BELOIT, Wis. — Fairbanks Morse Defense, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, has acquired Welin Lambie Ltd., a U.K.-based leading designer and manufacturer of davits used specifically for the launch and recovery of all types of craft from ships or shore-based installations. 

The acquisition further expands FMD’s capabilities and service solutions for shipyard, defense, and commercial marine customers, including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Canadian Coast Guard. Additionally, FMD’s acquisition of Welin Lambie enhances its product and service offerings for future uncrewed ship programs, as davits that launch and recover craft and mission packages are expected to be increasingly critical in uncrewed environments. 

“As naval forces around the world upgrade existing vessels and expand their fleets, the demand for local, high-quality aftermarket services is greater than ever before,” said George Whittier, CEO of FMD. “Our acquisition of Welin Lambie brings Fairbanks Morse Defense one step closer to becoming a full-service provider for our core marine customers so we can better support their mission-critical operations. Welin Lambie’s products and services easily align with our service solutions, and we’re excited to have them join the FMD brand.”  

Over many decades, Welin Lambie has established strong relationships with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. Its products are installed on a wide variety of vessels stationed worldwide, including U.S. Navy amphibious vessels, LCS vessels, CVN aircraft carriers, USCG cutters, and frigates for the Royal Saudi Navy currently under construction at Marinette Marine.   

Since 1901, Welin Lambie has been rooted in maritime history, having designed and built integrated davit systems for several world-renowned ships, including the 1912 original “unsinkable” White Star Liner Titanic and for the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. Operating from its facility in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, United Kingdom, Welin Lambie serves customers in the United Kingdom, North America, and worldwide.  

“Welin Lambie has established strong marine defense customer relationships because of our ability to seamlessly adapt to changing regulations and requirements,” said Welin Lambie Managing Director Norman Rose. “These qualities will be an asset to Fairbanks Morse Defense customers as our products and services are integrated into their offerings. We’re looking forward to expanding our presence under the Fairbanks Morse Defense brand.” 

In recent years, FMD has expanded its capabilities, inventory, and geographic presence with several key acquisitions to better serve the defense industry. So far this year, FMD acquired Hunt Valve, a specialty naval valve manufacturer, and Ward Leonard, a motor and control solutions provider. FMD also acquired diesel engine repair and rebuilding service provider BRECO International in November 2020. 

RESTON, Va. — Science Applications International Corp. has been awarded a $1.1 billion contract to produce, assemble, test and deliver the U.S. Navy’s Mk48 Mod 7 torpedo afterbody tailcones and Mk29 Mod 0 warshot fuel tanks, the company said Dec. 6.  

Under the contract from the Program Executive Officer, Undersea Warfare Systems, Undersea Weapons Program Office (PMS 404), SAIC will provide all necessary facilities, resources and management necessary to meet the contract’s integration, production, test and delivery requirements. The afterbody tailcone is the section of torpedo containing propulsion and navigations systems, with 26 major sub-assemblies requiring the integration of greater than 500 pieces and parts in each. 

“SAIC is proud of our expanded work on integration, production, assembly, test and delivery contracts that support the Mk48 heavyweight torpedo system for the U.S. Navy,” said Bob Genter, president of SAIC’s Defense and Civilian Sector. “We are confident that our proven performance on the Mk48 will continue to provide the Navy with the sea-dominance weapon it requires.” 

BRISBANE, Australia — Insitu Pacific has been awarded a three-year contract extension by the Royal Australian Navy for the sustainment of its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft, the company said Dec. 6. 

The extension allows the Australian navy to continue to experiment and develop knowledge using the ScanEagle maritime UAS, leveraging the foundation capability developed during embarked operations on HMAS Newcastle in the Gulf of Oman in 2017. 

“Insitu Pacific is proud to continue to support [the Royal Australian Navy] in their ongoing [unmanned aircraft] experimentation and testing work over the next three years,” said Andrew Duggan, managing director of Insitu Pacific. “This contract extension provides us with an opportunity to deepen our existing sovereign capability and supply chains in Australia, and partner with RAN to offer up new capabilities for testing in the coming years.” 

ScanEagle has been in service with the Australian navy for experimentation and testing since 2014. 

The navy operates several ScanEagle systems at 822X Squadron in Nowra, and the contract extension enables continuation of MUAS training, tactics development and payload evaluation activities. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy will commission the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, during a 10:00 a.m. (HST) ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham on Dec. 8. 

The future USS Daniel Inouye is named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served as a Hawaii representative in the Senate from 1963 until he died in 2012.   

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro will deliver the keynote address at the ceremony. Remarks will also be provided by Hawaii Gov. David Ige; Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele (D-Hawaii); Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi; Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Ken Inouye, son of Sen. Inouye; and Ed Kenyon, director of new construction programs, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.  

“The late Sen. Daniel Inouye spent his entire life in public service, both in uniform and out,” said Del Toro. “Sen. Inouye’s life is one to be emulated and the crew of this warship will not only be inspired by his legacy, but will stand the watch with the honor and dignity deserving of a ship bearing his name.” 

The ship’s sponsor Irene Hirano Inouye, Inouye’s wife, established a strong bond with the crew before her passing on April 7, 2020. At the keel laying in 2018, she welded her initials into the ship’s keel and, in 2019, broke a bottle of champagne on the bow in a christening ceremony. During a “mast stepping” ceremony, she placed items special to Inouye in the ship’s mast.

The commissioning ceremony coincides with the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Commemoration events. On Dec. 7, 1941, Daniel Inouye was a 17-year-old senior at Honolulu’s McKinley High School and rushed to a Red Cross aid station to help civilians and Sailors wounded in the attack. 

On April 21, 1945, while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team in Italy during World War II, an exploding grenade shattered his right arm during an assault. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation. He remained at the head of his platoon until they broke the enemy resistance and his troops deployed in defensive positions, continuing to fight until the regiment’s position was secured. Later in life, he received the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism during the assault. 

Cmdr. DonAnn Gilmore, of Anniston, Alabama, is the ship’s commanding officer and leads a crew of 329 officers and enlisted Sailors. Gilmore is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University. She previously commanded Mine Countermeasures Crew Exultant. 

“This crew put a tremendous amount of work into preparing to bring USS Daniel Inouye to life on Dec. 8. We all share a deep sense of pride and honor to represent our namesake, the late senator and U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Inouye and those he represented for 53 years in the House and Senate,” said Gilmore. “Through USS Daniel Inouye’s service to our nation, every Sailor aboard will strive to make ours the preeminent ship on the waterfront. We embody the ship’s motto, a battle cry adopted from Sen. Inouye’s Army unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. We will ‘go for broke!’ as Daniel Inouye did on the battlefield and in halls of the Senate.” 

The ship is nearly 510 feet long and has a navigational draft of 33 feet. As a Flight IIA destroyer, DDG 118 is equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, which provides improved, integrated air and missile defense capabilities, increased computing power, and radar capable of quickly detecting and reacting to modern air warfare and ballistic missile defense threats. 

Built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, Daniel Inouye was christened June 22, 2019, and delivered to the Navy on March 8, 2021. USS Daniel Inouye’s homeport is Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. 

The ceremony will be livestreamed at: https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/27385. The link becomes active approximately 10 minutes before the event (9:50 a.m. HST). 

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard law enforcement crews interdicted 78 lanchas, seized 15,484 pounds of catch and detained 208 fishermen during fiscal year 2021 along the Texas coast, the Coast Guard 8^th District said Dec. 5. 

Since the first recorded lancha interdiction in the late 1980s, the Coast Guard has seen a significant uptick in the detection of the vessels, recording close to 300 lancha interdictions in the past three fiscal years combined. 

A noteworthy case from this year was on Aug. 4, when Coast Guard Station South Padre Island worked with Coast Guard Sector and Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Coast Guard Cutter Pelican to interdict four lanchas with a total of 320 pounds of red snapper and 1,160 pounds of shark in one day. 

In cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, the Coast Guard uses a layered approach to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing through aircraft, small boats and cutters, as well as improved technology on those assets, resulting in the drastic increase in lancha interdictions. 

“The crew at Station South Padre Island takes their role of protecting our natural resources from poaching along the Maritime Boundary Line very seriously,” said Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Ippolito, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station South Padre Island. “The last few years of record-breaking lancha interdictions speak to the steadfast commitment, professionalism, and teamwork of the Coast Guard crews and our partners at Texas Parks and Wildlife to this mission. We ask that the public continue to stay vigilant and report any instances of illegal fishing to the Coast Guard or Texas Parks and Wildlife.” 

A lancha is a fishing boat used by Mexican fishermen that is approximately 20-30 feet long with a slender profile. They typically have one outboard motor and are capable of traveling at speeds exceeding 30 mph. Lanchas pose a major threat, usually entering the United States’ exclusive economic zone near the U.S.-Mexico border in the Gulf of Mexico with the intent to smuggle people, drugs, or poach natural resources. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division officially started fabrication Dec. 6 of the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyer George M. Neal (DDG 131), the company said in a release. 

“Start of fabrication is our first opportunity to formally celebrate and reflect on our contributions as shipbuilders,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “We are very proud of what we do here for the country and endeavor to do our part in building and activating what will be the newest Flight III destroyer.” 

Ingalls has delivered 33 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction include Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128) and Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129). 

The new destroyer’s name honors a Korean War veteran, Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions while attempting to rescue a fellow service member. Neal volunteered as crewman to fly in a helicopter deep into North Korean mountains to attempt the rescue of a Marine aviator who had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy. During the rescue attempt, under heavy enemy fire, Neal’s helicopter was disabled and crashed. He assisted his pilot and the rescued aviator in evading enemy forces for nine days before being captured and held as a prisoner of war. Neal was eventually released and returned to the U.S. with more than 320 fellow POWs in 1952. 

RESTON, Va. — CACI International Inc. has been awarded a five-year $80.5 million task order supporting the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center’s multiple-award contract, the company said in a release. 

CACI will provide advanced engineering research, analysis, and development of mission technology to enhance the capabilities of aircraft mission systems for Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems. 

“Backed by the world’s largest threat signals library and more than 1,200 systems deployed globally, CACI offers technology for any C-UAS challenge or mission,” said John Mengucci, CACI president and CEO. “Working with the Navy, we will continue to provide the most advanced capabilities to detect, track and defeat emerging threats to our national security, protecting people and places in any environment.” 

The task order will modernize components and systems on both manned and unmanned platforms — including the EP-3E, P-8A, MQ-8, and MQ-25 UAS — for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. CACI will develop next-generation technology for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and electronic warfare mission systems, and survivability systems while providing all aspects of logistical support required to meet operational demands. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Leonardo DRS Inc. has again been awarded a contract by Eastern Shipbuilding Group to provide the Auxiliary Propulsion System for the fourth shipset in the U.S. Coast Guard’s new fleet of Offshore Patrol Cutters, Leonardo DRS said Dec. 6.

This platform is the first combined diesel electric or diesel propulsion system application for the Coast Guard. Eastern Shipbuilding Group is the prime contractor and builder of these next-generation Offshore Patrol Cutters. 

Under the contract, Leonardo DRS will provide its high-performance, permanent magnet motor-based Auxiliary Propulsion System, which has been optimized to meet the Coast Guard’s operational tempo and provides capability for the ship to operate much more efficiently at slower speeds, increases mission duration capability, reduces emissions, and provides emergency take-home capability in the event of a failure of the main propulsion diesel engines. When coupled to the main propulsion gearbox, the system allows the ship to operate quietly and efficiently during loitering operations while providing superior fuel economy for increased on-station operations and capability. 

Maximizing use of the electric drive increases the platform’s green credentials and reduces operational time on the main propulsion engines, providing additional multiple benefits. Because electric motors are virtually maintenance free, life cycle costs over the planned 40-year vessel life are minimized by reducing maintenance hours needed on the engines. Using propulsion diesel engines at slow speeds adds significant wear and tear on the engines and increases the potential for coking/wet stacking. By adding this electric Auxiliary Propulsion System, the Coast Guard can expect to have a built-in advantage of reducing not only fuel and maintenance requirements, but total lifecycle costs and increased safety for the fleet. The main engine overhaul cycle, typically planned at 15 years, can be extended to 25 years.  

“Leonardo DRS is a leading innovator in the naval hybrid electric drive technology arena, and we are proud to be able to provide our advanced technology to the Coast Guard’s fleet of next-generation Cutters,” said Jon Miller, senior vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Naval Power business. “These new propulsion systems will give operational flexibility while significantly increasing cost savings in yearly maintenance and fuel, enabling crews to put more focus on their missions.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — In a first for the Marine Corps, Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1) conducted over-the-horizon heavy lift and troop transport ship-to-shore operations aboard CH-53K King Stallions over the Atlantic Ocean, Nov. 19-21, Headquarters Marine Corps said Dec. 3.  

These exercises are a critical component of the Marine Corps’ future force operating concepts, such as expeditionary advanced base operations and distributed operations.  

“We are excited to continue advancing the commandant’s vision of the future force by partnering with the Navy and finding ways to optimize how we operate and thrive in a strategic competition environment,” said VMX-1 Commanding Officer Col. Byron Sullivan. “We remain the nation’s naval expeditionary force, ready to fight in any clime or place at any time.” 

VMX-1, evaluating the King Stallion’s ability to meet program specification for the over-the-horizon heavy lift evolution, tested the King Stallion’s capability to transport a 27,000-pound light armored vehicle (LAV-25) from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) to a landing zone ashore. The troop transport evolution evaluated the King Stallion’s ability to move troops over the horizon to a location ashore and return to ship without refueling, covering as much as 220 nautical miles roundtrip.  

Combat Logistics Battalion 24 and 2d Battalion, 2d Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, provided personnel and equipment to assist VMX-1 with their testing, and sailors from the USS Iwo Jima assisted VMX-1 with shipboard and flight deck operations.  

The Marine Corps is progressing through initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) of the CH-53Ks prior to fielding them to the Fleet Marine Force. The pilots, maintainers, and contractors of VMX-1, the squadron tasked with conducting operational test and evaluation of Marine Corps aviation platforms and systems, play a significant role in shaping the tactics, techniques and procedures of CH-53K utilization. Additionally, VMX-1 personnel will put the aircraft through rigorous evaluations in order to determine its suitability and effectiveness before arriving to the fleet.  

“We have the most professional and capable individuals maintaining the aircraft and are also appreciative to the Blue-Green Team, who demonstrate the superb ability to operating harmoniously,” said VMX-1 CH-53K Detachment Operations Officer Maj. Joshua Banks.  

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy League of the United States announced Dec. 2 it has opened membership to active-duty service personnel from every branch of the military to join the organization as individual members. 

The Navy League is a nonprofit civilian, educational and advocacy organization that supports America’s sea services: the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine.

This historical change in the Navy League’s bylaws, passed by its board of directors, has shifted its membership from an all-civilian organization to a joint civilian and active-duty organization. The Navy League currently has 30,000 members in 200 councils around the globe.  

“This important shift in our membership eligibility will lend to greater diversity and gravitas to the Navy League’s mission of education, advocacy and support to our sea services and its members.” said Navy League National President Dave Reilly. “This change also provides an important growth opportunity for the Navy League as we continue to expand our membership and the Navy League’s impact on our sea services.”  

Navy League councils, located primarily in the United States but also around the world, offer service members important ties to their community and a direct way to continue to serve the country once they transition out of service.   

Navy League member benefits include transition assistance, members-only discounts, council membership and a subscription to Seapower magazine. Active-duty sea service members’ children and grandchildren are also eligible to apply for a Navy League Foundation scholarship to aid in college tuition.  

Members can choose to join for one-, two-, three-, four- or five-year periods or can opt to join as a lifetime member. More information on active-duty membership, including an application, can be found on https://www.navyleague.org/become-a-member/active-duty-membership.