SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle and a Dominican Republic navy vessel combined efforts on April 20 during the interdiction of an illegal migrant voyage transporting 15 migrants in waters south of Isla Saona, according to a Coast Guard 7th District release. 

The interdiction, which was part of a joint effort between the Coast Guard, the Dominican navy and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, led to Dominican authorities arresting Edgar Batista Matos and Manauris Andujar Manon, who reportedly are associated with human smuggling activities and the organization of illegal migrant voyages. 

During a patrol in the Caribbean on April 20, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft detected a suspect migrant vessel south of Isla Saona. While patrolling nearby waters, the cutter Joseph Doyle responded to the sighting and interdicted the 25-foot make-shift vessel that was carrying 15 migrants, 13 men and two women of Dominican nationality. Shortly thereafter, a responding Dominican Republic Navy vessel arrived on scene and the crew took custody of the migrants and towed the interdicted vessel back to the Dominican Republic. 

Following the interdiction, Dominican naval authorities informed the Coast Guard that the known smugglers were found to be among the interdicted migrants. 

“This successful interdiction and arrest of two smugglers was the result of the strong partnership and collaboration that exists between the Coast Guard and Dominican Republic navy,” said Capt. Eric King, commander of Coast Guard Sector San Juan. 

“The results achieved today, despite the challenging operational environment presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic, reflect the commitment and daily efforts carried out by both countries to protect our borders from existing maritime threats and safeguard the lives of migrants who face the danger of an uncertain and potentially perilous voyage.”  

The Joseph Doyle is a 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in San Juan.

ASTORIA, Ore. — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast returned home on April 17 to Astoria following a 65-day counter-narcotic patrol to the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area reported. 

The cutter intercepted and boarded five suspected smuggling vessels, including one go-fast-style panga, while patrolling international waters off the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Steadfast’s crew apprehended three suspected smugglers and seized 1,252 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $21.5 million. 

“I am inspired daily by the tenacity and professionalism of this crew,” said Cmdr. Dan Ursino, the Steadfast’s commanding officer. “Their resilience to remain focused, in light of the global health crisis and uncertainty back home, has been nothing short of remarkable. Knowing the importance and impact of keeping these harmful substances from reaching our streets help to keep us going.” 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs. 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, U.S. 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.  

Steadfast also continued to participate in the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s Mini Boat Project, which connects students from local Oregon elementary schools with their peers in Japan. Students learn about the significance of ocean currents and weather while building miniature boats to send across the ocean to one another. During this patrol, Steadfast launched two boats, Boat-A-Lohti and Philbert, about 200 miles off the southern tip of Baja, Mexico. Follow along here. 

Commissioned in 1968, Steadfast is one of two Reliance-class cutters homeported in Astoria. Reliance-class cutters are 210-feet long, 34-feet wide and have a 1,100 long-ton displacement. The ships hold a crew of 76 and have served the nation for more than 50 years.

LOCKPORT, La. — Bollinger Shipyards Lockport delivered an articulated tug-barge (ATB) unit capable of transporting multiple clean petroleum products in the Alaska market to Crowley Fuels, the Alaska-based petroleum transportation, distribution and sales unit of Crowley Maritime Corp.   

Crowley Shipping provided vessel construction management services in Bollinger Marine Fabricators, Bollinger’s Amelia, Louisiana, facility from the final design phase through delivery. The company’s Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm, Jensen Maritime, provided the functional design. Bollinger’s engineering team provided the integration, detail design and construction package.   

“On behalf of our skilled workforce, along with a strong operational support group, the Bollinger team is proud to have built this ATB for Crowley Fuels,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger Shipyards president and CEO. “Contracts like this to build Jones Act-classed ATB units, create and protect many jobs for U.S. mariners, shipyards and ancillary vendors, and that strengthens our local and regional industrial base.” 

The Alaska-class ATB unit consists of one twin Z-Drive, 7,000-horsepower ocean tugboat paired with an ocean barge. 

The ATB was designed and built to meet ice class and polar code requirements, which include increased structural framing and shell plating and extended zero discharge endurance. The double-hulled design also features a barge form factor to achieve high-cargo capacity on minimal draft.  

The tug is fitted with two GE 8L250 main engines that meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 emissions standards. The generators on the tug and barge meet EPA Tier 3 and IMO Tier II emissions standards. In addition, a closed loop, freshwater ballast system will eliminate the need to discharge tug ballast water into the sea. 

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) on April 14 released a request for proposals to industry for new tropical uniforms for Marines to wear while training or embarking on missions in warm-weather climates, MCSC public affairs said in a release. 

The Marine Corps Tropical Combat Uniform (MCTCU) is a rapid-dry, breathable uniform that can sustain for prolonged periods in hot, humid and wet environments. The MCTCU will provide an alternative to the current combat utility uniform and combat boot. 

“This new tropical uniform allows Marines to be more comfortable and less fatigued while focusing on the mission at hand,” said Lou Curcio, MCSC’s MCTCU project officer. 

The MCTCU is made up of trousers, a blouse and a pair of boots. The trousers and blouse — the focus of the RFP — are made of the same blend of cotton and nylon as the current combat utility uniform and features the same camouflage pattern. The difference is in the weave and weight, resulting in a lighter material that dries more quickly. 

Both pieces of clothing are treated with permethrin to provide protection from insects. 

The boots, awarded on a separate contract, are also lightweight, with self-cleaning soles to improve mobility in a tropical environment. They are more than a pound lighter than the current boot fielded by the Marine Corps. 

“MCTCU will bring many advantages during training and combat in tropical environments,” Curcio said. “For all the sacrifices and challenges they endure, Marines deserve a uniform like this one.”  

Between June and September 2017, hundreds of Marines participated in various user evaluations to assess the durability, fit and function of a prototype tropical uniform. The prototype was made up of a fabric blend of nylon and cotton, designed to dry faster and keep Marines cooler in warm climates. 

MCSC’s Program Manager for Infantry Combat Equipment leveraged this feedback to inform industry solicitations and other decisions.  

“Many Marines said the MCTCU feels like pajamas, appreciating how lightweight it is,” Curcio said. “They also noted how quickly the uniform dries upon getting wet.” 

Based on January 2020 market research and responses to a November 2019 request for information, the Marine Corps should see a potential cost reduction of at least 25% and as much as 60% per uniform. 

MCSC plans to purchase 70,000 trousers, blouses and pairs of boots for the MCTCU to support fleet training or operating in tropical climates. The command procured more than 10,000 sets of blouses and trousers under a manufacturing and development effort. 

Fielding of the MCTCU is slated for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. 

SAN DIEGO — Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest on April 14 awarded a $99.8 million task order for the design and construction of 25 new ordnance magazines and an inert storage facility at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, California, according to NAVFAC Southwest public affairs. 

Last July, two major earthquakes struck the China Lake area. The task order will fund the demolition of an inert storage facility and 32 critically damaged magazines and design and construct 25 new modern magazines as well as an inert storage facility. 

Construction will include electrical, telecommunications, intrusion detection systems, roadway and apron paving, a bridge crane and positive drainage for the new magazines and storage facility. 

The task order is part of a multiple award construction contract. The awardee, Reyes Construction of Pomona, California, was one of multiple companies to submit proposals. 

“This is the first major new construction project awarded in support of the NAWS China Lake earthquake recovery effort and is an important part of restoring the installation to its full operational capability,” said Capt. Mike Oestereicher, commanding officer of NAVFAC Southwest. 

“Mission-critical operations and RDT&E support to the fleet were adversely impacted by the damaged magazines, with ordnance being jam-stowed in the handful of remaining adequate magazines or shipped off-base to other sites,” Oestereicher said. “This project will restore that lost capability and help bring NAWS China Lake back up to full readiness.” 

“Award of this project in such a short time represents a tremendous team effort with support from a myriad of stakeholders and support organizations,” said Cmdr. Dan Stokes, NAVFAC Southwest assistant operations officer. 

“We are eager to move forward into the construction phase to help restore full mission capability to the base and to provide support to the fleet.” 

NAWS China Lake is in the western Mojave Desert region of California, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. China Lake’s mission is to support the Navy’s research, testing and evaluation missions to provide cutting-edge weapons systems to the warfighter. 

The installation is the Navy’s largest single landholding. In total, its two ranges and main site cover more than 1.1 million acres, an area larger than Rhode Island. 

“This critical investment will bring our weapons storage capability into the modern era and will support testing programs for current and future weapons systems,” said Capt. Jason “Sherm” Sherman, Navy Munitions Command Pacific, CONUS West Division commander and Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach commanding officer. “Importantly at China Lake, these new magazines will be seismically rated to modern standards for increased environmental resiliency.” 

The project is scheduled for completion by August 2022. 

BURLINGTON, Mass. — BAE Systems was awarded a contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop machine learning analytics as a service — a first-of-its-kind, cloud-based model for the government, the company said in an April 21 release. 

This new technology model seeks to provide an automated service that aims to leverage commercial and open source data, including satellite imagery, to deliver continuous worldwide situational awareness for a diverse range of challenges, including anomaly detection and prediction.  

As part of DARPA’s Geospatial Cloud Analytics (GCA) program, the BAE Systems FAST Labs research and development team aims to use the company’s Multi-INT Analytics for Pattern Learning and Exploitation (MAPLE) technology. 

This approach seeks to apply automated analytics to a problem, freeing operators to query the data to answer specific questions about important mission issues at hand while removing the traditional need to conduct extensive manual analysis. For the purposes of this program, the BAE team seeks to apply MaaS to a proposed maritime challenge to automatically and reliably detect vessels that are engaging in illegal fishing. 

Our technology can be used across a number of domains and can be leveraged in the cloud, making it an extremely flexible and easily scalable solution that provides operators with worldwide vigilance. Our goal is to automate analytics in a new way so that we can take the incredible capabilities of machine learning to discover nuanced patterns in both sparse and large data volumes to solve extremely complicated problems that could threaten our nation’s security. 

Research on the GCA program leverages BAE’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities such as adaptive reasoning and analysis in its autonomy technology portfolio. The GCA program is one of several fields BAE Systems is researching, including current work on DARPA’s Hallmark Tools, Capabilities, and Evaluation Methodology program, and represents several years of research on various other programs with DARPA as well as the Air Force Research Lab. 

MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore crew offloaded about 1,300 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $1.1 million, on April 13, at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, according to the Coast Guard’s 7th District. 

The drugs were interdicted by the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane in the Caribbean from a suspected drug smuggling vessel. 

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. 

During at-sea interdictions, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida. 

The Harriet Lane is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter home ported in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Kathleen Moore is a 154-foot fast-response cutter home ported in Key West. 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Caribbean is conducted under the authority of the 7th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

SAN DIEGO — General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced April 21 that the first Dry Combat Submersible (DCS) featuring its lithium-ion fault tolerant (LiFT) battery system as an energy source was accepted by the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). 

The DCS is a long-endurance delivery vehicle capable of transporting personnel in a dry environment. GA-EMS is under contract with Lockheed Martin Corp. to provide LiFT batteries to power the DCS propulsion and internal support systems. 

“With demonstrated performance through sea trials and the confidence of USSCOM, our LiFT battery system is becoming a go-to technology when performance is essential for mission assurance,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. 

“The acceptance of the first DCS with LiFT technology represents a solid leap toward meeting the demand for battery systems that offer greater reliability, capability and safety to support critical undersea operations. We are proud to be the provider of this energy source and look forward to seeing DCS vehicles with LiFT battery systems onboard achieve USSOCOM acceptance.”  

The LiFT battery system’s modular design and single-cell fault tolerance is designed to prevent uncontrolled and catastrophic cascading lithium-ion cell failure, improving the safety of personnel and platforms while keeping power available for high mission assurance. 

LiFT battery systems have undergone at-sea testing by the U.S. Navy and have been classified for use on undersea vehicles by Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV-GL), an international accredited registrar and classification society for the maritime industry. 

MEDITERRANEAN SEA — For the second time in four days, Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while intercepting a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft April 19 in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), according to a release from the 6th Fleet. 

A P-8A aircraft flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea was intercepted twice by a Russian SU-35 over a period of about 100 minutes. The first intercept was deemed safe and professional. The second intercept was determined to be unsafe and unprofessional due to the SU-35 conducting a high-speed, high-powered maneuver that decreased aircraft separation to within 25 feet, directly in front of the P-8A, exposing the U.S. aircraft to wake turbulence and jet exhaust. 

In response, the P-8A, which was operating at a constant altitude and airspeed, descended to create separation and ensure safety of both aircraft. 

The unnecessary actions of the Russian SU-35 pilot were inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight rules, seriously jeopardizing the safety of flight of both aircraft.  

This incident follows an April 15 interaction over the same waters, where a Russian SU-35 flew inverted within 25 feet of the U.S. P-8A. 

In both cases, the U.S. aircraft were operating consistent with international law and did not provoke this Russian activity. 

Middletown, R.I. — Rite-Solutions recently was selected as one of 17 companies that will participate in a five-year, $73.7 million contract to help the U.S. Navy develop future generations of its Undersea Weapons Family of Systems (FoS), the company said in an April 20 release. 

The contract, announced by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, will develop core technologies in 12 functional areas such as payloads, propulsion, power storage and conversion, vehicle control and command and control. 

“We were awarded two functional areas where we have outstanding core capabilities: software development, and modeling and simulation,” said Dennis McLaughlin, president and CEO at Rite-Solutions. “We are very pleased that NUWC recognizes our strengths in building high-performing teams and innovative software-based solutions, as reflected in this award.” 

NUWC will release task-order requests for proposals in specific or combined functional areas that companies that received awards may bid on. Unlike contracts that source a finished product from a single company, NUWC will receive components from multiple companies. 

“This contract is very similar to the approach NUWC used with the Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) Multiple Award Contract,” adds Mike Coffey, Rite-Solutions executive vice president. 

“NUWC is taking a best-of-breed approach to acquiring technologies that will enable them to develop, build and support these complex systems. They will integrate and test the different technologies in the prototype phases of weapons development, which will establish the blueprints for future production.” 

As with the UUV FoS contract, Rite-Solutions is a prime contractor alongside other companies with demonstrated expertise in undersea warfare. “We are pleased to be included on this contract, with some of the biggest and most reputable companies in the aerospace and defense industry,” Coffey said.