ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has announced features for the Block VI version of the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine (SSN), which will be the steppingstone to the next-generation SSN (SSNX). 

“Block VI continues that trend of delivering increasingly capable and lethal platforms block to block,” said Rear Adm. Dave Goggins, program executive officer for Submarines, speaking Nov. 18 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League. 

“Block VI will focus on building upon the acoustic superiority advancements of 790 [USS South Dakota, SSN 790],” Goggins said. “The key thing here is to really enable that organic subsea, seabed warfare capability for the first time.” 

Goggins said the Navy is looking at improved stealth to operate in contested environments; enhanced sonar performance resulting in greater tactical advantage [found] in a bow conformal array; the ability to sense and interact with more of the water column and seafloor. 

Other improvements being considered are additional payloads and an improved propulsor. 

He said the “key thing is the capabilities chosen for Block VI also have to dual purpose of improving the VCS [Virginia-class submarine] performance and also proving out technologies that will serve as the backbone for our future SSNX design. 

“We will spend the next year evaluating the maturity [and] feasibility of these capabilities followed by a down-select next year. That allows us to mature the technology and develop the required line of paperwork in support the Block VI contract.”    

The Navy plans to procure the Block VI boats in fiscal 2024-2028. 

NORFOLK, Virginia — BAE Systems has received a $76.3 million contract from the U.S. Navy to drydock and perform maintenance and modernization work aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55), the company said in a Nov. 18 release. The docking selected restricted availability (DSRA) contract for the Norfolk-based destroyer includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $100.5 million. 

BAE Systems’ Norfolk shipyard will begin working aboard the 510-foot-long ship in January 2021. Under the awarded DSRA contract, BAE Systems will drydock the ship; perform hull, tank and mechanical work; install upgraded electronic and electrical systems; and make other shipboard improvements.  

“Our team of employees, subcontractors and Navy personnel are working hard to sustain the workhorse of the fleet – the Arleigh Burke class destroyer,” said Mark Whitney, deputy general manager of BAE Systems Ship Repair and general manager of Norfolk Ship Repair. “We look forward to applying our vast experience to modernize the USS Stout, so that its crew members can do their jobs in defense of our nation for many years to come.” 

The USS Stout is named in honor of U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout (1903-1987). During World War II, then-Commander Stout commanded a destroyer that was assigned to the Little Beaver squadron under then-Commodore Arleigh Burke. He earned two Navy Cross medals for command of the ship. The Stout became the fifth ship of the Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers, which now numbers 68 ships. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is pushing hard to field more and different types of operational unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) but needs a steady-growth approach to match technology with testing and training.  

The UUV progress is “very promising and we just need to hold the course but not go so fast that we’re buying systems that aren’t ready and aren’t tested,” said Rear Adm. William Houston, director of Undersea Warfare in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV), speaking Nov. 18 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League. 

Houston said the Navy has progressed from a UUV detachment to full UUV squadron that is fully manned, with “four times the manning of a typical submarine squadron” with detachments on each coast.  

“We have at Port Hueneme [California] a test facility so we are fully moving forward on the testing and innovation,” Houston said. “One thing we’re working with industry is we want to get the prototypes tested and let those smart Sailors say what works and what doesn’t work and move on from there. Our concern right now is we are going so fast that we want to go into production right away. We have to …  get the requirements right. If you put on too many requirements, we will delay the testing [by] Sailors. We’re working through that. We’ve got great support from OPNAV.” 

Addressing UUV operations with submarines, Houston said that working with smaller UUVs has had “great success. [Submarine Force Pacific] is really leading the way with the UUV [squadron] out there. They’ve done a lot of significant testing based on where they’re at and we’ve had some very promising results, both with ROVs [Remotely Operated Vehicles] and UUVs. We’re at the point now where we’ve gone over some of the launch and recovery issues on the smaller-size [UUVs]. 

Houston said he also is “a big fan of ROVs. … So, we are putting additional emphasis on ROV while supporting the UUV portfolio that we have.” 

He said the development of UUV technology and operations is going in “fits and starts, and it’s tough technology, but we are partnered with the best in industry and we’re leveraging every source that we can.”   

ARLINGTON, Va. — The next generation of executive transport helicopter for the president of the United States is planned for Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in July 2021, a Navy spokeswoman said, but the decision of when to place the aircraft in service will be determined by the White House.  

The VH-92A, built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin company, was selected in 2014 to replace the VH-3D and VH-60N helicopter fleet used to transport the president and other government executives. Six VH-92As were ordered in 2019. Followed by six more in February 2020. Total inventory will be 23 VH-92A aircraft, comprised of 21 operational fleet aircraft and two test aircraft. 

The presidential helicopter fleet is operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, based at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Va., with a detachment at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington. 

“Government testing to validate system performance and prepare for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation is progressing on schedule and will support an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) planned for July 2021,” the Navy spokeswoman said.  “The VH-92A will enter service post IOC at the determination of the White House Military Office.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The hull form of the U.S. Navy’s Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) has characteristics that may lend themselves to be ideal for a future guided-missile submarine (SSGN), the Columbia’s program executive officer said.  

“The light we learned from the Ohio SSGNs — certainly having the larger-diameter hull is a perfect fit for a follow-on SSGN design,” said Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, program executive officer for the Columbia SSBN, speaking Nov. 17 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League. 

The Navy converted the four oldest Ohio-class SSBNs — Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Georgia — to SSGNs which returned to service between 2006 and 2008. They are armed with up to 154 Tomahawk missiles and can carry special operations forces for covert insertion and extraction in hostile territory. Each SSGN has Blue and Gold crews that typically swap out while the submarine is deployed for yearlong periods. Florida became the first of its class to participate in combat operations when it launched more than 90 Tomahawk missiles against targets in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn in March 2011.  

“Without making any decisions for the Navy right now, certainly the Columbia hull form would make a very good model to build upon for a future SSGN.” Pappano said. “My guess is that if we determine that is a need in the future, the Columbia would be the frame that we would go build that ship on.”  

“Nothing will happen before the end of the Columbia SSBN program,” he emphasized. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy plans to deploy its conventional hypersonic weapon, known as the Conventional Prompt Strike (CSP) capability, on submarines by 2025, the admiral in charge of strategic weapons said.  

The CSP will be deployed by the U.S. Army first in 2023, but the first Navy deployment is scheduled for 2025 on the Ohio-class guided-missile submarines (SSGNs), said Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs, speaking Nov. 17 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the Naval Submarine League. The Navy has four SSGNs in the fleet. 

The CSP will them be deployed in 2028 on the Block V Virginia-class attack submarines (SSNs) with the Virginia Payload Module  

In a PowerPoint slide, Wolfe showed the Initial Unit Training without the All-Up Round will begin in 2021. A canister hot-launch operational demonstration is planned for 2022. Delivery of the Army’s prototype truck-hauled delivery system is scheduled for 2023. The delivery of the All-Up Round — including the hypersonic glide body — is planned for 2024.  

Limited operational capability is scheduled for the SSGNs in 2025, and Initial Operational Capability on the Virginia-class SSNs in 2028. 

“Hypersonics in the DoD [Department of Defense] is very much a priority within the Navy,” Wolfe said. “In Conventional Prompt Strike we are focused on how do we  … take all of the successes that we’ve had in the research development and flight testing and start production and transition that into a military capability that we can give to the Army at about the 2023 time frame and continue to push that forward so that we get to a Navy capability on SSGN in the 2025 time frame.” 

Wolfe said the CSP effort “is a very rapid program but we are having a lot of success. Right at the beginning of the COVID [pandemic] we flew our second Navy flight test of this hypersonic glide body.”  

He said the test flight was “extremely successful,” and met and exceeded every single test requirement.  

“That was the springboard for us to now start that transition out of our national team into industry for a capability that we can produce,” Wolf said. “We are in this year finishing up the development of the booster that that glide body will go on — [a] common booster and common glide body between the Army and the Navy — as we get into static fires. Eventually we’ll do flight testing from land and then ultimately get to that first SSGN.”

Wolfe said the CSP program was on a very compressed timeline, but we have stayed on schedule. … For a conventional capability, this really is a game changer.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The last Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) built, USS Cheyenne, will be the first of the class selected to go through a service life-extension program, a senior Navy admiral said.

The Navy is planning to refuel six Los Angeles-class SSNs, said Adm. Frank Caldwell, director of the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program, speaking Nov. 16 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the naval Submarine League.

The Navy is undertaking the effort to shore up the numbers of attack submarines in the fleet as other boats in the Loc Angeles class are decommissioned in order to partially fill in the “trough” in the mid-2020s when the inventory of SSNs declines to 41 boats.

“We will extend these boats for another operating cycle,” Caldwell said. “To get after this, over the last two years, we’ve been making the required investments in cranes, equipment and facilities to support these refuelings at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard [Kittery, Maine]. This is a big effort, and there is a lot of work going on.”

Rear Adm. Ed Anderson, commander, Undersea Warfare, also speaking in the webinar, said the Navy is hoping to squeeze more than a 10-year nominal operational cycle out of each of the six submarines in the life-extension program.

“We’re gathering the data to give the fleet as much time as possible,” he said. Refueling of the Cheyenne will begin in February 2022, Caldwell said.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s submarine force is in high demand worldwide and is in the midst of a very high operations tempo (optempo), a Navy senior admiral said. 

“Navy leaders, fleet commanders, combatant commanders have high expectations for us,” said Adm. Frank Caldwell, director of the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program, speaking Nov. 16 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the naval Submarine League. “They love what we bring to peacetime operations and they are absolutely counting on us and our warfighting capability and our readiness to execute those wartime responsibilities.  

“We are a force that’s in very high demand,” Caldwell said. “In fact, all of the maritime commanders want a lot more of what the submarine force can bring and what we bring to the undersea domain. Our team is out there every single day doing eye-watering work on submarine missions or on patrols. The deployed OpTempo is very high right now and our boats and our crews are stepping up to the challenge. This is true even in the midst of COVID, which has put friction in the entire system, whether it’s from building new-construction submarines, delivering boats from deep maintenance, or simply executing the operational schedule. 

The admiral said there “has been a strain on our families and on our crews. But through it all I have been really impressed with the way our submarine commanders have kept their crews safe and continued to meet deployed operational commitments not only for missions but also for strategic deterrent patrols.”  

In addition to a high optempo, the submarine force also is in a construction boom at a level not seen in two decades, he said.  

“We are building submarines at rates that we have not seen in over 20 years,” Caldwell said. “The new-construction build halls are full and more facilities are under construction. We have modern, high-end fixturing that allows us to hold large components in place and allow high-precision, automated cutting and welding. While submarine construction in the 1980s and 1990s relied on retaining large openings in the hull in order to insert components and equipment, today we are building more and more components on rafts or on modules, long before we slide them together into the hull to complete the submarine.” 

Caldwell said the Navy “strives to keep the individual construction efforts on a steady, uninterrupted drumbeat. We refer to this as continuous build … capitalizing on the work force learning to build more efficiently, to reduce construction timeline, and continue to gain efficiency as we go forward.” 

Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby was appointed by President Donald Trump and sworn in as Maritime Administrator on Aug. 8, 2017. Prior to his appointment, Buzby served as president of the National Defense Transportation Association, a position he has held since retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2013 with over 34 years of service.

A 1979 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Buzby earned his Bachelor of Science in nautical science and U.S. Coast Guard 3rd Mate License. He was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in June 1979, is a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College and holds master’s degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and Salve Regina University in strategic studies and international relations, respectively.

Buzby commanded destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64), Destroy- er Squadron 31, Surface Warfare Officers School Command and Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay. As a junior officer, Buzby served in USS Connole (FF1056), USS Aries (PHM 5), USS Yorktown (CG 48), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) and USS Shiloh (CG 67), primarily in operations and combat systems billets. In 1985, he was the Atlantic Fleet Junior Officer Shiphandler of the Year.

Ashore, he served on staffs of U.S. 6th Fleet, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, the Navy staff and the Joint Staff. Buzby served as the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command from October 2009 to March 2013.

Buzby discussed the concerns of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Sept. 28 with Senior Editor Richard R. Burgess. Excerpts follow. Check out the digital edition of the November issue of Seapower magazine here.

What concerns do you have about the nation’s sealift capabilities? Could the sealift force handle the cargo demand for a major conflict overseas?

BUZBY: My concerns are in the quantity of ships that we have, the reliability of the ships that we have and resilience of the force: in other words, the ability either repair it or to replace it if we need to due to combat loss. Theoretically, right now, we have the square footage required, about 19.2 or so million square feet, to meet the nation’s sealift requirements — the most stressing requirements — to include the commercial merchant marine plus the government-owned sealift forces. Theoretically, we’ve got enough but that’s before the first loss, that’s before any breakdowns — a lot of qualifiers there. But I don’t like living right on the edge. We need more depth on our bench than we have right now.

What can be done to strengthen the nation’s sealift force?

BUZBY: The obvious answer is it needs to be enlarged across the board both on the commercial side and the government side. The commercial side gets driven by basically peacetime economics. Is there sufficient cargo for our commercial U.S.-flag merchant marine to carry? The more cargo that is available to carry equates to more ships. That’s a good thing that adds into our sealift capacity. On the government side, it’s a matter of ensuring we recapitalize our sealift forces in a timely manner. One would argue that we are not timely right now. The force that we have is aged and its reliability is becoming more questionable every year. Getting on with recapitalizing our government sealift ships, which we’re working on, figuring out how to incentivize or to make more cargo available for the commercial side, making that playing field for our commercial entities more level in competition with the foreign flag shipping are all parts of the solution.

What concerns do you have about the Ready Reserve Force in particular?

BUZBY: There are 61 government ships in the sealift force, 15 that the Military Sealift Command operates and the 46 that MARAD operates in the RRF. They’re funded to be maintained at 85% readiness level and, unfortunately, we’re not making that level and haven’t for some time. That gets borne out in the turbo-activation tests that we do every year. We’re seeing casualties coming up and just in the day-to-day maintenance of the ships. We’re seeing it becoming increasingly difficult to keep the ships ready to go when the bell rings in the five-day readiness status. When you’re looking at a 47-year-old ship, or older, with obsolescent equipment or the availability of mariners who could operate the equipment — I’m talking steam engineers in particular — or just the physical condition of the ship itself, it is just becoming more and more of a challenge and more expensive to maintain that fleet.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the U.S. Merchant Marine force?

BUZBY: It has definitely stressed it, like it has stressed all other modes of transportation. It has stressed the maritime transportation system significantly, but I would be quick to point out that [the force] has not faltered. Even though there have been greatly reduced cargoes and challenges in that respect, getting people tested and getting people certified to fill shipboard billets, the Merchant Marine has not faltered. We’ve continued to carry the goods for the nation and without the benefit of any grants or loans. Many of the other modes [of transportation] were the beneficiaries of lots of CARES Act funding to keep them viable and moving. Maritime hasn’t got any of that.

Meanwhile, we’ve managed to keep the ships sailing and figured out how to keep the crews healthy and maintain a healthy shipboard environment. We’ve put the mitigations in place to keep the ships healthy and operational. And that continues today. I’m really proud of this industry and how all the players — shipping companies, unions, the government — all came together to make that happen. It’s a real positive story, a positive chapter in our merchant marine’s history.

What role does MARAD have in physical and cybersecurity of the U.S.-flag merchant fleet?

BUZBY: We kind of stepped in and helped out with physical security during the period a few years ago when piracy was a serious threat. That has been pretty much mitigated. Now, it really, truly is the cybersecurity threat. Just literally yesterday, CMA CGM [a worldwide shipping group] of which APL — one of our Maritime Security Program carriers — is a part, had a major ransomware cyberattack against them. Just before this interview, I was talking with the president of APL, discussing the mitigations they’re having to put in place to remain operational. They are fighting through, and I am afraid that this is going to become a more common occurrence in the future, whether done by criminal actors or as part of a national-level cyberattack by a potential adversary.

Later this week, I’ll be talking to an industry group being sponsored by NMIO, the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, talking about what we need to do and how to strengthen the posture of our operating forces out there because a lot of what goes on still could be mitigated to a large extent just by having up-to-date patched programs for the systems that are on the ship, plus just good hygiene practices by the operators and by the crews. Systems often have to be used by many users and crews cycle on and off and lots of times get a little lax on passwords and other security measures. We’re doing our best to try and get that word out and help people understand the need to have good cyber defenses just like they have good strong physical security on their ships.

What role does MARAD have in supporting the U.S. port facilities in modernizing and in increasing their capacity?

BUZBY: We are very much involved, especially since of all those commercial ports that are spread around our country, 16 of which are designated as strategic ports, which we would use to load military equipment in any kind of a deployment and follow-on sustainment of those forces. We pay attention to all the ports but those 16 in particular to ensure that they have all of the intermodal connections necessary to handle modern rail connections, modern road connections, marine highway connections to not only support our military movements, but also, to remain viable commercially. Our ports are this country’s economic gateways. Our economy flows through our seaports and, to a lesser extent, our airports, but certainly the vast majority of goods that come and go out of this country come through our ports. They are absolutely vital.

We’ve begun to make some strong investments in our ports. We have awarded BUILD grants and INFRA-grants that have benefitted ports over the years. In 2019 and 2020 we have dedicated port infrastructure development grants — $297 million and $225 million, respectively — that are all focused directly on port improvement and port development.

What is the status of the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV)? Which maritime academy will receive the first one?

BUZBY: The builder has been chosen: Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia. We are well down the road in getting the final design completed. TOTE Services, our vessel construction manager, is doing a tremendous job of managing the build of the class – the “State Class.” We expect the first ship to begin fabrication in December. When complete in early 2023, it will go to the State University of New York Maritime College in Fort Schuyler. The second ship, about eight months behind the first, will be going up to Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Will one NMSV be assigned to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy?

BUZBY: No. At Kings Point, we train our midshipmen by sending them to sea in the active Merchant Marine. Rather than using a school ship for their training, USMMA’s training model sends Cadets to sea for four to eight months on all types of vessels in our regular commercial merchant vessel fleet, as well as Military Sealift Command and U.S. Navy vessels. That’s not to say that some Kings Pointers might end up on a training ship, if they have to make up some days or something like that, but primarily the school ships are going to the state maritime academies. We do maintain a 176-foot training vessel at the Academy, the T/V Kings Pointer, which is used for ship handling and navigation training.

What is your assessment of the preparedness of the graduates of your alma mater, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, to meet the challenges of the future?

BUZBY: I have absolutely tremendous faith in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s ability to prepare world-class mariners. I could not compete with the quality of midshipmen that are there these days who are preparing for their maritime careers. They are just so smart in grasping and understanding technology and anxious to get out there and become a part of the industry.

Amidst the COVID crisis, the academy has done a tremendous job in remaining operational and remaining safe. They were able to graduate the class of 2020 in June COVID-free and to bring on board in July the new class of 2024 — about 280 young men and women — get them through indoctrination COVID-free, and then at the end of July brought back all the rest of the regiment of midshipmen. They’re up to almost 800 people on board all maintaining a COVID-free environment, conducting their classes and doing their sea training. There is a group of about 250 that are out at sea right now getting the Sea Year training. As I mentioned before, they are participating with the ships to make sure the ships stay clean and keep those mitigation efforts in place. They’re getting a real first-hand look at how our Merchant Marine functions even in a COVID crisis. Kings Point is doing a tremendous job. I’m very, very pleased and impressed with the job that the superintendent, Rear Adm. Jack Buono and his staff are doing up there.

What do you say to critics of the Jones Act who consider it a protectionism that is detrimental to the national economy?

BUZBY: I say it is protection for our country. The national security implications of what would happen if we were to strike the Jones Act are absolutely profound in the negative. I’ve been asked on several occasions before Congress what would happen if the Jones Act went away and I answer directly back with, we would not be able to deploy our nation’s armed forces by sea if we were to do that, not because of the ships but because of the pool of trained mariners who crew those ships. The domestic Jones Act fleet employs the largest number of unlimited tonnage/unlimited horsepower mariners of all of our ships that sail under the U.S. flag.

You get rid of the Jones Act and its requirement for U.S. mariners in U.S. ships, those mariners won’t have sailing jobs anymore and will leave the industry. Those U.S. mariners on vessels trading in the United States are the same people that I absolutely rely upon along with others from the rest of the Merchant Marine to crew up our Ready Reserve Force — all of our sealift ships in time of crisis.

I therefore lose my ability to man those sealift ships and have them available to take our nation to war if necessary. Not to mention the impact on shipbuilding and ship repair in this country — the 124 or so shipyards that we still have in this country — they would go away with the exception of just the very few yards that would be building military vessels because that requirement to build in the United States and repair in the United States would go away as well. So, it would be, perhaps the worst thing we could do from a national security point of view.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The commander of the U.S. Navy’s submarine forces said the service’s submarine community is looking at several options for the basis of the next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN). 

Vice Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, Submarine Forces, speaking Nov. 16 in a webinar for the annual symposium of the naval Submarine League, said the service is looking at three options: a development of the Virginia-class SSN; a development of the Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine; and a new-from-scratch SSN design. 

“We’re going to get alternatives and make decisions on how to make this new SSN match what we need to stay ahead of our peers,” Caudle said. 

Caudle discussed some characteristics and capabilities that would be desirable in the next SSN. Increased speed is one characteristic he said is a requirement. 

“Speed is basically important to every improve every single joint warfare function,” he said. Speed “plays out so well in all of our wargaming [because] it helps compensate for bad decisions. It also helps us get to the fight faster and helps sustain an all-domain maneuver warfare.”   

The admiral said, “We can never get enough payload capacity, so we do want submarines with large payload capacity.” 

He also said that stealth is important and not limited to acoustic stealth, but across all spectrums. 

“When this new SSN rolls out, we’re going to have peer competitors that are going to be able to detect us not just acoustically but through algorithms that are going to break the water interface.”  

Caudle stressed that the Navy would have to make research and development investments to achieve the characteristics desired in the new SSN.