SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — AeroVironment Inc. has been awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract on March 31, 2021, by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for $26 million with $7 million funded upon receipt. The contract includes delivery and integration of Switchblade 600 tactical missile systems into specialized maritime platforms, scheduled to be completed by January 2023.

“Our team worked closely with our customers to develop Switchblade 600, a loitering missile system that addresses the increasingly complex needs and mission requirements of counterinsurgency operations and those against peer and near-peer adversaries,” said Brett Hush, AeroVironment vice president and product line general manager for tactical missile systems. “Integrating Switchblade 600 into combat platforms, such as the USSOCOM’s specialized maritime vessels, enhances force overmatch, minimizes warfighter exposure to enemy direct and indirect fires and accelerates the maturation of this innovative solution.”

The AeroVironment Switchblade 600 is an all-in-one, man-portable system equipped with a high-performance electro-optical/infrared gimbaled sensor suite, precision flight control and more than 40 minutes of flight time to deliver unprecedented tactical reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA). Its anti-armor warhead enables engagement and prosecution of hardened static and moving light armored vehicles from multiple angles — without external ISR or fires assets — for precise, localized effects and minimal collateral damage.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Sustaining the troubled Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II strike fighter over its expected 66-year service life will cost more than the total purchase price of thousands of the aircraft, the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons platform, a government watchdog told lawmakers.

The Defense Department plans to acquire nearly 2,500 F-35 aircraft for about $400 billion over the next five decades for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. However, the latest Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the nation’s biggest weapons program indicates the services will incur an additional $1.3 trillion in sustainment costs for maintenance, repairs and technology upgrades over that same period.

That raises the issue of the services’ affordability targets, “how much the Air Force, the Navy and Marine Corps can afford to spend to sustain the F-35,” GAO’s Diana Maurer, director of military structure and operational issues, told a joint hearing by two subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) April 22. Originally estimated at $1.11 trillion in 2012, sustainment costs for the Fifth Generation fighter have grown to $1.27 trillion, despite efforts to reduce costs.

“The bottom line here is the services have a plane that they can’t afford to fly the way they want to fly it, at least in the long term,” Maurer told the HASC Tactical Air and Land Forces and the Readiness subcomittees.

The services face a substantial and growing gap between estimated sustainment costs and affordability constraints — costs per tail, per year that the services project they can afford. The preliminary GAO report to Congress said the gap would total about $6 billion in steady state year 2036 alone. The services will collectively be confronted with tens of billions of dollars in sustainment costs that they project as unaffordable during the program.

The Air Force, which is buying the most aircraft, 1,763 F-35As — the conventional takeoff and landing variant — needs to reduce estimated annual per-plane costs by $3.7 million (or 47%) by 2036, or costs in that year alone will be $4.4 billion more than the Air Force can afford, the GAO said. The Navy and Marine Corps, which are buying hundreds fewer aircraft, face smaller, but significant affordability gaps. For the Navy, which plans to buy 273 F-35Cs, the aircraft carrier variant, the gap would total $655 million, and for the Marine Corps buy of 353 F-35Bs, the short takeoff and vertical landing variant, and 67 of their own F-35Cs, the total cost overrun in 2036 would be $886 million.

GAO’s draft report suggested Congress consider requiring annual Pentagon reports on progress in achieving the affordability constraints. It also suggested making F-35 procurement decisions contingent on Defense Department in achieving these constraints.

Subcommittee members’ reaction to the report ranged from outrage to dismay. If the F-35 program can’t control and reduce sustainment costs, “we may need to invest in other, more affordable programs,” said New Jersey Democrat Rep. Donald Norcross, chairman of the readiness subcommittee.

CHANTILLY, Va. — VTG, a provider of force modernization and digital transformation solutions, has won a prime contract from the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC-PAC) to provide C4ISR engineering and production services to its Network Integration Engineering Facility, the company said in an April 26 release.

The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity NIEF Production Services contract has a potential value of $116 million over a five-year performance period. 

“For more than 50 years, VTG has provided the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and NIWC-PAC with C4ISR installation and integration support both afloat and ashore,” said John Hassoun, VTG president and chief executive officer. “We’re proud of that longstanding partnership and excited about this new opportunity to leverage our growing C4ISR production capabilities in support of the NIEF’s mission.” 

The NIWC-PAC NIEF, located at NAVWAR headquarters in San Diego, California, specializes in the rapid design and integration of commercial and government off-the-shelf products for military applications. It also provides environmental qualification testing services for those products and limited- and full-rate production. The facility was modernized in 2019 to better support the design and delivery of advanced information warfare capabilities to the fleet. 

VTG will provide the NIEF with procurement, fabrication, and integration of C4ISR end items, including production units, ancillary kits, sub-systems, assemblies, sub-assemblies, modules, and spares. These end items include a full spectrum of C4ISR systems for surface ships, submarines, and shore-based applications.   

ARLINGTON, Va.— The Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) conducted off the coast of California over the last week featured sensor data exchange and remote sensing in all domains from seabed to space, and involved a variety of scenarios, including swarm attacks by drones and launch and recovery of an unmanned underwater vehicle by a submarine. 

Rear Adm. Robert Gaucher, director of the Maritime Headquarters for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and Rear Adm. James Aiken, commander, Carrier Strike Group Three, and commander of the IBP, spoke about the exercise to reporters during an April 26 teleconference.   

“Just yesterday, we successfully teamed air and surface manned and unmanned capability to put [an SM-6 missile] well past over the horizon from [the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS] John Finn on a target and it struck the target very, very successfully,” Aiken said. 

The manned/unmanned chain of events for the missile shoot was totally passive, [without] any active sensor. The target was detected by a combination of manned and unmanned platforms and a space system to locate and identify the target, track it with electronic support measures (ESM) bearings and pass the information to the John Finn, which was able to shoot the SM-6 at range, well beyond line of sight.  

The admiral said the vignettes exercised during the IBP included focused warfighter vignettes, an anti-submarine warfare and surface ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] vignette, and an over-the-horizon strike vignette, the latter being the SM-6 event mentioned above.  

Unmanned surface and air systems were used to prosecute a submarine-like target. This event included an MQ-9 SeaGuardian UAV dropping sonobuoys and up-linking data after a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft departed station. 

In one scenario, a USV obtained an ESM electronic support measures bearing on a surface target, passed the locating data to the information warfare commander, who passed it to the surface warfare commander, who used a swarm drone attack against the target, a surface vessel. 

During one event, a submarine was able to launch and recover an IVER-4 UUV using a torpedo tube. 

“Being able to do that without divers [is] reducing a ton of risk for our divers to have to go recover … was a big win,” Gaucher said. 

He also said the IVER-4 was able to conduct its own surveillance and reconnaissance and intelligence preparation of the battlespace.

“We were also able to deliver some kinetic effects in support of undersea and seabed warfare,” he said.   

Control of unmanned systems during the IBP was conducted variously from a shore site, from ships at sea, or autonomously.   

“I know that unmanned can proved me video from overhead,” Gaucher said. “I know I can put a towed array sensor on a medium-sized unmanned surface vessel, and I can control it from the shore for theater ASW. … I know that I can operate a system in and out of the torpedo tube of a submarine to support seabed warfare.” 

“From a [Pacific Fleet] perspective, we were very pleased about how the Integrated Battle Problem came out, in particular with our ability to integrate unmanned [systems] into that battle problem in a contested environment,” Gaucher said, noting that 29 different unmanned technologies were part of the IBP, with about 50% surface, 30% subsurface, and 20% above the surface. 

Gaucher stressed that goals for the IPB included using unmanned systems to avoid putting personnel in harm’s way and to improve targeting “so we get a better solution when we launch.” 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced $19.6 million in grant awards to 31 small shipyards in 15 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. The funds will help awardees modernize, increase productivity, and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace. Since 2008, MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program has awarded $262.5 million to nearly 300 shipyards in 32 states and territories throughout the U.S.   

“Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and small shipyards play a critical role in America’s maritime industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “These grants go directly to small shipyards across the country and will help protect and create local jobs, strengthen America’s maritime industry, and bolster our economic security.”    

Small shipyards are essential parts of our maritime industrial base and employ thousands of Americans. They strengthen communities along and near our nation’s ports and waterways. Many small shipyards are family-run businesses — and they are all enterprises in which small investments can make big differences. MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program supports economic competitiveness through grants that can be used to purchase equipment or train employees. In addition, the purchase of American-made manufacturing equipment made possible by Small Shipyard grants supports a wide range of jobs throughout our Nation’s manufacturing base.   

“These grants will help small businesses do what they do best: build essential infrastructure while creating long-term jobs for American workers,” said Lucinda Lessley, Acting Maritime Administrator. “Better equipment means increased productivity and more ships moving through our small shipyards — and more ships mean more local jobs.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) awarded the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Technical Support Services (NETSS) task order Friday on behalf of the Program Executive Office for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions’ (PEO MLB) Navy Enterprise Business Solutions (Navy EBS) program management office, the PEO MLB said in an April 24 release.  

NETSS is the lead system integrator contract for Navy ERP, the Department of the Navy’s (DON) financial system of record, managing nearly 56% of the Navy’s total obligation authority. To date, Navy ERP has been deployed to 72,000 users across six Navy systems commands.  

A SeaPort-NxG Multiple Award Contract (MAC) task order, NETSS was awarded to International Business Machines (IBM) headquartered in Armonk, New York. The task order period of performance is a 12-month base and four 12-month options, as well as a single option to extend the term of the task order for six months. The total task order value is approximately $850 million.   

“The award of NETSS is a major milestone in the continued maturation of Navy ERP’s capabilities,” said Edward Quick, program manager for Navy EBS. “The services provided by the NETSS task order will enable the continued migration of new commands to Navy ERP, a move that will facilitate the Navy’s ability to conduct a clean financial audit.” 

In the last year, Navy EBS has consolidated and migrated seven DON commands and the Office of the Secretary of the Navy with a budget authority of $8 billion from their legacy financial systems to Navy ERP. This effort also included migrating and validating more than 4 billion transactions to Navy ERP, providing a more complete and audit-ready financial management system.  

“The recent strides the Navy has made in migrating commands to Navy ERP and the award of NETSS is a testament to the strong partnership and collaboration between PEO MLB and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management and Comptroller [ASN(FM&C)],” said Les Hubbard, program executive officer for MLB. “Together, we are enabling the business of the Navy.” 

The NETSS task order includes Information Technology (IT), Information Management (IM), large scale Systems Integration (SI) and Information Systems (IS) mission support activities. The NETSS vendor will provide services to upgrade and support Navy ERP’s capabilities including business intelligence, logistics, development, deployment and sustainment. NETSS services include data governance and analysis, business process re-engineering and management, software design and developing, and business system integration. Additionally, NETSS include process management, solution delivery and data services, which support current and future Department of Defense and DON requirements in the areas of enterprise information management services, solution engineering services, business process management services, analytics and decision support services and knowledge transfer.  

The NETSS Fair Opportunity Proposal Request (FOPR) solicitation was released to all SeaPort-NxG MAC holders on Dec. 23, 2020 and proposals were due on Jan. 27, 2021.  

Prior to the award of NETSS, Navy ERP’s system integrator support was provided by multiple companies via the Process Improvement, Reengineering, Management and Data Support Services (PIRMDS2) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) MAC issued in 2016 to multiple contractors by Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN – Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) successfully completed Combat Systems Ship’s Qualification Trials (CSSQT) April 17, representing a major milestone in validating the ship’s capability to defend itself and the crew, the ship’s public affairs officer said in an April 24 release. 

The trials, which commenced in February, consisted of five phases. The completion of the final phase, 2C, and CSSQT overall, is the culmination of years of planning, training, ingenuity and thousands of working hours for the ship’s current and previous crews. 

“I could not be more proud of our Sailors and their historic accomplishment,” said Capt. Paul Lanzilotta, Ford’s commanding officer. “CSSQT was a live-fire, hands-on opportunity to prove the self-defense capability of this fine warship. We always intend to use our embarked air wing to influence our adversaries at great ranges from the ship, but if they’re able to get a shot at us, this event has shown our crew the formidable nature of our organic weapons.” 

According to ship’s CSSQT project officer, Larry Daugherty, phase 2C was the “prove it” phase for the ship, which had already completed multiple detect-to-engage scenarios with live aircraft. In 2C, Ford faced off against rocket propelled drones capable of speeds in excess of 600 miles per hour; towed drone units (TDUs) that simulate rockets; and remote controlled, high-speed maneuvering surface targets (HSMST). 

The crew countered, relying on their skills and training to operate Ford’s advanced defense systems. They used the rolling airframe missile (RAM) launchers, firing off RIM-116 missiles; the NATO launchers to fire the evolved sea sparrow missiles (ESSM); and the Mk-15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) to fire armor-piercing tungsten bullets at 4,500 rounds per minute. 

“The crew crushed it, firing off four missiles [two RIM-116 and two ESSM], and all of them were conducted with precision control by combat direction center (CDC) watch teams, they executed perfectly,” said Daugherty. “All command and control decisions were made correctly, and the [systems] were engaged when they were supposed to be engaged and everything went out on time.” 

The ship’s defense missiles engaged the drones and CIWS took out the TDUs and HSMSTs. All three TDUs were destroyed, and two of those TDUs were ripped to shreds, according to Daugherty. All three HSMSTs were destroyed as well. 

“Those Sailors not only took out the first two HSMSTs, they punched holes in them, set them on fire, and they both sank,” said Daugherty. “On the third one, the CIWS operator was so good that he actually hit the target further out than the weapon system’s maximum effective range and put it DIW [dead in the water].” 

As the first crew to fire Ford’s missiles and complete this mission, it is a huge accomplishment, according to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Todd Williamson, Ford’s fire control officer, and it began with the on-load of the missiles. 

“Getting missiles transported and loaded onto a ship is a big movement that requires national coordination between multiple entities,” said Williamson. “The ship’s fire controlmen and Weapons Department were the backbone of the handling evolution, while Ford’s Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department provided material handling equipment readiness support. Our ISEA [In-Service Engineering Agents] were also on-hand to provide oversight.” 

The first few days of the nearly week-long exercises for 2C were some of the most challenging, according to Williamson. “For Weapons Department and Combat Systems Department, it was two 18-hour back-to-back days just to get set-up and complete telemetry checks,” he said. 

The telemetry checks provide the capability to record the flight performance characteristics and fusing of RAM and ESSM missiles to ensure they are capable of hitting their intended targets, according to Daugherty. 

There were other system checks, system and equipment tuning, ordnance uploads, preventative maintenance checks and casualty repairs, which collectively made for an extremely complex series of exercises. According to Fire Controlman 2nd Class Douglas Huyge, who has been aboard Ford for two years, his team was up for the challenge. 

“I am 100% impressed with the way the division worked together to achieve this goal,” said Huyge. “People who are in leadership positions dream of dream-teams like this, we worked hard to get here and we executed the mission.” 

CSSQT is the culminating combat systems test of Ford’s 18-month post-delivery test and trials (PDT&T) phase of operations. Following PDT&T this month, Ford will commence preparations for Full Ship Shock Trials, scheduled to occur during the summer, to validate the ability of new construction ships to carry out assigned missions and evaluate operational survivability after exposure to an underwater shock. 

“[CSSQT] was probably the single-handed greatest feeling I’ve felt on this ship so far,” said Huyge, describing how he felt watching the live-fire evolution in CDC, after many years of hard work. “I would say what I felt was fulfillment. It was a high level of fulfillment.” 

USS Gerald R. Ford is a first-in-class aircraft carrier, and the first new aircraft carrier designed in more than 40 years. The ship is underway for Independent Steaming Event 18 (ISE 18), as part of her PDT&T phase of operations. 

KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro (WHEC 724) was decommissioned during a ceremony Saturday at Coast Guard Base Kodiak and presided over by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in an April 24 release. 
 
The Douglas Munro was the Coast Guard’s last remaining 378-foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutter. The fleet of high-endurance cutters is being replaced by 418-foot Legend-class national security cutters, which serve as the Coast Guard’s primary long-range asset. 
 
Commissioned in 1971, Douglas Munro was the tenth of 12 high-endurance cutters built for long-range, high-endurance missions, including maritime security roles, drug interdiction, illegal migrant interception and fisheries patrols. 
 
The cutter was named after Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of extraordinary heroism during World War II. 
 
Munro was the officer-in-charge of an eight-craft amphibious landing force during the Guadalcanal Campaign and used his landing craft and its .30 caliber machine gun to shield and protect several hundred Marines who were under heavy enemy fire. He was mortally wounded during this effort, but his actions allowed for the Marines to be extracted by other landing craft. For these actions Munro was posthumously bestowed the Medal of Honor, making him the only person to receive the medal for actions performed during service in the Coast Guard. 
 
“Today we say thank you and goodbye to the end of an era — an era of nearly 50 years when high endurance cutters took our service’s racing stripe around the globe, modeling the maritime rules-based order,” said Schultz during the ceremony. “Today we say thank you and goodbye to cutter Douglas Munro — the first cutter to be named after Coast Guard hero — Signalman First Class Douglas Munro.” 
 
Over the past 49-years of distinguished service, Douglas Munro’s crews have served in a multitude of domestic and international theaters including the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia and the Eastern Pacific. The cutters proud legacy of honorable service to the nation began in the early 1970s patrolling Ocean Stations Delta, Bravo and November, providing weather data to trans-Pacific flights, supporting oceanographic research missions and performing search-and-rescue operations. 
 
The crew of Douglas Munro also patrolled the Pacific for decades as an enforcer of fisheries regulations. In 1998, Douglas Munro’s crew discovered and seized over 11.5 tons of cocaine from a Mexican flagged vessel, the Xolesuientle, in what remains to this day one of the largest single drug seizures in Coast Guard history. The following year, Douglas Munro’s crew seized the motor vessel Wing Fung Lung, which was attempting to transport 259 illegal Chinese migrants to the United States. 
 
In early 2005, at the beginning of a six-month, 37,000 mile global circumnavigation that included support to Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, the crew of Douglas Munro was diverted to render assistance to countries affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004. 
 
The legacy of Douglas Munro was epitomized on March 23, 2008 when the cutter’s crew and their embarked MH-65 Aviation Detachment worked with a forward deployed Air Station Kodiak MH-60 helicopter crew to recover 20 survivors from the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger that sank in the Bering Sea early that morning. The 17th Coast Guard District commander at the time of the rescue, Rear Adm. Arthur Brooks, declared it “One of the greatest search and rescue efforts in modern history.” 
 
“Serving as the final crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro, the last 378-foot cutter in the Coast Guard has been an exciting and rewarding experience for myself and my shipmates,” said Capt. Riley Gatewood, commanding officer of the Douglas Munro. “During my time aboard I have witnessed the sacrifices of the crew as they spent time away from their loved ones in service to their country. This dedication echoes the hard work put forth by our predecessors during the cutter’s 49-years of service and embodies the ships motto ‘Honoring the past by serving the present.’ While Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro is being decommissioned, I know that the legacy and service of Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro lives on in the Coast Guard men and women serving around the world today, and in the national security cutter Munro that continues to bear his name.” 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bear (WMEC 901) returned home to Portsmouth Sunday following an 86-day counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 5th District said in an April 26 release.  

The Bear’s crew interdicted three vessels, seized approximately 8,158 pounds of cocaine, two pounds of methamphetamines, as well as marijuana, worth a combined total of over $140 million, and detained 12 suspected drug smugglers. 

The Bear’s crew also coordinated operations with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Tactical Law Enforcement Team South Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET-108), who were deployed aboard the HMCS Saskatoon, a Kingston-class coastal defense vessel from the Canadian Navy. The collaboration supported LEDET-108’s seizure of an additional 2,866 pounds of cocaine and the detention of three suspected smugglers. 

A flight crew and aviation detachment from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), deployed aboard the Bear for the patrol. HITRON crews specialize in airborne use of force, and are based out of Jacksonville, Florida. The crew of the Bear worked in preparation for the counter-narcotics mission, partaking in numerous flight operations to recertify the flight crew and enhance crew proficiency in shipboard helicopter operations and non-complaint vessel training. 

The Bear’s crew departed Portsmouth to conduct joint training exercises with the U.S. Navy on January 31. The Bear supported the Navy’s training exercise while operating off the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas, and the crew took advantage of the unique opportunity to become more proficient at wartime steaming. 

“I am extremely proud of this crew and honored to be their commanding officer,” said Cmdr. Jeff Ferlauto, the Bear’s commanding officer. “It’s been an extremely successful deployment and the crew met each challenge head-on. Since our initial transit through the Panama Canal into the Eastern Pacific, this crew dominated! As we get ready for the home stretch, I want to personally thank all the families and friends for their continued support. I realize that our personal lives and our devotion to duty are in constant tension. We have chosen to serve our country and execute missions that take us far from home and require extended absences from our loved ones.”  

The Bear is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth. 

The Indonesian navy has changed that status of its submarine, KRI Nanggala (402), and her crew of 53, from “sub miss” to “sub sunk.”

Indonesian authorities said the damaged submarine has been located. 

“The KRI Nanggala is divided into three parts, the hull of the ship, the stern of the ship, and the main parts are all separated, with the main part found cracked,” said Indonesian navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono.

“We received underwater pictures that are confirmed as the parts of the submarine, including its rear vertical rudder, anchors, outer pressure body, embossed dive rudder and other ship parts,” said military chief Hadi Tjahjanto, speaking to the media in Bali on Sunday.

KRI Nanggala went missing during a torpedo firing exercise on Wednesday in waters between Bali and Java, Indonesia.  A massive search effort was conducted by the navy, known officially as the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL). Other nations, including the U.S., dispatched ships, aircraft, personnel to help in the search and rescue of the crew.

Aircraft searching the area noted an oil slick was which was suspected to have come from the submarine. “That oil spill location is the last time we had contact with the submarine,” Indonesian navy spokesman First Adm. Julius Widjojono said.

In addition to the oil slick, confirming the likelihood that the submarine broke apart was the retrieval of several items that were shown to journalists. A container of grease used for periscopes, part of a torpedo launcher, part of a metal tube, prayer mats and fuel were recovered were about two miles from the where the submarine commenced its dive before it went missing. Later a life vest from the sub was found. The water at the location where the floating debris was found is 2,788 feet.

There were no reports of loud underwater noises that would point to an explosion, but Margono said the heavy pressure on the vessel probably caused the hull to lose integrity, permitting some items to escape and rise to the surface.

“With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the ‘sub miss’ phase to ‘sub sunk,’” Margono said at a press conference. 

Margono later said sonar detected a submarine-like object at 850 meters (2,790 feet), far below the Nanggala’s safe operating depth.

“It can be stated that the KRI Nanggala has sunk and all of its crew have died,” military chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters.

Although initial reports stated the submarine was last reported at a location north of Bali, a later statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Defense said the sub was lost in the Bali Strait, between the islands of Java and Bali that connects to the Indian Ocean to the south and Bali Sea to the north.

The search effort was coordinated from the naval base at Banyuwangi, on the eastern tip of Java, the most populated of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands.

Earlier in the search effort, an Indonesian ship, KRI Rimau, detected a very strong magnetic signature, in an area consistent with the submarine’s last known position, later confirmed by survey ship, KRI Riguel.

Before the submarine was confirmed sunk, a number of nations sent help or offered to support the search effort. Singapore, Malaysia and India dispatched submarine rescue ships and two Australian warships sailed to join the search efforts.

“HMA Ships Ballarat and Sirius, both presently at sea on separate regional deployments, are making best speed for the search area,” said a Friday press release from Australia’s defense department.

Rear Adm. Mark Hammond, of the Australian task force, added that his thoughts were with the submariners of KRI Nanggala, their families and the Indonesian people. “As always, we stand ready to assist our fellow mariners in the Indonesian navy,” he said.

The U.S. Navy sent a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to support the effort.

“It’s a sophisticated platform that could be helpful in leading the Indonesian government to a better idea of the location,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to inform him that the aircraft was coming and provide any additional assistance that might be needed, Kirby told reporters.

In addition to the P-8, the U.S. sent three C-17 aircraft carrying boats and underwater search and rescue equipment from Dover Air Base on Friday.

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo directed that the search and rescue efforts for Nanggala and crew was a national priority. “To the families of the crew, I understand your feeling right now. However, the government has done and will continue to do its utmost to search and rescue all crew on board,” he said while the search was underway.

“I am deeply saddened to learn the Indonesian submarine lost at sea earlier this week is now believed sunk. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Indonesian navy, their Sailors and all those families who lost loved ones,” said Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday. “As Sailors, we share a love for the sea and have a bond of fellowship with all who sail on it. We have a respect for its dangers and also understand the importance of the worlds’ oceans to our collective way of life.

“No doubt, Indonesia is a good friend and partner. Despite this tragic loss, it is my hope that we will continue to operate together in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Gilday said.

The mission now changes from rescue to recovery.