ARLINGTON, Va. — As a major step in its 20-year plan to upgrade and modernize its shipyard capacity and capability, the Navy has awarded a major construction contract for a multi-mission dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery, Maine.  

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, awarded 381 Constructors of Omaha, Nebraska, a $1.73 billion firm-fixed-price contract for construction of the dry dock, an Aug. 13 Defense Department contract announcement said. The funds will be disbursed in increments over a seven-year period. Work is expected to be completed by June 2028. 

PNSY is a Navy-owned shipyard which specializes in the repair, modification, and overhaul of nuclear-powered attack submarines. The upgrades are part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), a 20-year plan to modernize the Navy’s four shipyards. The other three shipyards are Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii. 

“Our naval shipyards need these major modernization efforts to sustain our ability to maintain our nuclear submarine fleet,” said Vice Adm. William Galinis, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), in an Aug. 16 release. “The Navy needs combat-ready ships and submarines to go where they’re needed, when they’re needed, and these major upgrades and reconfigurations at our naval shipyards will enable the fleet to meet its future missions.” 

The seven-year project will construct an addition to Dry Dock 1 within the existing flood basin area, as well as new concrete floors, walls, pump systems, caissons, and other mechanical and electrical utilities, enhancing the 221-year-old shipyard’s ability to handle multiple Los Angeles-class and Virginia-class submarines, the Navy said. 

SIOP is a joint effort between Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Navy Installations Command “to recapitalize and modernize the infrastructure at the Navy’s four public shipyards, including repairing and modernizing dry docks, restoring shipyard facilities and optimizing their placement, and replacing aging and deteriorating capital equipment,” the Naval Facilities Systems Command said.  

“We look forward to getting this critical construction mega-project underway,” said Rear Adm. John Korka, commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, and Navy chief of Civil Engineers.  “This project — and other work being planned at all four of our naval shipyards — is one of the most significant and direct contributions that our systems command team can make to enable our Navy’s lethality and maximize its readiness for many years to come.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — GE, which provides gas turbine engines to naval ships around the world, is looking to provide engines for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDG(X)), a company official said. 

“We’re in a good position,” said George Awiszus, director, Military Marketing and Business Development for GE Marine, noting the success of his company’s family of marine engines, which company marketing materials point to a 99% reliability and 98% availability of its LM2500 engines. 

Awiszus noted during an Aug. 4 interview with Seapower that the U.S. Navy is looking to making its next-generation destroyer a “full electric ship.”  

He said the current Arleigh Burke-class DDG ‘is maxed out” in terms of electrical power and that more power will be needed for the sensors, weapons and propulsion that likely will be installed in the DDG(X). 

Awiszus praised the Navy’s efforts to get industry, including shipyards and naval architects, involved early in the concept design process. 

GE will be providing LM2500+G4 engines for the new Constellation-class frigate. LM2500 engines already are in use on the Fincantieri FREMM frigate that is the basis for the Constellation class. The Constellation’s engines will feature the Composite Enclosure that provides better noise attenuation, a 5,500-pound weight reduction, costs 50% less than the steel enclosure and keeps the engine room cooler. GE will have delivered 24 engines with the Composite Enclosure by year’s end. 

GE improves its marine engine designs over time as lessons are learned, new materials are provided, and processes are refined. The company now offers electric starting capability as an option along with hydraulic or pneumatic starting methods. 

GE has delivered 1,365 LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine engines to navies worldwide and 2,585 used for industrial purposes. 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The nation’s sealift components are used to operating in peaceful seas and permissive environments but must prepare now for times when control of the seas is not assured, a panel of maritime leaders said.

Speaking Aug. 4 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo at National Harbor, Maryland, were Douglas Harrington, deputy associate administrator for Federal Sealift at the Maritime Administration (MARAD); Christopher Thayer, director, Maritime Operations, Military Sealift Command (MSC); and Adam Peterson, of the government business development team at APL. The panel was moderated by Erica Plath, director, Strategic Mobility/Combat Logistics, Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy.

Thayer pointed out that sealift “capability today is far more than it was in 1990” when large numbers of sealift ships were activated for Operation Desert Storm. He said that sealift was again at an inflection point, with the Navy’ preparation for distributed maritime operations in contested environments.

He said that, during distributed operations, the nation’s maritime logistics forces may not always have escorts or overwatch and must “be prepared to operate and evade the enemy.”

Thayer also stressed the need for counter-UAS systems, anti-jam capabilities for GPS, the need for cybersecurity and the ability to operate under emissions control.

Communications is “a huge vulnerability,” Thayer said, noting that mobile communications capabilities are being deployed on some ships with tactical advisers.

Harrington also stressed the need for improved, more resilient communications capabilities for MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force (RRF). He noted the current reliance on satellite communications and the effect on morale that emissions control would have on the crews. 

To adapt to providing logistics in a contested environment, Thayer said that MSC was working on concepts such as re-loading missiles in vertical launch cells while ships are underway, underway replenishment using unmanned aerial vehicles and refueling the combat logistics ships from commercial ships using modular CONSOL (consolidated cargo replenishment) adapter kits.

Harrington discussed the need for recapitalization of the RRF MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force and new, comprehensive strategy for equipping strategic sealift with new technology and regulations. He noted the increasing size and weight of defense cargoes. He advocated building increased resilience as well as cybersecurity.

He also said the government must “recall and re-focus on naval operations in a contested environment.”

Peterson pointed out the dramatic decline of the U.S.-flag merchant marine since 1960, now less than 0.5% of the 43,000 ships (displacing 1,000 or more gross weight tons) in international trade. He stressed that the government needs to develop more incentives to keep commercial vessels available in peacetime and war.

Harrington praised the “significant period of recapitalization,” which includes the construction of first of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessels, which will replace older ships and train mariners with modern technology now found on many merchant ships.

Asked about the Navy’s plans to operate autonomous unmanned ships in its fleet, Thayer noted that it is “hard to refuel an autonomous ship at sea.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy plans to order a second Low-Rate Initial Production lot of the ALQ-249 Next-Generation Jammer-Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) in 2022, a Navy official said.

Capt. Michael Orr, the Navy’s program manager for speaking at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, said the Navy plans to order five shipsets of the NGJ-MB in fiscal 2022. One shipset includes two jamming pods for an EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.

The NGJ is a program to augment and eventually replace the ALQ-99 jamming pod, which first was deployed in 1971 on EA-6B Prowler aircraft in 1971 for combat in the Vietnam War.

The Navy ordered three shipsets of NGJ-MB on July 2 under Low-Rate Initial Production Lot 2.

The NGJ-MB, designed and built by Raytheon, is the first of three planned increments of the jammer. The NGJ-Low Band, designed by L3Harris, entered Engineering and Manufacturing Development in December 2020. The Navy ordered four test articles and eight operational prototypes. The NGL-LB shipset will consist of one pod. The selection of L3Harris for the program currently is under protest.

NGJ-High Band is still in concept development.

Orr said the NGJ-MB has completed 145 test flights and more than 3,000 hours of testing in an anechoic chamber and in laboratories.

The Royal Australian Air Force, which also flies EA-18Gs, has been a cooperative partner in the NGJ-MB and -LB development since June 2020.

Orr said the Navy will continue to upgrade the antennas and transmitters of the ALQ-99 pods. He said that, in his opinion, the ALQ-99 will continue to serve through the life of the EA-18G.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy is only weeks away from its goal to achieve a mission-capable rate for its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based command and control aircraft of 28 aircraft, a Navy program official said.

The Navy also is aiming for 22 of those 28 E-2Ds hitting and sustaining full mission capability by Sept. 1, said Capt. Pete Arrobio, the Navy’s E-2D program manager, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Attaining full mission capability is no small task. Arrobio pointed out that the E-2D has 11 major mission systems to be maintained in operating condition for the aircraft to reach full mission capability.

Arrobio said the Navy has a detailed plan to add and improve capability to the E-2D fleet over time. He stressed the need in the future to move faster in upgrading the aircraft software and systems to keep them relevant to high-level warfare. Future needs include cyber hardening; connectivity to the joint all-domain command and control environment; sensor improvement; more space, weight and power capacity; improved reliability of components; and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning where appropriate.

Northrop Grumman has delivered 48 E-2Ds to the Navy so far, out of 52 ordered so far. The U.S. Navy’s program of record calls for 86 E-2Ds. The aircraft delivered so far equip five airborne command and control (VAW) squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron, with the fleet squadrons deploying with five aircraft each. Two of those VAW squadrons have completed transition to an aerial refueling capability. Four fleet squadrons are still equipped with the E-2C Hawkeye.

Three of nine ordered by Japan have been delivered. France has signed a letter of agreement to procure three E-2Ds to replace its E-2Cs. Taiwan and Egypt, which operate E-2Cs, also are potential customers for the E-2D.

There are 26 E-2Cs remaining in the U.S. Navy’s inventory and they are scheduled for phase out by 2026. Japan, France, Taiwan and Egypt operate a total of 28 E-2Cs, which Arrobio’s office helps to sustain with program support.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Raytheon is expecting a five-year contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command for hardware production and sustainment of all variants of the SPY-6 shipboard radar, a company official said.

Raytheon anticipates the contract award in September 2021 which will cover up to 59 radars, said Scott Spence, director of Naval Radars for Raytheon, speaking to Seapower Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Raytheon now is in full-rate production of the SPY-6 family of radars, building at a rate of one per month, Spence said.

The company has been able to sustain a solid rate of production despite the COVID pandemic. Mike Mills, Raytheon’s SPY-6 program director, said the company delivered 12 SPY-6 arrays in a 13-month period. 

Raytheon has delivered the first two shipsets of the SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), one for the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and the second, DDG 128. Spence said the company is starting deliver of parts for a third DDG.

Delivery of the first production SPY-6(V)2 rotating Enterprise Air-Search Radars (EASR) is planned Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the future America-class amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8) and the future San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29). Installation on the latter two ships will be made post-construction, Spence said.

The fixed-face EASR, the SPY-6(V)3, is in the engineering development phase for the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and subsequent carriers of that class. It also will be the EASR for the new Constellation-class guided-missile frigate.

Spence also said the expected contract will cover backfit of some Flight IIA Arleigh Burke DDG with the fixed-face SPY-6(V)4 version during the ships’ mid-life upgrades. The company already submitted the technical data package for the back-fit to the Navy.

The SPY-6 is scheduled to achieve Initial Operational Capability on the Jack H. Lucas in 2024, according to Spence.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy expects to make a decision soon approving low-rate initial production of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER), built by Northrop Grumman, expects to make a decision approving low-rate initial production soon, a program official said.

The milestone to approve proceeding to LRIP is “expected within weeks,” said Mike Overs, the Navy’s deputy program manager for Direct and Time-Sensitive Strike, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

The AGM-84G AARGM-ER is a development of the AGM-84E AARGM that has been in service since 2012 with the role of destruction of enemy ground-based air defenses. The ER missile is considerably different in planform and appearance than the basic AARGM. The ER version is slightly shorter — 160 inches versus 14 inches — than the basic AARGM but has a larger diameter (11.5 inches versus 10 inches) and is controlled by its tailfins rather than fins at the mid-body. The ER features a new rocket motor that takes up more of the length of the missile and is equipped with a new warhead.

The aerodynamic characteristics of the ER plus its larger motor give the missile “twice the tactical range in the same amount of time,” Overs said. 

The development of the AARGM-ER was in part in response to the need to accommodate the missile in the weapons bay of the Air Force F-35A and Navy F-35C Lightning II strike fighter. The Marine Corps F-35B, which has a smaller weapons bay, will be able to carry the AARGM-ER on a wing station.

The AARGM-ER completed on July 19 its first developmental test shot, of which Overs said, “met all objectives.”

A total of 15 to 17 developmental test shots are planned.

Initial Operational Capability of the AARGM-ER is planned on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter and EA-18G Growler by the end of fiscal 2023.

Italy, Australia and Germany are equipped with the AARGM and are potential customers for the AARGM-ER, as is any nation operating the F-35.

Over said that there is a Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration of a surface-launched version of the AARGM-ER planned for 2022, with the idea for use by the Army, Marine Corps or surface Navy.

National Harbor, Md. — The mission systems on the first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a signals intelligence capability functioned well on the first test flight, a Navy official said.

The first MQ-4C equipped with Integrated Functional Capability-Four (IFC-4) made its first flight on July 29, mainly to test the aerodynamic characteristics of the new configuration. The test team, while evaluating such aspects as stability and control, also checked out the performance of the mission systems and sensors. The IFC Triton featured more antennas than the baseline IFC version.

“The sensors and systems are performing better than expected,” said Capt. Dan Mackin, the Navy’s Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems program manager, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

The IFC-4 hardware and software configuration introduces a signals intelligence capability to the Triton. It will enable the Triton to become an integral part of the Navy’s Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (MISR&T) transition plan. As such, it will eventually replace the Navy’s EP-3E Orion electronic reconnaissance aircraft beginning in the fall of 2023 when the first full orbit is established. The IFC-4 upgrade also includes the Minotaur mission system now used on the EP-3E.

Mackin said the Navy expects to introduce artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities during later upgrades. Other upgrades planned for 2025 include Wideband Tactical Targeting Network Technology, enhanced radar identification modes, protected satellite communications. M-Code and counter-electronic attack.

Upgrades planned for 2027-2028 include enhancements to enable the Triton to perform without access to the GPS and satellite communications. These include command from afloat units, more robust navigation and communications, increased power, among others.

Mackin said that when the IFC-4 configuration joins the fleet, the mission control centers will be modified with special compartmented intelligence facilities for protection of intelligence and its sources and methods.  

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is partnered with the U.S. Navy on the Triton program and has accelerated its acquisition of three MQ-4Cs to keep the production line going during the U.S. gap in production, said Doug Shaffer, Northrop Grumman’s’ Triton program manager.

Mackin said the RAAF Tritons will be in the IFC-4 configuration and will be identical to those of the U.S. Navy.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Raytheon has developed a version of its Joint Precision Aircraft Landing System (JPALS) designed for expeditionary airfields, which it is proposing as ideal for Marine Corps expeditionary base operations.

JPALS is a landing system based on differential Global Positioning System navigation. It is installed or being installed on the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships and U.K. and Italian navy aircraft carriers. JPALS was first deployed in 2018.

CJ Jaynes, executive technical adviser, Precision Landing Systems for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, speaking at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, said the company has developed vehicle-portable JPALS that could be deployed to a forward base for providing precision landing for aircraft fitted with the JPALS avionics.

The expeditionary JPALS consists of a user display, antennas, and for processing racks, and a power generator. It can be carried in a vehicle such as a Humvee or Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The system can be set up on site in 60-90 minutes by one or two personnel.

The JPALS uses triangulation to provide precision landing data to aircraft from a distance of up to 20 nautical miles. It can provide information to a fixed-wing aircraft while at the same time it provides the landing data to a helicopter within range.

The system does not rely on precision approach radar or an instrument landing system, said Brooks Cleveland, Raytheon’s senior aviation adviser for Precision Landing Systems.

Aircraft currently configured for JPALS include the F-35A/B/C strike fighters and the CMV-22B Osprey carrier-onboard delivery aircraft and will be installed on the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicle. Installation on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is planned for the 2026-2027 time frame.

The JPALS suite for aircraft includes the JPALS waveform, a reprogrammable radio, and computer power.

Raytheon demonstrated its expeditionary JPALS for three weeks in June at Yuma, Arizona. Marine Corps F-35Bs made 50 approaches.

Jaynes and Cleveland said the land-based system at the outlying field also was praised by Marine Corps F-35B pilots because it gave them practice using the system that would enable them to be more ready for shipboard deployment.

JPALS was first deployed on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp for use by Marine Corps F-35Bs. The USS Carl Vinson deployed Aug 2 as the Navy’s first aircraft carrier to deploy with JPALS. The ship carries the F-35C and CMV-22B on their first deployments.

Raytheon built 12 engineering and manufacturing development versions of JPALS and has delivered 10 of 26 production versions. Raytheon expects to deliver the rest by 2023.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy plans to establish two MQ-25 squadrons to deploy detachments of the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling aircraft on board aircraft carriers. Later this year, the MQ-25A fleet replacement squadron will be established to train operators and maintainers for the Stingray.

The fleet replacement squadron, Unmanned Carrier-Launched Multi-Role Squadron 10 (VUQ-10) is slated for establishment on Oct. 1, 2021. It will be based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California.

Speaking Aug. 2 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland, Capt. Chad Reed, the Navy’s program manager for Unmanned Carrier Aviation, said that the two fleet squadrons will be VUQ-11 and VUQ-12.

The VUQ squadrons will operate under the administrative control of commander, Airborne Command & Control Logistics Wing — also based at Point Mugu — which also controls the Navy’s E-2 battle management aircraft.

The two fleet VUQ squadrons will deploy detachments to the E-2 squadrons to operate the Stingrays. Each detachment will deploy with five MQ-25As.   

The Navy plans to procure 72 Stingrays. A Boeing-owned prototype, T1, is being test-flown by the company. Boeing is building four Engineering and Manufacturing aircraft, two ground test articles, and three system demonstration aircraft. The Navy is scheduled to receive it first production fleet MQ-25A in 2024. 

T1 made its first flight in September 2019, and first flew with an aerial refueling store in December 2020. On June 4, it made history as the first unmanned aircraft to pass fuel to an aircraft in flight.

“T1 has just been tremendous,” Reed said.

The MQ-25A will be the “first unmanned aircraft intended to connect with a manned aircraft,” he said.

Reed said he is looking forward to taking T1 and the ground control station to a carrier deck for the critical trials in handling control on the deck.

The MQ-25A is scheduled to achieve initial operational capability in 2025. 

Reed affirmed that there is “no requirement in the current plan for armament [for the MQ-25A], but in the future it certainly could [carry armament].”

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is a secondary mission for the Stingray.

Four aircraft carriers are being modified with Unmanned Aviation Warfare Centers (UAWC) to control the MQ-25 missions, Reed said, with four more in planning for the modification.

The MQ-25A and the control system are being integrated in the planning for the Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept.