resulting in the successful completion of a five day major shipboard inspection and exercise, which tested the crew’s readiness in all aspects of aviation training, equipment and capabilities.  

The Reliance is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Pensacola with a crew of 74 personnel. The cutter’s primary missions include counter drug operations, migrant interdiction, enforcing federal fishery laws and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.