JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK, Va. ─ Naval Facilities (NAVFAC) Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Central Command, and the U.S. Transportation Command successfully completed a proof-of-concept vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) demonstration on July 13, 2020, the NAVFAC EXWC said in a July 20 release. 

With NAVFAC EXWC at the helm as the demonstration lead, the joint capability demonstration included U.S. Central Command, U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab serving as the operational leads for the daylong demonstration, providing operational and development inputs. 

The VTOL demonstration determined whether a VTOL aircraft can land on a forward-deployed barge with fuel stored on deck. The demonstration also supported the Resilient Expeditionary Agile Littoral Logistics, or REALL, objective to provide a low-cost logistics solution for the Department of Defense, as an alternative to placing high-value logistics supply platforms in contested environments. 

The most recent demonstration marks the first of numerous planned technology and operational demonstrations aimed to transition the REALL capability technology to the warfighter. 

“This demonstration is another example of what the great people of NAVFAC EXWC provides for our American warfighters,” said Kail Macias, NAVFAC EXWC technical director. “Speed and agility enable our forces to win the fight. The success of REALL is a tribute to the hard work and collaboration across [the Defense Department].” 

The VTOL demonstration consisted of one MH-60M Blackhawk helicopter — provided by the U.S. Special Operations Aviation Command, Systems Integration Management Office — that landed on the Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS). The INLS is outfitted to simulate a refueling evolution; INLS systems were provided by Amphibious Construction Battalion Two. 

“The INLS roll-on/roll-off discharge facility is a modular system and is traditionally designed to facilitate movement of rolling stock from ship to shore platforms,” said Lt. Cmdr. Robert Leftwich, Bravo Company commander, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2. “It is a robust and highly capable platform suitable for other uses. Incorporating this legacy system into emergent needs enables more resiliency and responsiveness.” 

The successful VTOL demonstration further advances the National Defense Strategy’s modernization priority on forward force maneuver and posture resilience. 

“As the lead combatant command sponsor and warfighter representative for the REALL project, USCENTCOM’s goal was to demonstrate a littoral logistics sustainment capability for fuel distribution and logistics nodes in support of emerging operational concepts,” Said Thomas Smith, CENTCOM J8-ST chief science advisor for Advanced Concepts.

Looking onward, REALL will be further vetted, with the end goal of providing fuel, water, food and other supplies to vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and seaborne vessels for logistics operations required by the Naval Concept of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations. 

ANDOVER, Mass. — Mercury Systems Inc. has received $11.7 million in orders against its previously announced $152 million five-year sole-source basic ordering agreement to deliver advanced Digital RF Memory (DRFM) jammers to the U.S. Navy, the company said in a July 22 release. The orders were received in the fourth quarter of the company’s fiscal 2020 year and are expected to be delivered over the next several quarters. 
         
Mercury DRFM jammers are size-, weight- and power-optimized to meet the electronic protection requirements of airborne pod-based solutions and incorporate decades of DRFM technology development, validated electronic attack techniques and custom RF components purpose-built to support advanced electronic warfare test and training capabilities, according to the release. 
         
“Our advanced DRFM systems are a critical tool for providing realistic electronic threats for naval testing, evaluation and training,” said Mark Bruington, vice president of Mercury’s Processing division. “It’s part of our commitment to developing and producing a simultaneous multiple-threat processing system with a flexible architecture that can evolve to keep pace with emerging threats, delivering ‘Innovation That Matters’ to our service men and women in the field.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The top U.S. military official in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility has placed 360-degree defense of Guam from air and missile threats as his top priority. 

Adm. Phillip S. Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo Pacific Command, speaking in a July 21 teleconference with reporters, said that ballistic missiles launched from China or North Korea and cruise missiles launched from aircraft, ships or submarines are a threat to U.S. forces in Guam, a U.S. territory, which is increasing in importance as a base for U.S. forces. 

“My No. 1 priority, and the most important action we can take to readily and most fully implement the National Defense Strategy, as a first step, is a 360-degree persistent integrated air defense capability of what I call Homeland Defense System Guam,” Davidson said. 

Davidson advocates deploying the Baseline 10 Aegis Ashore missile defense system to Guam to supplement the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system already in place on the island.  

The Aegis Ashore system is an adaptation of the Navy’s Aegis Combat System installed on Ticonderoga-class guided-missile destroyers and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. The SPY-1D radars of the system are teamed with an array of vertical launch cells housing Standard SM-3 missiles. Two Aegis Ashore systems are deployed to Europe, in Romania and Poland.  

“The backbone of the Homeland Defense System Guam would be the Baseline 10 Aegis Ashore system,” Davidson said. “The reason I’m a key advocate for that is, first, it is technology that is available to us now and could be delivered by 2026, when I believe the threat will require us to have a much more robust capability than the combination of THAAD, which is deployed there now, and an Aegis ship in response can provide. 

“You are going to need a complete clock — a 360-degree coverage in order to help defend Guam,” he said. “Further, Aegis Ashore, the C5I [command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence], that comes with it, enables you to bring in other capability like PAC-3 [missile defense system], other shorter-range defenses as well, much like Baseline 10 on a ship enables you to link and engage with other capability sets. That’s going to be required going forward. And it comes quickest. And that’s why Homeland Defense System Guam is at the top of my list.” 

Davidson said the funding would have to be approved by Congress in the 2021 budget for ground to be broken in time for Aegis Ashore to be operational in Guam by 2026.  

Guam was an important base during the Cold War and Vietnam War, with a squadron of ballistic-missile submarines, an EP-3 fleet air reconnaissance squadron and a detachment of P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, as well as an Air Force wing of B-52 long-range bombers. Its importance declined after the Cold War but returned in the 21st century to counter the rise of China’s military power. The Navy has stationed four attack submarines in Guam along with two submarine tenders. At Andersen Air Force Base, the Navy operates a sea combat helicopter squadron and a detachment of MQ-4C Triton long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles. The Navy also is building facilities for Marine Corps units that are scheduled to be moved to Guam from Okinawa in the future.   

Japan, which also deploys the Aegis system on its Kongo-class guided-missile destroyers, also had planned to deploy Aegis Ashore, but recently canceled the deployment because of concerns of damage to local communities near the launch sites. 

U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers forward-deployed to Japan patrol the Sea of Japan in rotation to provide ballistic-missile defense. Former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson advocated for more Aegis Ashore systems to make the ships available for other tasking.   

ANDOVER, Mass. — Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, delivered the first AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar array for installation on the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the U.S. Navy’s first Flight III guided-missile destroyer. The SPY-6 family of radars performs simultaneous air, missile and surface defense on seven types of U.S. Navy ships. 

“SPY-6 will change how the Navy conducts surface fleet operations,” said Capt. Jason Hall, program manager for Above-Water Sensors for the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems. “Our ships will be able to see farther, react quicker and defend against threats in a way we couldn’t before.” 

The 14-foot-by-14-foot modular array was transported by truck from the company’s automated 30,000-square-foot Radar Development Facility in Andover, Massachusetts, to Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

“This is the start of what will be a steady stream of SPY-6 array deliveries to the shipyard,” said Kim Ernzen, vice president of Naval Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “Threats to Navy ships are getting smaller and faster. SPY-6 will extend the Navy’s reach against dangers like drones, ballistic missiles, aircraft and unmanned ships.” 

The SPY-6(V) family of radars delivers significantly greater range, increased accuracy, greater resistance to environmental and man-made electronic clutter, advanced electronic protection, and higher reliability than currently deployed radars. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Technical Solutions division announced today that it has completed a strategic equity investment in Sea Machines Robotics Inc., a Boston-based autonomous technology company that specializes in advanced software for unmanned surface vessels (USVs). 

“This investment represents our commitment to advanced innovation and competencies across the unmanned systems market,” said Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Technical Solutions. “Sea Machines is making significant strides in the USV industry. We want to invest in their growth and continue to form complementary partnerships across this key domain.” 

Sea Machines was founded in 2015 and is an autonomous technology company that specializes in advanced control technology for workboats and other commercial surface vessels. They have installed their innovative autonomy software on vessels worldwide and support customers in the commercial, recreational and government market sectors. Their commercial, off-the-shelf technology can support remote controlled or fully autonomous command of vessels. 

“Our partnership with Sea Machines gives us immediate access to state-of-the art solutions for U.S government work in the USV space,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of Technical Solutions’ Unmanned Systems. “Sea Machines’ products align well with our existing autonomy capabilities, and we look forward to collaborating with their team on USV pursuits.” 

HII continues to expand in the rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems industry. Earlier this year they added additional unmanned underwater vehicle capabilities — with REMUS and Seaglider product lines through the March acquisition of Hydroid. While the company has worked on USVs in the past, this investment represents another milestone in their commitment to strengthen their leadership in unmanned systems. 

MIAMI — Coast Guard and Customs and Border Patrol teams halted an illegal voyage, Thursday, about 8 miles east of Delray Beach, Florida, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a July 20 release.  

Coast Guard Station Lake Worth Inlet, Coast Guard Cutter Ibis and CBP law enforcement teams stopped the 25-foot boat. The cutter crew safely embarked 23 Haitian migrants, two who were medically transported for symptoms of severe dehydration.  

The interdicted migrants were turned over to Bahamian authorities for repatriation back to Haiti. 

“These illegal ventures attempting to immigrate to the United States are extremely dangerous because weather and sea conditions can dramatically change and the vessels are not equipped with the required safety equipment for passenger operations putting lives at higher risk of being lost at sea,” said Lt. j.g. Karolina Del Hierro Vega, 7th Seventh District, Enforcement. “Migrants caught attempting to gain access into the U.S. through these illegal voyages will be repatriated to their country in accordance with existing U.S. immigration policy.” 

The Coast Guard and CBP have interdicted approximately 2,500 Haitian migrants who have attempted to illegally enter the U.S via the maritime environment in fiscal year 2020, which began Oct. 1, 2019, compared to 3,499 Haitian migrants in fiscal year 2019. These numbers represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. 

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Throughout the interdiction Coast Guard crewmembers were equipped with personal protective equipment to minimize potential exposure to any possible case of COVID-19. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is developing a new sonobuoy to enhance is ability to track newer and quieter submarines, according to a July 20 Defense Department contract announcement.  

The Office of Naval Research has awarded Undersea Signal Systems Inc. of Columbia City, Indiana, a $28.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee-contract “to develop a prototype sonobuoy, known as Extended Range Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (ER-DIFAR), to address new and quiet threat submarine targets.” 

Sonobuoys are deployed by Navy P-8A, P-3C and MH-60R aircraft to acoustically detect and track submarines. They are expendable sensors that float on the surface of the water and extend a hydrophone to depths to collect sound from submarine propulsion systems, auxiliary machinery and other sources of sound from a submarine. 

Passive sonobuoys, such as the SSQ-53 DIFAR (Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording) sonobuoys were a staple of Cold War antisubmarine operations because they were able to detect and point to the sounds from a submarine. As Soviet and later Russian submarines improved in their acoustic quieting, the DIFAR sonobuoy became less effective. The Navy then turned to emphasized active tracking sonobuoys such as the SSQ-125 sonobuoy, which used a sound source to “ping” a submarine, but also revealed to a submarine that it was being tracked.  

A new extended-range DIFAR sonobuoy would increase the ability to passively track quieter submarines.    

The contract for the DIFAR-ER is a three-year base contract with a one-year option. Work is expected to be completed by July 2024. 

POINT MUGU, Calif. — Demonstrating that Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) remains open for business despite the pandemic, Navy leaders and private contractors have broken ground at Naval Base Ventura County’s Point Mugu for what will become the fleet’s only dedicated facility to test, fire and evaluate complete laser weapon systems in a maritime environment, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) said in a release.  

The nearly 18,500-square-foot Directed Energy Systems Integration Laboratory (DESIL) will open in roughly a year along the Point Mugu Sea Range, enabling NSWC PHD to help accelerate delivery of laser lethality to the warfighter at sea, according to the release.

“Thank you to our partners who were able to join us today for this momentous occasion,” said Capt. Ray Acevedo, NSWC PHD’s commanding officer, at the small groundbreaking ceremony. “This lab is a great win for the Navy, and it further affirms that even during a crisis, the Navy and NAVSEA have been, and continue to be, open for business, executing our mission.” 

“The combination of capabilities will be unlike that of any other facility, and will provide customers with a versatile venue for technology maturation and weapon system integration and test. This is a game-changer for the Navy, and will ensure this new technology is well-supported as it becomes a mainstay on naval combatants.” — Robert Harriman, DESIL systems engineer with NSWC PHD

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Systems Command operates the 36,000-square-mile sea range, one of the reasons why NBVC was chosen for DESIL, said Thomas Dowd, director of the command’s Range Department, during the ceremony. 

“The value of the Point Mugu Sea Range is that you can put a facility of this nature right on the coastline, and it can operate in the sea range and take advantage of that testing capability,” Dowd said. “The decision to build it here is a recognition of the value of the partnership we have between location, geography, maritime environment and engineering talent at the two centers.” 

Once operating, the facility recreates as realistically as possible how high-energy laser (HEL) weapons behave on a Navy ship platform — customers/users will test how HEL beams perform in sea conditions such as moisture, humidity, salt, fog, differing air densities and temperature changes will affect laser performance; how ships’ systems will power and cool the energy-intense weapons; and will test them by shooting at targets on the sea range and in the air over the sea range. Directed energy (DE) team members will support HEL weapons once installed on ships. DESIL will also serve as a laboratory for integrating, testing and evaluating developers’ new DE and HEL weapon prototypes. 

Also attending the groundbreaking were Jeff Harper, owner and president of Harper Construction Co. Inc. of San Diego, which will build DESIL through a military construction contract, and Cmdr. Andrew Olson with Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), DESIL design manager.  

NAVFAC prepared DESIL’s request for proposal based on NSWC PHD’s requirements, awarded the design/build contract to Harper and will monitor the construction. The lab’s estimated cost is roughly $23 million. 

Navy In-Service Engineering Agents (ISEA) for ship-based combat and laser systems, will operate DESIL, enabling the lasers to support the fleet as crucial components of the Navy’s maritime superiority strategy. 

“[At DESIL,] the ISEA engineers will recreate issues and investigate [engineering] issues for deployed DE-installed ships and use the lab as a test range asset,” said Marcos Gonzalez, NSWC PHD project lead for DESIL. “It [DESIL] could [also] bring in industry-developed versions of lasers, and developers could perform firing exercises on the test range. We [also] want to make it open to others in the DE world, such as university researchers, because of its unique location, adjacent to the sea range.” 

During the ceremony, NSWC PHD Technical Director Paul Mann discussed DE’s “enormous capability” for all warfighters across all military branches, and that DESIL’s ability to enable weapon systems integration is essential to the Navy’s delivery of that capability. 

“Systems integration is going to allow government, military and industry professionals to come to this facility at Point Mugu and do extraordinary things for our United States and its citizens,” Mann said. “The amazing success that’s going to be hatched and inspired and born at this facility is something we haven’t yet totally imagined. When we are at our most lethal, we deter at our best, so this is an investment in the protection of our United States’ citizens.” 

DESIL has also been designed to handle increasingly more powerful lasers. 

The lab will include space to collaborate with Department of Defense, private industry and academia DE experts; a conference room; offices; and an area for high-velocity learning to potentially train Sailors. 

“The combination of capabilities will be unlike that of any other facility, and will provide customers with a versatile venue for technology maturation and weapon system integration and test,” said Robert Harriman, DESIL systems engineer with NSWC PHD. “This is a game-changer for the Navy, and will ensure this new technology is well-supported as it becomes a mainstay on naval combatants.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has ordered six more Enterprise Air Search Radars (EASRs) from Raytheon Missiles and Defense, the Defense Department said in a July 17 release. 

The Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense of Marlborough, Massachusetts, a $125.9 million fixed-price, incentive fee modification to a previously awarded to exercise options for the six low- rate initial production units.  

The six units include four SPY-6(V)2 rotator versions and two SPY-6(V)3 fixed-faced versions. These versions are scaled-down versions of the SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar being installed on the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. 

The AN/SPY-6(V)2 EASR rotator units will be deployed on the amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8), the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), the last Flight I San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and the first Flight II San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Harrisburg (LPD 30), respectively.   

The two SPY-6(V)3 EASR fixed-faced units will be deployed on the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and the first ship of the new FFG(X) guided-missile frigates.  

Work is expected to be completed by January 2023.   

ARLINGTON, Va. — As part of the national response to COVID-19, the Defense Department entered into a $22 million agreement with Rolls-Royce to maintain, protect and expand critical domestic productive capacity for propellers essential to U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs, the department said in a Jul 17 release. These projects will begin in July 2020 and help meet increasing demand across the vitally important shipbuilding sector of the defense industrial base. 

Using funds authorized and appropriated under the CARES Act, this DPA Title III investment will protect and create jobs in the Gulf Coast region hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure critical capabilities are retained in support of U.S. Navy operational readiness. 

Rolls-Royce intends to expand its existing facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to install a number of state-of-the-art machine tools to support production of propellers for all shipbuilding programs, reduce production risks and increase throughput. These investments will have long-term benefits for the U.S. Navy and the Gulf Coast region.  

Over the next 36 months, the $22 million government investment will sustain and expand critical domestic industrial base capability for propeller machining capacity. The Rolls-Royce Foundry will continue to be one of only two facilities capable of supplying the U.S. Navy with this capacity. 

The Rolls-Royce Foundry in Pascagoula is the principal place of performance.