TEWKSBURY, Mass. — Raytheon Co.
and the U.S. Navy completed the final developmental test of the latest
generation of the Ship Self-Defense System, or SSDS, Integrated Combat System
for the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the company announced in a release.

The test was conducted off the
coast of California from the Navy’s unmanned Self-Defense Test Ship simulating
a scenario CVN-78 may encounter once deployed.

During the raid scenario
exercise, two anti-ship missile surrogate targets were located, classified,
tracked and engaged using the SSDS Integrated Combat System adapted for Gerald
R. Ford.

“This successful
dual-target test demonstrates the maturity of the Ship Self Defense System ICS
and paves the way for operational testing to begin,” said Mike Fabel,
Raytheon’s SSDS program manager. “SSDS is a critical capability that
enables CVN-78 to defend herself and her crew against current and emerging
threats.”

The Raytheon Ship Self-Defense
System ICS includes:

• Dual Band Radar: This technology searched for,
  located and tracked the targets. DBR then provided uplink and radar
  illumination to the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile to support missile guidance.
• Cooperative Engagement Capability, or CEC: The
  capability validated and processed the Dual Band Radar data for SSDS. CEC is
  responsible for providing a single, integrated air picture by fusing data from
  multiple sensors to improve track accuracy.
• Ship Self-Defense System: SSDS processed the CEC
  data, classified the targets, determined the appropriate engagement ranges,
  passed launch commands to the interceptor missiles, and scheduled Dual Band
  Radar support for the engagements.
• Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and Rolling Airframe
  Missile: Successfully engaged and defeated both targets using live and
  simulated interceptors.

The Ship Self-Defense System
ICS for CVN-78 has now successfully engaged three of three targets over the
course of its first two test exercises.

Proven and deployed, SSDS is
an open, distributed combat management system in service on U.S. carriers and
amphibious ships, including CVN, LSD, LPD, LHA and LHD classes. SSDS Mk2 is the
premier self-defense system for the Navy. SSDS is integrated with Raytheon’s
Cooperative Engagement Capability for the seamless extraction and distribution
of sensor-derived information. This further enhances each ship’s anti-air
warfare capability through sharing of available data to all participating CEC
units, improving situational awareness, increasing range, and enabling
cooperative, multiple, or layered engagement strategies.

LONDON — HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s future
flagship, will deploy in late summer for the eastern seaboard of the United States,
including a port visit in the Washington, D.C., area, where she will host the
Atlantic Future Forum, the U.K. Ministry of Defence announced.

The aircraft carrier, United Kingdom’s largest and
most advanced warship ever built, will make the transatlantic journey for the
second consecutive year to train alongside the U.K.’s closest ally. She will
also make several port calls while deployed before returning home before Christmas.

While in the Washington area she will host the Atlantic Future Forum, which aims at bringing the U.S. and U.K. defense industry and military together to address the changing nature of warfare and shared threats both allies face at home and abroad.

“HMS Queen Elizabeth represents the best of British innovation and is a true embodiment of our international ambition,” said British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

“The fact that this important ship will have visited
the U.S. twice within her short service thus far is testament to our enduring
transatlantic defense relationship. In the week that we commemorate the 75th anniversary
of the D-Day landings, it is only right that we continue to look at how we can
deepen our global partnerships to promote peace and deter future conflict.”

The deployment, known as WESTLANT 19, will see Queen Elizabeth and her crew conduct deck and warfare trials with U.K. F-35 jets from 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron based in the United States and 617 Squadron based at RAF Marham as well rotary wing training with Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

While stateside, she will also welcome U.S. Marine Corps vertical-lift F-35s on deck.

HMS Queen Elizabeth remains set to be deployed on global operations from 2021 and when Prince of Wales joins her in the fleet in the near future, the United Kingdom will have one carrier available at very high readiness at all times.

Britain’s prime minister also announced June 4 that
the Royal Navy will ready the HMS Queen Elizabeth to join allies in forming
part of NATO’s major “readiness initiative” when she becomes operational.

“I’m pleased to announce that NATO will soon be able
to call on the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and F-35 fighter
jets to help tackle threats around the world,” Prime Minister Theresa May said.

NATO’s “readiness initiative” aims to improve the
readiness of the alliance’s forces to deploy and move within Europe and across
the Atlantic to safeguard international security. Britain will look to make its
aircraft carrier a key part of those plans as the country continues to play a
leading role in the alliance which has been the cornerstone of its defense for
70 years.

“Be it projecting influence for peace, standing ready
to fight, or delivering vital aid around the world, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her
sister ship HMS Prince of Wales will fly the flag of a Global Britain,”
Mordaunt said. “Nothing symbolizes the leading role that we play in NATO more
than our nation’s future flagship being ready to respond to any challenge that
the Alliance may face.”

At the Defence Ministers’ meeting in June, allies
committed, by 2020, to having 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 naval
combat vessels ready to use within 30 days. This was reinforced by allied heads
of state and government at the NATO summit in July.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard repatriated 12 Dominican migrants to a Dominican
Navy patrol vessel June 2 following the at-sea interdiction of an illegal
migrant voyage May 30 in the Mona Passage, the Coast Guard 7th District said.

Two other
Dominican migrants traveling in the group remain in federal custody facing
possible prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto
Rico on potential charges of attempted illegal re-entry into a U.S. territory.

The interdictions
are the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified Resolve,
Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group.

“Migrants
endanger their lives when taking part in an illegal voyage aboard makeshift and
grossly overloaded boats with little or no lifesaving equipment,” said Lt.
Cmdr. Rafael Batlle, commanding officer of the cutter Heriberto Hernandez.

“I’m proud of
my crew and thankful that we were able to arrive in time and rescue all these
persons from a very dangerous situation. Most of them were dehydrated,
disoriented, weakened and even sea sick.”

While on a
routine patrol on the night of May 30, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-144
maritime patrol aircraft detected a migrant vessel that was transiting without navigational
lights. The migrant boat was about 10 nautical miles north Mona Island, Puerto
Rico.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the Heriberto Hernandez to interdict
the suspect vessel. Shortly thereafter, the cutter’s crew interdicted the
30-foot makeshift boat and embarked all 14 men from their vessel that was
taking on water and in danger of sinking.

Once aboard a
Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical
attention.

The Heriberto
Hernandez transferred custody of the two migrants facing federal prosecution to
Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The remaining
migrants were transferred to the Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser (WPC-1116),
which transported the migrants to Dominican waters just off Samaná, Dominican
Republic, for their repatriation.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — BAE Systems Inc. has purchased of the key assets of Riptide Autonomous
Solutions, a provider of unmanned underwater vehicle technology and solutions,
BAE Systems said in a June 3 release. Plymouth, Massachusetts-based Riptide specializes
in small UUVs.

“Adding
Riptide’s technological capabilities will position us to provide customers
unmatched flexibility by offering a family of UUVs and integrated payload
solutions capable of supporting a variety of critical missions,” said Terry
Crimmins, president of BAE Systems Electronic Systems.

“Coupling
our extensive expertise in sonar, signal processing, sensor fusion, undersea
communications, electronic warfare, and autonomous systems with Riptide’s
unique UUV platforms will enable us to affordably address rapidly expanding
maritime mission requirements in the global defense, commercial and research
markets.”

“Everyone
at Riptide is excited to be joining BAE Systems, given our shared focus and
strategic vision for the undersea market,” said Jeff Smith, Riptide’s founder
and president.

Riptide employees will join
the BAE Systems Electronic Systems sector, many as part of the FAST Labs
organization.

SAN DIEGO
— Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has changed its name to Naval
Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWARSYSCOM), reinforcing its commitment
to outpacing adversaries in information warfare, the command said in a release.

Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced the name change at the
Information Warfare Senior Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C., on June 3.
The change is effective immediately.

“We have
been on a steady drumbeat since the issuance of the Design for Maintaining
Maritime Superiority to further normalize information warfare into the way we
do operations and warfighting in the Navy,” Richardson said. “Today, we will
take an important step in that direction as we rename the Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. This new name
more accurately describes the full totality of the mission, supporting naval
warfare — from seabed to space.”

The intent
of the name change is to recognize the power that information warfare brings to
the fight. The change aligns the command name with the command mission to
identify, develop, deliver and sustain information warfare capabilities and
services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions.

“In this era of ‘Great Power Competition,’ information is a fundamental element of warfare, an essential component of the Navy’s strategy, and a warfare area that transcends the traditional domains of air, sea, land and space,” said NAVWARSYSCOM’s commander, Rear Adm. Christian Becker. “This name change underscores the importance of information warfare in providing our fleet with an unfair advantage in today’s complex and increasingly competitive security environment.”

In
addition to more accurately reflecting the focus and core capabilities of the
command, the name change will bring renewed clarity of mission and purpose for
the warfighter, stakeholders across the fleet, industry partners, the broader
information warfare community and the Naval Research and Development
Establishment, according to the release.

“We have
been at the center of incorporating advanced information warfare technologies
that enable new operational concepts for decades,” NAVWARSYSCOM Executive
Director Patrick Sullivan said. “Information warfare has been and will continue
to be our central focus, and now our name accurately reflects this focus.”

In
February 2019, NAVWARSYCOM’s two Echelon III commands, formerly “systems
centers” in Charleston, South Carolina and San Diego changed their names to Naval
Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic and NIWC Pacific, respectively.
While this move reflects clarity of mission and purpose, it also aligns the
centers’ naming architecture with Naval Air Systems Command’s air warfare
centers and Naval Sea Systems Command’s surface and undersea warfare centers.

The change
to NAVWARSYSCOM is the second name change in the command’s history. In May 1966,
the Department of the Navy established the Naval Electronic Systems Command.
The command was one of five systems commands placed under the Naval Material
Command. In May 1985, the Department of the Navy disestablished the Naval
Material Command, and the Naval Electronic Systems Command became Space and
Naval Warfare Systems Command, an Echelon II command under the CNO.

NAVWARSYSCOM consists of
more than 11,000 active duty military and civil service professionals around
the world and close to the fleet to keep NAVWARSYSCOM at the forefront of research,
engineering and acquisition to provide and sustain information warfare
capabilities to the fleet.

TOKYO —
Northrop Grumman Corp. completed its first delivery of an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) on March 29, the company said in
a release.

In November
2014, the Japan Ministry of Defense competitively selected the Northrop Grumman
E-2D to fulfill an emerging next-generation airborne early warning requirement.

“Northrop
Grumman’s longstanding partnership with Japan is beginning a new chapter with
the delivery of the first Japan E-2D,” said Jane Bishop, vice president and
integrated product team leader, manned airborne surveillance programs at
Northrop Grumman. “This aircraft provides a significant increase in early
warning and surveillance capability to outpace Japan’s evolving security
needs.”

Japan has
operated the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye since 1983 and is the largest E-2
operator outside the U.S. The E-2D delivers a two-generation leap in radar
technology, allowing the aircraft to track threats at extended range.

The aircraft can also be
used in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity for civilian
emergency coordination. The E-2D offers interoperability with next-generation
aircraft systems and U.S. Navy allies to support regional security cooperation.
To ensure long-term success of the Japan E-2D fleet, Northrop Grumman is
providing continued support to JASDF in the areas of sustainment and
maintenance, in coordination with several Japanese firms.

BREMERTON, Wash. — The Los
Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) arrived on May 28 at
Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington, to start the inactivation and
decommissioning process, commander, Submarine Group 9 said in a release.

Under the command of Cmdr.
Jason Deichler, a Pittsburgh native, the submarine departed Naval Submarine
Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, and made its first arctic transit for
its final homeport change.

“We are the first second
flight 688 to complete an arctic transit from Groton to Bremerton for an
inactivation,” Deichler said. “It was an amazing transit, one that it unique to
submarines. There aren’t too many people in the history of the world, let alone
the submarine force, let alone the Navy, that have done that transit under the
ice.”

Pittsburgh completed its
most recent deployment Feb. 25, 2019. During the deployment, the boat and her
crew steamed more than 39,000 nautical miles and conducted three foreign port
visits.

“All I heard from the crew
during the transit was ‘this is the last,’” Deichler said. “This is the last
meal; this is the last time we are going to eat Pittsburgh steak on Pittsburgh;
this is the last turn; this is the last shut down. So, the pride that they have
in the ship is amazing, the best I have ever seen on any ship I have ever
served.”

The submarine’s ability to
support a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
ship warfare, strike warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, made Pittsburgh
one of the most capable submarines in the world.

“It is a bittersweet
feeling to be the last operational commanding officer of Pittsburgh,” Deichler
said. “I am a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so the boat has a special
meaning to me. It is bittersweet to see Pittsburgh come for a final mooring
here in Bremerton, but I know it will help the Navy in her future mission as we
bring more Virginia-class submarines out online and we get our technology
upgraded.”

During the inactivation
process, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility will
defuel the submarine, with the hull retained in safe storage until decommissioning.

“The 35 years of USS
Pittsburgh has been an amazing 35 years,” Deichler said. “We have been involved
in two Tomahawk strike exercises and a multitude of missions vital to national
security. What I really hope that the public remembers of our ship and our crew
is the hard working men and women that helped build the submarine, utilizing
materials from Pittsburgh, companies from Pittsburgh, and the support I got
from the citizens of Pittsburgh; and then the crew itself, as they supported
the ship and conducted operations over these 35 years.”

Commissioned Nov. 23, 1985,
Pittsburgh is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the city of
Pittsburgh. The boat’s mission is to seek out and destroy enemy ships and
submarines and to protect U.S. national interests. At 360-feet-long and 6,900
tons, Pittsburgh can be armed with sophisticated Mk48 advanced-capability
torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Digital technology marked the exact location where Huntington Ingalls Industries landed the island onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) during a ceremony May 29 at the company’s shipbuilding division, the company said in a release. The event coincided with the birthday of the carrier’s namesake, President John F. Kennedy.

“Landing
the island is a key milestone in preparing the ship for launch in the fall,”
said Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding. “Reaching this
milestone on schedule demonstrates the significant lessons learned we are
applying to this ship’s construction as well as the strides we’ve made to use
new technologies to gain efficiencies.”

The 588-ton island, which will serve as the command-and-control center for flight deck operations, is one of the last steel structures, known as a superlift, to be placed onto the ship, signifying that the Kennedy is a step closer to being launched.

The
ship is being built in sections with more outfitted equipment — valves, pipe,
electrical panels, mounting studs, lighting, ventilation and other components —
than any other aircraft carrier built at Newport News. The use of new
technologies, including digital work instructions that provide shipbuilders
digital 3D data versus traditional paper drawings, has increased efficiency and
productivity.

With the island, the Kennedy is more than 90% structurally complete. The island stands 72 feet above the flight deck and is 56 feet long and 33 feet wide.

In
keeping with the Navy tradition, Capt. Todd Marzano, the ship’s commanding
officer, placed his aviator wings underneath the island during the ceremony.
This custom, known as mast-stepping, recognizes an ancient maritime custom of
placing a coin at the base of a mast of a ship under construction to bring good
fortune.

“It’s an absolute honor and privilege to be selected as the first commanding officer of the new aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, and I’m truly humbled to be joining such an impressive team of highly talented shipbuilders who have worked so hard to make this historic event possible,” Marzano said.

“Landing the island on the flight deck is a significant construction milestone, bringing John F. Kennedy one very important step closer to being commissioned into the fleet, where its value to our nation cannot be overstated.”

Caroline
Kennedy, President Kennedy’s daughter, serves as the ship’s sponsor. She could
not participate in the May 29 event but shared a 1964 silver Kennedy half
dollar that Marzano placed under the island house.

“The
island landing is an important milestone in the life of this ship,” Caroline Kennedy
wrote in a letter. “I know how proud my father would be of the ship that will
bear his name and the patriotism and dedication of all who sail in her.”

Boykin
placed a Newport News Shipbuilding president’s coin, which was designed to
recognize dedication, service and leadership — three qualities that the ship
and its crew will demonstrate when they set sail in our nation’s defense, she
explained.

The
other ceremony participants — James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for
research, development and acquisition; Rear Adm. Roy J. Kelley, commander,
Naval Air Force Atlantic; and Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, program executive officer
for aircraft carriers — also placed coins.

A
time capsule containing all the items placed under the island will be welded
into the ship at a later time.

The Kennedy is scheduled to move from the dry dock to an outfitting berth in the fourth quarter of 2019, three months ahead of schedule. The ship’s christening is planned for later this year.

More than 4,500 shipbuilders and 2,000 suppliers from across the country are supporting the construction of the new aircraft carrier.

NORFOLK,
Va. — Military Sealift Command’s last champion class T-5 petroleum tanker, USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT 1125), completed its final underway mission for the
U.S. Navy by sailing down the Elisabeth River to downtown Norfolk, Virginia, in
support of National Maritime Day on May 23.

Christened
April 19, 1986, Gianella’s primary role has been to perform point-to-point
delivery of petroleum products to Department of Defense storage and
distribution facilities worldwide.

“USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella is the last and longest serving U.S. government-owned
champion class T-5 tanker,” said Matthew Sweeney, Military Sealift Command
tanker project officer. “As the longest serving T-5 tanker she moved more
petroleum for the U.S. military than any other vessel in U.S. military
history.”

Gianella “was
the last of five T-5 tankers built,” said Capt. Robert J. Mills III, USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella’s ship master since 1998. “The Gianella is a liaison
between commercial petroleum terminals and Department of Defense fuel
facilities around the world.”

The other
T-5 tankers in the U.S. Navy’s inventory were the MV Gus. W. Darnell
(ATO-1121), USNS Paul Buck (T-AOT 1122), USNS Richard G. Matthiesen (T-AOT
1124) and the USNS Samuel L. Cobb (T-AOT 1123).

“Military
Sealift Command operated its T-5 tankers in each of its five area commands, MSC
Atlantic, MSC Pacific, MCS Central, MSC Far East and MSC Europe and Africa,” Mills
added.

USNS Gianella
is the last noncombat logistics force petroleum tanker in MSC service capable
of providing underway replenishment-at-sea services with combatants using the
modular fuel distribution system (MFDS), according to Sweeney.

“Fuel is
the lifeblood of the U.S. Navy’s combatant fleet,” Mills said. “USNS Lawrence
H. Gianella is able to restock MSC’s fleet oilers and Navy combatant ships
while at sea using its two refueling stations. We would pull into port and
bring fuel to our fleet oilers so that they could remain at sea.”

Over the
course of USNS Lawrence H. Gianella’s service, the ship has provided direct
support to the warfighters in multiple wars.

“During
the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, USNS Gianella supported U.S. fleet and convoy
operations in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf by providing fuel consolidation
(CONSOL) support to MSC fleet oilers,” Sweeney said. “The ship also provided
CONSOL and petroleum logistics support for Operation Desert Shield, Operation
Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.”

As an ice-class
oil tanker USNS Lawrence H. Gianella has performed numerous Arctic and
Antarctic resupply missions since the mid-1980s.

JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant returned home May 27 to Naval
Station Mayport following a nine-week counter-drug patrol in the eastern Pacific,
the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.

The Valiant
crew patrolled more than 14,000 nautical miles in the eastern Pacific in
support of Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S).

While on
patrol, the crew interdicted two go-fast smuggling vessels, seized 2,718 pounds
of cocaine worth over $41 million and apprehended three suspected drug
smugglers. The crew ensured the safe and efficient transfer of all suspected
smugglers, evidence and narcotics to the United States for future prosecution.

“The
noteworthy results of Valiant’s patrol underscore what a well-trained crew can
accomplish with a still highly-capable 51-year-old Coast Guard cutter,” said
Cmdr. Matthew Waldron, Valiant’s commanding officer.

While on a
port of call in Chiapas, Mexico, a contingent of the Valiant crew dedicated a
day to a local surf mission, cleaning beaches and playing soccer and volleyball
with local children. Its navigation through the Panama Canal earned the crew
the “Order of the Ditch” nautical certificate.

The Valiant
is a multimission 210-foot medium-endurance cutter. Missions include search and
rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine environmental protection, homeland
security and national defense operations.