BATH, Maine — The future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) successfully completed builder’s trials Dec. 19 after spending four days at sea off the coast of Bath, Maine, Naval Sea Systems Command said in a Dec. 21 release.

Builder’s trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the shipbuilder, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW), and the Navy to assess the ship’s systems and its readiness for delivery. 

“The successful completion of these trials is a critical step to ensuring full combat-readiness of the ship,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “The Navy and industry team is dedicated to adding DDG 118’s critical warfighting capabilities to the fleet and strengthening the Navy’s readiness.”  

Daniel Inouye is a Flight IIA destroyer, equipped with the Aegis Baseline 9 Combat System, which includes integrated air and missile defense capability and enhanced ballistic missile defense capabilities. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability against a variety of threats.

The future USS Daniel Inouye will return to sea to conduct acceptance trials with the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey early next year.  During acceptance trials, all systems will be inspected and evaluated to ensure quality and operational readiness prior to the Navy accepting delivery.

BIW is also in production on the future Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum (DDG 124), Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), and their first Flight III ship, Louis H. Wilson, Jr. (DDG 126), as well as the future Zumwalt-class destroyer, Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002).

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations and the Dutch Caribbean coast guard interdicted seven suspected drug smuggling vessels over 10 days near Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the Eastern Caribbean, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a Dec. 18 release. 

The collaboration between the federal agencies resulted in more than 3,700 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $64 million and 19 suspected drug smugglers being apprehended. These individuals may now face criminal charges by prosecution partners in the Department of Justice. 

The assets involved in these disruptions include:  
Coast Guard Cutter Reliance 
Coast Guard Cutter William Trump 
Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier 
Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle 
Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley 
Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter  
The dock landing ship USS Comstock 
Customs and Border Protection Air Marine Operations aircraft 
A Dutch Caribbean coast guard DH-8 aircraft 

“Seven successful drug smuggling ventures disrupted in10 days is a clear example of the mission ready team we have here in the Seventh District’s area of responsibility,” said Rear Adm. Eric C. Jones, Seventh Coast Guard District commander. “I am proud of the diverse Coast Guard teams that enable us to deliver mission excellence anytime, anywhere. However, these cases represent the collective work of a larger interagency and international team whose unified efforts counter the nefarious activities of transnational criminal organizations that seek to disrupt and destabilize everywhere they operate. Thanks to our enduring partnerships and daily cooperation between numerous agencies, notably the US Navy, CBP Air and Marine Operations, and our fellow Dutch Caribbean coast guard teammates, we were able to disrupt drug smuggling efforts where they were most vulnerable; the maritime domain.” 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of presidential national security objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations. 

The fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Caribbean Sea is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 7th District, headquartered in Miami, Florida. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) is a multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force group operating in the District of Puerto Rico focusing on Caribbean and South American-based Transnational Criminal Organizations involved in the maritime and air smuggling shipments of narcotics from Puerto Rico to the Continental U.S. and in the laundering of drug proceeds using bulk cash smuggling and sophisticated laundering activities. CCSF signatory agencies include the DEA, HSI, FBI, CGIS, USMS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Dec. 21, 2020 – Boeing and the U.S. Navy proved recently that the F/A-18 Super Hornet can operate from a “ski jump” ramp, demonstrating the aircraft’s suitability for India’s aircraft carriers, the company said in a Dec. 21 release. 

The demonstrations, held at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, showed the Super Hornet would do well with the Indian Navy’s short takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) system, validating earlier simulation studies by Boeing. 

“The first successful and safe launch of the F/A-18 Super Hornet from a ski jump begins the validation process to operate effectively from Indian navy aircraft carriers,” said Ankur Kanaglekar, India fighter sales lead for Boeing. “The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet will not only provide superior warfighting capability to the Indian navy, but also create opportunities for cooperation in naval aviation between the United States and India.” 

The Indian navy is evaluating its fighter options. If it selects the Super Hornet, it would benefit from billions of dollars invested in new technologies by the U.S. Navy and others. Those technologies include advanced networking, longer range through conformal fuel tanks, infrared search and track, and a new advanced cockpit system. 

“This milestone further positions the Block III Super Hornet as a versatile next-generation frontline fighter for decades to come,” said Thom Breckenridge, vice president of international sales for strike, surveillance and mobility with Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “With its proven capabilities, affordable acquisition price, known low documented life-cycle costs and guaranteed delivery schedule, the Block III Super Hornet is ideally suited to meet fighter aircraft requirements of customers in India, North America and Europe.” 

The ski jump demonstrations follow the delivery of two Block III flight-test aircraft to the U.S. Navy in June. Boeing is on contract to deliver next-generation Block III capabilities to the U.S. Navy beginning in 2021. The Super Hornet provides the most weapons at range in the U.S. Navy’s fighter inventory, including five times more air-to-ground and twice the air-to-air weapons capacity. 

Boeing’s advanced aircraft and services focus play an important role in mission-readiness for the Indian air force and navy. Boeing is focused on delivering value to Indian customers with advanced technologies and is committed to creating sustainable value in the Indian aerospace sector – developing local suppliers and shaping academic and research collaborations with Indian institutions. 

Boeing has strengthened its supply chain with 225 partners in India and a joint venture to manufacture fuselages for Apache helicopters. Annual sourcing from India stands at $1 billion. Boeing currently employs 3,000 people in India, and more than 7,000 people work with its supply chain partners. Boeing’s employee efforts and India countrywide engagement serves communities and citizenship programs to inspire change and make an impact on more than 200,000 lives. 

A native of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Rear Adm. Paul Schlise is a surface warfare officer and a 1989 graduate of Marquette University’s College of Business. He was commissioned through Marquette’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He holds a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College and was a 2015-2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow.

He has completed nine deployments, participating in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Desert Fox and Tomodachi. He served aboard USS Flint (AE 32), USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Hopper (DDG 70), and USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) and commanded USS Halsey (DDG 97) and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7. In 2012, he executed DESRON Seven’s homeport shift to U.S. 7^th Fleet forward-deployed naval forces in Singapore.

Ashore, he served twice on the Chief of Naval Operations staff for director, Surface Warfare. He also served at Navy Personnel Command, Surface Officer Distribution Division and on the Joint Staff, Strategic Plans & Policy Directorate. His initial flag assignment was as deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain. He then commanded Carrier Strike Group 10/USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Strike Group during its 2020 deployment.

He assumed duties as director, Surface Warfare Division, N96, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in June 2020.

Schlise responded to questions about the surface force’s drive to increase its lethality from Senior Editor Richard R. Burgess. Excerpts follow. Check out the digital edition of the December issue of Seapower magazine here.

Why is the Navy pressing hard for distributed lethality in the surface force?

SCHLISE: The Surface Combatant Force is the key enabler for the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations concept. Enhancing lethality across all of our ships at sea operationalizes DMO and ensures the fleet has requisite capability and capacity to fight and win. Our efforts to up-gun our combatants are directly in step with the Navy’s Naval Tactical Grid initiatives.

What new surface weapons are adding to that lethality?

SCHLISE: The Surface Navy is moving out aggressively to improve lethality across the spectrum of warfare. The Naval Strike Missile is in the fleet providing a multi-mission weapon for our littoral combat ships [LCSs] and future frigates. The SM-6 is a multi-domain missile, deployed on ships today, providing surface combatants improved capability and flexibility against advanced threats. As we continue to procure the SM-6, spiral development of the SM-6 family is ongoing to provide greater range and speed. The Maritime Strike Tomahawk provides versatility over long distances against targets at sea or on land.

In addition to extended missile ranges, we’re also increasing our close-in battlespace lethality. The updated Mk38 Mod 4 Gun Weapon System provides an updated electro-optical sensor system with combat system integration for improved accuracy and close-in engagements against fast-attack craft and fast inland attack craft threats. In the near future, these guns will be paired with other weapon systems for greater lethality against close- in air threats as well.

The surface fleet is also improving terminal defense weapons with spiral developments to the existing Rolling Airframe Missile and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile. A new Vertical-Launch Anti-submarine Rocket Extended Range is proposed to significantly increase the range a ship will be able to engage a submarine target.

What future weapons are being considered for the surface fleet?

SCHLISE: Versatility in our VLS [vertical launch systems] is important, and we are continuing to look at current multi-domain weapons and evolve them to pace the threat. We are also improving our terminal defense capability with more formidable weapon systems, including directed energy.

What are the goals and prospects of fielding directed energy weapons, including the rail gun?

SCHLISE: As part of a joint effort by the Navy’s Acquisition and S&T [Science and Technology] communities, the Navy Laser Family of Systems is accelerating fleet integration and informing requirements for future acquisition by providing multiple systems that support counter-intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, counter-unmanned aircraft systems and intelligence collection. These efforts include Optical Dazzling Interdictor – Navy (ODIN) – laser systems providing capability enhancements to DDG 51 Flight IIA ships; ONR’s [Office of Naval Research] Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation — a laser system already installed on the amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland and slated for deployment in 2021; [and] Surface Navy Laser Weapon System, also known as HELIOS — a laser system and integrated optical dazzler with surveillance designed for full integration into the Aegis Combat System on DDG 51 Flight IIA ships.

The long-term goal of the Navy’s High-Energy Laser effort is destructive capabilities against missile threats.

Through technology developed under the Rail Gun program, the Navy continues to monitor developments in high-velocity projectiles for the Mk45 5-inch Gun- Launched Guided Projectiles. Similar to directed energy options, each of these systems provide capable defensive weapons outside of VLS.

How will the new Constellation-class FFG add to the fleet’s lethality?

SCHLISE: The new FFG 62 class will be more lethal, more survivable, have greater range, endurance and self-sufficiency than previous small surface combatants. With increased operational availability and enhanced fire- power, FFG 62 will be a multi-mission ship capable of operating independently, as part of surface action groups or with carrier or expeditionary strike groups in contest- ed environments.

The Constellation will be a multi-mission ship, equipped to conduct air warfare [AW]; antisubmarine warfare [ASW]; surface warfare [SUW]; electromagnetic warfare [EW]; and intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance operations.

As an AW platform, FFG 62 will be outfitted with a SPY-6 derived Enterprise Air Search Radar, AEGIS BL10 Combat System, Cooperative Engagement Capability and 32 VLS cells. As an SUW platform, the ship will carry 16 Naval Strike Missiles and a counter-small boat capability with her 57 mm gun and precision guided ALaMO [Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance] rounds. As an ASW platform, FFG 62 will feature a variable depth sonar and multi-function towed array as an evolution on the proven SQQ-89 (V) 15 ASW suite. The ship’s EW/IO capabilities will include Surface Electronic Warfare Program Block II (SEWIP Blk II) missile detection system, signals intelligence systems and the Nulka decoy system. FFG 62 will also include an organic aviation capability supporting one MH-60R helicopter and one MQ-8C unmanned helicopter.

The “Connie” class will be suited for future weapons/mission flexibility and incorporates room for future growth/upgrades.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Mike Gilday referred to “DDG Next.” What’s the concept for such a ship?

SCHLISE: The class CNO referred to as “DDG Next” will be a new hull form to follow the DDG-51 Flight III. This ship is predicted as the next high-end surface combatant and will include non-developmental Flight III program-of-record technologies, including a variant of the SPY-6 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System, while emphasizing space, weight, power and cooling margins to accommodate future capabilities over the lifespan of the class.

The CNO gave us a brief preview of the projected size of the ship. We expect it to be smaller than a Zumwalt [DDG 1000], but larger than DDG 51 Flight III.

How will the planned unmanned surface vessels (USVs), such as Large USV (LUSV) and Medium USV (MUSV), contribute to the fleet’s lethality?

SCHLISE: USVs can bring additional capacity and capability to the manned combatant force to support distributed maritime operations. Results from our Future Surface Combatant Force Analysis of Alternatives and Future Navy Force Structure study both show the value in USVs and support continuing investment, prototyping and experimentation to mature this capability for future force integration. LUSVs, as a distributed fires platform, can increase the fleet’s missile carrying capacity and MUSVs, as a distributed sensor platform, improve the commander’s battlespace awareness. Our Surface Development Squadron (CSDS-1) is involved in testing these concepts using current prototypes in fleet exercises and experimentation. The lessons learned from CSDS-1 and results from our continued study and war gaming will help us refine concepts and inform further platform development to provide the fleet with a capability that can and increase lethality and capacity.

What plans are there to add firepower to littoral combat ships and amphibious warfare ships?

SCHLISE: We’ve increased the reach and lethality of the LCS platform with the addition of the Naval Strike Missile. We were able to accelerate installation on USS Gabrielle Giffords for her successful deployment to Southeast Asia this past year. The system will ultimately be added to all LCS, regardless of mission package.

In addition, the initial round of lethality and survivability modifications planned for both LCS variants will further enable fleet integration and operational capability with the addition of Link 16, EHF [extremely high-frequency] communications, Nulka and SEWIP [Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program].

Is the Zumwalt-class DDG being considered as a platform for hypersonic weapons?

SCHLISE: The Navy is looking into all classes of ships, including the Zumwalt class, as possible candidates for hypersonic weapons.

What progress, if any, has been made toward solving the need for a projectile for the Zumwalt’s Advanced Gun System (AGS)?

SCHLISE: When the decision was made to reduce the class to three ships, it caused the unit price of the AGS precision-guided rounds to become unaffordable. We have not identified a suitable replacement. But, with our decision to shift the ship’s mission to offensive surface strike, we’re adding other capabilities. This will sustain the Zumwalt class as an integral part of the surface fight.

What has the Navy done to increase the tactical and weapons proficiency of its surface warship crews?

SCHLISE: The Surface Training Advanced Virtual Environment [STAVE] program and Fleet Training Wholeness efforts have been at the forefront of efforts to improve individual and team training. STAVE has transformed training ashore by delivering enhanced electronic classrooms that are instructor-led, using high-fidelity virtual tools combined with hands-on labs.

Approximately 70% of the 850 courses of instruction taught by Surface Warfare Schools Command and Center Surface Combat Systems have been modernized or are funded to be. Combined with the fiscal establishment of STAVE-Network and its integration of students, instructors, classrooms and labs, the STAVE program greatly improves the tactical and technical proficiency of our Sailors and crews.

Through the Fleet Training Wholeness effort, the Navy continues to invest to improve live, virtual and constructive [LVC] training of ships and strike groups. Continued efforts will enable the permanent integration of all Aegis and SSDS [Ship Self-Defense System]-equipped ships to connect at sea and the delivery of high-fidelity LVC tactical training capabilities to all afloat platforms. The results will ensure advanced and integrated training across the strike force level — Fleet Training Wholeness — where carrier air wing simulators, live aircraft and ships can train together in a virtual environment for the high-end fight.

As ever, great training doesn’t happen without a world-class training organization. All of the above programmatic initiatives continue to be brought to the fleet during the advanced and integrated phases by the Surface and Mine Warfare Development Command [SMWDC] and our highly skilled weapons and tactics instructors [WTIs]. SMWDC WTIs continue to “raise our game” with more challenging and realistic training and certification exercises.

How does today’s surface fires capability compare to when you were commissioned in the Navy?

SCHLISE: The Navy has progressed in every dimension over the past several decades. Compared to when I commissioned in 1989, the ability to integrate weapons and sensors across a carrier strike group has expanded beyond my wildest dreams. Our ships are able to coordinate fires across the spectrum of warfare with combat systems, sensors and missiles that are smarter and better integrated with the platforms that operate them. Our Sailors are far more talented and benefit from tremendous virtual multi-domain training capability. To put it plainly, when compared to when I first commissioned, our surface fires capability is like comparing an old “brick” phone from the ’90s to a brand-new iPhone 12 today. We’re smarter, faster and more lethal than ever before.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The new tri-service maritime strategy released Dec. 17 by the chiefs of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard pivots toward the great power competition that has been building up in recent years, and aspects of the strategy bear substantial resemblance to the Maritime Strategy of the 1980s put in place by the Navy at the height of the Cold War, a Navy admiral said. 

The new strategy, Advantage at Sea, “places particular focus on China and Russia due to their increasing maritime aggressiveness, demonstrated intent to dominate key international waters and clear desire to remake the international order in their favor,” the three service chiefs, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David H. Berger, and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl L. Schultz, wrote in the strategy’s forward. 

“China’s and Russia’s revisionist approaches in the maritime environment threaten U.S. interests, undermine alliances and partnerships, and degrade the free and open international order,” the service chiefs said. “Moreover, China’s and Russia’s aggressive naval growth and modernization are eroding U.S. military advantages.” 

With nearly 20 years of U.S. active combat in counter-insurgency warfare – mostly on and overland in Southwest Asia – apparently winding down, the U.S. military is now focusing on the growing military prowess of China and increasing activity by Russia. China’s navy, plus a large coast guard and a naval militia, have grown in size and capability and are increasingly assertive, particularly in the waters adjacent to China, the East and South China Seas. China and Russia have developed and continue to develop missiles that threaten U.S. and allied naval forces in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and island bases such as those in Guam and Okinawa. 

One of the five major aspects of the new strategy is “focusing on controlling the seas — which is returning to our past,” said Rear Adm. James Bynum, acting deputy chief of naval operations for Warfare Development, speaking to reporters during a Dec. 17 teleconference on the new strategy. 

Asked by Seapower to compare the new strategy to the Maritime Strategy put in place in 1987 by then-Navy Secretary John Lehman, Bynum said “They compare very well, better than [they] contrast.” 

Lehman’s Maritime Strategy emphasized maritime power as a key counter to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. With Soviet military power focused on a potential land campaign in Europe, Lehman proposed using the Navy to be ready to strike the Soviet homeland from the peripheral seas, greatly complicating and widening — encircling — the Soviet Union’s defense of its territory. With Soviet naval might also growing, Lehman also began a build-up of a 600-ship navy, a growth that was nearly achieved in full — 594 ships — before the fleet began to decline in number of ships after the end of the Cold War.  

One of the key tenets here is the return to the thought process of control of the seas,” Bynum said. “We were just coming out of the Vietnam era where we had free, unfettered access to support operations in land-based warfare. We’re coming off of a similar though much more prolonged set of time in the Middle East. As we look away from that and acknowledge there are global comprehensive actors out there where we no longer enjoy assured access in the sea, and assured access to the sea today because of those places where we need to go to confront those malign actors.  

“I think that compares greatly with secretary Lehman’s thought processes and, frankly, some of that mindset shifted after what [then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo] Zumwalt endured at the tail end of the Vietnam era as he had to reshape the forces,” Bynum said. “So, I think you will see in a lot of those strains that the power of the naval services is to provide access to the joint force.”     

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard released a new tri-service maritime strategy, entitled Advantage at Sea, the Navy said in a Dec.17 release. 

The document provides strategic guidance on how the sea services will prevail in day-to-day competition, crisis, and conflict over the next decade. It also directs the services to deepen tri-service integration, aggressively pursue force modernization, and continue robust cooperation with allies and partners. 

“Our integrated Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard must maintain clear-eyed resolve to compete with, deter, and, if necessary, defeat our adversaries while we accelerate development of a modernized, integrated all-domain naval force for the future,” wrote Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David H. Berger, and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl L. Schultz in the strategy’s forward. “Our actions in this decade will shape the maritime balance of power for the rest of this century.” 

Advantage at Sea places particular focus on China and Russia due to their increasing maritime aggressiveness, demonstrated intent to dominate key international waters and clear desire to remake the international order in their favor. 

“China’s and Russia’s revisionist approaches in the maritime environment threaten U.S. interests, undermine alliances and partnerships, and degrade the free and open international order,” the document states. “Moreover, China’s and Russia’s aggressive naval growth and modernization are eroding U.S. military advantages.” 

The strategy also emphasizes the maritime domain is integral not only to America’s security and prosperity but to those of all nations. The oceans connect global markets, provide essential resources, and link societies and businesses. Shared interests create opportunities for greater cooperation with allies and partners. 

“As Sailors, we are on the leading edge of great power competition each and every day,” said Gilday. “Sea control, power projection and the capability to dominate the oceans must be our primary focus. Our forces must be ready today, and ready tomorrow, to defend our nation’s interests against potential adversaries at any time. This strategy helps us do exactly that.” 

The strategy directs the services to pursue an agile and aggressive approach to force modernization and experimentation. The future fleet will combine legacy assets with new, smaller ships, lighter amphibious ships, modernized aircraft, expanded logistics, resilient space capabilities, and optionally manned and unmanned platforms. To succeed in a dynamic operating environment, the services will also invest in warfighter development, delivering innovative training and education to ensure our Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen remain the world’s premier naval force. 

Advantage at Sea also reflects the dual roles of the service chiefs: advising on the employment of forces in day-to-day competition, crisis and conflict, and developing a modernized future force that deters potential adversaries and advances and defends U.S. interests. 

“The Marine Corps is conducting a sweeping force design transformation to fulfill our role as the Nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness while simultaneously modernizing the force in accordance with the operating environment described in the National Defense Strategy and the tri-Service maritime strategy. We must embrace new ways of operating within the concepts of integrated U.S. naval power to deter future adversaries and generate better strategic choices,” said Berger. 

As the services pursue greater integration, to include training and education; capabilities and networks; plans, exercises, and experiments; analysis and wargaming; investments and innovation; and force design, Advantage at Sea states they will collaborate with allies and partners to build capability, enhance interoperability, and generate unity of effort. Alongside allies and partners, the services will be able to establish sea denial and sea control where and when needed, project power, and hold critical adversary targets at risk. 

“As the only military service in the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard provides unique multi-mission and intelligence capabilities to complement the ability of our Marines and Navy to protect our national interests when necessary and deliver lethality across the globe,” said Schultz. “Our hallmark is working daily with partner agencies, sister sea services, and international navies and coast guards to counter maritime coercion and uphold the rules-based order – partnerships work.” 

To read the full strategy, please visit: Advantage at Sea 

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance (SENEDIA) has launched a new website, www.BuildSubmarines.com, which will serve as a one-stop clearinghouse for careers and workforce development programs to support the submarine shipbuilding supply chain, the alliance said in a Dec. 16 release.  

The site reinforces southeastern New England as the national hub for submarine shipbuilding and connects industry leaders and prospective employees with the opportunities they need to build their business or build a rewarding career in this high-wage, high-growth sector.  

“SENEDIA is the bridge for the regional submarine shipbuilding supply chain. For employers, we provide resources on building their workforce and building their business. For prospective employees, we provide resources for building their careers,” said Molly Donohue Magee, SENEDIA’s executive director. “The southeastern New England submarine shipbuilding supply chain and the talented individuals who support it are integral to the security of our nation. This new website will make it easier for them to find new opportunities and grow our economy in the process.” 

SENEDIA launches BuildSubmarines.com as part to its first Department of Defense contract, an $18.6 million initiative to develop a robust regional workforce development partnership that will serve the needs of submarine shipbuilding employers and open up job exploration and employment opportunities to more than 5,000 potential workers. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Planning for the unplanned before a crisis like COVID-19 helped the U.S. Navy continue ship maintenance and acquisition at a rapid pace despite the coronavirus pandemic, the service’s top procurement official says.

“It has been fairly remarkable that we have not slowed down, in fact our operations are at an all-time high. We’ve never shut down a shipyard – private or public – for a day during COVID,”  James “Hondo” Geurts, the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told an Atlantic Council webinar on leadership Dec. 16.

Much of that success stemmed from the resiliency of individual Sailors, shipbuilders and Marines. Geurts said, adding that having a resilient organization was also key. “You can plan for the unplanned,” he said, “you can get in sets and reps and start building while you have the time to absorb the inefficiency of that learning.”

When he came to the Navy from U.S. Special Operations Command three years ago, “we didn’t have a good wartime plan on the acquisition side. We were very focused on being hyper-efficient in a peacetime mode,” Geurts said.

The Navy was able to pivot quickly when COVID-19 struck, Geurts said, not because the service had been rehearsing for a pandemic, but because it had ramped up teams, procedures and tools to be more efficient in wartime and adapted the improvements to the coronavirus challenge. 

Geurts doesn’t want to see things roll back once the coronavirus crisis is over. The pandemic showed new ways to handle old problems and make ships more self-reliant, he said adding:  “Success for us is not going back to where we were a year ago. That’s failure.”

Instead, “our focus now is taking all the hard lessons we’ve learned from the terrible challenges of COVID, how we continued to operate through that,” and apply them to the future he said, adding “I think we are a stronger force than we were nine months ago.”

MIAMI—The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James offloaded more than 23,000 pounds of cocaine and nearly 8,800 pounds of marijuana worth more than $411.3 million Wednesday at Port Everglades, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a Dec. 16 release.  

The drugs were interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, including contraband seized and recovered during 20 interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by eight American and United Kingdom ships: 

• Coast Guard Cutter James 
• Coast Guard Cutter Seneca 
• Coast Guard Cutter Reliance 
• Coast Guard Cutter Legare 
• Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle 
• USS William P. Lawrence 
• USS Gabrielle Giffords 
• RFA Argus  

“This patrol highlights our crew’s continued commitment to protecting the American people from our adversaries,” said Capt. Todd Vance, James’ commanding officer. “Despite COVID, the James crew demonstrated supreme resilience, and the results of their exceptional performance are being showcased today.” 

“I am honoured to be able to pay tribute to the successes of the team here today, and recognize the role the Royal Navy and UK National Crime Agency has played in this joint operation,” said Commodore Phil Nash, Royal Attaché, United Kingdom Embassy. “Working seamlessly with U.S. and international colleagues, the presence of RFA Argus has prevented the $54 million of drugs offloaded here from reaching the streets in the last few months; taken together with a wider effort this year by UK ships HMS Medway and RFA Mounts Bay, around $650 million of drugs have been stopped. This has been a genuine team effort. The key to success continues to be the close working relationship and collaboration between our nations.” 

Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations. The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation. 

During at-sea interdictions, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 11th District, headquartered in Alameda, California. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 11th District, headquartered in Alameda, California, and the law enforcement phase of operations in the Caribbean is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 7^th District, headquartered in Miami. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.  

The cutter James is a 418-foot national security cutter home ported in Charleston, South Carolina. The cutter Legare is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in Portsmouth, Virginia. The cutter Seneca is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Boston, Massachusetts. The cutter Reliance is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Pensacola, Florida. The cutter Joseph Doyle is a 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The USS William P. Lawrence is a 509-foot Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS Gabrielle Giffords is a 418-foot Independence-class littoral combat ship homeported in San Diego, California. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus is a 574-foot ship homeported in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Accenture Federal Services (AFS), a subsidiary of Accenture, has been awarded a task order to help the U.S. Navy drive an enterprise transformation strategy to redesign its future plans and practices related to data, cloud, cybersecurity, architecture, investments, and talent to achieve greater advantage and readiness, the company said in a Dec. 16 release. 
   
Under the terms of the contract ― valued at $38 million over five years ― AFS will provide information technology and management consulting services to the Navy, Marine Corps and senior leaders at the Department of Defense. The goal is to help the Navy fundamentally change the way it invests in enterprise capability modernization to position it for greater joint-domain capabilities. 
   
AFS will help the Navy transform mission capabilities using innovative solutions that scale to meet future needs and improve operational outcomes. The work includes transformation for the department’s enterprise through strategy, digital, portfolio planning, enterprise architecture, data management, modeling and architecture, cybersecurity, and organizational change management activities. 

“We’re honored to help the Department of the Navy manage its digital, data and IT services so they can focus critical resources on mission-specific requirements,” said Vince Vlasho, who leads Accenture Federal Services’ Defense portfolio. “As commercial technology accelerates, we want to ensure that the DON adapts and has what it needs to maximize readiness and warfighting effectiveness.” 
   
The Department of the Navy Organizational Transformation Support contract continues AFS’ ongoing support to the Navy. AFS currently works with several commands across the service, providing mission and back office-related IT implementations, management consulting, and operations as well as recruiting services for Navy Recruiting Command.