The latest in a series of advanced naval technology exercises
(ANTX) provided a lot of new ideas on how to improve maneuverability,
communications, logistics and force protection in the highly contested
environments expected in a future fight against a peer competitor, a trio of
top Navy Department officials said Aug. 1.

But the most exciting thing about the recent ANTX was the
demonstration of how the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps are working together to
meet the challenges of a great power confrontation, James Geurts, the assistant
Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, said at a Pentagon
briefing. It was a way “to kind of close the distance between ideas, wherever
they came from” and, by using some of the new acquisition authorities, to get
new technologies out into the field quicker.

Geurts said they have about a 12- to 18-month window to move
technologies through the acquisition process and into the hands of Sailors and
Marines, instead of a “20-year development program.” By bringing together the
requirements and acquisition officials with the operators, “we tend to find a
bunch of new ideas that we didn’t think of when we didn’t get all those
together,” he said.

The briefing focused mainly on the ANTX held July 9-19 at
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in which Geurts said 53 new
technologies were presented by 32 organizations, from large corporations to a
company with three people, and were tested in the field. Some of those
technologies could be moved into the acquisition process, while others would be
cited for additional development.

Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, the deputy commander of Marine Corps Combat
Development Command, said: “When we start looking at what that future fight
might look like and the things we will need to enable it, this has become a
really great way to start ferreting out some of those technologies that will
enable our Sailors and Marines to do that.” Wise mentioned technologies,
including unmanned air, land, surface and undersea systems, that could help
with force protection and logistics at comparatively low cost.

Michael Stewart, the deputy director of integrated warfare,
said by using the ANTX process, “we’re trying to increase the decision speed …
trying to leap frog [the normal acquisition process] and do it fast.” It was
“all about being a smart buyer.”

Wise said he was excited about some of the concepts for allowing communications for small, distributed Marine units when the current methods are disrupted, including systems that were small enough to fit on a light off-road vehicle, and using unmanned systems to provide fuel and ammunition to expeditionary air fields.

Geurts said a key factor in the ANTX process was, “we don’t call this a test, it’s an experiment. It’s OK to fail.” That is part of the new push for rapid innovation, which requires an environment “where it’s safe to fail.”

NEWPORT NEWS,
Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has
received a $290 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue
planning for the refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS
John C. Stennis, the company announced Aug. 1.

The contract
funds the second and third years of planning, long-lead-time material
procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections and facilities readiness
for the overhaul. As part of the planning contract, Newport News also will
perform some shipboard work, which will take place in Norfolk. The initial year
of planning was funded at a base value of $187.5 million.

“The second
and third year of planning is important to the overall success of a project of
the magnitude of [the overhaul],” said Chris Miner, Newport News’ vice
president of in-service aircraft carriers.

“This
contract allows us to continue our critical planning for each step of the
process so we’re ready to begin execution when the ship arrives in the first
quarter of 2021.”

Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a major life-cycle overhaul at Newport News, representing 35% of all maintenance and modernization completed during its service life.

The overhaul, a RCOH, is an extremely complex engineering and construction project that involves more than 680 suppliers from 40 states providing material and services critical to the overhaul process.

Once completed, a recapitalized carrier can support current and future warfare doctrine and continuing to operate as the centerpiece of the Navy’s fleet and national defense for another 25 years.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy jet that crashed July 31 in Southern California is only the
fourth Navy aircraft to be lost in a crash so far in fiscal 2019, according to
records.

The F/A-18E
Super Hornet strike fighter, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 151, according
to a source, and based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, was on a
low-level flight through a feature called Star Wars Canyon in Death Valley
National Park when it crashed near a popular overlook that aviation
photographers and other tourists visit to watch jets streak through the canyon.
The crash caused minor injuries to seven civilian tourists at the overlook with
fire and flying debris.

As of mid-day
Aug. 1, the pilot of the single-seat Super Hornet was still missing. The Navy
had launched helicopters to participate in the search for the pilot.

So far this fiscal year,
aerial mishaps claimed an F/A-18F Super Hornet, an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter
and a T-45C Goshawk training jet. Until the July 31 mishap, no Navy aviators
had been killed in a mishap this year.

WASHINGTON —
Alion Science and Technology Corp., which designs and delivers complex
engineering solutions for defense and intelligence agencies, has completed the
sale of its naval systems business unit, including its Canadian business and a
small number of related contract operations, to Serco Inc., Alion announced.

“We are pleased to complete the previously announced transaction to sell Alion’s NSBU business to Serco and look forward to continuing to provide best-in-class engineering and technology solutions to our national security customers, including U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy as well as Intelligence customers,” said Steve Schorer, chairman and CEO of Alion.

“This divestiture allows us to focus on advancing technologies and systems in the areas of C5 systems, ISR solutions, artificial intelligence, cyber solutions, electronic warfare technology and live virtual constructive training systems, which are all critical to the mission of our customers.”

ADELAIDE,
Australia — Flinders University has partnered with the Naval Shipbuilding
College, which is also in Adelaide, to ensure graduates are ready to seize
future cutting-edge jobs in the National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise, the
Lead, a south Australian newspaper, said in an Aug. 1 article.

This week
the University of Adelaide announced that its rejuvenated master’s of marine engineering
program had grown in popularity more than five-fold since 2015, thanks in part
to a partnership with Australian submarine company ASC.

Flinders
University is the first Australian university to be endorsed for delivering a
course aligned with the future employment needs of the naval shipbuilding
industry. Its bachelor’s of engineering (mechanical) (honours) has been
endorsed by the Naval Shipbuilding College with five other engineering programs
expected to follow.

The
Australian government is investing $90 billion into the continuous shipbuilding
program, which is expected to create 5,200 shipbuilding jobs within 10 years,
to build Australia’s new fleet of 12 offshore patrol vessels, nine Hunter-class
anti-submarine frigates, 12 submarines and 21 Pacific patrol boats.

Based in
Osborne, South Australia, the Naval Shipbuilding College is a hub that links prospective
workers with suitable and accredited training at universities, TAFEs and
training institutions in all states and territories.

It is
operated by the Naval Shipbuilding Institute, an Australian joint venture
between Kellogg Brown & Root and America’s largest military shipbuilding
company Huntington Ingalls Industries.

A TAFE SA
welding course became the first training program endorsed by the college last September,
but the Flinders program is the first university course to be approved. Five
courses at Tasmania’s Australian Maritime College were also endorsed the last
week of July, a few days after the Flinders University announcement.

Flinders
Learning and Teaching Innovation Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah West
said the university was committed to the partnership with the Naval
Shipbuilding College, which would provide high-quality education pathways into
shipbuilding careers for students.

“The
endorsement of our degrees will ensure our graduates are well positioned for
the large number of job opportunities that are being created as a result of the
growth in the shipbuilding industry,” she said.

Naval
Shipbuilding College sits alongside the Osborne Naval Shipyard near Port
Adelaide. The shipyard has been at the heart of Australia’s defence shipbuilding
program since the late 1980s and has delivered six Collins-class submarines and
three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers. It is also expected to play a key
ongoing role in the $90 billion continuous build program.

The
University of Adelaide’s rejuvenated master’s of marine engineering program is
backed by the expertise and resources of ASC.

This year
49 students are undertaking master’s degrees by course work in submarine design
(naval architecture and maritime engineering), sustainment, supply chain,
project management and related subjects, within the University’s School of
Mechanical Engineering.

The
program, offered every two years, has grown from 27 students in 2017 and nine
students in 2015. It is among only a few postgraduate courses available in
Australia in marine engineering and is the only one in submarine design.

The
students are drawn from industry, defense and recent graduates as well as
French exchange students from the prestigious French Grande Ecole d’Ingénieurs
ENSTA Bretagne, which last year signed a collaboration agreement with the
University of Adelaide.

In the
program each student completes an individual project developing a submarine
concept design using professional tools. Enrolled students are being offered
free membership with the prestigious Royal Institution of Naval Architects and
the best projects are presented to the Submarine Institute of Australia
Technical Conference, SubsTec.

Newly
appointed course director Associate Professor Eric Fusil said the ramp-up in
enrolments for the course reflected the place Adelaide will occupy at the center
of submarine and major warship design and construction in coming decades.

“We are at
the start of a historical and challenging build-up in the submarine sector in
Australia,” said Associate Professor Fusil, a former submarine designer with
both Naval Group of France and ASC in Adelaide.

“The
students are drawing on an incredible wealth of real-life experience in terms
of submarine engineering at ASC — Australia’s only established submarine
company.”

Naval
Shipbuilding College program director Bill Docalovich said the unprecedented
upgrade of the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet was taking a national approach.

“Through
collaboration with education and training providers in every state and
territory we are strengthening student pathways into rewarding, long-term,
sustainable shipbuilding careers,” he said.

“It
demonstrates our commitment to ensuring our students are skilled and capable of
meeting the changing needs of the workforce and future industries in
Australia.”

The
Australian government established the Naval Shipbuilding College in 2018 to
help secure a sovereign workforce to implement its $90 billion continuous naval
shipbuilding program.

A national naval
shipbuilding workforce register has been established for students and workers
interested in working on some of the world’s most technologically advanced
projects.

PHILADELPHIA
— Boeing, the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy celebrated the
transformation of a 350,000-square-foot facility outside Philadelphia into a
modern factory where company employees will build fuselages for the V-22 tilt-rotor
aircraft and modernize the MV-22 fleet for the Marines.

“Boeing’s
$115 million investment supports U.S. and international demand for the
unrivaled capabilities of the V-22,” said David Koopersmith, vice president and
general manager of Boeing Vertical Lift. “We started this project two years ago
in a mothballed building. Now, it is a state-of-the-art manufacturing center
for the only in-service tilt-rotor aircraft in the world.”

The new
factory will improve safety and productivity, lower operating costs and reduce
Boeing’s environmental impact. It will be home to the Common Configuration-Readiness
and Modernization (CC-RAM) program that standardizes the Marine Corps Osprey
fleet by upgrading previously built aircraft to the new Block C configuration.
The factory will also house fuselage production for Navy, Air Force, Marines,
and international Osprey customers.

“The V-22
readiness program is our No. 1 priority,” said Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly,
the V-22 joint program manager. “The CC-RAM program is key in meeting our
readiness goals and returning capable and reliable aircraft to Marine units
around the world.”

Boeing employs about 4,600 people
in Pennsylvania and supports 16,000 direct and indirect jobs in the
commonwealth.

MIAMI — The U.S.
Coast Guard interdicted the 37-foot pleasure craft, Bada Bing, with three
Brazilian migrants, one Jamaican migrant and two suspected smugglers on July 30
about 30 miles east of Hollywood, Florida, the Coast Guard 7th District said in
a release.

The Coast
Guard Cutter Paul Clark (WPC-1101) crew located the pleasure craft with six
people aboard during a patrol and safely embarked two Brazilian adult males,
one Brazilian adult female, one Jamaican adult male and two potential
smugglers.

All six
people were transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“People should never
trust these criminal organizations with their lives,” said Petty Officer
1st Class Nicolas Rodriguez, Coast Guard 7th District operations branch.
“Attempting to smuggle yourself into the country via the maritime
environment is both extremely dangerous and illegal. With the consistent danger
these smuggling ventures present, our crews and partner agencies remain
persistently vigilant to protect lives and enforce federal laws.”

PACIFIC
OCEAN — The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy aided
the U.S. Coast Guard in the interdiction of a drug-smuggling craft, the U.S.
4th Fleet said in a release.

While
conducting routine operations in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, an
MH-60R Sea Hawk, assigned to the “Easyriders” of Helicopter Maritime
Strike Squadron 37, embarked aboard the Michael Murphy, sighted a low-profile
vessel on July 25.

As the
helicopter approached the craft, a hatch opened on the top of the vessel and
three passengers were seen jettisoning objects from the boat. Assisted by
vectoring from helicopter, Michael Murphy’s interceptor boat collected the
jettisoned items and approached alongside the low-profile vessel.

Michael
Murphy was able to communicate with the vessel, informing them to remain in sight,
and remained alongside the suspicious vessel until Coast Guard Cutter Midgett arrived.

The Coast Guard boarding team determined the jettisoned material was cocaine. About 2,100 pounds of the drug — some that was jettisoned and retrieved by Michael Murphy’s crew and some found aboard by the Coast Guard — was seized. The Coast Guard took the three suspected smugglers into custody.

“From our air detachment and interceptor boat team to the men and women aboard the ship, everything came together to conduct the identification, interception and approach,” said Cmdr. Christopher Forch, commanding officer aboard USS Michael Murphy. “The handoff to USCGC Midgett was smooth and successful — a true team effort by two agencies.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy will commission its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Billings (LCS 15), during an Aug. 3 ceremony in Key West, Florida, the Navy’s information office said in a release.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, ranking member of
the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, will deliver the commissioning
ceremony’s principal address. Tester’s wife, Sharla, is the ship’s sponsor. The
ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when she gives
the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”

“The future USS Billings and her crew
will play an important role in the defense of our nation and maritime freedom,”
said Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, who is also performing the duties of deputy
secretary of defense. “She stands as proof of what teamwork — from civilian to
contractor to military — can accomplish. This fast, agile platform will deliver
her motto, ‘Big Sky Over Troubled Waters’ worldwide thanks to their efforts.”

The ship is named in honor of Billings,
the largest city in Montana, as well as the people and military veterans of the
state. The future USS Billings will be the first ship of its name in naval
service.

Montana has a heritage of naval
service, with 30 ships named over the years in honor of state places and
people, including the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Helena (SSN
725) and the Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Montana (SSN 794), which
is under construction. The state of Montana also has one of the highest per
capita populations of veterans, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration.

The future USS Billings is a platform
designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean
operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats
such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be
homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom-variant team is led by Lockheed Martin of Marinette, Wisconsin (the odd-numbered hulls) while the Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA of Mobile, Alabama (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The ceremony, using hashtag #USSBillings, can be viewed here on the Navy live blog starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 3.

WASHINGTON —
The nominee for the next chief of naval operations said the U.S. Navy is
ultimately to blame for the ongoing problems with the weapons elevators on the
aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.

“Ultimately,
sir, that’s a Navy responsibility,” Vice Adm. Michael M. Gilday said,
testifying July 31 at his confirmation before the Senate Armed Services Committee
in response to a question from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), about which entity made
the decision not to test the weapons elevator ashore.

“We own the
risk and the risk-mitigation strategy to keep that ship on time. So ultimately
I would consider that a failure of the Navy.”

“Of the 23
new technologies that we introduced to Ford, [the staff of the secretary of the
Navy] did not consider the [weapons] elevator system to be high-risk, and so it
wasn’t prototyped ashore,” Gilday said.

“I think
money was a factor … but I don’t think it was the overriding factor,” he added.
“I think that as the engineers took a look at the existing design, that they
saw the risk as lower, they saw the risk as acceptable.”

Gilday said
that three of the major new systems introduced on the new carrier — the
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the Advanced Arresting Gear and
the Dual-Band Radar — are demonstrating “significant improvements in the reliability
of the systems” and that the remining major issue with the ship’s systems is
the continuing problem with the weapons elevators.

He said the
reliability of the Dual-Band Radar is now close to 99 percent.

Regarding the
EMALS, “We’ve had almost 800 launches, and for [each of] three successive days,
it’s right at the level we see in the existing Nimitz class,” Gilday said. “We
think we are on a good path with respect to the reliability in sortie-generation
rate.”

However, Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen. James Inhofe (R-Neb.) cited a report from the Operational Test and Evaluation Force saying that about every 75 launch cycles there was a critical failure, noting that the Navy’s own requirement on the EMALS is for a failure of once for every 4,000 launches and for the AAG of once every 10,000 recoveries.

“I want to make sure that we [do not] continue to operate where we have the failures, the premature deployment [of immature systems],” Inhofe said. “I want to make sure that the record is going to reflect beyond just the elevator, and those problems having to do with the arresting gear, having to do with the catapult, and the radar.”