ARLINGTON,
Va. — A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was intercepted in
international airspace on June 4 by a Russian SU-35 fighter over the
Mediterranean Sea, the U.S. 6th Fleet reported in a release.

The P-8A was
intercepted “three times over the course of 175 minutes,” the release said. “The
first and third interaction were deemed safe. The second interaction was
determined to be unsafe due to the SU-35 conducting a high-speed pass directly
in front of the mission aircraft, which put our pilots and crew at risk. The
crew of the P-8A reported wake turbulence following the second interaction. The
duration of the intercept was approximately 28 minutes.”

The 6th Fleet
called the interaction “irresponsible.”

“We expect them to behave within
international standards set to ensure safety and to prevent incidents,
including the 1972 Agreement for the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the
High Seas (INCSEA),” the release said. “Unsafe actions‎ increase the risk of
miscalculation and potential for midair collisions. The U.S. aircraft was
operating consistent with international law and did not provoke this Russian
activity.”

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract for 34 ScanEagle unmanned aerial
vehicles for four partner nations adjacent to the South China Sea.

The Naval Air
Systems Command awarded a $47.9 million contract on May 31 to Boeing’s Insitu
in Bingen, Washington, for the UAVs as well as “spare payloads, spare and
repair parts, support equipment, tools, training, technical services and field
service representatives,” according to a Defense Department announcement.

The UAVs will
be built for the governments of Malaysia (12 UAVs), Indonesia (8), the
Philippines (8) and Vietnam (6).

The ScanEagle
is a small Group 2 UAV that can be launched from a pneumatic rail launcher
ashore or from ship and recovered by a line that intercepts a hook on the wing
of the UAV. It can carry sensor payloads such as electro-optical imaging,
infrared imaging and millimeter wave radar. The UAV can stay aloft for 18
hours.

Deliveries are expected to
be completed by March 2022.

TEWKSBURY, Mass. — Raytheon Co.
and the U.S. Navy completed the final developmental test of the latest
generation of the Ship Self-Defense System, or SSDS, Integrated Combat System
for the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the company announced in a release.

The test was conducted off the
coast of California from the Navy’s unmanned Self-Defense Test Ship simulating
a scenario CVN-78 may encounter once deployed.

During the raid scenario
exercise, two anti-ship missile surrogate targets were located, classified,
tracked and engaged using the SSDS Integrated Combat System adapted for Gerald
R. Ford.

“This successful
dual-target test demonstrates the maturity of the Ship Self Defense System ICS
and paves the way for operational testing to begin,” said Mike Fabel,
Raytheon’s SSDS program manager. “SSDS is a critical capability that
enables CVN-78 to defend herself and her crew against current and emerging
threats.”

The Raytheon Ship Self-Defense
System ICS includes:

• Dual Band Radar: This technology searched for,
  located and tracked the targets. DBR then provided uplink and radar
  illumination to the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile to support missile guidance.
• Cooperative Engagement Capability, or CEC: The
  capability validated and processed the Dual Band Radar data for SSDS. CEC is
  responsible for providing a single, integrated air picture by fusing data from
  multiple sensors to improve track accuracy.
• Ship Self-Defense System: SSDS processed the CEC
  data, classified the targets, determined the appropriate engagement ranges,
  passed launch commands to the interceptor missiles, and scheduled Dual Band
  Radar support for the engagements.
• Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and Rolling Airframe
  Missile: Successfully engaged and defeated both targets using live and
  simulated interceptors.

The Ship Self-Defense System
ICS for CVN-78 has now successfully engaged three of three targets over the
course of its first two test exercises.

Proven and deployed, SSDS is
an open, distributed combat management system in service on U.S. carriers and
amphibious ships, including CVN, LSD, LPD, LHA and LHD classes. SSDS Mk2 is the
premier self-defense system for the Navy. SSDS is integrated with Raytheon’s
Cooperative Engagement Capability for the seamless extraction and distribution
of sensor-derived information. This further enhances each ship’s anti-air
warfare capability through sharing of available data to all participating CEC
units, improving situational awareness, increasing range, and enabling
cooperative, multiple, or layered engagement strategies.

LONDON — HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s future
flagship, will deploy in late summer for the eastern seaboard of the United States,
including a port visit in the Washington, D.C., area, where she will host the
Atlantic Future Forum, the U.K. Ministry of Defence announced.

The aircraft carrier, United Kingdom’s largest and
most advanced warship ever built, will make the transatlantic journey for the
second consecutive year to train alongside the U.K.’s closest ally. She will
also make several port calls while deployed before returning home before Christmas.

While in the Washington area she will host the Atlantic Future Forum, which aims at bringing the U.S. and U.K. defense industry and military together to address the changing nature of warfare and shared threats both allies face at home and abroad.

“HMS Queen Elizabeth represents the best of British innovation and is a true embodiment of our international ambition,” said British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

“The fact that this important ship will have visited
the U.S. twice within her short service thus far is testament to our enduring
transatlantic defense relationship. In the week that we commemorate the 75th anniversary
of the D-Day landings, it is only right that we continue to look at how we can
deepen our global partnerships to promote peace and deter future conflict.”

The deployment, known as WESTLANT 19, will see Queen Elizabeth and her crew conduct deck and warfare trials with U.K. F-35 jets from 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron based in the United States and 617 Squadron based at RAF Marham as well rotary wing training with Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

While stateside, she will also welcome U.S. Marine Corps vertical-lift F-35s on deck.

HMS Queen Elizabeth remains set to be deployed on global operations from 2021 and when Prince of Wales joins her in the fleet in the near future, the United Kingdom will have one carrier available at very high readiness at all times.

Britain’s prime minister also announced June 4 that
the Royal Navy will ready the HMS Queen Elizabeth to join allies in forming
part of NATO’s major “readiness initiative” when she becomes operational.

“I’m pleased to announce that NATO will soon be able
to call on the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and F-35 fighter
jets to help tackle threats around the world,” Prime Minister Theresa May said.

NATO’s “readiness initiative” aims to improve the
readiness of the alliance’s forces to deploy and move within Europe and across
the Atlantic to safeguard international security. Britain will look to make its
aircraft carrier a key part of those plans as the country continues to play a
leading role in the alliance which has been the cornerstone of its defense for
70 years.

“Be it projecting influence for peace, standing ready
to fight, or delivering vital aid around the world, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her
sister ship HMS Prince of Wales will fly the flag of a Global Britain,”
Mordaunt said. “Nothing symbolizes the leading role that we play in NATO more
than our nation’s future flagship being ready to respond to any challenge that
the Alliance may face.”

At the Defence Ministers’ meeting in June, allies
committed, by 2020, to having 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 naval
combat vessels ready to use within 30 days. This was reinforced by allied heads
of state and government at the NATO summit in July.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard repatriated 12 Dominican migrants to a Dominican
Navy patrol vessel June 2 following the at-sea interdiction of an illegal
migrant voyage May 30 in the Mona Passage, the Coast Guard 7th District said.

Two other
Dominican migrants traveling in the group remain in federal custody facing
possible prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto
Rico on potential charges of attempted illegal re-entry into a U.S. territory.

The interdictions
are the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified Resolve,
Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group.

“Migrants
endanger their lives when taking part in an illegal voyage aboard makeshift and
grossly overloaded boats with little or no lifesaving equipment,” said Lt.
Cmdr. Rafael Batlle, commanding officer of the cutter Heriberto Hernandez.

“I’m proud of
my crew and thankful that we were able to arrive in time and rescue all these
persons from a very dangerous situation. Most of them were dehydrated,
disoriented, weakened and even sea sick.”

While on a
routine patrol on the night of May 30, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144
maritime patrol aircraft detected a migrant vessel that was transiting without navigational
lights. The migrant boat was about 10 nautical miles north Mona Island, Puerto
Rico.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the Heriberto Hernandez to interdict
the suspect vessel. Shortly thereafter, the cutter’s crew interdicted the
30-foot makeshift boat and embarked all 14 men from their vessel that was
taking on water and in danger of sinking.

Once aboard a
Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical
attention.

The Heriberto
Hernandez transferred custody of the two migrants facing federal prosecution to
Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The remaining
migrants were transferred to the Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser (WPC-1116),
which transported the migrants to Dominican waters just off Samaná, Dominican
Republic, for their repatriation.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — BAE Systems Inc. has purchased of the key assets of Riptide Autonomous
Solutions, a provider of unmanned underwater vehicle technology and solutions,
BAE Systems said in a June 3 release. Plymouth, Massachusetts-based Riptide specializes
in small UUVs.

“Adding
Riptide’s technological capabilities will position us to provide customers
unmatched flexibility by offering a family of UUVs and integrated payload
solutions capable of supporting a variety of critical missions,” said Terry
Crimmins, president of BAE Systems Electronic Systems.

“Coupling
our extensive expertise in sonar, signal processing, sensor fusion, undersea
communications, electronic warfare, and autonomous systems with Riptide’s
unique UUV platforms will enable us to affordably address rapidly expanding
maritime mission requirements in the global defense, commercial and research
markets.”

“Everyone
at Riptide is excited to be joining BAE Systems, given our shared focus and
strategic vision for the undersea market,” said Jeff Smith, Riptide’s founder
and president.

Riptide employees will join
the BAE Systems Electronic Systems sector, many as part of the FAST Labs
organization.

SAN DIEGO
— Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has changed its name to Naval
Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWARSYSCOM), reinforcing its commitment
to outpacing adversaries in information warfare, the command said in a release.

Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced the name change at the
Information Warfare Senior Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C., on June 3.
The change is effective immediately.

“We have
been on a steady drumbeat since the issuance of the Design for Maintaining
Maritime Superiority to further normalize information warfare into the way we
do operations and warfighting in the Navy,” Richardson said. “Today, we will
take an important step in that direction as we rename the Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. This new name
more accurately describes the full totality of the mission, supporting naval
warfare — from seabed to space.”

The intent
of the name change is to recognize the power that information warfare brings to
the fight. The change aligns the command name with the command mission to
identify, develop, deliver and sustain information warfare capabilities and
services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions.

“In this era of ‘Great Power Competition,’ information is a fundamental element of warfare, an essential component of the Navy’s strategy, and a warfare area that transcends the traditional domains of air, sea, land and space,” said NAVWARSYSCOM’s commander, Rear Adm. Christian Becker. “This name change underscores the importance of information warfare in providing our fleet with an unfair advantage in today’s complex and increasingly competitive security environment.”

In
addition to more accurately reflecting the focus and core capabilities of the
command, the name change will bring renewed clarity of mission and purpose for
the warfighter, stakeholders across the fleet, industry partners, the broader
information warfare community and the Naval Research and Development
Establishment, according to the release.

“We have
been at the center of incorporating advanced information warfare technologies
that enable new operational concepts for decades,” NAVWARSYSCOM Executive
Director Patrick Sullivan said. “Information warfare has been and will continue
to be our central focus, and now our name accurately reflects this focus.”

In
February 2019, NAVWARSYCOM’s two Echelon III commands, formerly “systems
centers” in Charleston, South Carolina and San Diego changed their names to Naval
Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic and NIWC Pacific, respectively.
While this move reflects clarity of mission and purpose, it also aligns the
centers’ naming architecture with Naval Air Systems Command’s air warfare
centers and Naval Sea Systems Command’s surface and undersea warfare centers.

The change
to NAVWARSYSCOM is the second name change in the command’s history. In May 1966,
the Department of the Navy established the Naval Electronic Systems Command.
The command was one of five systems commands placed under the Naval Material
Command. In May 1985, the Department of the Navy disestablished the Naval
Material Command, and the Naval Electronic Systems Command became Space and
Naval Warfare Systems Command, an Echelon II command under the CNO.

NAVWARSYSCOM consists of
more than 11,000 active duty military and civil service professionals around
the world and close to the fleet to keep NAVWARSYSCOM at the forefront of research,
engineering and acquisition to provide and sustain information warfare
capabilities to the fleet.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services though use of Group 5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

According to a May 30 Defense Department
contract announcement, Naval Air Systems Command awarded GA-ASI a $36.5 million
contract modification to provide ISR services with
contractor-owned/contractor-operated MQ-9 Reaper UAVs, the same UAV used by the
U.S. Air Force.

The Marine Corps extensively has used contractor
ISR services in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, with the smaller Insitu ScanEagle,
and has employed its new service-owned Boeing Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack UAV in
the same roles. The use of the larger Reaper is filling a gap in ISR coverage
for the Marine Corps.

The Corps has developed a requirement for
its own Reapers and has requested two in the fiscal 2020 defense budget.

The current contract modification is for nine
months of Reaper services, scheduled to run through February 2020 at overseas
locations and at Yuma, Arizona.

TOKYO —
Northrop Grumman Corp. completed its first delivery of an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) on March 29, the company said in
a release.

In November
2014, the Japan Ministry of Defense competitively selected the Northrop Grumman
E-2D to fulfill an emerging next-generation airborne early warning requirement.

“Northrop
Grumman’s longstanding partnership with Japan is beginning a new chapter with
the delivery of the first Japan E-2D,” said Jane Bishop, vice president and
integrated product team leader, manned airborne surveillance programs at
Northrop Grumman. “This aircraft provides a significant increase in early
warning and surveillance capability to outpace Japan’s evolving security
needs.”

Japan has
operated the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye since 1983 and is the largest E-2
operator outside the U.S. The E-2D delivers a two-generation leap in radar
technology, allowing the aircraft to track threats at extended range.

The aircraft can also be
used in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity for civilian
emergency coordination. The E-2D offers interoperability with next-generation
aircraft systems and U.S. Navy allies to support regional security cooperation.
To ensure long-term success of the Japan E-2D fleet, Northrop Grumman is
providing continued support to JASDF in the areas of sustainment and
maintenance, in coordination with several Japanese firms.

BREMERTON, Wash. — The Los
Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) arrived on May 28 at
Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington, to start the inactivation and
decommissioning process, commander, Submarine Group 9 said in a release.

Under the command of Cmdr.
Jason Deichler, a Pittsburgh native, the submarine departed Naval Submarine
Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, and made its first arctic transit for
its final homeport change.

“We are the first second
flight 688 to complete an arctic transit from Groton to Bremerton for an
inactivation,” Deichler said. “It was an amazing transit, one that it unique to
submarines. There aren’t too many people in the history of the world, let alone
the submarine force, let alone the Navy, that have done that transit under the
ice.”

Pittsburgh completed its
most recent deployment Feb. 25, 2019. During the deployment, the boat and her
crew steamed more than 39,000 nautical miles and conducted three foreign port
visits.

“All I heard from the crew
during the transit was ‘this is the last,’” Deichler said. “This is the last
meal; this is the last time we are going to eat Pittsburgh steak on Pittsburgh;
this is the last turn; this is the last shut down. So, the pride that they have
in the ship is amazing, the best I have ever seen on any ship I have ever
served.”

The submarine’s ability to
support a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
ship warfare, strike warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, made Pittsburgh
one of the most capable submarines in the world.

“It is a bittersweet
feeling to be the last operational commanding officer of Pittsburgh,” Deichler
said. “I am a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so the boat has a special
meaning to me. It is bittersweet to see Pittsburgh come for a final mooring
here in Bremerton, but I know it will help the Navy in her future mission as we
bring more Virginia-class submarines out online and we get our technology
upgraded.”

During the inactivation
process, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility will
defuel the submarine, with the hull retained in safe storage until decommissioning.

“The 35 years of USS
Pittsburgh has been an amazing 35 years,” Deichler said. “We have been involved
in two Tomahawk strike exercises and a multitude of missions vital to national
security. What I really hope that the public remembers of our ship and our crew
is the hard working men and women that helped build the submarine, utilizing
materials from Pittsburgh, companies from Pittsburgh, and the support I got
from the citizens of Pittsburgh; and then the crew itself, as they supported
the ship and conducted operations over these 35 years.”

Commissioned Nov. 23, 1985,
Pittsburgh is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the city of
Pittsburgh. The boat’s mission is to seek out and destroy enemy ships and
submarines and to protect U.S. national interests. At 360-feet-long and 6,900
tons, Pittsburgh can be armed with sophisticated Mk48 advanced-capability
torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.