One of the legs of the United States’ nuclear strategic deterrent is the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Since 1960, ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) of the U.S. Navy have patrolled the seas, armed initially with Polaris, then Poseidon, Trident C4, and today Trident D5 and D5LE (Life Extension) SLBMs. Since the beginning of the SLBM program in the mid-1950s, the guidance systems of all Navy SLBMs have been built by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, now known as Draper.

DiTullio joined the company in 1984 following a five-year career in the Navy, where he conducted five deterrent patrols while serving as a nuclear-trained officer on the SSBN USS George Bancroft. Upon joining Draper, he supported the company’s Strategic Systems program in positions of increasing responsibility before becoming vice president in 2012. In 2017, DiTullio was awarded the Fleet Ballistic Missile Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his accomplishments in support of the Navy’s strategic missile program.

Getting an SLBM to hit its target perhaps 4,000 nautical miles away is no small feat. DiTullio discussed the guidance system of the Trident missile with Senior Editor Richard R. Burgess. Check out the digital edition of the October issue of Seapower magazine here.

What is the scope of Draper’s role in the design and production of the SLBM guidance systems?

DiTULLIO: Historically, Draper acted in what we call a design agent role. We did the design and development. The Navy themselves contracted for the production, and Draper assisted the government with the industrial support team that was building them. In the late-1990s or early 2000s, the Navy asked Draper to take on the more classic prime [contractor] role, basically to take over for the lifecycle support of the entire guidance program, not only the design and development, but the procurement and direct management of the subcontractors who build and support the systems.

Today, Draper operates like a classic prime [for the guidance system], no different than Lockheed Martin for the missile or General Dynamics for the fire control system or for some of the other subsystems. Now that Draper is the prime, we have the capability to be a little more dynamic in setting where we operate at any given time. We have been able to gain some synergies in terms of being able to take some development activities and use them as part of our sustainment. If we have a current fleet issue or an obsolescence issue, it is a little more seamless now to bring some technology development, maybe for a future system, and accelerate that to meet an emergent need. Not that we weren’t able to do that before but, again, now that it’s all under one omnibus contract, it makes that a lot more seamless. We work intimately with the Navy to make sure we always have that right balance.

What kind of guidance system is used on the Trident SLBM?

DiTULLIO: The current system, the Mark 6, is what we would call an all-inertial system. It basically runs autonomously, but we do have the ability to use an external aid: a star sighting.

It’s celestial navigation, not much different than the era of wooden ships and iron men. We have a star catalog that sits in [the submarine’s] fire control system. As we currently are mechanized with an all-inertial system and because of the types of gyroscopes that we traditionally had used, we are prohibited from moving the guidance systems inertial platform in flight because of the errors that that would induce.

The one big difference between the Air Force ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] and the Navy SLBM is the fact that the ICBM has a fixed base and the SLBM has a moving base — on a submarine platform that moves throughout the ocean. The submerged submarine has no ability to know exactly where it is at the time of launch. We do have a pretty good shipboard navigator to assist in that but even that isn’t precise enough. The way that we handle that uncertainty is by taking a star sighting during missile flight to then effectively correct for the initial position error.

In general, for the classic gyroscopes that we have used up until the most recent Mark 6 life extension, they were spinning mass gyros, so we apply small amounts of torque to the gyro to maintain the platform fixed in inertial space — we would need to apply a significant amount of torque if we were to use the gyro, because you actually wanted to move the platform. When you apply torque to an electromechanical gyroscope and move the platform, you impart currents. Currents hold a lot of heat and heat causes an error. To avoid that error source, we effectively do not allow the platform to move in flight. We basically just align the platform to a known position based on the star selected in the fire control system. In flight, the idea of a gyro is to keep the platform null to whatever we align it to. That minimizes the disturbances on the gyro.

To do a star sighting with that constraint, we basically are only able to take one star sighting. That would not be a very good fix if you only took one star sighting; you can’t really triangulate where you are on the Earth. The way we get around that is that if you can pick a star that is directly over your target, you then are able to basically make some simplifying assumptions that allow you to get the same level of accuracy. The accuracy of the current system is directly related to having what we call an optimum star, the star that is directly over the target. Now, you can’t always get that due to occlusion angles from either the sun or moon, or there just are no stars at the time that you want to launch, so that’s an accuracy impact that the current system just has to absorb and we’ve designed for.

In this case, you’re actually trying to pick a star based on some conditions that have to do with the target itself. It is not unlimited — then there are also some star characteristics: brightness, stability and others in order to, when we do sight the star, be able to gain the accuracies that we want, but those are second and third order effects.

Does the missile have a lens that enables the star sighting to be made?

DiTULLIO: Yes. The current guidance system is made up of two sections. One is the electronics assembly, an enclosure or a box that houses most of the power supplies, computers, input devices and output devices. The inertial measurement unit [IMU] that holds accelerometers and the gyroscopes has — in the case of the Mark 6 — the stellar sensor, which has a camera that looks out a window on the side of the IMU at an appropriate time when the missile has shed the first three stages. Prior to that, the window is covered by the missile skin.

You must have to make this system very robust to withstand the stress of a launch from a submarine.

DiTULLIO: Yes. One of the things that separates these systems from others is the fact that it’s on a 125,000-pound rocket — a lot of vibration and shock. The other is the fact that it needs to operate continuously through adversaries’ weapons and operate in any environment it may encounter.

Does Draper get feedback from the Navy’s Trident to track the performance of the guidance system?

DiTULLIO: Yes. Every flight that the Navy flies is instrumented such that we can reconstitute and analyze the entire flight trajectory from launch point all the way through impact. We instrument the submarine, the missile and the impact area. All that data can be parsed back together to allow you to effectively pull out what are called Level 3 errors, meaning you can get down to a specific instrument scale factor or bias error.

The Navy undertakes, at a minimum, at least four test flights per year, commissioned for U.S. Strategic Command. Four times per year, Strategic Command sends a message out to an alert submarine to come back into port. At that point, the crew is prohibited from doing any maintenance. The tactical re-entry bodies are removed from a missile and a test missile kit is inserted. The aeroshell itself is the same. Then the boat goes back out to sea and launches the missile. We know the trajectory and the splash point as well as telemetered data from the missile body, which really gives us the factual data. If there were anything broken, any maintenance that was needed that would have prohibited, then they’re still prohibited. That’s how the Navy certifies the reliability and accuracy to Strategic Command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

How is the target location loaded into the guidance system?

DiTULLIO: Through optical data disks — the aim points are loaded into the guidance system through the fire control system. Included in that is also the star catalog information we talked about earlier. There are also files for ballistic parameters such as weather at the targets. And then, based on the launch commands, the system will choose from those target points that are loaded into the fire control system. They will routinely conduct “achievability” checks to make sure that whatever targets in their target package is achievable are based on the submarine’s location. It goes without saying there are some range limitations. You can’t hit every target from one position on the Earth.

As you think to future systems going forward, more and more we want to be able to push that capability out to the warfighter so that the submarines themselves can adapt to whatever changing targets might be based on the situation without necessarily having to have a data load from land.

Back in the day, when you had punch cards to load target data, you didn’t have nearly enough capability or memory to be able to do that. There just wasn’t enough computational capability in the shipboard systems and even in some of the flight systems, so there had to be simplifying assumptions that were made about things like gravity and some trajectory perturbations. Part of the improved accuracy of these systems over time has been the fact that, as we’ve been able to provide more throughput, memory and things like that, we’re able to reduce the number of simplifying assumptions needed to be able to accomplish the mission. Today, our system can operate in an accuracy domain like a regular tactical GPS system or even a commercial GPS system based on its ability to calculate the solution.

For these systems to be robust to the environments, you just aren’t able to operate at the state-of-the-art technology node. Today, if the fastest processor is, say, a gigabyte, we’re probably operating at a megabit. We tend to be one, two, even sometimes three generations behind whatever is current state-of-the-art. In the current system we just deployed — the Mark 6 Mod 1 Life Extension — the largest data rate that we have is a million bits. Your iPad has devices that are significantly larger than that.

Is Draper working on a next-generation SLBM guidance system?

DiTULLIO: Yes. Under the current timeline, the Ohio-class SSBN hulls have been extended out to 2040 by increasing the reactor core life. That meant we needed to have a weapons system out there. The solution was to extend the current Trident D5 Mark 6 guidance system, which we did with the D5 Life Extension program. Now, the Columbia class submarine that will begin to deploy in the early 2030s will have a service life out to 2084. The current weapons system is not designed for that lifespan. The D5 Life Extension 2 program is meant to extend the service life of the Strategic Weapons System out to 2084.

Is Draper working on the Defense Department’s hypersonics program?

DiTULLIO: Yes. We’ve been part of the national team from the start. Draper developed the guidance and navigation system for the Flight Experiments FE-1 and FE-2 that have flown.

The Army and Navy are under OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] guidance to come up with the common hypersonic vehicle. The difference is that the Army intends to launch it off the back of a truck and the Navy will look to launch it off either guided-missile submarines or guided-missile destroyers. The Strategic Systems Program office — the customer that manages the Navy’s strategic missiles — is the development agent for the common hypersonic glide body. We are helping with the guidance and navigation. For the flight experiments, we worked with Sandia, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center and other government labs. The government then subsequently awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin with Raytheon to transition that design into production.

NORWICH, Conn. — Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, issued on Oct. 6 the following statement regarding Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s Oct. 6 comments on submarine shipbuilding during a preview of future Navy Force Structure Plan. 
 
“Today, Secretary Esper previewed a long-overdue force structure plan that begs for more detail and explanation,” Courtney said. “Notably, the Secretary shared the predictable outcome of these months of review and study — that we need a bigger and more capable submarine force. After four long years of stonewalling Congress’s commitment to enlarging our nation’s submarine fleet — including submitting a budget this year that proposed a 19% cut to the submarine budget and eliminated a planned Virginia class submarine — the Trump administration today acknowledged what has long been blindingly obvious: Our undersea fleet is dangerously small. 
 
“If Secretary Esper is serious about boosting production, he could direct his department to support the House-passed authorization and funding levels for a second Virginia-class submarine in 2021 that reverses the Administration’s anemic shipbuilding budget in the House-Senate conference process happening right now,” Courtney added. 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard Cutter Northland (WMEC-904) returned to its homeport in Portsmouth after a 47-day patrol conducting counter-drug and migrant interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 30, the Coast Guard 5th District said in an Oct. 1 release. 

The Northland deployed in August and offered pre-storm information and assistance to locals off the coast of Haiti.  

Prior to the arrival of Tropical Storm Laura off the island of Hispaniola, Northland crewmembers located a disoriented fisherman who had drifted approximately 17 miles offshore. The crew provided him with food and water as the ship escorted him back to land well ahead of the storm’s passage. 

The Northland also hosted a civilian Haitian-Creole interpreter for the majority of the patrol to assist with translations. 

“Before this mission I did not know anything about the Coast Guard,” said Rishi Jolivian, a Haitian-Creole interpreter aboard the Northland. “But, now I have so much gratitude and appreciation for what the Coast Guard does. I have tremendous respect for the Northland and it’s truly an awesome place to be.” 

The Northland crewmembers provided Coast Guard presence along the north coast of Haiti by conducting 20 transits through the Canal de Tortue. The crew also maintained a robust training schedule earning more than 160 qualifications in addition to running over 60 shipboard drills and over 30 hours of small boat training. A highlight for the crew was the live-fire gunnery exercise of the 76mm Mk75 Gun Weapon System. 

“I am truly humbled to command a crew that diligently works to get the job done,” stated Cmdr. Patricia Bennett, commanding officer of of the Northland. “Their remarkable ability to overcome the inherent challenges of serving aboard an aging 36-year old asset downrange during a global pandemic cannot be overstated. The crew maintained a high level of morale and camaraderie that, in my opinion, is really only encountered by those of us who serve aboard Coast Guard cutters. This crew truly demonstrates the spirit of why I go to sea.” 

Upon the Northland’s return to homeport, the crew will conduct critical maintenance and repairs to extend the ship’s service life and will undergo a rigorous training assessment to ensure emergency readiness for future deployments. 

The Northland is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia and routinely deploys in support of counter-drug, migrant interdiction, fisheries, and search and rescue and homeland security missions. 

HONOLULU — The Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) arrived at its new homeport in Santa Rita, Guam, Sept. 24, the Coast Guard 14th District said in a release. 
 
The crew of the Myrtle Hazard traveled from Key West, Florida to Guam, covering a distance of over 10,000 nautical miles during the two-month journey.  
 
The new Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is the first of three scheduled to be stationed on Guam and replaces the 30-year old 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. FRCs are equipped with advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and boast greater range and endurance. 
 
“FRCs in Guam strengthen and affirm the U.S. Coast Guard’s operational presence in Oceania,” said Lt. Tony Seleznick, commanding officer of the Myrtle Hazard. “We increase the fleet’s range, endurance, and capabilities to deter illegal behavior, support search and rescue, promote maritime stability, and strengthen partnerships.” 
 
The FRCs represent the Coast Guard’s commitment to modernizing service assets to address the increasingly complex global Maritime Transportation System. Like the Island-class patrol boats before them, the Myrtle Hazard will support the people of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and our international partners throughout Oceania. 
 
FRC’s are designed for various missions including drug interdiction, defense operations, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, marine safety, and environmental protection. FRC’s can reach speeds of up to 28 knots and endure five days at sea while covering over 2,500 nautical miles.  
 
“Myrtle Hazard will significantly increase the capabilities of the Coast Guard throughout the region,” said Capt. Chris Chase, commander, Coast Guard Sector Guam. “I am excited to welcome the crew of the Myrtle Hazard home and look forward to them conducting operations with our partners in the near future.”  
 
Myrtle Hazard, the cutter’s namesake, was the first female to enlist in the Coast Guard. Enlisting in January 1918, she became a radio operator during World War I. She ended her service in 1919 as an Electrician’s Mate 1st Class.  
 
Each FRC has a standard 24-person crew. This will bring over 70 new Coast Guard members to Guam, along with a projected 100 family members. In addition to the crews of the three ships additional Coast Guard support members and their families will also be in Guam. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The on-time delivery of ships, submarines and systems from the Navy’s repair yards and the private shipyards as well as on-time delivery of new construction ships remains the Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA’s) top priority, the NAVSEA commander said.  

“It all starts with advance planning,” said Vice Adm. William Galinis, the NAVSEA commander, speaking Sept. 16 in a webinar of the Virtual Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium of the American Society of Naval Engineers. “We’re going to be relentless to get the planning right.” 

Advance planning is critical in determining what work a ship will need so that materials can be ordered and delivered in time and the necessary work force assigned and mustered to perform the maintenance before the work starts. Each day matters, he said. 

Galinis noted that the duration and complexity of ship maintenance and modernization availabilities is increasing.   

“We need to be absolutely relentless in execution,” he said.  

One of the planning actions that has proved beneficial is sending assessment teams to do ship checks, inspecting a ship in advance of the availability to determine the condition and needs of the ship to develop the work package as completely as possible.  

Galinis said that one of the biggest challenges is unplanned work that emerges. Managing that change is critical to minimizing its impact on the schedule. 

He also said, “We are challenged in some areas by capacity. We need to build additional capacity.” 

The admiral said that currently 47 CNO [chief of naval operations] availabilities are being executed in private shipyards (including three nuclear-powered attack submarines at Newport News Shipbuilding). Of those, he said, approximately half are “tracking to the schedule,” he said, with the other half being challenges. In addition, 13 nuclear-powered ships — 11 submarines and two aircraft carriers — are in availabilities in the Navy’s shipyards. 

Galinis stressed the importance of teamwork between the Navy, the ship repair industry and the supply chain in meeting the challenges of on-time delivery. 

Achieving a predictable and stable workload in ship repair yards benefits both the Navy and industry, enabling the yards to hire and retain a skilled, right-sized work force, a feature that also enables suppliers to get backlogs of orders. It benefits the populations and economies of the communities located by the yards and suppliers as well. 

ARLINGTON, Va. —The Arctic, already an area of competing maritime, commercial and territorial claims among nations bordering the high latitudes, is also “an ideal site” for the launch of  strategic missiles, say two retired admirals from the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Russia is building ice-capable combatants that can launch cruise missiles,” former U.S. Coast Guard commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told a livestreamed panel discussion at the 2020 Defense News Conference Sept. 9, adding that those missiles can range as far south as Miami, Florida. The Coast Guard has only two ice breakers and one was recently sidelined by a shipboard fire. The Navy has no vessels with ice-hardened hulls (see  https://seapowermagazine.org/u-s-lacks-ice-hardened-ships-repair-and-refueling-ports-for-arctic-ops/)

Retired British Rear Adm. Simon Williams, a former submarine commander and senior Royal Navy and Defence Ministry planner, went even further on the strategic importance of the region at the top of the globe.

“It can be used, because of its location, as a very short missile launching site,” he said. During the Cold War, when Soviet, U.S. and NATO allies’ submarines patrolled beneath Arctic seas, “we spent a huge amount of effort in tracking submarines into the High Arctic.”

While the Cold War is over “the physics don’t change,” he noted. “The reality of the High Arctic is that as a strategic area, it is of great interest for all of us for that very reason. It provides us an ideal site for the strategic launch” and with new missiles in the near future “for tactical launch as well.”

The increasing decline of sea ice in the Arctic has opened potential sea lanes in the summer months, sparking territorial disputes. Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States all have boosted their military presence in the Arctic at a rate not seen for decades. China, calling itself a near-Arctic nation, is eager to use a trans-Arctic route to move its goods and is building its own ice breakers while partnering with Russia on commercial projects in the region.

Russia has opened a new large new base while refitting seven former Soviet bases within the Arctic Circle. Moscow also has modernized its powerful Northern Fleet, increasing submarine activity and building polar icebreakers armed with cruise missiles. In response, the United States has reconstituted the 2nd Fleet, adding the North Pole to its area of responsibility.

Currently the most viable trans-Arctic crossing is the Northern sea route bordering Russia, which considers it sovereign territory. A new Russian agency requires foreign naval ships to give 45 days advance notice before transiting, provide crew manifests and declare their intentions.  The United States sees the northern route as an international waterway, said Zukunft, adding Russia’s demands are complete violation of the freedom of navigation. “Unfortunately, we don’t have reliable ships to challenge Russia on that front,” he said, suggesting working with Canada and other allies to protect U.S. interests.

MOBILE, Ala. — A small audience of dignitaries celebrated the Aug. 29 christening of the future littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28) at Austal’s advanced ship manufacturing facility. Savannah is the 14th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA has under contract with the U.S. Navy. 

“Austal is honored to christen today what will be the sixth Navy ship named after the great city of Savannah,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. “Savannah and Mobile have much in common both being major U.S. shipping ports but we also share the distinction of being cities where the infamous World War II Liberty ships were built. These were the last Navy ships built in Mobile prior to the littoral combat ships we are building here now. 

“Manufacturing complex small surface combatants efficiently at the fast pace we have established is no small feat,” explained Perciavalle. “We have one of the most talented manufacturing workforces employed today and I am proud to work side-by-side with each and every member of our awesome team as we christen the 25th surface ship since 2011.” 

The ship’s sponsor, Dianne Isakson, is the daughter of a World War II naval aviator and sister to two brothers who both served in the Navy. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Isakson is married to the Rep. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., former U.S. Senator from Georgia. Dianne is active in community and volunteer organizations and boards. She took up watercolor painting late in life and has been fortunate to be able to show and sell her paintings through two art galleries in Georgia.  After raising three children, she now enjoys the time she spends with her nine grandchildren. 

“We are honored to host Mrs. Isakson as the ship’s sponsor,” continued Perciavalle. “Her ties to the Navy through her father and brothers along with the time she has committed to raising a family and supporting her husband, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, is commendable and makes her the perfect choice as sponsor of this awesome combat ship.” 

The Independence-variant littoral combat ship is the most recent step in the small surface combatant evolution. A high-speed, agile, shallow draft, focused-mission surface combatant, the LCS is designed to conduct surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral near-shore region, while also possessing the capability for deep-water operations. With its open-architecture design, the LCS can support modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to capture and sustain littoral maritime supremacy.  

In addition to being in full-rate production for the LCS program, Austal USA is also the Navy’s prime contractor for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program. Austal has delivered 12 EPF, with a total of 14 under contract. Austal USA is also leading the evolution of connector and auxiliary ships as Austal EPF designs for dedicated medical, maintenance, logistics, and command and control ships. 

Just as “Big Navy” is conducting programs to modernize its battle fleet, one of its fleets of small boats has been going through a substantial modernization: the small surface craft that support special operations forces (SOF), in particular the Navy’s SEALs and Marine Raiders in their clandestine operations.

The SEALs use special operations craft, operated by special warfare combatant craft operators, to approach shores and insert and extract teams of special warfare operators. These craft are fast, quiet, capable of shallow-water operations, and armed with machine guns for use if their cover is blown. The small craft also can be used for coastal patrol missions and to interdict hostile craft and conduct visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) missions.

Check out the digital edition of the September Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

Navy Special Warfare Command, the parent unit of the SEAL teams, as a component of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), receives much of its equipment not through normal service acquisition channels but through SOCOM. SOCOM is a combatant command but is unusual in that it has its own acquisition budget and programs.

Special Warfare Small Boat Recapitalization Well Underway

During a May webinar, the vSOFIC (Virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference), Special Operations Command provided an unusual look into the acquisition programs of its naval craft and showed the special warfare community nearing completion of recapitalization of two classes of small boats and well along in a modernization program that will increase the capabilities of its special operations craft.

The Navy’s special operations boat capabilities and capacity has expanded greatly over a decade ago, when the special boat squadrons operated the Mark V special operations craft, the Naval Special Warfare Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat and the Special Operations Craft-Riverine (SOC-R).

The CCA “is a great workhorse. It’s small enough, modular [and] easy to move around a theater, which is a great attribute for SOF craft.”

Capt. Rocky Russell, Special Operations Command program manager for surface systems

The aluminum-hull, 33-foot-long SOC-R, built by U.S. Marine Inc. (USMI), is designed for short-range insertion and extraction of SOF in riverine and littoral environments. The 40-plus-knot craft, heavily armed with machine guns, carries a crew of four as well as eight SOF personnel.

“At any given time, we’ve got 12 that are in training or in deployment rotations,” said Capt. Katherine Dolloff, who leads the Special Operations Command’s program executive office for maritime. “We’ve got 12 that are in lay-up. This is our only riverine capability.”

“It’s a great hull,” said Capt. Rocky Russell, Dolloff’s program manager for surface systems. “It’s aging. We’re working on the sustainment. We’re starting to think about the serious design effort on what the next-generation craft should look like.”

Craft to replace the Mark V boats are well established. 

“The program for the Mark V special operations craft ended in 2013 as next-generation craft were being procured to replace the legacy craft,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a SOCOM spokesman.

The first craft to modernize the special boat squadrons is the combatant craft-assault, built by USMI. The 41-foot combatant craft-assault (CCA) is a low-observable, composite material, medium-range boat that provides expanded range, payload and speed over similar-sized special warfare craft such as 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats. The CCA is equipped with a small mast with a surface search radar, electro-optical/infrared sensor and satellite communications. It also can be airdropped from a C-17 transport aircraft.

Seven-Year Road for a ‘Workhorse’

Development of the CCA began by 2010 and the first boat was delivered 2013. Full operational capability was reached in 2017 with 32 CCAs fielded.

“This is a great workhorse,” Russell said. “It’s small enough, modular [and] easy to move around a theater, which is a great attribute for SOF craft. [It] can carry squad-size elements. It’s great for the VBSS mission and getting operators where they need to go. … We’re heavily employed overseas, doing great things.”

“We did just award a new [five-year] production contract with USMI, which will both add to the [CCA] fleet and replace aging craft,” Dolloff said.

Russell said the CCA design is “stable in the hull form, but we’re actually working on some major modifications, one of them being a new mast to incorporate the CC FLIR II [Combatant Craft Forward-Looking Infrared II] and a new comms box setup that help us have more modular, adaptable configuration for bringing systems on and off the CCA as technology evolves and mission needs evolve as well.”

This year, SOCOM will field the last of the current production run of the main replacement for the 82-foot-long Mark V, the combatant craft-medium (CCM) Mk1, built by Vigor Works. The CCM is a 60-foot fast craft designed to be clandestine, agile, and adaptive and that can insert and extract SOF in a medium threat environment. The CCM is small enough to be carried inside a C-17 transport aircraft, a large advantage over the legacy Mark V, which required the larger C-5 transport for movement.

The CCM was ordered in 2014 under an indefinite quantity contract. A total of 30 had been ordered as of 2020. Initial operational capability was achieved in fiscal 2015, and full operational capability is in track by the end of fiscal 2020.

“We’ve got 27 of 30 craft fielded [as of May 2020],” SOCOM’s Dolloff said. 

“The CCM has been on a deployment cycle,” Russell added. “It’s done many things down range. There has been a big learning curve for us on a craft like this. It’s not quite as large as the Mark V, but it comes with a lot of different aspects that make it suited for today’s environment.”

“As pleased as the operators are with the CCM, SOCOM is focused on bringing a lot of things to CCM,” Russell said. “One of those is maritime precision engagement. We’re going to see a topside configuration change with the integration of CC FLIR II.”

Maritime precision engagement is envisioned to be “a standoff, loitering, man-in-the-loop weapon for combatant craft capable of targeting individuals, groups, vehicles [and] small oceangoing craft with low collateral damage,” he said, noting that the installation would involve craft alterations, launchers, and missiles.

Russell said the maritime precision engagement was a “very difficult challenge for the SWAP [size, weight and power] conditions on CCM to get it integrated smoothly.”

The CC FLIR II, built by FLIR Systems, is a “big upgrade from our legacy maritime FLIR,” Russell said. It is used to detect, recognize, identify, range, track and highlight objects of interest.

“It is in production and actually going on the craft,” he said, noting that as of May, 21 of 58 ordered had been delivered. Initial operational capability was achieved in fiscal 2018. Full operational capability is scheduled for fiscal 2024.  

Another plus for the CCM is Maritime Tactical Mission Networking, nicknamed “Mountain Man.” This is being added to “give this boat much more connectivity to prove utility to offboard partners and bring situational awareness to the crew and whatever ground force we are carrying,” Russell said.

The program office also is working to install a retractable .50-caliber Mk50 machine gun system that retracts into the bow of the CCM.

Large, Stealthy, Exotic SEALION Gains Favor

The largest craft in the Navy Special Warfare Command’s fleet is the combatant craft-heavy (CCH) Mk1, which also is the most exotic and stealthy.

Known as the SEALION, for SEAL Insertion, Observation and Neutralization, the 40-ton, 80-foot low-profile craft built by Vigor Works, could be described as a semisubmersible. It has retractable masts for sensors and communications. Jet Skis, inflatable rubber raiding craft and diving equipment can be carried and launched out the stern. The SEALION also can be transported inside a C-17 aircraft. SEALION is based on an earlier prototype, the Alligator, which has been transferred to Israel, according to one report.

The Navy developed two as demonstrators, SEALION 1 and SEALION 2, and SOCOM was able to turn them into operational craft, Dolloff said. “One is forward deployed at any given time, … focused on national-level missions.”

The first two SEALIONs entered service with SOCOM in 2014.

“It’s a great craft,” Russell said. “Low numbers [in service], but it can do things that other craft can’t.”

A third SEALION is being built at Vigor. In June 2017, the company was awarded a $17 million contract for SEALION 3, which is designed based on the lessons learned from operation of the first two SEALIONs. Delivery is expected in 2021.

“We’re really excited to get SEALION 3 into the force,” Russell said. “That should be in early calendar 2022.”

In March 2019, SOCOM held a capability collaboration event to assess a CCH Mk2, a well-deck-capable, diesel-powered boat capable of crossing the ocean and delivering and extracting SOF and launching and recovering small unmanned surface and underwater vessels. But SOCOM is not actively pursuing that program, Russell said.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan largely in the rearview mirror and a growing emphasis on the Pacific region and littoral operations, the U.S. Marine Corps is committed to returning to its amphibious roots. And that includes a major restructuring of the service itself that involves getting lighter and more agile.

One of the ways the Marines are doing that is by embracing new technology — such as drones small enough to fit in a rucksack. And one of the new unmanned aircraft the service is experimenting with is SkyRaider — a platform that is small in stature but aims to make a big impact and show that an increasing number of missions can be done by smaller and more technologically advanced equipment.

Check out the digital edition of the September Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

The Marines have started to ramp up their procurement of the SkyRaider. Manufacturer FLIR Systems received a $10 million contract for dozens of the drones. SkyRaider has long-range, high-resolution electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging sensors, and it can also be used for delivering external loads, asset extraction and “other specialized missions,” according to a June 30 FLIR Systems statement announcing the contract award.

“The SkyRaider vertical takeoff and landing small unmanned aircraft system [sUAS] was procured to fill a capability gap,” the Marine Corps said in a statement, noting that the need for SkyRaider came out of the Small Unit Remote Scouting System operational requirements document and a series of Urgent Universal Needs Statements.

“The SkyRaider vertical takeoff and landing small unmanned aircraft system [sUAS] was procured to fill a capability gap.”

Marine Corps statement

“The sUAS will be primarily supporting the ground combat element, specifically our infantry and our light armored units by providing improved electro-optic and IR capabilities, along with an ability to carry light payloads within size, weight and payload restrictions,” the statement reads. “As we procure more systems, we plan to expand usage to other units.”

The Marine Corps plans to buy 71 systems in fiscal 2021, 60 in 2022 and 53 in 2023.

More Than Just a Drone With a Camera

David Proulx, vice president of product development for FLIR, told Seapower in an interview that while it may resemble a commercially available drone, this system has capabilities that go far beyond anything available to consumers.

For one thing, it has a robust operating envelope that can handle some of the more extreme environments that the Marines have to deal with, Proulx said.

“The Marines don’t get to just deploy on nice, sunny days at reasonable altitudes,” he said. “We had to build a UAS that can keep pace with their operations, tolerate winds at 50 miles per hour, fly up to 15,000 feet and tolerate precipitation.”

Additionally, the SkyRaider is more than just a drone with a camera, he said.

“Our customers, as their missions evolve from [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] to resupply to providing aerial comms relays, they need something that can adapt to those missions,” Proulx said. “We not only offer a range of payloads, but different operating envelopes.”

He said the UAS is designed to operate without constant input from an operator or even an active GPS signal. It can be autonomously launched and recovered on moving platforms.

SkyRaider is brand new — FLIR launched the drone at a conference just two years ago, and the UAS was in development for three years before that.

FLIR has been working on enhancements to the platform. For example, the company recently expanded its payload from 4.4 to 7 pounds.

“That may not sound like a lot from a manned aviation perspective, but for a small drone that can fit in a rucksack, it’s important,” Proulx said. “In terms of the cameras and optics it can carry, we’re now talking about payloads where previously you would need a Group 2 or 3 UAS.”

FLIR recently expanded SkyRaider’s payload from 4.4 to 7 pounds. “That may not sound like a lot from a manned aviation perspective, but for a small drone that can fit in a rucksack, it’s important.”

David Proulx, FLIR vice president of product development

FLIR is also looking to make the UAS usable from the deck of a ship, primarily for use in littoral environments as opposed to the open sea. The SkyRaider could help a ship’s crew get closer to a target or see around obstacles. It also can operate as a communications relay that provides over-the-horizon connectivity, essentially acting as a communications node in the sky.

Jonathan Wong, a policy researcher at Rand Corp., said the Marine Corps has been getting more creative in its use of small UAS.

Small UAS are “a relatively new technology that they know has broad military utility, but they’re not sure how,” Wong said. “They could have taken a traditional acquisition route of exhaustively figuring out what they need and then procuring that solution at scale. Instead, they bought a wide range of platforms in relatively small quantities, gave them to Marines, and said, ‘Here, figure out what you can do with this.'”

The Marines have experimented with these UAS, hanging radios from them to serve as retransmission nodes or even using them to support light armored recon missions, Wong said.

“That iterative approach is evident in the force redesign efforts that [Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger] is pursuing,” Wong said. “He calls out sUAS specifically, because the Marine Corps is convinced that they can be a force multiplier, especially for disaggregated or distributed units. However, the Marine Corps also sees that the threat environment demands that sUAS be more lethal and more robust and autonomous in terms of being able to operate in a communications-degraded environment.”

He added that SkyRaider appears to be a step in that direction. While the drone is not lethal, it can do things that previous platforms in its size and weight category could not do.

“It can carry a payload. It can operate autonomously,” he said. “The current contract that the Marine Corps has signed with FLIR isn’t huge — it calls for dozens, not thousands, of systems. But it strongly indicates that the Marine Corps is continuing to iterate in this technology space.”

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, victimized this spring by a COVID-19 outbreak, is back home in San Diego and seemingly healthy. U.S. Marines, no longer using their T-shirts as face masks, are rotating back to Australia but with strict disease-prevention measures in place. U.S. Navy ships and crews have resumed annual exercises with allies and partner nations — but at sea only, with no contact on shore. A “new normal” has settled into place. No one knows just how long this will last.

In the seven months since the novel coronavirus surfaced in China and spread to Europe, the U.S. sea services appear to have fought the contagion to a stand-still. Even as case numbers spike throughout the homeland, especially in the Sun Belt, they appear to be static in the military, at least among uniformed personnel.

Check out the digital edition of the July-August Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

While the virus has sickened 3 million stateside and killed about 132,000, the Navy has reported more than 4,300 cases — many of those on two ships, the Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Kidd. One Sailor has died. The U.S. Marine Corps reported another 1,600 infections among uniformed personnel, though an outbreak occurred among dozens of Marines at two bases on Okinawa.

Commanders, meanwhile, are strategizing how to operate in all this and keep the numbers down while demanding focus as always on the mission at hand.

CNO Cautions Against Returning to the ‘Old Normal’

In a June 30 message to the fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday stressed “the importance of remaining vigilant” in the Navy’s long-term battle against COVID-19.

“Each of us will be faced with temptations to cut corners and return to the ‘old normal.’ Do not do it. Together, we will rigorously maintain health protection measures to protect our Navy family and assure mission success even when it may appear the [American public] may be relaxing them,” he added.

Some measures put in place during the initial response to the pandemic this spring may last longer. Case in point: any event that requires a large gathering.

The sea services came up with virtual alternatives to graduation ceremonies of new Marines, Sailors and Coast Guard grads. The U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, was the latest institution to join the trend on June 24. Instead of parading in dress uniforms on historic Dewey Field, the 427 students who earned diplomas gathered virtually to hear recorded speakers.

Interviews with prospective recruits and Fleet Week events around the country are being conducted online. Mandated measures governing training and operations include expanded testing of personnel, isolating crews before and after they go to sea, stringent and frequent cleaning of work and living space, social distancing of at least 6 feet — when possible —and wearing face coverings when it is not. Masks will be a regular part of Navy, Marine and Coast Guard attire for the foreseeable future.

Returning to Normal Operations, but Still Vigilant

A sign that the sea services are emerging from a 24/7 emergency mindset came from Navy Reserve Force, which issued new guidance in June for Reservists to resume regular weekend onsite drills beginning in mid-July, pending evaluation of local conditions and guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Navy also began resuming exercises around the world, including BALTOPS 20, a multinational, maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea with 19 NATO and partner nations; U.S. Navy and Georgian Forces conducting maneuvering exercises in the Black Sea; and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducting a maritime training exercise with Italian and French ships and aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, aircraft carrier strike groups have continued to deploy in the Pacific and Atlantic as well as the Mediterranean and the Arctic.

“Each of us will be faced with temptations to cut corners and return to the ‘old normal.’ Do not do it.”

CNO Adm. Mike Gilday, in a June 30 message to the fleet

Despite the constraints imposed by the global health crisis, the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard did not stop patrolling the eastern Pacific and Caribbean during U.S. Southern Command’s fight against transnational narcotics trafficking. As one example, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Preble, with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board, recovered 100 bales of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of $40 million, according to Coast Guard sources. Many more drug and migrant interdictions — both as part of the Navy-USCG partnership and by the Coast Guard alone — still are taking place routinely.

Virus Prevention Procedures Begin at Boot Camp

Strict adherence to those COVID-19 preventive guidelines is responsible for the continued flow of Navy and Marine Corps recruits into boot camp, according to the commanders of the services’ basic training commands.
Both the Navy and Marines have implemented 14-day restrictions of movement, where incoming recruits are quarantined off-site when they arrive at the Marine Corps Recruit Depots at San Diego and Parris Island, South Carolina, and at Navy Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, Illinois. After 14 days the recruits are tested for COVID-19. If they test negative, they can start basic training. If they pop positive results, they isolate in a single room for monitoring and more testing.

Quarantining recruits in off-base facilities — like The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for the Marines or hotels outside Chicago for the Navy — is costly, and both services are looking for long-term alternatives.

More than 8,100 new Sailors have been sent to the fleet during the pandemic, and 6,700 recruits are currently going through Great Lakes, Rear Adm. Milton J. Sands, commander of Naval Service Training Command, told media during a July 7 teleconference. He added that the Navy was on track to meet its goal of 40,800 new Sailors in the current fiscal year.

Speaking at the same briefing, Maj. Gen. William F. Mullen, commander of Marine Training and Education Command, said the number of recruits per company have been reduced at San Diego and Parris Island because of special distancing requirements.

That and some weeks left open without scheduled shipments of new recruits in case unforeseen COVID-19 problems back up the pipeline are expected to cut into the Corps’ goal of 38,000 new Marines this fiscal year. The traditional 10-day leave new Marines used to get after boot camp graduation has been canceled to keep them in the protective bubble before starting their follow-on training, Mullen said.

Concern for the Sub Fleet Leads to Innovative Measures

Norfolk, Virginia-based Submarine Squadron 6 (SUBRON 6) developed a COVID-19 plan that set the standard for Atlantic attack sub deployment with total assurance that crew are free of infection.

SUBRON 6 Commodore Capt. Jeffrey Juergens called the effort to man, train and equip his fleet of 15 attack subs homeported or undergoing maintenance at Norfolk in a COVID-free bubble “wholly unprecedented” in his Navy career. “Our medical and operations departments put together a testing regime, made sure they had the most up-to-date guidance, and knew what to do in case we had someone test positive,” Juergens said.

He credited Senior Chief Electronics Technician (Submarine) Joshua Sisk with much of the plan’s heavy lifting, like managing repairs and parts delivery on the pier without crew interaction.

“We’re now getting lots of phone calls from our counterparts to share lessons learned. Until further notice, this will be the new norm,” Sisk said.

Guam, Other Bases Become Safe Havens

Naval Base Guam is among the facilities designated safe-haven ports for Navy ships and subs. The base is equipped to resupply vessels pierside while protecting ships and service members. In this bubble, Sailors can enjoy mental and physical relaxation while their vessel is serviced. Also, on Guam, visiting crew members have access to a secured beach. Other safe-haven ports include Okinawa, Japan, and Naval Station Rota, Spain.

The safe-haven port concept grew out of the lessons learned from the ordeal of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the first naval warship hit with an outbreak at sea. More than 1,100 crew members tested positive while the aircraft carrier was sidelined on Guam for more than two months as it was clean and sanitized from bow to stern and sick crew treated.

Thanks to procedures put in place on Guam, the carrier put to sea in June to resume its deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations and returned safely to homeport in San Diego on July 9.