ARLINGTON, Va. — As the first new U.S. Navy frigate works its way through detailed and functional design phases, officials still plan an April start for building the lead ship of the Constellation class.

“Right now, as far as construction, we’re targeting that date,” Capt. Kevin Smith, the frigate program manager told a briefing at the Surface Navy Association annual symposium. However, “there could be some risk to that [during the detailed design phase] but we’re looking hard at that,” he said, adding, “the one thing that we want to make sure of is, that we don’t start building a ship where the design is not mature.”

After the design phases are completed, a critical design review and a production readiness review are slated to follow in fiscal 2022. Only “then, when we’re ready” will construction begin on what will become the USS Constellation guided missile frigate (FFG 62), Smith told the Jan. 11 briefing.

The Navy began the acquisition process for a new multi-mission frigate FFG(X) in 2017, awarding a $795 million detailed design and construction contract in April 2020 to Marinette Marine, a Fincantieri company based in Marinette, Wisconsin. Marinette based its design on the Fincantieri FREMM frigate, which is in service with the French and Italian navies.

Among the capital improvements Fincantieri is making at Marinette to accommodate the first frigate’s construction is a syncrolift platform to move the 496-foot hull from dry land into the water. Unlike the littoral combat ships Marinette is building in Wisconsin, the Constellation will be too big for a side launch down a slipway. Frigate construction will be in Marinette’s Building 34, the new hull erection building, which Smith predicted would be a game changer. Big enough to accommodate two full-size frigate hulls and one-third of another, it will allow work to continue indoors during  Wisconsin winters. The frigate will  be “probably close to near completion before they float it off,” and move on to integration of the propulsion plant and combat systems, Smith said.

The frigate will have a combination diesel electric and gas turbine propulsion system, which will be tried and assessed at a Land Based Engineering Test Site being built near the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Philadelphia. Testing on land will feature a full configuration of the frigate’s power plant so “we’re not learning at the waterfront where it’s a little more expensive” to fix problems, Smith said.

The Constellation will also have a beam of 64.6 feet, a draft of 18 feet and a fully loaded displacement of 7,300 tons. “The only thing aluminum on this ship is the mast. Everything else is steel,” Smith said.

The layout is very similar to the FREMM frigate, although to meet U.S. Navy standards for reliability, survivability, maintainability, habitability and lethality, Fincantieri designers “had to lengthen the hull a bit” before submitting their proposal, Smith said. The only changes the Navy made after awarding the contract were to include “buy America” provisions mandated by Congress, he said.

HONOLULU — The crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Juniper (WLB 201) and Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) will aim to extend the Coast Guard’s at-sea enforcement presence in the region through a 40-day patrol, the Coast Guard 14th District said Jan. 19.  

“Aiga,” the Samoan word for family, is designed to integrate Coast Guard capabilities and operations with Pacific Island Country partners to protect shared national interests, combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and strengthen maritime governance in Oceania.   

“Responsible fisheries management is vital to the Pacific’s well-being, prosperity, and security,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Conway, the 14th District’s current operations officer. “The Coast Guard is an adaptable, responsive military force of maritime professionals whose broad legal authorities, capable assets, and expansive partnerships provide a persistent presence throughout our exclusive economic zones and on the high seas.” 

IUU fishing operates outside the rules adopted at the national and international level. It threatens the ocean’s ecosystem, food security, and economic growth around the world by undercutting law-abiding fishermen and communities that depend on fish and fish products. 

“An essential protein source for more than 40% of the world’s population, fish stocks are critical to maritime sovereignty and resource security of many nations,” said Cmdr. Christopher Jasnoch, the Juniper’s commanding officer.  

As part of Operation Blue Pacific 2022, the crews of the Juniper and Joseph Gerczak will conduct information sharing activities to advance the U.S.’s bilateral and cultural relationships with Melanesia and Polynesia. 

The Coast Guard regularly exercises bilateral shiprider agreements with partner nations. These agreements help to host foreign law enforcement personnel to better exercise their authority, close any global maritime law enforcement gaps, and improve cooperation, coordination, and interoperability.  

Operation Blue Pacific is an overarching multi-mission Coast Guard endeavor seeking to promote maritime security, safety, sovereignty and economic prosperity in Oceania while also strengthening relationships with our partners in the region.  

“To ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, the U.S. remains committed to strengthening regional alliances and enhancing emerging partnerships,” said Lt. Joseph Blinsky, Joseph Gerczak’s commanding officer. “Leading global deterrence efforts, the Coast Guard likewise remains committed to combating IUU fishing and our crews look forward to collaborating with PICs to better address this growing national security concern.”   

WASHINGTON — The secretary of the Navy stressed forward presence and engagement with U.S. allies and partners as advantageous in pacing the threat of China and Russia in the maritime domain.  

Allies and partners “are our huge advantage,” said Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, speaking Jan. 18 at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington. The Chinese and Russians don’t have that.” 

Det Toro noted the integrated defense strategy as an all-of-government approach to execution of foreign policy, “using all of the capabilities that the United States has,” plus those of allies and partners.   

The U.S. Navy in recent years has increased its presence and patrols in the South China Sea and the Black Sea, both areas of international tension. Del Toro noted the current presence of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group in the Mediterranean Sea — normally absent of a CSG in recent years — and the presence of the USS Carl Vinson CSG in the South China Sea as examples of the flexibility of naval forces and their presence that potential adversaries have to take into account.  

“You’ve got to be present,” Del Toro said. 

The SECNAV, himself a former destroyer skipper, stressed the importance of building relationships with allies and partner nations. He also praised the initiatives of Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday and Marine Corps Commandant David Berger to “rethink strategy” and make U.S. naval forces more expeditionary, with the ability to move distributed forces more quickly to an area of operations. He cited the Marine littoral regiments being formed as an example of mobility and ability to operate within the Pacific island chain closest to China. 

MANAMA, Bahrain — U.S. and international forces operating under U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces have seized record amounts of illicit cargo during maritime interdictions in 2021, the forces said Jan. 18. 

Led by Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the maritime organizations conducted more seizures in 2021 after increasing patrols in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea. 
 
CMF seized illegal drugs worth more than $193 million (at regional wholesale prices) during counter-narcotics operations at sea in 2021. This is a higher total value than the drugs CMF interdicted in the previous four years combined. 
 
CMF is the world’s largest multinational naval partnership and includes 34 nations. It is headquartered in Bahrain with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet. 
 
U.S. 5th Fleet warships seized approximately 8,700 illicit weapons in 2021, including 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles confiscated from a stateless fishing vessel in the North Arabian Sea, Dec. 20. 
 
The stateless vessel was assessed to have originated in Iran and transited international waters along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to the Houthis in Yemen. The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates U.N. Security Council Resolutions and U.S. sanctions. 
 
Guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers from a stateless vessel transiting the North Arabian Sea in May. 
 
In February, guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) seized a cache of weapons off the coast of Somalia, including thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, light machine guns, heavy sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and crew-served weapons. The inventory also included barrels, stocks, optical scopes and weapon systems. 
 
Since mid-July, U.S. and international maritime forces under CMF have conducted more than 50 boardings of vessels suspected of smuggling illicit cargo in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, resulting in 14 narcotics seizures and the Dec. 20 weapons seizure. 
 
“We have enhanced our presence and vigilance across regional waters,” said Cooper. “This reflects our continued commitment to confront destabilizing activities that disrupt the rules-based international order which underlies maritime security in the Middle East.” 
 
U.S. and international naval forces regularly conduct maritime security and counter-terrorism operations across the region to disrupt criminal and terrorist organizations and their related illicit activities, including the movement of personnel, weapons, narcotics and charcoal. These efforts help ensure legitimate commercial shipping transits the region free from non-state threats. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The long-planned forward deployment of littoral combat ships to the Persian Gulf is approaching execution, with the anticipated first deployment of an LCS to the U.S. 5th Fleet, the fleet commander said.  

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S 5th Fleet; commander, Naval Forces U.S. Central Command; and commander, Maritime Forces, speaking in a moderated discussion sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said the fleet expects to welcome its first LCS in 2022. The ship will be a Freedom-class LCS. 

Cooper said planning is underway to receive and support the ship. 

“We’re in a much better position today than we were last year” to receive the LCS, he said. “I’m very familiar with all of the nuances from my last job at SurfLant [Naval Surface Force, Atlantic]. 

The LCS is slated to replace the Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships and Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships in the 5^th Fleet. 

Cooper said there is “no comparison between a PC and what an LCS will bring,” noting the littoral combat ship’s aviation component with MH-60 helicopters and Fire Scout unmanned helicopters, more kinetic strike capability and greater range and endurance.  

“The Navy, over a period of time, has bought the logistics and sustainment component of this that is already prepositioned at Bahrain,” he said.  

The LCS would be the latest ship modernization of the U.S. naval forces in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility. The Coast Guard’s Patrol Force Southwest Asia has received two Sentinel-class fast response cutters — with two more en route and two more planned — to replace the six Island-class patrol cutters.  

An expeditionary sea base ship — the USS Lewis B. Puller — is serving as a platform for mine countermeasures and naval special warfare forces. Cooper said the ship is operating in the North Arabian Sea in addition to the Persian Gulf. 

In addition, the newly organized Task Force 59 is experimenting with unmanned vessels, including persistent surveillance of the Gulf of Aqaba with Saildrone unmanned surface vessels. Cooper said the 23-foot-long Saildrones have been operated in the area for more than 30 days.  

Task Force 59 also has integrated and evaluated Mantas T-12 and T-38 unmanned surface vessels in the region. 

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. — The Pacific Target Marine Operations, a division of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Threat/Target Systems Department, recently deployed small drones over Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, to provide cost-effective unmanned aerial system familiarization and threat training. 

“The Low-Speed Aerial Target- Small [LSAT-S] program developed a cost-effective target training and deployment program that directly represents the UAS threat the fleet faces daily,” said Pete Pena, PTMO program lead. “UAS are classified by their size, range, and speed, and are broken into five groups based on those attributes. We’re flying group 1 drones which are considered to be the greatest threat to military forces across the globe due to their unique range of capabilities as well as their relatively low cost and small size.” 
 
In 2021, speaking at a U.S. Senate committee, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, referred to the proliferation of small drones as the “most concerning tactical development” since the emergence of improvised explosive devices. 
 
Groups 1-3 can range from over-the-counter handheld drones to medium sized drones with sensors and the capacity to deliver weaponized payloads. However, the main threat that comes from groups 1-3 is intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. These drones can be difficult to detect and destroy due to their low flying altitude and small size. 
 
“Point Mugu is a no drone zone,” said Fire Controlman 1st Class Petty Officer Michael Jordan, assigned to NBVC. “It is difficult to obtain authorization to operate drones in this controlled airspace, even for military units. So, this demonstration provided a rare opportunity for watch standers to experience live drone flights and provide identification, which is the first step in countering threats.” 
 
In 2019, Ellen Lord, the former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, established a waiver system to authorize drone operations on military ranges in highly controlled conditions, to test the U.S. military’s counter-UAS capabilities. 
 
Civilian and military operators had a chance to fly multiple different scenarios onboard Point Mugu, Pena added. Each test presented a range of conditions, spanning from the direction a UAS was flying to a variance in flight patterns, altitudes, airspeeds, and representative threats. 
 
“This demo is a force multiplier which allows us to offer more frequent and robust counter-UAS presentations to the fleet and installation commanders,” said Cmdr. Todd “Jazz Hands” Faurot, LSAT-S pilot. “This increases our defenses during peacetime and also providing for a war time surge capability.” 
 
The first step in countering the rising threat from UAS is target acquisition and identification. The proliferation of UAS, especially group 1-3, the downsizing of the technology, and its decreasing costs of production will make threat detection difficult. 
 
“Our demonstrations provide the fleet with important UAS familiarization and training to face this increasing airborne threat,” added Pena. 
 
NBVC is comprised of three distinct operational facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island. It is Ventura County’s largest employer and protects Southern California’s largest coastal wetlands through its award-winning environmental program. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps’ role in distributed maritime operations will require technology that can identify underwater threats as well as dangers posed by surface vessels and long range aircraft and missiles, a top commander says.

Speaking Jan. 13 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Lt. Gen. Karsten S. Heckl, head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, explained the Marines’ evolving expeditionary warfare role in the Navy strategy for dealing with potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept envisions littoral operations by specialized  mobile, low signature units within larger distributed maritime operations areas. New Marine Littoral Regiments “uniquely designed to maneuver and persist inside a contested maritime environment,” will have a primary mission “to conduct sea control and denial operations as part of a larger naval expeditionary force,” Heckl said. Equipped with rockets, missiles and other long range fires, as well as surface and amphibious craft to increase their mobility, EABO units will control access to choke points while limiting an adversary’s ability to target them.

But “if you’re telling me that we’re going to occupy and control — sea control, sea denial — critical maritime slots, that means probably more critical than anything, the undersea domain,” Heckl said.

Drawing on his experience as a former commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, Heckl said, “there are things that exist today to sense underwater. Not expensive, persistent, in fact for the price of probably one P-8 I could sense the majority of the first island chain.”

The subsurface is very important, Heckl said. “We are continuing efforts on that in conjunction with [Marine Corps commandant’s] force design.” A “kill web” of Navy and Marine Corps sea-based and land-based sensors and shooters that gives “a fleet commander the capability to sense a critical slot or a critical piece of maritime terrain, and not have to use a capital asset is pretty significant.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — A senior Navy program executive said that the service is moving toward integration of combat systems across the fleet to achieve commonality of sensors and weapons and the benefits derived from fielding common and scalable systems. 

Bob Shevock, executive director of Program Executive Office – Integrated Warfare Systems, speaking Jan. 13 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, used the Raytheon-built SPY-6 radar as an example of commonality and scalability across numerous ship classes that would yield benefits in cost and sustainment. 

The SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar, being installed on the Flight III of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, is also scalable into the three versions of the SPY-6 Enterprise Air Search Radar which will be installed in various configurations on most aircraft carriers plus amphibious assault ships, amphibious transport dock ships and guided-missile frigates, as well as some Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, replacing a number of legacy radars. 

Another example cited by Shevock is the SM-6 Standard missile, which is a refined development of a surface-to-air missile into a more versatile tactical missile with anti-ship capabilities and “a multitude of missions,” Shevock said. 

He also cited the SLQ-32 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, the RIM-62 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile “being integrated across a multitude of different platforms.”   

He listed common technology, common parts, similar interfaces and similar training as benefits of the commonality.

Overarching Combat System 

Development and proliferation of an integrated combat system is another part of the Navy’s strategy, with the ultimate goal, he said, of an overarching combat system across the fleet, with the first step being an integrated combat system across platforms. 

The beginning of that first step, Shevock said, would be the merging of the Aegis Combat System — the combat system built by Lockheed Martin and installed on cruisers, destroyers and soon the future Constellation-class frigates — with the Surface Ship Defense System, the combat system built by Northrop Grumman and installed on many aircraft carriers and amphibious warfare ships.  

“That really give us the leverage when we have those common combat systems to scale up to where we really have an overarching integrated combat system across the fleet and across the battle group,” he said. 

Shevock reminded the audience of the original five cornerstones of Aegis: reaction time, power, availability, coverage and environmental immunity. 

“After 40 years, it’s about time to add another cornerstone, and that’s agility,” he said. “We know we’re going to very quickly identify, assess and develop and deliver improvements to our Integrated Combat System to respond to the changing threat characteristics at performance, speed and scale. This ICS is going to enable us to achieve that cornerstone.” 

Shevock’s program executive office has established a new program office, IWSX, responsible for planning and implementing the ICS.   

ARLINGTON, Va. — A senior Navy shipbuilding executive said some weaknesses in the ship construction and repair enterprise is hampered nationally by a shrinking supplier base and a lack of skilled workers.  

“Material availability is a challenge,” said Matt Sermon, executive director of the Program Executive Office – Strategic Submarines, speaking Jan. 13 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington. 

A former nuclear-trained surface warfare officer, Sermon said for new construction of ships, schedule and quality of material is an issue, calling material among the top issues driving schedules affecting ship repair availabilities and new construction progress.  

Sermon said the end of the Cold War and the resulting so-called “peace dividend” in the early 1990s through the current era meant the number of suppliers for the submarine industrial base declined from 17,000 to 5,000, with submarine construction at a rate of less than one per year. He noted an analogous decline for surface ship construction, with the slow rate of destroyer construction and the completion of cruiser and frigate construction programs.  

Globalization of industrial production also reduced the capacity of the U.S. industrial base, he said. Unlike two build-ups in response to large demand in the past, the current great power competition with the rise of China and Russia is trying to respond in the face of significant loss of commercial industrial base available to turn to defense production. 

Regarding the strategic competition, Sermon said, “we weren’t on the front end of it and we’re dealing with that now.” 

His list of fragile market sectors includes castings, forgings, fittings, valves, mechanical and electrical equipment. 

Sermon also said, “we’re a little slow to adapt on technology when it comes to manufacturing,” including additive manufacturing, robotics and automation and non-destructive testing technology. 

He also said some requirements need “some updating and some rethinking, and some innovation,” but the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence is helping address delays and shortages 

Sermon stressed the United States no longer has the “high-skilled technical-trade workforce underlying foundation,” a condition he attributed to the service economy and the emphasis on a college education for young people.  

Throughout the shipbuilding and repair sectors there is a pressing need for more workers with the right skills, including welders, fitters, machinists, and electricians, he said, although industry partnering with technical training schools to train new workers is helping the situation. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A senior Navy admiral said the U.S. Navy takes seriously the increasingly lethal submarine forces of Russia and China but that the U.S. Navy is increasingly able to counter that threat. 

“Make no mistake about it: submarines are lethal,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander U.S. Fleet Forces Command, speaking Jan. 12 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington. “They are really, really good at what they do — China and Russia. They are quite motivated. … It is a major threat vector for us.” 

Caudle said he is happy to report that the Russian and Chinese submarine threat is taken seriously. 

“I don’t think any time in my history have I ever seen undersea warfare taken as a team sport more so than in this current stage,” he said. “It is practiced, it is command and controlled properly now, it is through a spectrum. It is not uncommon that our surface forces are holding contact on enemy submarines for a majority that we hold contact. The cueing and the ability to vector in MPRA [maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft] to gain contact has probably never been better than it is now. 

“So, this full-spectrum approach that has been going on I quite healthy,” Caudle said, noting that it is easy for a ship to worry about weapon-engagement zones “and the next thing you know there’s going to be two torpedoes there that you didn’t predict. 

“So, we need to be very wide-eyed about that threat,” he said. “I think we are, and I think we’re going the right way, and that’s being well-practiced.” 

Caudle also noted the “Holy Grail” of undersea warfare since the development of nuclear-powered submarines which could stay submerged for long periods has been effective command and control of the submarines. 

“We’ve grown over time to be very mission-command oriented,” he said. “But you’ve still got to communicate because you’ve got to mass the effects at the right place and the right time.” 

He said communicating with submarines at depth and speed is a full-spectrum effort with systems on board surface ships, MPRA, submarines, fixed systems and with partners and allies. 

“Essentially, we’re getting the oceans and areas of interest wired to communicate with submarines,” he said, noting the systems allow the brevity needed to assure communications security so submarines can avoid coming to periscope depth to communicate.