HOUSTON — KBR has been awarded a $75 million recompete contract by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe Africa Central to enhance infrastructure at multiple bases in Djibouti, Africa, the company said in a release. 

Under this five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, KBR will provide engineering, design, construction, renovations, repairs, maintenance, demolition and other services at both Camp Lemonnier, and its associated Chabelley Airfield. 

This work complements KBR’s premier base operating support throughout Africa. Notably, the company has provided base operating support services at Camp Lemonnier since 2013, with work in the region dating back to 2002. 

While performing key services in Africa, the KBR team has achieved more than 25 million hours without a lost-time safety incident, a salute to KBR’s commitment to sustainability and safety. 

“KBR will continue its legacy of delivering trustworthy results and expertise to the U.S. Navy through this award,” said Byron Bright, KBR Government Solutions president. “We are proud to be a part of strengthening these bases for our troops and allies.” 

KBR provides solutions for base and contingency operations, asset management, prepositioned stocks and operations maintenance for U.S. and allied forces globally. 

BOSTON — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Seneca departed Coast Guard Base Boston on Sept. 2, en route to their new homeport in Portsmouth, Virginia, the Coast Guard 1st District said in a release. 

After 33 years homeported in Boston, Seneca will continue service with six other 270-foot, medium-endurance cutters, homeported at Coast Guard Base Portsmouth. This will allow the Coast Guard to better leverage efficiencies gained by clustering vessels of the same class. 

Seneca was formally commissioned in Boston on May 9, 1987. Since then, Seneca’s crew has conducted nearly all of the Coast Guard’s missions throughout New England, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, all while calling Boston home. 

In the late 1990s, Coast Guard Cutter Seneca, along with Coast Guard Cutter Galatin, was part of Operation New Frontier, a counter-narcotics operation that tested the use of high-speed pursuit boats and armed helicopters. The operation was successfully completed March 13, 2000, and lead to the creation of the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron in Jacksonville, Florida. 

More recently, Seneca’s crew assisted in the rescue of 187 Haitian migrants approximately 17 miles southwest of Turks and Caicos Islands on December 22, 2019. The Coast Guard, Royal Bahamas Defense Force, and Turks and Caicos Islands Police worked together to rescue all 187 people after they were spotted onboard a single 30-foot vessel. 

Seneca shares its name with the Revenue Cutter Seneca, the first cutter to engage in official ice patrol duties after the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and one of five Coast Guard cutters that made up Squadron 2 of Division 6 of the Atlantic Fleet Patrol Forces during World War I. 

ALHAMBRA, Calif. — EMCORE Corp. has been awarded a contract by Raytheon Technologies valued at $3.6 million to deliver SDI500 IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) for the MK 54 lightweight torpedo program, the company said in an Aug. 31 release. The units are expected to be delivered by September 2021. 

The Mk54 is an advanced anti-submarine torpedo designed and developed by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in collaboration with the U.S. Navy. It can be launched from surface ships, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters for use in both deep and shallow waters and in various acoustic environments. The Mk54 can track, classify, and attack underwater targets using sophisticated processing algorithms to analyze information, edit out false targets or countermeasures, and then pursue identified threats. 

EMCORE’s COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) SDI500 IMU delivers true tactical grade performance with <1º/hr bias stability across a full temperature range with class leading 0.02º/hr angle random walk and 1 mg accelerometer bias performance. The compact, low power, high-quality SDI500 IMU enables superior guidance and control of the Mk54 torpedo during in-water maneuvers, plus improves system cost-effectiveness, reduces obsolescence, and increases sustainability for Raytheon and its customers. 

“We have a long, proud history supporting Raytheon’s important defense programs at EMCORE, and previously at Systron Donner Inertial. Raytheon played a big part in helping Systron deliver 5,000 SDI500 tactical grade IMUs to customers globally,” said David Hoyh, director, Sales & Marketing for EMCORE. “EMCORE’s mission for its innovative and growing line of tactical grade products is to deliver superior inertial bias and noise performance under environmental conditions with smaller, lighter, more reliable and cost-effective product solutions than traditional tactical grade technologies or competitors.” 

POTTSTOWN, Pa. — The U.S. Navy has placed another multi-million-dollar order for Defender remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems built by VideoRay, the company said in an Aug. 31 release. 

The purchase is under VideoRay’s existing $49 million contract to deliver the Navy’s Next-Generation ROV. The systems will be assembled and tested in VideoRay’s Pottstown, Pennsylvania, facility prior to being shipped to the Navy for worldwide operations. 

“This order is the culmination of years of tight integration with many Navy units in San Diego,” said Scott Bentley, CEO of VideoRay. “It will result in additional hiring and significant spend in the Pottstown region, and with our development partners throughout the U.S. and beyond.” 

The procurement process was facilitated through the Defense Innovation Unit, which provided open communications and a competitively awarded production contract which allows further scaling within the Navy based on requirements set forth by the Navy’s program office, PMS-408, allowing VideoRay to collaborate on a solution. As a result, the VideoRay Defender systems have been optimized to best support the U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal technician and warfighter. 

The VideoRay Defender is a highly capable remotely operated vehicle and is also becoming a standard in other markets beyond defense, most notably in offshore energy and infrastructure industries. The VideoRay Defender systems will be used by the Navy for defense and security operations including very shallow water, littoral mine counter measures, port security missions and hull and pier inspection. 

The systems will be delivered with solutions from Greensea, Blueprint Subsea, Nortek and Eddyfi. These best-in class sensors, tooling and software are integrated onto the Defender ROV platform. 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard, Navy and U.S. law enforcement partners seized 225 kilograms of cocaine and apprehended three suspected smugglers following the interdiction of a drug smuggling go-fast in the Caribbean Sea on Aug. 24, the Coast Guard 7th District said in an Aug. 29 release. 

Two suspected smugglers are Dominican Republic nationals, and one is Colombian, while the seized cocaine has a wholesale value of approximately $6 million. 

The interdiction is the result of an international, multi-agency law enforcement effort in support of Operation Unified Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard, Campaign Martillo (a joint, interagency, 20-nation collaborative counter narcotic effort), and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico. 

“The strong relationship and collaboration between the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy continuously yields positive outcomes as evidenced by this case,” said Rear Adm. Eric Jones, commander of Coast Guard Seventh District. “The shared unwavering resolve and daily interaction between our Department of Defense and local and federal law enforcement partners in the region help safeguard and strengthen the Caribbean region against this threat. We are committed to the protection of our nation’s southernmost maritime border and of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.” 

During a routine patrol in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South’s mission to detect attempts to transport contraband into the U.S. and partner nations, the USS Kidd’s (DDG 100) helicopter crew sighted a suspicious go-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea. The USS Kidd, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer operating with U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 401 onboard, coordinated with the Coast Guard Seventh District to interdict the suspect vessel. 

The helicopter crew observed the suspected smugglers jettison multiple bales into the water as the go-fast continued to evade capture. The USS Kidd successfully interdicted and boarded the go-fast with the assistance of the CG LEDET 401. The USS Kidd’s crew and CG LEDET 401 apprehended the suspected smugglers and recovered eight jettisoned bales from the water. The seized contraband tested positive for cocaine. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Resolute (WMEC-620) embarked and transported the suspected smugglers and seized contraband to San Juan, Puerto Rico Saturday, where awaiting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-HSI, and DEA special agents received custody. 

Cutter Resolute is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in St. Petersburg Fla. 

The USS Kidd is homeported in Naval Station Everett, Washington. 

NEW ORLEANS — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC-615) arrived Monday at the cutter’s new homeport in Pensacola, Florida, following a dry dock period and Caribbean patrol, the Coast Guard 8th District said in an Aug. 31 release. 

The Reliance crew oversaw repairs to the cutter followed by migrant repatriation efforts in the Windward Pass supporting Coast Guard 7th District operations. 

The cutter and crew departed their former homeport at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on July 6, 2020, sailing for the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, to effect repairs to the propulsion shafts. On Aug. 5, the crew sailed from the Coast Guard Yard to begin a patrol of the Windward Pass between Cuba, the Bahamas and Haiti, alongside interagency and international partners to prevent dangerous, illegal maritime migration. 

The patrol included the repatriation of 16 Haitian migrants, participation in a search for survivors of a capsized Haitian vessel, shipboard training and storm avoidance. 

“Reliance’s departure from Kittery, Maine, brings an end to 31 years of faithful service in the North Atlantic,” said Cmdr. Robert Hill, commanding officer of the cutter Reliance. “The crew has performed exceptionally during our patrol amidst the challenges faced by COVID-19 and multiple tropical storms that arose. I could not be prouder of this crew and know that we are ready to continue our service in Pensacola, where the Coast Guard has strategically clustered part of its 210-foot cutter fleet for logistical support and proximity to our mission area of responsibility.” 

The homeport shift to Pensacola marks the second time Reliance has been homeported in Florida; Reliance was homeported in Port Canaveral from 1982 until 1987. 

The Reliance is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter. It is the first of the 210-foot medium-endurance cutter fleet and the fourth Revenue Cutter/Coast Guard cutter to bear the name Reliance. The cutter’s primary missions are counter drug operations, migrant interdiction, enforcing federal fishery laws, and search and rescue in support of Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere. 

NEW ORLEANS – The Navy accepted delivery of the next-generation landing craft, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 101, Aug. 27.  LCAC 101 is the second craft delivered by Textron Systems to the Navy this year, the Program Executive Office-Ships said in an Aug. 28 release. 

The LCAC is a high-speed, over-the-beach, fully amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60-70 ton payload. The LCAC replaces the existing fleet of legacy LCAC vehicles, and will primarily transport weapon systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel of the assault elements through varied environmental conditions from amphibious ships to and over the beach. 

The delivery follows the successful completion of Acceptance Trials with the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. During these at sea trials, the craft underwent testing to demonstrate the capability of the platform and installed systems across all mission areas to effectively meet its requirements.  

“Our next generation surface connectors are going to significantly enhance the Navy and Marine Corps team’s capability to execute missions – from humanitarian assistance to amphibious assault,” said Capt. Cedric McNeal, amphibious warfare program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “We have 12 additional craft in production with another 10 on contract, positioning us to steadily deliver increased capability to our fleet over the coming years.”  

LCACs are constructed at Textron Systems in Slidell, Louisiana and are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck equipped amphibious ships, as well as Expeditionary Transfer Dock and the Expeditionary Sea Base. 

MIAMI —The Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton (WMSL 753) crew offloaded approximately 11,500 pounds of cocaine and approximately 17,000 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $228 million, on Aug. 27, in Port Eveglades, Florida. 

The drugs were interdicted in the international waters off the coasts of Mexico, Central, and South America and in the Caribbean Sea. Coast Guard cutters and U.S. Navy ships seized and recovered contraband during 13 interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels: 

• The cutter Hamilton crew was responsible for nine interdictions, seizing approximately 9,700 pounds of cocaine and 9,000 pounds of marijuana. 
• The cutter Resolute (WMEC 620) crew was responsible for one interdiction, seizing approximately 1,100 pounds of marijuana. 
• The USS Nitze (DDG 94) crew with embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team 406 was responsible for two interdictions seizing approximately 1,700 pounds of cocaine and approximately 6,100 pounds of marijuana. 
• The USS Shamal crew with an embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team 109 was responsible for one interdiction, seizing approximately 800 pounds of marijuana.  

“We are proud to support the president’s national security strategy by keeping illegal drugs off American streets,” said Capt. Timothy Cronin, commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Hamilton. “I am extremely proud of this crew as they sailed short-handed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delivered tremendous results.” 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of presidential national security objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations. 

The Hamilton is a 418-foot national security cutter homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. The Resolute is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter home-ported in St. Petersburg, Florida. The USS Nitze is a 510-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. The USS Shamal is 179-foot coastal patrol ship homeported in Jacksonville, Florida. 

OTTAWA — Following a survey with over 18,000 respondents, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has chosen a new English rank designation for its junior ranks that will result in more gender-neutral terms than the current titles, which are not reflective of the modern, progressive service that is the RCN today, according to an Aug. 27 release. The RCN is continuing to work to create a more inclusive environment within the workplaces, whether that is at sea or at home, the Canadian Armed Forces release continues. 

The RCN’s junior ranks will soon be known as Sailor erd Class (formerly Ordinary Seaman), Sailor 2nd Class (formerly Able Seaman), Sailor 1st Class (formerly Leading Seaman) and Master Sailor (formerly Master Seaman). 

These changes help retain the history of these roles and align the English rank designation with the existing ranks in French. These new rank designations will be effective upon the issuance of a CANFORGEN in early September. At that point, the junior ranks will begin referring to shipmates using the new rank designations. 

“By adopting gender-neutral designation for junior members of the Royal Canadian Navy, we demonstrate to all Canadians that the Canadian Armed Forces will welcome anybody who wants to serve their country and uphold the values of inclusion and diversity,” said Harjit S. Sajjan, minister of National Defence. “We will continue to work to build a diverse force that is representative of the Canadians they protect.” 

In an effort to ensure that this new rank designation reflects the thoughts and ideals of the Royal Canadian Navy, and Canadians, a survey was completed internally and externally, the results of which helped to inform decision-making for this new designation. 

“The Royal Canadian Navy, our senior service, continues to adapt to better reflect Canadian society,” said Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the Defence staff. “Today’s announcement of changes to junior ranks nomenclature is just one example of how we continue to work to remove barriers to a more inclusive Canadian Armed Forces.”  

SAN DIEGO — General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has been awarded a developmental contract by Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) to provide manufacturing design drawings, engineering, fabrication, inspection, and assembly of prototype propulsor, shafting and bearing components as well as the equipment needed to support propulsor research and development, testing and evaluation, the company announced in a release. 

“This is another exciting opportunity for GA-EMS to demonstrate our capability to support significant Naval engineering and developmental programs,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. 

“Because of our proven track record in technical design, manufacturing expertise, and superb facilities, we are becoming the principal source for taking new technologies from concept, to prototype, and through to full production. We are proud to continue to support critical Navy programs that deliver the most advanced, safe, and reliable technologies to our warfighters.” 

GA-EMS will work with NSWCCD to develop new propulsor components for both surface ships and submarines. Design and analysis work will be done primarily at GA-EMS’ facilities in San Diego and manufacturing engineering and fabrication will be done at the company’s manufacturing facility in Tupelo, Mississippi. 

This effort supports the NSWCCD Advanced Propulsor Management Office requirement for the design and development for prototype propulsors, shafting and bearing components, mechanical design specification, and manufacturing plans to support the Columbia-class Submarine Program Office, the Virginia-class Submarine Program Office, and future R&D activities towards the next generation of propulsor and shafting systems.