ARLINGON, Va.— A senior Navy admiral defended the 2022 budget proposal to decommission seven guided-missile cruisers (CGs) and noted their missile cells numerically could be replaced by those on the future Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV).  

The Navy is proposing to retire seven Ticonderoga-class CGs during fiscal 2022, including two — USS Hue City and USS Anzio — which were not previously planned for retirement. The material condition of the cruisers’ hull and mechanical systems has attracted considerable concern while the cost of keeping the cruisers in service has risen.  

Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, testified June 17 before the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. He recounted that when he was a carrier strike group commander in 2017, his air-and missile-defense ship, USS Lake Champlain, missed one third of its deployment because of maintenance issues such as tank-top cracking. He also cited USS Vela Gulf, which missed a month of its previous deployment and 2.5 months of its current deployment. 

“All of that in my mind has to go into the mix when we factor the availability and reliability of those ships,” Kilby said. “Those missile tubes will only count if they’re underway alongside the carrier.” 

“The seven cruisers alone have more missile capacity than the entire British fleet,” said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, the ranking member of the subcommittee, in his opening statement. “We’ve already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on ensuring these cruisers are returned to the fleet. Yet now we find that we’re going to retire them. While this administration is fiddling, the administration indicates they cannot afford a second destroyer [in the 2022 budget], a critical platform to deter maritime conflict. While we’re retiring other surface combatants, we’re saying we’re going to exacerbate that by now not building an additional destroyer.”  

The seven cruisers deploy a total of 910 missile cells. The Navy plans to use LUSVs as missile arsenals, with each carrying 64 cells, Kilby said. A total of 14 LUSVs would be required to match the missile load of the seven cruisers.  

“I don’t want to dismiss the value of 122 missile cells [on a CG] or an Aegis cruiser,” Kilby said. “[The] average age of our cruisers in 32 years. They were built for 30 years. Four of four [CGs] are over 34 years. So, I’m really trying to look at the most valuable ship that we can fund, the most valuable program within our budget, to make our force equal across all functions — air, surface and subsurface — to align to the threats as we see them.” 

Kilby said retaining the seven CGs would cost roughly $5 billion across the Future Years Defense Plan. Retaining the ships for two years would cost more than $2.87 billion. He said the cost to modernize Hue City and Anzio alone would cost approximately $1.5 billion. 

Extending the service lives of the cruisers “is costing more than we thought it would be,” he said. “Initially it was $2.4 billion, but we’re adding a lot of money to do that.”  

Kilby said the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) will replace the CGs as platforms for the strike group’s air- and missile-defense commanders and will be commanded by skippers with the rank of captain. The Flight IIA and earlier DDGs are commanded by officers with the rank of commander.  

MBDA has been awarded a contract to equip the Brazilian navy’s new Tamandaré-class frigates with the Sea Ceptor air defense missile system, the company announced June 17.

Sea Ceptor is a smart weapon control system that, together with the fully-active Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM), provides comprehensive self-defense and local area air defense.

This will enable Brazil’s Tamandaré-class frigates to protect themselves, consorts and fixed infrastructure against the full range of threat types at sea or in harbor, and in the most stressing operational scenarios. Sea Ceptor is in operational service with the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates, and has been selected for the new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates.

Brazil joins Chile, New Zealand and Canada in a growing list of international Sea Ceptor users. The CAMM missile has also been delivered to the British Army in the ground-based air defense role.

BERLIN — Boeing signed agreements June 17 with ESG (Elektroniksystem-und Logistik-GmbH) and Lufthansa Technik that outline joint efforts to explore potential areas of collaboration in systems integration, training, support and sustainment work, Boeing said in a release. The signed memorandum of understanding may lead to more definitive agreements should Germany select the P-8A Poseidon as its next maritime surveillance aircraft. 

“Together with ESG and Lufthansa Technik, we will offer indigenous and cost-effective support, training and maintenance solutions that will bring the highest operational availability to the German Navy to fulfill their missions,” said Dr. Michael Haidinger, president of Boeing Germany, Central & Eastern Europe, Benelux & Nordics. “Our partnership with ESG and Lufthansa Technik is another testimony to who we are and how we operate in Germany. We are shaping meaningful and long-term industry partnerships that impact the local economy.” 

Boeing, ESG and Lufthansa Technik have identified opportunities to collaborate in a number of areas and will explore these in more detail, including training and simulation, cyber security, systems integration, certification, environmental compliance, communications systems, electronic attack and electronic protect systems, aircraft and engine sustainment, component support services, predictive maintenance analysis and logistics services. 

“This cooperation agreement underlines once again that we take our responsibility seriously when it comes to ensuring urgently needed capabilities,” said Christoph Otten, CEO of ESG. “As Boeing’s strategic partner for the P-8A Poseidon fleet, we are pleased to be able to make the Bundeswehr a viable offer characterized by effectiveness, efficiency and the reliable delivery of services. As a long-standing partner of the German Bundeswehr and Navy aviators, ESG stands ready with its proven core competencies, solutions, services and products, particularly in the areas of systems integration, aviation certification and secure communication systems.” 

Lufthansa Technik has a long history in technical support of Boeing airplanes around the world. In addition, under Boeing’s Performance-Based Logistics program, Lufthansa Technik also provides hardware support to the Italian fleet of Boeing KC-767A tankers and has facilitated outstanding aircraft availability for the Italian air force. 

“Lufthansa and Lufthansa Technik are partners with Boeing for more than 60 years. The companies know and value each other. This partnership is an excellent starting point for us to provide technical support at the highest level for this new aircraft, should our long-standing customer, the German Bundeswehr, procure P-8A,” said Michael von Puttkamer, Head of Special Aircraft Services, Lufthansa Technik. 

The P-8A Poseidon offers unique multimission aircraft capability and is the only aircraft in service and in production able to meet the full range of maritime challenges faced by European nations. With the P-8A, Germany will be able to leverage full integration and interoperability with NATO nations in the region. Additionally, the P-8A offers significant capability to meet Germany’s collective defense obligations as part of Germany’s NATO membership and commitment to EU defense and security, including the maritime domain. 

Other German companies that already supply components to the P-8A Poseidon include Aljo Aluminium-Bau Jonuscheit GmbH and Nord-Micro GmbH. 

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Metaspectral, a company offering technology that makes it possible to derive real-time insights from AI using ultra-high-resolution, visible-to-infrared (hyperspectral) imagery, was one of a select few companies awarded up to $200,000 as the first funding component of the Department of National Defence’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program for the Better Than Meets the Eye challenge. 

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) were seeking innovative solutions to assist maritime lookouts in detecting, characterizing, and tracking objects of interest to improve the efficiency and safety of maritime operations.  

“The role of the maritime lookout is crucial. They are often the first to observe danger at sea, and the safety of ships depends on them. A lookout must spot and quickly identify navigational hazards or other threats,” said, Migel Tissera, Metaspectral chief technology officer. “But we cannot ignore the fact that after long hours, lookouts may become fatigued and are more likely to be prone to human error. This is further compounded by fog and other weather conditions that can reduce visibility.” 

The Navy will continue to rely on human lookouts but is also seeking innovative solutions to augment and support a lookout’s ability to see, accurately characterize, and track all items of interest within the range of vision, especially in conditions of low visibility. 

“We are designing technology that will use machine learning to enhance the capabilities of marine lookouts. Our technology has the ability to collect and process unprecedented quantities of data from across the electromagnetic spectrum, creating ultra-high-definition images,” added Tissera. “Because we can compress data without losing quality, our technology retains more of the original images than has been previously possible. This will make it easier to spot items of interest in high detail.” 

AI analysis requires high-quality data, the more data that can be efficiently processed, the better the result.  

A prototype by Metaspectral is expected to be ready by the end of the year. 

“Metaspectral is proud to be supporting the important safety and security operations of our brave Canadian armed forces,” added Tissera. “This is just one of many practical real-world uses of our proprietary technology. We’re grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate our talents and abilities in this portion of military research and development.” 

LONDON — Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to make major improvements to modern ships, including decreasing the number of crew required for operations and enabling faster and better-informed decision making in a fast-moving environment, GlobalData, a data analytics company, said in a June 16 release.  

A survey by GlobalData finds that 43% of respondents believe that AI will be integrated in a significant way into naval vessels within the next five years, while 31% think this process will take place within 10 years, and only 25% believe that it will take longer than 10 years.  

According to GlobalData’s report, “AI in Aerospace and Defense,” the development of AI presents long-term cost-cutting potential, as well as providing easy-to-understand analysis based on large datasets. While fully autonomous ships powered by AI may not become the norm within the next 10 years, it is likely that the technology will increasingly be used to aid decision-making in coming years.  

“Advanced navies significantly invest in AI, computer and communication technologies in order to have larger and more capable autonomous vessels,” said William Davies, Aerospace and Defense Associate analyst at GlobalData. “For instance, the U.S. Navy converted two existing commercial fast supply vessels into unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) for its Ghost Fleet Overlord Surface program, which aims to inform and accelerate the Navy’s large and medium USV programs. Furthermore, on June 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded a $44 million contract to Austal USA to carry out the design, procurement, production implementation, and demonstration of autonomous capability in Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel, USNS Apalachicola (T-EPF-13). 

“Outside of the U.S., there have also been significant investments in AI. For instance, the U.K. invested £4m in 2020 for warship AI development projects, which will help warships to process data and provide crews with improved situational awareness,” Davies said. “Moreover, in 2017, China announced its next generation AI development plan, with a goal of becoming the world leader in the technology by 2030, and in 2020 the country unveiled a multi-purpose unmanned surface vessel, as well as reportedly developing AI-enabled submarines.” 

KITTERY, Maine — Portsmouth Naval Shipyard delivered Virginia-class attack submarine USS California (SSN 781) back to the fleet June 15 as the fastest availability of its kind since the Navy adjusted the Virginia-class maintenance cycle, said Bianca Mireles of the shipyard’s public affairs office. 

Virginia-class submarines currently undergo an extended docking selected restricted availability (EDSRA) at the six-year mark. Prior to 2015, the maintenance cycle was just four years. 

Completion of California’s maintenance availability displayed tremendous schedule acceleration following the initial impact of the pandemic, resulting in a record setting delivery. 

California and her crew of 15 officers and more than 115 enlisted personnel arrived at PNS in May 2019. California Project Superintendent Dave Simoneau applauded his team and the ship’s crew for their accomplishment.  

“The workforce at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the crew of California have proven what teamwork, respect, and ownership can accomplish,” said Simoneau. “The success achieved in maintaining the EDSRA schedule is the direct result of these men and women leaning in and owning it every day! They are the reason we are able to win the ‘race to combat readiness’ and return California to the fleet in record time to help protect our nation.” 

Throughout the availability, the team upheld Portsmouth’s legacy of first-time quality. Shipyard Commander Capt. Daniel Ettlich commented on the team’s commitment to excellence. 

“There is immense pride in knowing PNS bought back time for fleet-readiness. It is a monumental accomplishment to return California to the seas, combat-ready and modernized, to support our national security despite the once-in-a-century obstacles brought forth by COVID-19. Our people took ownership to weather the storm and delivered on our commitment to support America’s Navy,” said Ettlich. 

California is the seventh Navy ship, and first submarine, to be named after the Golden State. It is the eighth Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine built to excel in anti-submarine warfare; anti-ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare missions. California was commissioned Oct. 29, 2011. California’s motto is silentium est aureum (silence is golden), which pays tribute to both the submarine force’s motto, the silent service, and California’s state motto, the golden state. 

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is the Navy’s center of excellence for fast attack submarine maintenance, modernization, and repair. The on-time or early completion of submarine maintenance availabilities is critical to maintaining warfighter readiness. As a field activity of NAVSEA, PNS is committed to maximizing fleet readiness by safely delivering first-time quality, on time, and on budget. 

Maritime security stakeholders from foreign governments, federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and port agencies came together in Miami June 9 to strengthen and focus collaboration and cooperation between stakeholders to promote whole-of-government efforts to address maritime security issues. 

Led by the Maritime Domain Awareness Executive Steering Committee (MDA ESC), the Regional Maritime Security Intelligence and Interdiction table-top exercise (TTX) was held as part of the Maritime Security East 2021 conference, held June 8-9. The MDA ESC is led by Rear Adm. Gene Price, director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, who represents the intelligence community in that role.

The goal of the TTX was to build a common understanding of organizations, roles and priorities involved in improving maritime domain awareness

According to Joe Cunningham, the MDA ESC’s executive director, the TTX was designed to achieve several key objectives.

“We want to build a common understanding of organizations, roles, and priorities involved in improving MDA, as well as address potential unintentional barriers to whole-of-government MDA efforts. We’re presenting problems and identifying gaps and barriers, as discussing ways to share information and get around those barriers. We have to coordinate, collaborate and communicate.”

During the scenario, the participants discussed the deployment of various surveillance and response assets, and communicating and sharing intelligence between agencies at all levels.

“By shedding light on these issues, we were able to improve multilateral and regional MDA and response efforts, identify overlapping authorities and improve maritime information and intelligence sharing,” Cunningham said.

“Information is a national asset that requires a responsible balancing act between information sharing and safeguarding,” Cunningham said. “It is critical to interagency governance, coordination and unification efforts across the full spectrum of partners at all levels.”

The MDA ESC is comprised of senior executive-level principals designated by their respective departmental executive agents for MDA from cabinet-level departments (currently State, Commerce, Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security) and the designated maritime representative of the intelligence community. The MDA ESC coordinates MDA policies, strategies, and initiatives.

The MDA ESC provides forums, activities, and venues to engage the global maritime community of interest to promote collaboration and information sharing to enhance MDA.

“We’ve been a partner of the MDA ESC for many years, and a contributor to the important work they do,” said Sareth Neak, the conference’s organizer. “We’re pleased they chose to host this TTX at MARSEC East 2021.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker says he is not planning to scrap the Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM-N) despite a memo that appears to indicate otherwise.

“The program is in our FY22 (fiscal year 2022) budget,” Harker told a House Armed Services Committee hearing June 15. Some Republican lawmakers were outraged after news outlets reported earlier this month that Harker directed the Navy in a June 4 memo to “defund” the sea-launched cruise missile in fiscal 2023.

The memo surfaced after the Pentagon released the fiscal 2022 defense budget but before the start of a Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), a statement by the senior Republicans on the House and Senate armed services committees noted. The NPR is an appraisal of U.S. nuclear policy conducted when a new administration takes office.

The statement, issued by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, called Harker’s move “bewildering and short-sighted. The Biden administration has decided to project weakness ahead of a summit with Vladimir Putin — another gift to our adversaries.”

In the process of determining within the Navy Department which items to put in the 2023 budget request, Harker told the HASC “my initial guidance was based on the fact that the overall posture review and the [updated] National Defense Strategy have not been completed, so I didn’t want anyone to assume that [SLCM-N] would be in until we had further guidance from the Nuclear Posture Review.”

Under questioning by Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, Harker conceded his background and experience was in accounting and finance, not making strategic nuclear weapons decisions. He also said he had not consulted anyone else in the Pentagon, including Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, before writing his memo. Turner accused Harker’s action of undermining “President Biden and the United States” by indicating a nuclear weapon “is going to be unilaterally defunded without any negotiations or without receiving any concessions from Russia.” 

Harker asserted “Sir, it was a preliminary, internal document.” Sounding skeptical of Harker’s claim he was the only decision maker in the matter, Turner asked the acting secretary to deliver to the committee “all communications concerning the deliberations, advice, review, directions and analyses” undertaken to write the memo. Harker said he would.

The HASC chairman, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, has stated his opposition to the low-yield warhead and SLCM-N as being destabilizing to the nuclear balance. During the presidential election campaign, Biden said he wanted to reduce U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s 2022 budget includes funds for a cruise missile that will be new to the Navy but has been in production for the U.S. Air Force.  

The 2022 budget proposes a procurement of 25 AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) cruise missiles. 

“The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER)/AGM-158B will initially deploy on the F/A-18E/F. It will eventually be integrated on F-35C and future Navy strike fighter aircraft,” said Lt. Cmdr. Stephanie Turo, a Navy spokeswoman. 

The Navy’s budget overview book said the JASSM-ER is being procured “to enhance long-range strike and offensive anti-surface warfare (OASuW) capability. In FY 2022 the JASSM program will award the 20th production lot in which the U.S. Navy, along with the U.S Air Force, will procure 25 assets for the first time.” 

The Navy, along with the Air Force, both already operate the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), which is a derivative of the JASSM. The Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter is armed with the LRASM, which also is programmed to be deployed on the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft. In April, the Navy awarded Boeing a contract to integrate the LRASM on the P-8A. 

Both the JASSM-ER and LRASM are built by Lockheed Martin. 

MIAMI — Coast Guard cutter Kathleen Moore and Charles Sexton crews repatriated 59 Cubans to Cuba, June 14 and 15, following four interdictions south of the Florida Keys, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a June 15 release. 

A Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo law enforcement team launched at approximately 3:30 p.m. June 9, after a good Samaritan reported seeing more than 10 people aboard an unseaworthy boat 27 miles south of Long Key. The law enforcement team interdicted 16 Cuban migrants. The migrants were transferred to the cutter and reported in good health. Eleven of the migrants were repatriated June 14 by the Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore crew and five were repatriated June 15 by the Charles Sexton crew. 

A Station Islamorada law enforcement team launched at approximately 1 p.m. June 9, after a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations crew reported an unseaworthy boat heading north from 20 miles east of Key Largo with four people aboard. The law enforcement team interdicted four Cuban migrants and transferred them to the cutter. The migrants were repatriated June 14 by the Kathleen Moore crew and reported in good health. 

A Station Key West law enforcement team launched at approximately 12:30 p.m. June 10, after a good Samaritan reported more than 20 people signaling for help on an unseaworthy boat 40 miles north of Havana, Cuba. The law enforcement team interdicted 29 Cuban migrants and transferred them to the cutter. One migrant was taken to shore for higher medical care and the remaining 28 were repatriated Monday by the Kathleen Moore crew, reporting in good health. 

A Station Miami Beach law enforcement team launched at approximately 10 a.m. June 12, after a good Samaritan reported people aboard an unseaworthy craft 10 miles east of Elliot Key. The law enforcement team interdicted 11 Cuban migrants and transferred them to the cutter reporting in good health. The migrants were repatriated June 15 by the Charles Sexton crew. 

“U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies actively patrol the Straits of Florida. The U.S. Government strongly discourages attempts to illegally enter the United States by taking to the sea,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mario Gil, Coast Guard Liaison, U.S. Embassy Havana. “Taking to the sea on unseaworthy vessels is not only illegal, but highly dangerous, and attempts to transit these unforgiving waters often turn out deadly.” 

Since Oct. 1, 2020, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 465 Cubans compared to: 

5,396 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2016  
1,468 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2017  
259 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2018  
313 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2019  
49 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2020  

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Throughout the interdiction, Coast Guard crew members were equipped with personal protective equipment to minimize potential exposure to any possible case of COVID-19.