ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants (PEO USC) has set an ambitious plan to push development of the systems in his portfolio on the eve of fiscal 2021. 

Rear Adm. Casey Moton, speaking Sept. 30 at a Special Topics Breakfast webinar sponsored by the Navy League of the United States, said his PEO is excited to be overseeing the introduction of five new classes of warships over the next few years: the FFG(X) New Guided-Missile Frigate, the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LSV), Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV), Orca Extra-Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) and Snakehead Large-Diameter Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LDUUV). 

Moton set six major program priorities of advancing current systems and introducing new systems. 

Continue steady execution of littoral combat ship (LCS) building. This includes starting construction of the last two LCSs, laying keels for three LCSs, launching and christening of three ships, and commissioning four ships. Five additional ships will transition from post-delivery phase into sustainment.   

“I will continue to expect improvement in cost and schedule,” he said. 

Field the LCS Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Mission Package. The variable-depth sonar (VDS) had been deployed on an LCS in 2020 and is in testing, which is expected to be completed on the Freedom-variant LCS, allowing achievement of initial operational capability in 2021 and the beginning of testing on the Independence-variant LCS. 

“The [VDS] is detecting and tracking submarines now, and its critical offensive ASW capability will be ready to field on LCS, ” Moton said. “Our work on this resolution is critical because FFG(X) will operate this same VDS as part of its multi-mission capability.”  

Complete Operational Test on Mine-Countermeasures (MCM) Systems and demonstrate them together on the LCS. Individual systems are being tested operationally first before the full package. The Airborne Mine Neutralization System and the Airborne Laser Mine-Detection System are fielded in the fleet. The Block 1 Knifefish UUV, the Unmanned Influence Sweep System and the Mine-Hunting USV will be tested in 2021. These ASW Mission Package systems also can be deployed on other vessels of opportunity. 

“The package-level test is important as a demonstration of the system-level test that we’re doing now on and off LCS where we show that we can find and kill mines reliably,” he said. “FY ’20 was a big year, but FY ’21 is a critical year for us.” 

To prove LCS reliability and maintainability. Moton the four production LCSs that deployed in fiscal 2020 “have been successful and accomplishing their missions in support of our fleets and combatant commands, but the reliability must improve. … Our focus in reliability is in key ship systems such as propulsion and controls, deck and handling systems and radars.” 

Moton said a cross-functional LCS Strike Team has been formed to us a metrics-based approach “focused on availability drivers to generate and execute action plans … and on maintainability. … We want to ensure the Navy has the ability to better organically support the ships, including improvements in Navy ability to troubleshoot, to source spare parts and to perform appropriate levels of maintenance ourselves.” 

Complete frigate detail design and prepare for production. “Fincantieri is well in progress on material procurement and they are executing their staffing plans. … Our team is preparing to conduct a thorough baseline review with the prime contractor to ensure we have a good baseline to track cost and schedule,” Moton said. 

Execute our unmanned systems prototyping and acquisition plans. “In the USV arena we are executing a robust prototyping plan using our sea-based prototypes in combination with land-based development and testing,” he said. “By the end of FY ’21, we will have four USV prototypes on the West Coast — two Overlord and two Sea Hunter-types.”   

Moton said the two current Overlord USVs will be moved to the West Coast “and execute a busy year of testing which includes autonomous [increasing longer] transits and development vignettes.” 

The Overlord USVs “will go through a full year of testing and experimentation, including government-furnished  C4I payloads; combat system payloads; hull, mechanical and electrical upgrades, and with more complex autonomous behaviors.”   

Moton said that testing with the Sea Hunter “has been and will be critical. Out FY ’21 plans include the use of Sea Hunter in multiple fleet exercises, tactical training events.”    

He said the Sea Hunter and Overlord USVs will be used to exercise manned ship control over multiple USVs, test command and control, perform as part of surface action groups, and train Navy Sailors on these platforms.”  

He also said the “Aegis Combat System is being adapted to make LUSV and MUSV part of our netted fleet.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II strike fighter collided with a Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules tanker/transport aircraft over Southern California on Sept. 29, resulting in the loss of the F-35B and a crash landing of the KC-130J.  

“At approximately 1600 [local time] it was reported that an F-35B made contact with a KC-130J during an air-to-air refueling evolution, resulting in the crash of the F-35B,” the Marine Corps said in a release. “The pilot of the F-35B ejected successfully and is currently being treated. The KC-130J is on deck in the vicinity of Thermal Airport. All crew members of the KC-130J have been reported safe.” 

A photo of the KC-130J published in the Palm Springs Desert News showed the KC-130J largely intact, having made a gear-up landing in a field in a carrot field in Thermal, California. The photo showed that the two starboard engines and external fuel tank had been heavily damaged. The F-35B crashed near Salton City, California. 

The KC-130J was assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler/Transport Squadron 352, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. The squadron of the F-35B was not announced.  

The F-35B crash is the second for the Marine Corps. An F-35B assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort crashed in 2018.  The Corps lost its first KC-130J in December 2018 in a mid-air collision during an aerial refueling with a Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet strike fighter off Japan. 

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A contract to recycle an out-of-service U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser has been awarded to International Shipbreaking Limited LLC., one of the world’s largest green ship recycling companies, MarineLink reported on Sept. 29.

The USS Ticonderoga (CG 47), decommissioned in 2004, concluded its final voyage last week to the Port of Brownsville, Texas, where full dismantling will commence with 98% of all removed materials being recycled. The recycling work, which requires complete demilitarization of the entire ship, is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Ticonderoga was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and delivered to the Navy on Dec. 13, 1982. The warship was the lead vessel of the Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers and was the fifth ship in U.S. Navy history to bear the name.

The ship provided naval gunfire support off the coast of Lebanon on its maiden voyage in 1984. In 1986, it served as the lead ship crossing the “Line of Death” off the coast of Libya and removed surface-to-air missile batteries that had launched a SA-5 missile against an F-14 from USS America (CV 66). It was assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Battle Group and participated in: Operation Desert Shield in 1990, Operation Southern Watch (the enforcement of the no-fly zone over Iraq) and Operation Deny Flight, (the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over Bosnia) in 1995. From 2001 to 2004, Ticonderoga participated in security and counter-narcotics operations out of homeport Pascagoula. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she got underway the next day at 8 a.m. to support Operation Noble Eagle (protecting airspace along the Gulf Coast).

“We take great pride in having been awarded the Defense Logistics Agency contract to recycle this historic vessel,” said Chris Green, senior manager at International Shipbreaking Ltd. “The USS Ticonderoga has significant sentimental meaning to the men and women who served our country and spent a part of their lives with her. She will be recycled in a safe, respectful and environmentally responsible manner.”

International Shipbreaking Ltd., part of EMR Metal Recycling, has three specialist facilities located in Brownsville, Texas; New Orleans and Amelia, Louisiana. These specialized facilities have recycled more than 400 ships and marine structures including USS Tripoli (LPH 10), USS Constellation (CV 64), USS Ranger (CV 61) and USS Independence (CV 62). The USS Cape Florida (AK 5071) currently is being recycled.

SAN DIEGO – Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper visited components of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) 1 at Naval Base Point Loma, California, Sept. 17, to learn how Navy EOD is building a more lethal, agile and resilient force by augmenting human expertise and decision-making with autonomous unmanned systems (UMS) capabilities for the fleet and Joint Force.

While meeting with Esper, EODGRU-1 Commodore Capt. Oscar Rojas described how Navy EOD is an integral member of the UMS triad, which is composed of the surface, subsurface and expeditionary (EOD and Naval Special Warfare) communities.

The UMS triad enables strategic effects by leveraging cutting-edge technologies to pair real-time, relevant information with immediate tactical options to deter adversaries in the maritime environment.

“We are enhancing our human-machine teaming efforts to more efficiently illuminate and eliminate or neutralize surface and undersea threats,” said Rojas. “Our UMS systems development efforts are at the front of autonomous capabilities to recognize, analyze, communicate and take appropriate response to various threats. This could involve neutralizing the threat, alerting a human operator or networking with other UMS systems, all to offer commanders the most advantageous results at a specific time and place.”

Rojas also described how the Navy EOD Expeditionary Mine Countermeasure (ExMCM) companies help maintain freedom of navigation in denied waterways, in war and in daily competition. Created to help address the long-standing challenge of clearing naval minefields and explosive threats, ExMCM companies are used by operational commanders to maintain the military advantage before and after a threat is placed in the water. Expanded and enhanced commander’s awareness and layered options result from advancing the use of the unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and remotely operated vehicles (ROV) embedded within the ExMCM company. Each company has 30 Sailors, tailorable to teams as small as two based on mission requirements.

“Our ExMCM companies are essential to supporting fleet and Joint Force objectives, across all environments. They are not constrained to a specific craft, allowing them to deploy from air, land and sea to neutralize surface and subsurface threats,” said Rojas.

Lt. Nick Stoner briefed Esper on current and next-generation technologies in UUVs and ROVs, much of which Navy EOD is already using in operations.

“It was an honor to talk with Secretary Esper about how we are advancing artificial intelligence and human-machine teaming in our operations today,” said Stoner, an EOD officer with EODGRU-1 who works on Navy EOD maritime and underwater capability development. “We are developing, implementing and rapidly adapting the vanguard of available technology for small and medium UUVs and ROVs to enhance our capability as a force and support the National Defense Strategy.

“A cornerstone of our success has been close relationships with our engineering teams. There is constant, two-way feedback between them and the users in the field, which allows for ongoing system updates and modifications to increase capabilities,” said Stoner. “It has been, and continues to be, a team effort.”

Developing future technology for Navy EOD also involves innovative acquisitions strategies, said Rojas. This includes collaborating with the Navy’s Expeditionary Program Office and DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit to capture current operational challenges and streamline the procurement process to rapidly address them.

“This allows Navy EOD to accelerate the adoption of emergent commercial technology so we can pace, and outperform, adversary threats to the fleet and Joint Force that threaten sea control and power projection,” Rojas said.

The EOD operators in the field also play a critical role in refining Navy EOD technologies and systems, said Rojas.

“Our Sailors use these tools daily and understand the challenges. We empower them to give the design-to-employment team direct feedback to rapidly find solutions to any issues that might arise,” Rojas said, adding that personnel conduct an in-depth, post-deployment analyses with Navy EOD leadership, as well as program management and engineering teams. This touch point drives down the time it takes to get new technology to the force and ensures prioritization of the most urgent fleet-driven requirements.

Operating from Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, EODGRU-1 oversees the manning training and equipping of EOD Mobile Units 1, 3, 5 and 11; Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1; EOD Expeditionary Support Unit 1; and EOD Training and Evaluation Unit 1. EODGRU-1 is also capable of deploying as a battalion level staff to command task forces in theater.

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics has partnered with shipbuilder Metal Shark Boats, of Jeanerette, Louisiana, to supply the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)’s Research and Development Center (RDC) with a new Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel for the purposes of testing and evaluating the capabilities of available autonomous vessel technology, Sea Machines announced in a Sept. 29 release. The 29-foot, welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse vessel comes equipped with the Sea Machines SM300 autonomous-command and remote-helm control technology, offering the USCG capabilities including transit autonomy, collaborative autonomy, collision avoidance and remote vessel monitoring.

The RDC helps transition innovative technologies and provides premier analysis and decision support to enhance operational performance across all Coast Guard missions. During demonstrations scheduled for October off the coast of Hawaii, the RDC team will test and evaluate the Sharktech vessel’s autonomous capabilities for their potential in supporting USCG surveillance, interdiction, patrol and other missions. Following the Hawaii demonstrations, the autonomous vessel will be returned to the RDC’s New London facility, where it will be used in additional testing to investigate application to various Coast Guard missions.

“As the premier USCG facility performing research, development, test and evaluation in support of the service’s major missions, the RDC team is eager to observe Sea Machines’ system in action,” said USCG’s Derek Meier, assistant demonstration director. “The exercises will ultimately help us determine how, when and if this innovative technology can be used to support personnel who are executing a variety of Coast Guard activities.”

“Sea Machines is proud to actively support government agencies across a variety of projects and to expand that support to the Department of Homeland Security with this important demonstration being conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Sea Machines’ Phil Bourque, director of sales. “Our systems are being rapidly adopted by government and commercial operators alike, offering increases in on-water productivity and predictability, while reducing operational risk.”

“Since the launch of our Sharktech Autonomous Vessels division in 2018 we have been working to position Metal Shark for the autonomy revolution,” said Chris Allard, Metal Shark’s chief executive officer. “We are committed to the advancement of autonomous technology, through our relationships with leading autonomy suppliers as well as through our own R&D, and we are engaged with multiple customers, from the USCG, the Department of Defense and commercial operators. With this latest delivery, Metal Shark is proud to play a role in the Coast Guard’s autonomous technology R&D efforts.”

In 2019, Sea Machines partnered with Metal Shark to make available the Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel to commercial markets, under Metal Shark’s stock boat program. Most recently, in July, Sea Machines partnered with Huntington Ingalls Industries to accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies in the rising market of unmanned naval boats and ships.

ARLINGTON, Va. — In the future, a commission in the U.S. Space Force may be a possibility for a few new graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). 

“USNA graduates select commissions into the Navy or Marine Corps,” said Cmdr. Alana Garas, a Naval Academy spokeswoman, in a statement to Seapower.  “All midshipmen are eligible to request interservice commissions into other services. This is separate from the service assignment process.  We expect future graduates of USNA to be able to request commissions in the U.S. Space Force, although it remains unclear if the Department of the Air Force will accept any Space Force interservice commission requests from the class of 2021.” 
 
Garas said there are no quotas for any service regarding interservice commissions, “although there is a ceiling of 3% of the graduating class which can be accepted.” 

She said the “U.S. Air Force Academy will serve as the primary commissioning service academy for the U.S. Space Force (both Department of the Air Force) in the same manner as the U.S. Naval Academy is the primary commissioning service academy for the U.S. Marine Corps (both Department of the Navy).” 
 
USNA graduates have long been eligible to request commissions in the U.S. Air Force. 

“USNA graduates will continue to be able to request interservice commissions into the U.S. Air Force,” Garas said.  “The last U.S. Air Force commission from USNA was one graduate in the class of 2020.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will commission the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) during a 10 a.m. EDT ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Port Canaveral, Florida, the Defense Department said in a Sept. 25 release. 

Due to public health and safety concerns related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the commissioning is a private event, rather than the traditional public commissioning ceremony. 

The ceremony’s principal speaker is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russel L. Smith. 

“Commissioning a ship after the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy is an honor without equal. The Navy has always been and will always be indelibly influenced by the leadership of our senior enlisted sailors epitomized by Delbert Black,” said Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite. “They are the ones who teach both our junior enlisted as well as our junior officers what it means to lead. They lay the keel by which the Navy operates and as such this ship named for one of the most influential master chiefs ever to wear three stars will be a visible reminder of their importance to our Navy. As MCPON, Master Chief Black fought for increased sea-pay, family support programs, expanded uniform guidance and a host of other issues that improved the quality of life of not only junior enlisted, but all sailors and officers. By making life better for sailors, he made our Navy stronger for us all. This ship will undoubtedly continue on his great legacy of service above self.” 

USS Delbert D. Black is named for the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, the highest possible enlisted rank and the enlisted representative to the Chief of Naval Operations. Established by the Navy in 1967, Black oversaw the establishment of the senior enlisted advisor position, which eventually became known as Command Master Chief. Black was the first Navy enlisted man to receive the Distinguished Service Medal. Upon retirement from active duty, Black continued his involvement with the Navy through retired and active duty organizations. He still serves as an enduring example for the Chief’s Mess, with his service, character and performance demonstrating the highest ideals of a Navy chief petty officer in the world’s finest Navy. 

Mrs. Ima Black, MCPON Delbert D. Black’s widow and a former Sailor, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. Mrs. Black served during World War II in the Navy WAVES – Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. During the time-honored ceremony, Mrs. Black will give the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life.” 

Built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Delbert D. Black is the 68th Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to be delivered to the Navy and the first to bear his name. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet. These highly capable, multi-mission ships conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence to national security. 

Following commissioning, USS Delbert D. Black will be homeported in Mayport, Florida, with sister ships USS The Sullivans (DDG 68), USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Farragut (DDG 99), USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) and USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117). 

The event will be livestreamed to offer maximum viewing by the general public at https://allhands.navy.mil/Live-Stream. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The challenge a peer competitor like China poses in a future conflict across the Indo-Pacific region bears striking similarities to the war between the United States and Japan in the same battlespace more than 75 years ago, say two top Marine Corps planners.

Japan in 1941 was a near-peer adversary of the United States, with advanced technology, expansionist policies and a bullying attitude toward neighboring countries, says Major Gen. Gregg Olson, director of the Marine Corps Staff.  While the foes and times have changed “the concepts and realities of war in the vast distances that occur in the Pacific remain the same,” he added.

Like the Marines who landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942, today’s Marines will face the same sweeping distances, vulnerable supply lines, contested air, sea – and now cyber – space limitations, across a battlespace of scattered, remote islands of steaming jungle or barren volcanic rock. “That’s the framework for the next conflict,” Olson told the virtual Modern Day Marine Exposition Sept. 23.

Victory on Guadalcanal and the rest of the Pacific came “at the cost of capital ships and thousands of lives,” Olson noted. Another speaker at the conference, Major Gen. Paul Rock, director of Marine Corps  Strategies and Plans, said high casualties could be likely again. “Attrition is going to be a factor in a future fight,” Rock said.

While that may prove true, the Marines are not resigned to taking the same heavy casualties they suffered in the Pacific island-hopping campaign of World War II, Gen. David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps, insisted a day later.

Others in and out of uniform have expressed concerns about casualty rates in an Asia-Pacific conflict given, China’s anti-access/aerial denial weapons platforms. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown told Military Times recently that war with a peer adversary could see “combat attrition rates and risks — that are more akin to the World War II era than the uncontested environment to which we have become accustomed.” Even Berger’s Force Design changes to meet the expected challenges of 2030, concedes there is no avoiding attrition. “In contingency operations against peer adversaries, we will lose aircraft, ships, ground tactical vehicles, and personnel,” it states, adding that force resilience – to absorb loss and continue to operate decisively – is critical.  

“No, we’re not resigned to high casualties, but we should not think that in a Great Power competition it’s going to be clean,” Berger said in livestreamed interview with Defense One on Sept. 24. Without mentioning China or Russia, Berger said neither side was “looking for a strength-on-strength fight, at all. We’re not looking for a fight, period.” Instead, Great Power adversaries will be using technology and other assets to target each other’s weaknesses to exploit them. Although there will be casualties “if it comes to a scrap,” he added.

The force in the Pacific will be distributed, Berger said, not to avoid creating an easy target for a knock-out blow – a tactical concern — but operationally, to be able to observe adversaries from every direction in every domain. That Berger said, also makes it very difficult for an adversary to focus their strengths.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The commandant of the Marine Corps said the Corps needs the Navy to broaden its family of amphibious warfare ships to create a more distributed, survivable force to operate in a future high-intensity conflict with a peer competitor.

Gen. David H. Berger, Sept. 24 speaking during an online interview by Defense One, said the three types of large amphibious warfare ships currently in the Navy’s fleet — the amphibious assault ship (LHA/LHD), amphibious transport dock ship (LPD), and dock landing ship (LSD) — “have done great for us in the way that we needed to operate so far. But that’s not the only way we’re going to need to operate going forward.”

Berger said that “those three families of pretty expensive, high-end ships are not enough. We need a more diverse family of ships in order to compete every day, in order to be ready for a crisis or conflict, hence the light amphibious warship [LAW].”

Berger is in the midst of redesigning the force structure of the Marine Corps with his Force Design 2030 plan to meet the challenges of future potential conflict with powers such as China.

“We know we need something that’s smaller, that doesn’t have as much draft, that can move us around from ship to shore or shore to shore over great distances, but is affordable,” the commandant said. “Whatever that turns out to be, it will broaden the portfolio and give us more tools. I need to give commanders the means, the mobility to move in a distributed operating environment. The [LAW], what ever that turns out to be, is part of that.

Berger noted that, “so far, within the Navy, within the Department of Defense, every single wargame for the past five months has borne that out. If you don’t have that, they’re going to know how you are moving around and you’re easier to target. We’ve got to make it hard [for the enemy to target].”

The general said commanders “have to distribute the force first of all to give the adversary a lot of looks from a lot of different directions in every single domain. You make it very difficult for them to focus their strengths.”

Berger also pointed out that medical facilities will need to be brought more forward in a high-intensity conflict to care for casualties. He also said protection of logistics and of command and control, which long have been taken for granted in the wars that the United States has fought over several decades, can no longer be taken for granted.

QUANTICO, Va. — A Marine Corps vehicle designed to transport International Standards Organization containers to supply Fleet Marines just reached a key acquisition milestone. 
 
The Rough Terrain Container Handler moves 20-to-40-foot ISO containers and shelters on rough terrain, beaches and other surfaces to assist with land and amphibious missions. The machine can lift and transport objects weighing more than 50,000 pounds. 
 
In September 2020, an upgraded version of the material handler reached full-rate production. 
 
“The Rough Terrain Container Handler resupplies Marines during battle,” said Matt Wilson, project officer for the RTCH program at Marine Corps Systems Command. “It’s a big, monster machine that you’d have to see in operation to really appreciate.” 
 
RTCH operates worldwide on rough surfaces, including sandy terrain, and is capable of ordnance ammunition handling operations. The vehicle can be quickly configured for transport by road, rail and marine landing craft, or by air in C-5 or C-17 cargo aircraft. 
 
The vehicle is commonly used during amphibious landings, where engineer equipment operators can employ the RTCH to offload containers, stage them on the beach and push cargo and supplies out to Marines as needed. The machine can also travel through shallow waters and transport ISO containers onto floating bridges called causeways. 

The Marine Corps began fielding the RTCH in 2006. While the vehicle has served Marines well, MCSC is always looking for ways to improve their technologies and maintain a competitive advantage over adversaries. 
 
“We communicated with Fleet Marines to determine what they wanted to see improve within the Rough Terrain Container Handler,” Wilson said. “We also looked at what the manufacturer could improve on the system.” 
 
After assessing this input, MCSC decided to upgrade the RTCH through the Service Life Extension Program as opposed to field an entirely new vehicle. The RTCH SLEP gives the RTCH at least another 10 years of operation, said Wilson. 
 
The SLEP also saves the Corps time. Instead of beginning at the start of the process — Milestone Decision Authority — the program began at the Milestone C stage, just prior to the production and deployment phase. 
 
“This has been a very streamlined process,” said Jarrett. “Instead of testing every part of this RTCH, which has already been done before, we only had to focus on the specific modifications to ensure those still met the requirements of the legacy vehicle and what we wanted to do with our SLEP program.” 
 
Since MCSC awarded the RTCH SLEP contract in January 2020, both the Army and Navy have joined the Marine Corps’ SLEP to acquire additional machines. 
 
“The Army and Navy are now involved in the program,” said Wilson. “When the Marines, Navy and Army seek the same materiel solution for the RTCH, it benefits all in Acquisitions, Provisioning and sets the Marine, Sailor and Soldier up for success.”