NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The nation’s sealift components are used to operating in peaceful seas and permissive environments but must prepare now for times when control of the seas is not assured, a panel of maritime leaders said.

Speaking Aug. 4 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo at National Harbor, Maryland, were Douglas Harrington, deputy associate administrator for Federal Sealift at the Maritime Administration (MARAD); Christopher Thayer, director, Maritime Operations, Military Sealift Command (MSC); and Adam Peterson, of the government business development team at APL. The panel was moderated by Erica Plath, director, Strategic Mobility/Combat Logistics, Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy.

Thayer pointed out that sealift “capability today is far more than it was in 1990” when large numbers of sealift ships were activated for Operation Desert Storm. He said that sealift was again at an inflection point, with the Navy’ preparation for distributed maritime operations in contested environments.

He said that, during distributed operations, the nation’s maritime logistics forces may not always have escorts or overwatch and must “be prepared to operate and evade the enemy.”

Thayer also stressed the need for counter-UAS systems, anti-jam capabilities for GPS, the need for cybersecurity and the ability to operate under emissions control.

Communications is “a huge vulnerability,” Thayer said, noting that mobile communications capabilities are being deployed on some ships with tactical advisers.

Harrington also stressed the need for improved, more resilient communications capabilities for MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force (RRF). He noted the current reliance on satellite communications and the effect on morale that emissions control would have on the crews. 

To adapt to providing logistics in a contested environment, Thayer said that MSC was working on concepts such as re-loading missiles in vertical launch cells while ships are underway, underway replenishment using unmanned aerial vehicles and refueling the combat logistics ships from commercial ships using modular CONSOL (consolidated cargo replenishment) adapter kits.

Harrington discussed the need for recapitalization of the RRF MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force and new, comprehensive strategy for equipping strategic sealift with new technology and regulations. He noted the increasing size and weight of defense cargoes. He advocated building increased resilience as well as cybersecurity.

He also said the government must “recall and re-focus on naval operations in a contested environment.”

Peterson pointed out the dramatic decline of the U.S.-flag merchant marine since 1960, now less than 0.5% of the 43,000 ships (displacing 1,000 or more gross weight tons) in international trade. He stressed that the government needs to develop more incentives to keep commercial vessels available in peacetime and war.

Harrington praised the “significant period of recapitalization,” which includes the construction of first of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessels, which will replace older ships and train mariners with modern technology now found on many merchant ships.

Asked about the Navy’s plans to operate autonomous unmanned ships in its fleet, Thayer noted that it is “hard to refuel an autonomous ship at sea.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Coast Guard celebrated its 231^st birthday on Aug. 4 and Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz and service officials said it is increasing cooperation with international partners, working with industry on energy projects such as wind farms and making changes to increase diversity and guard retention.

“I think it’s an exciting time for us,” Schultz said, telling the audience at Sea-Air-Space 2021, “let us figure out where we can team up with you.”

Ann Castiglione-Cataldo, director of international affairs and foreign policy, said the service is working to build capable partnerships around the world to tackle such issues as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and climate change.

“All coast guards are grappling with this,” she said.

Rear Adm. John Mauger, assistant commandant for prevention policy, said his office is working to maintain safe use of the waterways for all users, which includes working with states and localities on installing coastal wind farms and assisting with commercial space launch operations.

There are currently only five wind turbines active off of Rhode Island and two in Virginia, Mauger said, but many more projects are in the works, and the service is advising on their location to help maintain access to waterways.

Commercial space launches are also coming to the fore. The Coast Guard helps keep waterways clear near launch sites. In the old NASA days, that just meant monitoring areas in Florida and Texas, but commercial space launches can occur from many more places, including floating platforms.

The Coast Guard has had issues with retaining female Coast Guard personnel, said Michel Godfrey, the director of civilian human resources, diversity and leadership. At one point, retention rates past the 15-year mark for women lagged behind men by 10%, but recent efforts have cut that to 3%.

One such effort is the parental leave program, which pulls in Coast Guard reservists to temporarily replace service members on maternity leave.

“They come back and they are a stronger member of the Coast Guard,” Godfrey said.

Schultz said, “Talent management is where we win or lose in the Coast Guard.”

After the presentation, Navy League National President David Reilly and CEO Mike Stevens presented Schultz with the Admiral Arleigh Burke Leadership Award, the Navy League’s highest honor. He then celebrated the Coast Guard’s founding by Alexander Hamilton with a cake.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy plans to order a second Low-Rate Initial Production lot of the ALQ-249 Next-Generation Jammer-Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) in 2022, a Navy official said.

Capt. Michael Orr, the Navy’s program manager for speaking at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, said the Navy plans to order five shipsets of the NGJ-MB in fiscal 2022. One shipset includes two jamming pods for an EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.

The NGJ is a program to augment and eventually replace the ALQ-99 jamming pod, which first was deployed in 1971 on EA-6B Prowler aircraft in 1971 for combat in the Vietnam War.

The Navy ordered three shipsets of NGJ-MB on July 2 under Low-Rate Initial Production Lot 2.

The NGJ-MB, designed and built by Raytheon, is the first of three planned increments of the jammer. The NGJ-Low Band, designed by L3Harris, entered Engineering and Manufacturing Development in December 2020. The Navy ordered four test articles and eight operational prototypes. The NGL-LB shipset will consist of one pod. The selection of L3Harris for the program currently is under protest.

NGJ-High Band is still in concept development.

Orr said the NGJ-MB has completed 145 test flights and more than 3,000 hours of testing in an anechoic chamber and in laboratories.

The Royal Australian Air Force, which also flies EA-18Gs, has been a cooperative partner in the NGJ-MB and -LB development since June 2020.

Orr said the Navy will continue to upgrade the antennas and transmitters of the ALQ-99 pods. He said that, in his opinion, the ALQ-99 will continue to serve through the life of the EA-18G.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy is only weeks away from its goal to achieve a mission-capable rate for its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based command and control aircraft of 28 aircraft, a Navy program official said.

The Navy also is aiming for 22 of those 28 E-2Ds hitting and sustaining full mission capability by Sept. 1, said Capt. Pete Arrobio, the Navy’s E-2D program manager, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Attaining full mission capability is no small task. Arrobio pointed out that the E-2D has 11 major mission systems to be maintained in operating condition for the aircraft to reach full mission capability.

Arrobio said the Navy has a detailed plan to add and improve capability to the E-2D fleet over time. He stressed the need in the future to move faster in upgrading the aircraft software and systems to keep them relevant to high-level warfare. Future needs include cyber hardening; connectivity to the joint all-domain command and control environment; sensor improvement; more space, weight and power capacity; improved reliability of components; and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning where appropriate.

Northrop Grumman has delivered 48 E-2Ds to the Navy so far, out of 52 ordered so far. The U.S. Navy’s program of record calls for 86 E-2Ds. The aircraft delivered so far equip five airborne command and control (VAW) squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron, with the fleet squadrons deploying with five aircraft each. Two of those VAW squadrons have completed transition to an aerial refueling capability. Four fleet squadrons are still equipped with the E-2C Hawkeye.

Three of nine ordered by Japan have been delivered. France has signed a letter of agreement to procure three E-2Ds to replace its E-2Cs. Taiwan and Egypt, which operate E-2Cs, also are potential customers for the E-2D.

There are 26 E-2Cs remaining in the U.S. Navy’s inventory and they are scheduled for phase out by 2026. Japan, France, Taiwan and Egypt operate a total of 28 E-2Cs, which Arrobio’s office helps to sustain with program support.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy is only weeks away from its goal to achieve a mission-capable rate for its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based command and control aircraft of 28 aircraft, a Navy program official said.

The Navy also is aiming for 22 of those 28 E-2Ds hitting and sustaining full mission capability by Sept. 1, said Capt. Pete Arrobio, the Navy’s E-2D program manager, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Attaining full mission capability is no small task. Arrobio pointed out that the E-2D has 11 major mission systems to be maintained in operating condition for the aircraft to reach full mission capability.

Arrobio said the Navy has a detailed plan to add and improve capability to the E-2D fleet over time. He stressed the need in the future to move faster in upgrading the aircraft software and systems to keep them relevant to high-level warfare. Future needs include cyber hardening; connectivity to the joint all-domain command and control environment; sensor improvement; more space, weight and power capacity; improved reliability of components; and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning where appropriate.

Northrop Grumman has delivered 48 E-2Ds to the Navy so far, out of 52 ordered so far. The U.S. Navy’s program of record calls for 86 E-2Ds. The aircraft delivered so far equip five airborne command and control (VAW) squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron, with the fleet squadrons deploying with five aircraft each. Two of those VAW squadrons have completed transition to an aerial refueling capability. Four fleet squadrons are still equipped with the E-2C Hawkeye.

Three of nine ordered by Japan have been delivered. France has signed a letter of agreement to procure three E-2Ds to replace its E-2Cs. Taiwan and Egypt, which operate E-2Cs, also are potential customers for the E-2D.

There are 26 E-2Cs remaining in the U.S. Navy’s inventory and they are scheduled for phase out by 2026. Japan, France, Taiwan and Egypt operate a total of 28 E-2Cs, which Arrobio’s office helps to sustain with program support.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Raytheon is expecting a five-year contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command for hardware production and sustainment of all variants of the SPY-6 shipboard radar, a company official said.

Raytheon anticipates the contract award in September 2021 which will cover up to 59 radars, said Scott Spence, director of Naval Radars for Raytheon, speaking to Seapower Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Raytheon now is in full-rate production of the SPY-6 family of radars, building at a rate of one per month, Spence said.

The company has been able to sustain a solid rate of production despite the COVID pandemic. Mike Mills, Raytheon’s SPY-6 program director, said the company delivered 12 SPY-6 arrays in a 13-month period. 

Raytheon has delivered the first two shipsets of the SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), one for the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and the second, DDG 128. Spence said the company is starting deliver of parts for a third DDG.

Delivery of the first production SPY-6(V)2 rotating Enterprise Air-Search Radars (EASR) is planned Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the future America-class amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8) and the future San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29). Installation on the latter two ships will be made post-construction, Spence said.

The fixed-face EASR, the SPY-6(V)3, is in the engineering development phase for the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and subsequent carriers of that class. It also will be the EASR for the new Constellation-class guided-missile frigate.

Spence also said the expected contract will cover backfit of some Flight IIA Arleigh Burke DDG with the fixed-face SPY-6(V)4 version during the ships’ mid-life upgrades. The company already submitted the technical data package for the back-fit to the Navy.

The SPY-6 is scheduled to achieve Initial Operational Capability on the Jack H. Lucas in 2024, according to Spence.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Marine Corps’ drastic changes in force size, composition and weapons to meet the emerging threats, primarily from China, is going to be “wicked hard,” but the Corps’ top officer driving those changes said it is both essential and achievable.

“We have to find out how to go after a pacing threat that is moving. How a small force can hold something at risk. … We have divested what we can divest. We will produce the force we need by 2030,” Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, commanding general Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, said Aug. 3.

Smith added that the Marines’ effort to rebuild a smaller, more mobile but lethal force by the date set by Gen. David Berger, the Marine Corps Commandant, will depend on “stable funding.” A continuing resolution on defense funding, which is expected, “is a gift to an adversary,” he told Sea-Air-Space 2021.

Smith and the Marine Corps headquarters are rapidly shedding legacy systems, including the M-1 Abrams main battle tanks, much of its tube artillery and other heavy weapons to produce a much lighter force capable of sending small units into dispersed locations, most likely in western Pacific littoral regions, to counter China’s area-denial, anti-access capabilities that could nullify the Navy’s power projection efforts.

“The Corps’ purpose is to support the naval forces efforts,” Smith said. “It’s all about supporting the naval force in a conflict with a major adversary.”

Under intense questioning by moderator Dakota Wood, a retired Marine officer now a senior military analyst with the Heritage Foundation, Smith rejected the idea the Corps is sacrificing heavy systems, such as tanks, that would be useful in other parts of the world to focus solely on the Indo-Pacific theater and China. Smith noted recent experiments that used a mobile rocket artillery system mounted on a Humvee to hit distant targets.

“I can recreate the ability to kill armor,” he said. But “we have to get it there … we have to move things,” he said.

Challenged on how the Marines would support their dispersed light forces in a contested area, Smith said, “the first thing about having the logistical enterprise able to support you is need less. Why do I need water in the Indo-Pac theater?”

Smith was supported in his confidence in the Corps’ dramatic redesign efforts by William Williford, executive director of the Marine Corps Systems Command, which is fielding the new weapons and systems needed for the new force, and by Scott Lacy, executive director of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, which is running extensive wargames and experiments to develop and test the new formations and gear.

“Starting with the individual Marine, we are putting resources out there to make the Marine more lethal.” Wilford said.

“Don’t bet against us. If there is a concern it’s that the adversary will move faster than us,” Lacy said.

Smith also rejected Wood’s challenge the Corps is putting pressure on the other services to make up for the Marines’ cut in heavy forces, stating the Navy is all in on this and the Corps is working closely with the Army and Air Force to develop and field the right equipment. He also denied the Marines are sacrificing their ability to deal with current threats.

“You have to be able to fight today. I think we’re capable of doing that today,” he said, and noted that he and at least 14 other Marine generals, including Berger, “have skin in the game” by having sons currently serving in the Marines.

Space and the sea perhaps would seem at first blush to be very different and disparate operating environments. Army Gen. James H. Dickinson, the man in charge of U.S. Space Command, believes otherwise.

At a luncheon and then a media roundtable at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo at National Harbor, Maryland, on Aug. 3, Dickinson pointed out that both environments are the harshest in which to operate. Further, both the sea and space are becoming increasingly more contested by potential adversaries.

“We each share a vast area. In the maritime domain, it’s 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean,” Dickinson said. “For us, it’s out to the moon and beyond. Both are concerned with respective domains that are very vast, and very difficult, complex and unforgiving.” 

As the head of the nation’s newest unified combatant command, Dickinson’s job is to use the trained men and women sent to him by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and newly created Space Force for operational reasons in the space domain. 

“They all bring their own capabilities to the command, which we use for daily operations,” Dickinson said. 

Success hinges upon an understanding of the specific challenges space poses, Dickinson said. Space debris, whether old junk or the remnants of a Chinese satellite they deliberately destroyed a little more than a decade ago, is a prime example. 

“There are still remnants of that in lower orbit, and we’ll have that effect for years to come,” Dickinson said. “What’s important about the low Earth orbit is that’s where we do things with human spaceflight. The International Space Station is in low Earth orbit. When you talk about risk to human life, you have it when you have that type of activity going on.”

Space Force Guardians under Dickinson’s command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, have a primary mission of tracking and mitigating such debris. The command then provides relevant information to governmental agencies and public entities that share an interest in knowing about what threats their space assets are facing. Dickinson compares the mission to that of the Federal Aviation Administration, which tracks and manages the safety of thousands of flights each day. 

“It’s an exciting time to be in the space enterprise. There’s no lack of energy,” Dickinson said. “People want to come work for us.” 

In the immediate future, Dickinson will tackle the job Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III bestowed upon him with the July issuance of five tenets of responsible space behavior, which would apply to operations, fielding acquisition and every other related aspect: One, operate in, from, to and through space with due regard to others and in a professional manner; two, limit the generation of long-lived space debris; three, avoid the creation of harmful interference; four, maintain safe separation and safe trajectory; and, five, communicate and make notifications to enhance the safety and stability of the domain.

Noting that the directive is part of a government-wide effort to address conduct in space both in the U.S. and among partner nations, Dickinson expressed hope that an international agreement to support it. 

“In the meantime, just think about how much we can learn from our Navy teammates in this regard — how we assess behavior and respond when adversaries fall short of the standards,” Dickinson said, “with the power from a position of strength to compel seafaring operations to operate within those rules.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy expects to make a decision soon approving low-rate initial production of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER), built by Northrop Grumman, expects to make a decision approving low-rate initial production soon, a program official said.

The milestone to approve proceeding to LRIP is “expected within weeks,” said Mike Overs, the Navy’s deputy program manager for Direct and Time-Sensitive Strike, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

The AGM-84G AARGM-ER is a development of the AGM-84E AARGM that has been in service since 2012 with the role of destruction of enemy ground-based air defenses. The ER missile is considerably different in planform and appearance than the basic AARGM. The ER version is slightly shorter — 160 inches versus 14 inches — than the basic AARGM but has a larger diameter (11.5 inches versus 10 inches) and is controlled by its tailfins rather than fins at the mid-body. The ER features a new rocket motor that takes up more of the length of the missile and is equipped with a new warhead.

The aerodynamic characteristics of the ER plus its larger motor give the missile “twice the tactical range in the same amount of time,” Overs said. 

The development of the AARGM-ER was in part in response to the need to accommodate the missile in the weapons bay of the Air Force F-35A and Navy F-35C Lightning II strike fighter. The Marine Corps F-35B, which has a smaller weapons bay, will be able to carry the AARGM-ER on a wing station.

The AARGM-ER completed on July 19 its first developmental test shot, of which Overs said, “met all objectives.”

A total of 15 to 17 developmental test shots are planned.

Initial Operational Capability of the AARGM-ER is planned on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter and EA-18G Growler by the end of fiscal 2023.

Italy, Australia and Germany are equipped with the AARGM and are potential customers for the AARGM-ER, as is any nation operating the F-35.

Over said that there is a Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration of a surface-launched version of the AARGM-ER planned for 2022, with the idea for use by the Army, Marine Corps or surface Navy.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. government has approved a sale of 18 CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters to Israel, and the program hopes to get them to Israel by the mid-2020s, according to an official.

The U.S. State Department cleared the $3.4 billion sale just a few days ago. Col. Jack Perrin, program manager for H-53 helicopters (PMA-261), said Tuesday during the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland, that while it depends on the eventual contract with Israel, “I believe it’ll be the 2025-26 timeframe before they actually get delivered to Israel.

“But again the schedule is in flux until we get on contract,” Perrin added. “We are actively working with Israel on defining that and getting us all to an agreeable place.”

The helicopters will replace some of Israel’s fleet of CH-53D Yasur aircraft, some of which are up to 50 years old. The contract covers 12 CH-53Ks with an option for six more.

Bill Falk, manager of the CH-53K helicopter program at Sikorsky, said he was “very excited” that Israel had selected the CH-53K.

Asked whether the country could buy more, Perrin said the buy was limited to 18, but Israel can always request more.

“If they would like more, we’d have to go back and talk to Congress about allowing them to purchase more,” Perrin said.

Some lawmakers have bristled at the sale of arms to Israel after the country’s bombardment of Gaza and settlements in the West Bank. Multiple Democrats tried unsuccessfully to block an arms sale to Israel back in May that included Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which may have been used in strikes on targets in Gaza in May that resulted in the deaths of around 200 Palestinians over the course of a week, according to reports.

Israel’s fleet of CH-53Ds are used for long-range heavy assault and insertion of special operations teams, among other missions.