ALAMEDA,
Calif. — Crews aboard the pre-commissioned Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL
757) seized more than 2,100 pounds of cocaine worth approximately $64 million
from a low-profile go-fast vessel interdicted in international waters of the
Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in an Aug. 7 release.

On July 25
a U.S. Navy MH-60R Seahawk aircrew embarked aboard the USS Michael Murphy (DDG
112) sighted a low-profile go-fast vessel. As the helicopter approached, a
hatch opened on the top of the vessel and three passengers were seen
jettisoning objects.

The
Michael Murphy remained with the suspected smuggling vessel until the Midgett
arrived on scene to conduct a law enforcement boarding. Midgett’s boarding team
seized approximately 2,100 pounds of cocaine from the interdiction and
apprehended three suspected smugglers.

“Even
though the cutter is still in a pre-commission status, this interdiction
showcases how ready our crew is and how capable the national security cutters
are,” said Capt. Alan McCabe, Midgett’s commanding officer. “It also
demonstrates the importance of our partnership with the U.S. Navy, whose
contributions are vital in stemming the flow of drugs into the United States.”

Nearly 80%
of all known illegal narcotics coming into North America are smuggled by
international cartels through the Eastern Pacific corridor.  As these cartels become more advanced in
their methods at sea, the Coast Guard is recapitalizing its fleet with modern
assets equipped to detect, interdict and disrupt the growing flow of illegal
drugs, weapons and people in the Eastern Pacific.

Midgett,
the Coast Guard’s eighth national security cutter, was accepted by the Coast Guard
in April. The cutter passed through the Panama Canal in July and is sailing to
Midgett’s future homeport in Honolulu, where it will be commissioned Aug. 24,
along with its sister-ship, the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756).

While
national security cutters like the Midgett possess advanced operational
capabilities, more than 70% of the Coast Guard’s offshore presence is the
service’s aging fleet of medium-endurance cutters, many of which are over 50
years old and approaching the end of their service life.

Replacing
the fleet with new offshore patrol cutters is one of the Coast Guard’s top
priorities.

The
offshore patrol cutter will provide a critical capability bridge between
national security cutters like the Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755), which
offloaded 39,000 pounds of cocaine last month, and fast-response cutters like
the Robert Ward, which recently seized more than 3,000 pounds of the cocaine in
the first cocaine seizure made by a fast-response cutter in the Eastern
Pacific.

LOCKPORT, La.
— Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Angela
McShan, the 35th fast-response cutter (FRC) to the U.S. Coast Guard, the
company said in an Aug 2 release. The Coast Guard took delivery on Aug. 1 in
Key West, Florida.

“We are very
pleased to announce the latest FRC delivery, the USCGC Angela McShan,” said Ben
Bordelon, Bollinger president and CEO. “Previous cutters have been stationed
around the nation including Alaska and Hawaii. The Angela McShan, the third of
three fast-response cutters to be home-ported in Cape May, New Jersey, will
join the cutters Rollin Fitch and Lawrence Lawson. The vessel’s commissioning
is scheduled for October 2019 in Cape May.

“FRCs already
in commission have protected our country by seizing multiple tons of narcotics,
interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved hundreds of lives,” Bordelon
said. “The FRC program is a model program for government acquisition and has
surpassed all historical quality benchmarks for vessels of this type and
complexity. The results are the delivery of truly extraordinary Coast Guard
cutters that will serve our nation for decades to come. We are extremely proud
that the delivery of the FRC-35 marks the 175th patrol boat built by Bollinger
Shipyards. This includes the USCG Island class, USCG Marine Protector class,
USN Cyclone class and USCG Sentinel Class fast-response cutters.”

The 154-foot
Sentinel-class fast-response cutter has a flank speed of 28 knots; state-of-the-art
command, control, communications and computer technology; and a stern launch
system for the vessel’s 26-foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an
operational “game-changer” by senior Coast Guard officials. Recently, the Coast
Guard deployed the FRC 1124 Oliver Berry from Hawaii across the Pacific to the
Republic of the Marshall Islands. The 4,400 nautical mile trip marked the
furthest deployment of an FRC to date. This trip showcases the hugely expanded
operational reach and capability that the FRC provides.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard hero Master Chief Petty Officer Angela McShan. MCPO McShan was a pioneer for women and African Americans. She was the first African American woman to be promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer. She served over two decades with great devotion and is remembered as an exemplary leader and professional. She inspired the many she trained, and has been described as a positive, kind and motivational person. MCPO McShan was a stellar performer, mentor teacher and inspirational leader. The Master Chief Angela M. McShan Inspirational Leadership Award was established in her memory.

The U.S. military training engagements with less-developed
militaries, such as the ongoing African Partnership Station mission in the Gulf
of Guinea, are also a learning experience for the American personnel because it
can expose them to the level of military technology they could encounter in
counter-insurgency missions, a senior Navy officer said.

“We are blessed with the resources we have. But we do
understand that a lot of these nations … are still developing those
capabilities,” Capt. Frank Okata, commander Task Force 63 in the U.S. Navy
Europe-Africa Command, said Aug. 7. “We do feel it is important that we
demonstrate and train at their level.”

“It also helps us, too. It helps our [civilian] mariners,
our Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines with greater mental agility and
flexibility when we deploy to an unanticipated place, because we’ve been
exposed, over the length of our careers, been exposed to the very high-end
machinery of warfare to the very low end,” Okata said in a telephone briefing
from Naples.

“As we see in the continuing instability in the world that gravitates
to the lower end of warfare, …

it is important that we also know how to operate at the
level of our partners,” he said.

Okata was briefing a few reporters in the Pentagon on the
current partnership engagement mission of the USNS Carson City to half a dozen
nations along the Gulf of Guinea. The expeditionary fast transport ship with a
civilian master and crew was reinforced by a military detachment of U.S. Sailors,
a Coast Guard law enforcement team, medical and religious personnel, plus
Portuguese, Spanish and Italian sailors.

“This kind of engagement is instrumental in improving
maritime security along the African coast line, territorial seas and exclusive
economic zones, so that our African partners can be successful and prosperous,
securing their waterways and maintaining surveillance,” Okata said.

Cmdr. Tyrone Bruce, commander of the military detachment on
Carson City, said the Sailors have repaired small boats, conducted routine
maintenance and “worked side by side with our partners, sharing best practices,
tactics, techniques and procedures.” And, Bruce said, “we’ve learned
ourselves.” They also had a medical detachment that provided a variety of medical
care and training, several chaplains who interacted with local religious
leaders and an eight-piece band that performed at every stop.

Asked if the partnership mission was an effort to counter the extensive activities in Africa by China, Okata said, “We are keenly aware that the People’s Republic of China is also trying to make in-roads in West Africa,” including “some significant investments in infrastructure construction that could be used for different purposes than what we are trying to do. With Carson City, we are trying to share skill sets, to help these countries so they can surveil their economic zones.”

“We’re not there to build infrastructure, not there to build an enduring presence,” he added.

KEY WEST,
Fla. — The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Billings (LCS 15), the eighth
Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, here Aug. 3. This milestone places the
ship, built by the Lockheed Martin-led team, into active service.

“Billings
was designed to operate and adapt to a rapidly changing environment,” Joe
DePietro, vice president of small combatants and ship systems at Lockheed
Martin, said in a company release. “She is equipped and ready for today’s
threats and easily modifiable to meet the threats we may not even be aware of
yet. Our team is confident Billings will be what the Navy needs when the fleet
needs it.”

The LCS is
designed to complete close-to-shore missions. The ship is capable of speeds in
excess of 40 knots. It is also standard-equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles
(RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220 rounds per minute, and 40
percent of the hull of an LCS is reconfigurable, integrating capabilities like Longbow
Hellfire Missiles, 30 mm guns and manned and unmanned vehicles.

“Having
now commanded two freedom-class LCS variants, I would like to report that these
ships are truly impressive and will fit well in the niche they have been
designed for,” said LCS 15’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Nathan Rowan. “They are
fast, maneuverable, and their weapon systems are some of the most accurate I’ve
witnessed on any platform of which I’ve previously served.”

There are
seven ships in various stages of production and test at Fincantieri Marinette
Marine in Wisconsin, where the Freedom-variant LCS is built. The next
Freedom-variant in the class is LCS 17, the future USS Indianapolis, which was
delivered in late July.

“On behalf of the proud
2,000 men and women who transform flat steel into a fast, agile surface
combatant,” said Jan Allman, chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marinette
Marine, “we are honored to support the U.S. Navy, and we congratulate the
outstanding crew of the USS Billings.”

The latest in a series of advanced naval technology exercises
(ANTX) provided a lot of new ideas on how to improve maneuverability,
communications, logistics and force protection in the highly contested
environments expected in a future fight against a peer competitor, a trio of
top Navy Department officials said Aug. 1.

But the most exciting thing about the recent ANTX was the
demonstration of how the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps are working together to
meet the challenges of a great power confrontation, James Geurts, the assistant
Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, said at a Pentagon
briefing. It was a way “to kind of close the distance between ideas, wherever
they came from” and, by using some of the new acquisition authorities, to get
new technologies out into the field quicker.

Geurts said they have about a 12- to 18-month window to move
technologies through the acquisition process and into the hands of Sailors and
Marines, instead of a “20-year development program.” By bringing together the
requirements and acquisition officials with the operators, “we tend to find a
bunch of new ideas that we didn’t think of when we didn’t get all those
together,” he said.

The briefing focused mainly on the ANTX held July 9-19 at
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in which Geurts said 53 new
technologies were presented by 32 organizations, from large corporations to a
company with three people, and were tested in the field. Some of those
technologies could be moved into the acquisition process, while others would be
cited for additional development.

Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, the deputy commander of Marine Corps Combat
Development Command, said: “When we start looking at what that future fight
might look like and the things we will need to enable it, this has become a
really great way to start ferreting out some of those technologies that will
enable our Sailors and Marines to do that.” Wise mentioned technologies,
including unmanned air, land, surface and undersea systems, that could help
with force protection and logistics at comparatively low cost.

Michael Stewart, the deputy director of integrated warfare,
said by using the ANTX process, “we’re trying to increase the decision speed …
trying to leap frog [the normal acquisition process] and do it fast.” It was
“all about being a smart buyer.”

Wise said he was excited about some of the concepts for allowing communications for small, distributed Marine units when the current methods are disrupted, including systems that were small enough to fit on a light off-road vehicle, and using unmanned systems to provide fuel and ammunition to expeditionary air fields.

Geurts said a key factor in the ANTX process was, “we don’t call this a test, it’s an experiment. It’s OK to fail.” That is part of the new push for rapid innovation, which requires an environment “where it’s safe to fail.”

NEWPORT NEWS,
Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has
received a $290 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue
planning for the refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS
John C. Stennis, the company announced Aug. 1.

The contract
funds the second and third years of planning, long-lead-time material
procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections and facilities readiness
for the overhaul. As part of the planning contract, Newport News also will
perform some shipboard work, which will take place in Norfolk. The initial year
of planning was funded at a base value of $187.5 million.

“The second
and third year of planning is important to the overall success of a project of
the magnitude of [the overhaul],” said Chris Miner, Newport News’ vice
president of in-service aircraft carriers.

“This
contract allows us to continue our critical planning for each step of the
process so we’re ready to begin execution when the ship arrives in the first
quarter of 2021.”

Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a major life-cycle overhaul at Newport News, representing 35% of all maintenance and modernization completed during its service life.

The overhaul, a RCOH, is an extremely complex engineering and construction project that involves more than 680 suppliers from 40 states providing material and services critical to the overhaul process.

Once completed, a recapitalized carrier can support current and future warfare doctrine and continuing to operate as the centerpiece of the Navy’s fleet and national defense for another 25 years.

PACIFIC
OCEAN — The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy aided
the U.S. Coast Guard in the interdiction of a drug-smuggling craft, the U.S.
4th Fleet said in a release.

While
conducting routine operations in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, an
MH-60R Sea Hawk, assigned to the “Easyriders” of Helicopter Maritime
Strike Squadron 37, embarked aboard the Michael Murphy, sighted a low-profile
vessel on July 25.

As the
helicopter approached the craft, a hatch opened on the top of the vessel and
three passengers were seen jettisoning objects from the boat. Assisted by
vectoring from helicopter, Michael Murphy’s interceptor boat collected the
jettisoned items and approached alongside the low-profile vessel.

Michael
Murphy was able to communicate with the vessel, informing them to remain in sight,
and remained alongside the suspicious vessel until Coast Guard Cutter Midgett arrived.

The Coast Guard boarding team determined the jettisoned material was cocaine. About 2,100 pounds of the drug — some that was jettisoned and retrieved by Michael Murphy’s crew and some found aboard by the Coast Guard — was seized. The Coast Guard took the three suspected smugglers into custody.

“From our air detachment and interceptor boat team to the men and women aboard the ship, everything came together to conduct the identification, interception and approach,” said Cmdr. Christopher Forch, commanding officer aboard USS Michael Murphy. “The handoff to USCGC Midgett was smooth and successful — a true team effort by two agencies.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy will commission its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Billings (LCS 15), during an Aug. 3 ceremony in Key West, Florida, the Navy’s information office said in a release.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, ranking member of
the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, will deliver the commissioning
ceremony’s principal address. Tester’s wife, Sharla, is the ship’s sponsor. The
ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when she gives
the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”

“The future USS Billings and her crew
will play an important role in the defense of our nation and maritime freedom,”
said Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, who is also performing the duties of deputy
secretary of defense. “She stands as proof of what teamwork — from civilian to
contractor to military — can accomplish. This fast, agile platform will deliver
her motto, ‘Big Sky Over Troubled Waters’ worldwide thanks to their efforts.”

The ship is named in honor of Billings,
the largest city in Montana, as well as the people and military veterans of the
state. The future USS Billings will be the first ship of its name in naval
service.

Montana has a heritage of naval
service, with 30 ships named over the years in honor of state places and
people, including the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Helena (SSN
725) and the Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Montana (SSN 794), which
is under construction. The state of Montana also has one of the highest per
capita populations of veterans, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration.

The future USS Billings is a platform
designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean
operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats
such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be
homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom-variant team is led by Lockheed Martin of Marinette, Wisconsin (the odd-numbered hulls) while the Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA of Mobile, Alabama (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The ceremony, using hashtag #USSBillings, can be viewed here on the Navy live blog starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 3.

WASHINGTON —
The newest nominee for chief of naval operations listed his top three
technology priorities to the Senate Armed Services Committee during his July 31
confirmation hearing, with artificial intelligence coming in as No. 1.

“On the top
of the list I would put artificial intelligence,” Vice Adm. Michael M. Gilday said
in response to a question from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

MORE FROM THE CNO NOMINEE: Gilday says weapons elevator problems aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford are a “Navy failure.”

“I think that
that there are capabilities resident in industry that we can harness to our
advantage. What I am particularly interested in is how we use data in a more
innovative way to give us a quicker flash to bang, from decision-making to
action. There is a lot of information at our fingertips every single day; it’s
getting the right information to the right people at the right time so you can
make the right decisions faster than your opponent.”

“I think
there is great promise there,” Gilday added. “We are doing some experimenting
now that I’m very excited about.”

Gilday said
that hypersonics — his second technology priority — “is a must that we have to
get after quickly. Industry is our best partner as we work through this.”

His third
technology priority is unmanned systems.

“That is the future,” he said. “We have to look more deeply at how we would operate with unmanned vessels, whether they are on the sea, or under the sea, or in the air.”

Gilday said he “would take a look at wargaming, concept development and with experimentation. We’ve almost doubled the number of exercises we’re doing in the next year from 97 to 171. We’re going to look at these new technologies. If they’re going to fail, they can fail fast. If it’s something we want to invest in, then we put heat on it and field it quickly.”

ASTORIA, Ore.
— The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-632) returned home July 30
following a 56-day counternarcotic patrol to the eastern Pacific Ocean, the
Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

The crew
interdicted five suspected smuggling vessels, including three pangas, a fishing
vessel and a sailboat, and the crew recovered floating bales of contraband
yielding more than 23,000 pounds of cocaine.

The Steadfast
crew offloaded more than 26,000 pounds of seized cocaine in San Diego on July
26, which was a result of the cutter’s five interdictions, bale recovery and an
interdiction case by the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward (WPC-1130).

The cocaine,
worth an estimated $350 million, was seized by the crews while the cutters were
patrolling international waters off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South
America from late June to mid-July.

“This was
26,000 pounds of cocaine that will not make it to the main streets of the USA,
and it also gives us the opportunity to make sure we can continue to combat
transnational criminal organizations who transport this cocaine deep in the
Pacific every single day,” said Rear Adm. Peter Gautier, the 11th Coast Guard
District’s commander. “Because we know that with a supply chain of illegal
narcotics, at every single step there’s violence, instability and despair.”

Steadfast’s
seizure of more than 23,000 pounds of cocaine marks the largest amount of
cocaine seized by crews aboard a 210-foot Reliance-class medium-endurance
cutter during a single counternarcotic deployment in Coast Guard history.

Many of the
medium-endurance cutters in service today are more than 50 years old. The Coast
Guard’s medium-endurance cutters represent 70% of the service’s counter-drug
interdiction fleet. These cutters are approaching the end of their service life.
Replacing this aging fleet with the offshore patrol cutter is one of the Coast
Guard’s top priorities. Even though medium-endurance cutters are still highly
effective, as shown by the narcotics interdictions, the ships can be difficult
and expensive to maintain and operate.

As these
cartels become more advanced in their methods at sea, the Coast Guard is
recapitalizing the fleet with modern assets equipped to detect, interdict and
disrupt the growing flow of illegal drugs, weapons and people in the eastern
Pacific.

The offshore patrol cutter will provide a critical capability bridge between national security cutters like the Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL-755), which offloaded 39,000 pounds of cocaine earlier this month, and fast response cutters like the Robert Ward, which seized more than 3,000 pounds of the cocaine offloaded July 26. The Robert Ward’s interdiction was the first cocaine seizure made by a fast response cutter in the Eastern Pacific.

“There are few closer relationships than those among the members of a ship’s crew performing a dangerous, important mission,” said Cmdr. Dan Ursino, the Steadfast’s commanding officer. “Steadfast’s crew has worked as a remarkable, dedicated team with a strong common goal — protecting their nation from the deadly, destructive effects of illegal drugs.”