ARLINGTON, Va. — A major factor in the power of special operations forces (SOF) — stealth — is becoming increasingly threatened by advances in sensors and other capabilities of adversaries and needs to be protected by additional measures, SOF leaders said.   

Speaking May 13 in a component commanders roundtable at the Virtual Special Operations Forces Industrial Conference, Rear Adm. Collin Green, commander, Navy Special Warfare Command, and Maj. Gen. Daniel Yoo, commander, Marine Corps Special Operations Command — the Raiders, said that ways need to be found to reduce the signature of their SEALs and Raiders while they are operating in the field. 

The capabilities of adversaries, including terrorists and insurgents, is becoming increasingly sophisticated as they adopt the increasingly smaller but highly capable technologies once the province of major militaries. 

For example, some adversaries have been using small unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with optical and infrared sensors to make it increasingly difficult for SEALs and Raiders to remain covert during clandestine operations.  

Green said that his command has a resource strategy with lines of effort to strengthen the SEALs and special boat units as they focus on sustaining a competitive advantage in the maritime domain: “signature reduction, lethality and survivability of our maritime combatant craft” as well as “developing and expanding our undersea capability” now underway with the new Mk11 SEAL Delivery Vehicle and Dry Combat Submersible. 

Yoo noted the emerging technology on low observables, digital material and uniforms, but said that “true full-spectrum signature reduction” is needed “in the information environment that we’re going to fight in. 

“Being able to stay in the shadows and having freedom of movement for our people on the ground or platforms in the air … or using cyber tools to move around freely, to be able to have full-spectrum signature management, that’s an area that everybody is shooting around the target but haven’t developed where you have some kind of assurance that you are going to be able to do that.”

ARLINGTON, Va.—The U.S. Navy’s Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40) completed its safe-for-flight evaluation for operating the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft on May 14, a milestone that completes the transition of the 12th and final active component VP squadron from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A, according to a release from commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group public affairs. 

VP-40’s six-month transition to the P-8A completes a process that began in 2012, when VP-16 became the first fleet squadron to begin transition to the P-8A and took the aircraft on its first deployment in 2013. 

“The Fighting Marlins lived up to the incredibly high standard set by both Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and Naval Air Station Jacksonville squadrons,” Capt. Erin Osborne, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10, said in the release. “The ability of these units to learn a completely new aircraft and seamlessly integrate into the battlespace is a testament to the agility, dedication and professionalism of our force.” 

VP-40 is one of six P-8A squadrons based at Whidbey Island, Washington, under commander, Patrol Reconnaissance Wing 10. 

“The completion of all 12 active VP squadron transitions represents a landmark occasion in our storied branch of naval aviation,” said Rear Adm. Pete Garvin, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group. “I am confident that the men and women of the Fighting Marlins of VP-40 will continue to display the same level of pride and professionalism as each of their predecessors. I remain very proud of their effort to fight to the finish and the distinction they brought upon themselves and our community during the final active duty P-3C deployment.” 

The Navy’s Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Force currently operates 94 P-8As. Another six serve in test and evaluation units. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — India will become the fourth nation to receive MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin. Under a May 14 U.S. Navy contract, India will receive 21 MH-60Rs for the ships in its navy. 

Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $905 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus fixed-fee contract modification to Lockheed Martin for 21 MH-60Rs for India plus three more for the U.S. Navy, the Defense Department said in a release. 

The U.S. Navy operates 289 MH-60Rs on its aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and littoral combat ships. The Royal Australian Navy operates 24 MH-60Rs from its warships, having received its first MH-60R in 2013. The Royal Danish Air Force flies nine MH-60Rs, having acquired its first in 2016. The Royal Saudi Navy has begun to receive a total of 10 MH-60Rs, which will be flown from its forthcoming multimission surface combatant ship, also built by Lockheed. 

“India’s selection of the MH-60R ‘Romeo’ multi-mission helicopter provides the Indian Navy with the most advanced anti-surface/antisubmarine warfare helicopter in operation today,” said Tom Kane, director, Sikorsky Naval Helicopter Programs, in a May 14 release. “The MH-60R offers the lowest risk and best value option because the aircraft is already in full production and globally supportable. The MH-60R provides a vital capability in the Indo-Pacific region and equips the Indian Navy with a tremendous capability that is ready for operations immediately upon delivery. We thank the government of India for its confidence in Sikorsky and look forward to supporting our partners in the Indian armed forces over the next 30 years.” 

The sale of the MH-60R represents another advance of U.S. defense equipment into the market for the government of India. The Indian Navy also operates the Boeing-built P-8I Neptune version of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A U.S. Navy nuclear-powered Ohio-class guided-missile submarine has returned from a deployment lasting more than 800 days, or 30 months, the Navy said.  

“USS Florida (SSGN 728) returned to its homeport of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, May 9, after operating forward-deployed for more than two years supporting the U.S. Africa, Central and European Combatant Commands,” said Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ashley Berumen, Commander, Submarine Group 10 Public Affairs, in a May 13 release. 

The impressive length of the deployment took two crews, alternating in operating the submarine. The submarine sailed more than 98,000 nautical miles during the deployment. 

Like the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines, the Ohio-class guided-missile submarines have two crews, Blue and Gold, that alternate periodically in operating the submarine.  

“These crews of roughly 160 Sailors alternate manning the submarine and typically deploy with the ship for three months before swapping,” the release said. “Blue crew brought the submarine back to its homeport. The crew that isn’t deployed trains at Trident Training Facility Kings Bay, conducting a rigorous training program, including simulated missions and scenarios they could encounter while at sea. This constant training regimen helps ensure the crew is always tactically and operationally ready.” 

The Florida is one of four SSGNs in the fleet. Commissioned in June 1983, it completed more than 50 ballistic-missile patrols before its conversion to an SSGN in 2003-2006. The Ohio-class SSGNs can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and can be configured to deploy up to 66 special operations forces and their equipment. 

“For the past 30 months, USS Florida has been forward-deployed, providing our combatant commanders with not only one of the most versatile and clandestine platforms the United States Navy has to offer, but also one capable of delivering an absolutely devastating punch at our timing and tempo,” said Vice Adm. Daryl Caudle, Commander, Naval Submarine Forces, in the release. 

“Most submarines don’t operate forward-deployed like this for this amount of time, especially without a real home base,” said Capt. Brian Tothero, Florida (Blue) commanding officer, in the release. “So, after being sort of homeless for the past 30 months, it’s nice to be back in Kings Bay.” 

The Florida went through a 30-day continuous maintenance availability (CMAV) in Souda Bay, Crete, conducted by the Trident Refit Facility Kings Bay. The facility completed more than 16,000 hours of work and shipped more than 69,000 pounds of equipment, making it the largest CMAV in the history of any forward-deployed submarine, the Navy said.  

 “As a massive team effort among our international partners, submarine staffs, Trident Refit Facility, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Seal Delivery Vehicle Teams, Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic, U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet staffs, Navy Undersea Warfare Center, Naval Sea Systems Programs, the DoD logistics enterprise and Strategic Systems Programs, we completed multiple maintenance availabilities, unprecedented in scope, in forward-deployed, isolated environments ranging from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea,” said Capt. Seth Burton, commanding officer of USS Florida (Gold), in the release. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing two contracts totaling $3.1 billion for Harpoon and Standoff Land-Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM ER) cruise missile systems, weapon systems in support of foreign military sales (FMS) to seven U.S. allies and partners. 

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a $1.97 billion firm-fixed-price contract to provide nonrecurring engineering for obsolescence redesign of the SLAM-ER plus the production and delivery of 650 SLAM-ER missiles for Saudi Arabia, the Defense Department said in a release. Work is expected to be complete by December 2028. 

Boeing last delivered the SLAM-ER weapon system in 2008, the company said in a release. 

NAVAIR also awarded to Boeing a $657 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for the procurement and delivery of 467 Harpoon full-rate production Lot 91 Block II missiles and support equipment. The order includes 402 Block II missiles and support equipment for Saudi Arabia; 53 Block II missiles and support equipment for Qatar; eight Block II missiles and support equipment for the government of Thailand; four Block II missiles and support equipment for the government of Brazil; and support equipment for Japan, the Netherlands, India and Korea, the Pentagon said. Work is expected to be complete by December 2026.   

“We are pleased to continue our long legacy of partnering with the Navy to build weapons that defend America and its international partners,” said Cindy Gruensfelder, vice president of Boeing Weapons said. “These awards will not only extend production of the Harpoon program through 2026, they will also restart the production line for SLAM-ER and ensure deliveries through 2028.” 

Boeing said it began in October to build a new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility “to support increased production for the Harpoon and SLAM ER programs.”  

Construction of the new facility is expected to be complete next year. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Sealion heavy combatant craft designed for use by the Navy’s SEALs is now deployed forward, the program’s executive officer said. 

Capt. Kate Dolloff, program executive officer-maritime for U.S. Special Operations Command, speaking to reporters May 12 in a teleconference during the vSOFIC Virtual Special Operations Forces Industrial Conference, sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association, said that one Sealion was deployed forward, one was used in training and one was in production. 

The Combatant Craft-Heavy (CCH) Mk.I Sealion, with a name derived from the acronym for SEAL Insertion, Observation and Neutralization, is a low-profile craft with retractable masts for sensors and communications. It is equipped with a stern ram for jet skis, rubber raiding craft and diving equipment. The craft has seven seats for crew and SEALs, plus some standing room. 

The Sealion can be transported by a C-17 or C-5 aircraft and by an amphibious warfare ship with a well deck. 

The Sealion is built by Vigor, which acquired the original builder, Oregon Iron Works.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy secretariat has doubled the number of Naval-X “Tech Bridge” sites on its network of collaborative alliances, the Navy’s top acquisition and research official announced.  

James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said in a May 12 video conference with reporters that the six tech bridge sites established last year have been beneficial to the Navy and Marine Corps, and he is doubling the number of tech bridges that will foster the collaboration of the Navy Department with industry, academia, scientific laboratories, and other organizations and individuals in developing technical solutions.  

“There are a lot of great activities going across the Navy and Marine Corps team, but we wanted an easy way to connect everybody up so we could accelerate our learning, better connect folks with ideas to solutions and folks with solutions to the folks that could put those into use,” Geurts said. “Our focus continues to be how do we support Sailors and Marines down-range, how do we increase our speed, how do we learn from each other and [reach] network-type speed as opposed to individual speed.” 

Geurts said the Navy Department did its best year ever in fiscal 2019 of “putting dollars on contract,” including the largest total small business awards, $16 billion, or 18% of the awards, and is engaging with small businesses to get five times the speed and 10 times the number of performers.   

“Think of this Naval-X Tech Bridge as this underlying network, which facilitates all that,” he said. “It’s not an activity unto itself as much as connecting everybody together so that we can speed discovery all the way through deployment and focus on all phases of support, not just early R&D [research and development] but all the way through sustainment.” 

“What we have seen in the last nine months is $45 million obligated through programs that were identified through the tech bridges through existing programs, largely through SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research program] as well as a lot of rapid prototyping authorities used through ONR [Office of Naval Research],” said Cmdr. Sam Gray, Tech Bridge director, also speaking at the teleconference.  

“Additionally, we were able to leverage the tech bridge network [in the current pandemic] in just a month focused on COVID efforts,” Gray said. “Tech Bridge has met on a daily and then weekly basis to connect all the teams together to find out how people were using their manufacturing capability, how were they able to get things on contract, how they were able to work with FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] representatives to get things approved for medical use.”  

The six new tech bridges are: 

• Central Coast, centered at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Monterey, California. Its focus is to connect faculty and students to provide a variety of potential partners across all applied warfighting domains, with particular focus on cyber, space and oceanographic capabilities. The NPS has cleared airspace for unmanned aerial systems testing. 
• Inland Empire, centered on Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona, California. Its focus is on data analytics and visualization; networks and data environments, including live virtual constructive training environment; and measurement technology.    
• Ventura, with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division, Naval Air Station Point Mugu, and San Nicholas Island, all in Ventura County, California. It focuses on unmanned system development, additive manufacturing, advanced material characterization and testing, and soon to include a mixed-reality environment. 
• Southern Maryland, centered on Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, along with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indianhead, Maryland. It focuses on unmanned aviation, autonomous systems, modeling and simulation, and live virtual constructive environments.  
• Mid-Atlantic, centered on commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, in Norfolk, Virginia, with the Naval Information Warfare Center Hampton Roads and two Naval Surface Warfare Center detachments. Its focus is on tying the fleet to the larger Tech Bridge network, with emphasis on cyber, unmanned systems, robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced communications and command and control, additive manufacturing. 
• National Capital Region, centered on Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Maryland, teamed with Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Virginia and Indian EOD Technology Division, and the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Quantico, Virginia. Their focus is on data-driven decision making.    

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s top officer has self-quarantined himself after coming in contact with a family member who tested positive for COVID-19, the Defense Department announced.  

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday “had contact with a COVID-positive family member and, although testing negative, will be quarantining this week,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell, a Defense Department spokesman, said on May 11. 

Gilday is personally following guidance he issued to the Navy as a whole on May 6: “Each of us must continue to practice and follow all public health measures necessary to minimize risk to our force and our families. Take responsibility. Show courage in speaking up if you see shipmates falling short. We have obligations for operational readiness and stringent requirements for health protection measures.” 

Below are more excerpts from the CNO’s May 6 message to the fleet: 

“As we continue to learn about this virus and how to mitigate its risk, the widespread public health measures you are actively practicing — physical distancing, face coverings, minimizing group events, frequent hand-washing, sound sanitation practices, a questioning attitude on how we are feeling — must be our new normal. We must harden our Navy by continuing to focus on the health and safety of our forces and our families. The health and safety of our Sailors and their families is, and must continue to be, our No. 1 priority. Fleet operations depend on it. 

“As the forward deployed force of our country, we have a duty to ensure we are ready to respond. We cannot simply take a knee or keep everyone in port until this enemy is defeated. We are America’s away team. The uncertainty caused by COVID-19 makes our mission of protecting America at sea more important than ever. That is why the U.S. Navy continues to operate forward every day.” 

“When we entered this pandemic, we quickly closed down services to minimize interactions and the spread of the disease. We will need to take a measured approach to opening up these services to prevent a recurrence of the disease. 

“I expect local commanders to understand area conditions and to communicate prudent expectations and guidance up and down the chain of command. I trust our Sailors to follow these guidelines.” 

Special Correspondent John M. Doyle contributed to this report.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The attack submarine USS Boise has arrived at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division in Newport News, Virginia, to prepare for its long-delayed overhaul, Naval Sea Systems Command said in a May 8 release. 

The Boise was shifted from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, “to begin pre-maintenance ‘smart start’ activities in preparation for the submarine’s engineered overhaul (EOH),” Bill Couch, a NAVSEA spokesman, said in the release.  

“An EOH is a major multiyear overhaul near the midpoint of a submarine’s service life to perform necessary repairs, maintenance and modernization, to certify the submarine for unrestricted operations and to ensure the submarine is operating at full technical capacity and mission capability,” Couch said. 

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine had been scheduled for an overhaul in 2013, but the work was delayed because of the work backlog at the Navy’s four shipyards that are certified to overhaul nuclear-powered vessels, the Government Accountability Office said in a November 2018 report.   

The Boise completed its most recent deployment in 2015 and had been tied up at Naval Station Norfolk since. It was no longer able to conduct operations by mid-2016 and lost its dive certification in February 2017. The backlog led the Navy to award, in October 2017, a contract to Newport News Shipbuilding, one of two U.S. submarine builders, to overhaul nuclear-powered submarines in addition to its normal work of building submarines. 

The delays in depot-level maintenance cause not only backlogs in the work itself but result in loss of hundreds or even thousands of days in service and reduced availability of attack subs for deployments in support of the requirements of combatant commanders.

WASHINGTON — The nominee to become the next Navy secretary spoke at his confirmation hearing on May 7 of the Arctic’s importance to national defense and international commerce and of rising Chinese efforts to influence the region. He also committed his advocacy to increasing U.S. Navy presence in the region to counter both “Great Power Competitors” China and Russia.  

“The Chinese and the Russians are everywhere, especially the Chinese,” Kenneth J. Braithwaite, the current U.S. ambassador to Norway and nominee to become the 77th Navy secretary, said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

See: Braithwaite Cites Theodore Roosevelt Crisis in Call for Reform of Navy Culture

“You would be alarmed at the amount of Chinese activity off the coast of Norway in the high north. We need to be vigilant to that to understand why.”  

As a former Navy P-3 patrol plane commander who operated from the Aleutian Islands and as ambassador to Norway, NATO’s gatekeeper to the North Atlantic, Braithwaite is no novice to the region and its growing importance.  

“Russia’s hope is to be relevant again on the world stage, where we all come to understand that China wants to be dominant on that same world stage,” Braithwaite said. “They have really pressed hard on Norway to be part of that calculus.” 

He pointed out that the cost of commerce from China to European markets would be cut by half if goods were transported by the Northern Sea Route across the top of Russia to Kirkenes, the northernmost Norwegian port. 

“China has launched a charm campaign to try to win Norway over,” Braithwaite said. “After in 2010 trying to force them to withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, the Norwegians stood up to the Chinese and [the Norwegians] suffered for that economically. But China now recognizes the importance of Kirkenes [and] securing a terminus on the Northern Sea Route, and they are up there trying to win over the people of northern Norway.”  

Braithwaite said the U.S. Navy is at the vanguard countering Chinese hegemony in the Arctic, saying the Navy “provides some of the only capabilities to be able to do power projection in that part of the world.” 

He noted the current presence of three Navy destroyers operating the Barents Sea along with ships of the U.K. Royal Navy and the Royal Norwegian Navy.  

Braithwaite also told Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) that he would be a strong advocate for a strategic Arctic port large enough to handle destroyers and icebreakers. The nearest such port is Anchorage, Alaska, which is 1,500 miles from the Arctic Circle, Sullivan added.   

“The great news is the United States Navy has been up there for many, many years,” Braithwaite said. “You may not see them, but they’re up there. As it begins to become more navigable on the surface, we also need to make sure that our presence is noted.”  

“We continue to need to be vigilant,” he added. “We continue to need to be present. That requires an adequate-size Navy to be there.” 

“It will be a priority of mine.”