WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s controversial decision to propose one Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) instead of two in the fiscal year 2021 budget was a matter of budget priorities — not a concern over shipyard or program capacity to start construction of the Columbia ballistic-missile sub, the Navy’s top acquisition official told Congress. 

“I had less confidence six to nine months ago where we were seeing some of the Block IV [Virginia SSN] deliveries starting to move to the right, and the concern was can we maintain the cadence to not add risk to Columbia,” James F. Geurts, Navy assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, said March 4 during testimony before Seapower and Projection Forces, a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. 

Geurts repeated his previous assertion that “the No. 1 way to reduce risk to Columbia is a stable, well-performing Virginia program.” 

The Navy worked closely with the submarine builders, Electric Boat and Newport News Shipyard, to stabilize the transition from Block III to Block IV. 

“I am happy to report that over the last six months that has stabilized,” he said. “My concerns are not, now, ‘Can they execute?’ he said. “They just need to continue to execute.” 

Geurts said that at the time a “relief valve” was created by making the 10th Virginia-class SSN an option in the recent multiyear Block V procurement. The second 2021 Virginia SSN became “more of an affordability issue, not an execution issue,” he said. “I’m confident [the shipyards] can execute [building] the ship.” 

The second Virginia SSN is atop the Navy’s list of 2021 unfunded priorities. 

“We need to add that ship in this year, or we’ll just have to work on that at the start of Block VI,” Geurts said. “I don’t think there is a way to execute three [submarines] in a Columbia year with a high degree of success.” 

“Submarine construction is very sensitive to cadence … and dips in workload, so there is some work we’re going to do at the end of 2023 with the shipbuilder,” he added. “The last thing we want to do is lay off folks [only] to climb this giant Columbia wall. 

“If we cut short and have a large gap at the end of Block V [production] before having Block VI move in and Columbia start up, that will be a risk to execution not only in Virginia but to Columbia.” 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is looking at acquisition strategies for procuring four amphibious warfare ships over the next few years to achieve economies, the Navy’s top acquisition official said. 

During March 4 testimony about the fiscal 2021 shipbuilding proposal before the Seapower subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee by James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he was pleased that the 2021 proposal had accelerated the planned procurement of amphibious assault ship LHA 9 from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2023. 

Geurts said that the acceleration was enabled because Congress had appropriated funds and given incremental funding authority “relatively early to that need.”  

“Our challenge in the future budgets will be to place that money back in the program so we can deliver that LHA,” he said.  

Wicker asked about the possibility of a multiyear procurement for three Block II San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs 31, 32 and 33) and LHA 9. He referred to a request last year from the Seapower subcommittee to “review alternative acquisition strategies for amphibious ships to leverage multiple-ship contracts, which have saved billions of dollars. In this review, the Navy reported that significant savings could be achieved by procuring various combinations of amphibious ships.” 

“There is tremendous potential as [said] in our report to Congress, and as we’ve looked at it even further to doing a block buy of the three LPDs and the LHA,” Geurts said. 

“We see that savings to be in that 8% to 12% range, which would be a billion dollars back in taxpayer savings. So, we’re looking at that closely. We’re also executing that advance procurement, long-lead funding that’s been appropriated with the incremental authority. The things that I’ve seen in the draft of the SHIPS Implementation Act in terms of giving us more authorities to do smart procurement will be tremendously beneficial.” 

The Huntington Ingalls shipyard where the Navy’s amphibious warfare ships are built is in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

BATH, Maine — Construction of the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126) officially began at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard on March 3. The milestone was marked by a ceremony at BIW’s structural fabrication facility in Brunswick, Maine, the Program Executive Office (PEO)-Ships said in a release. 

DDG 126 will be the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built in the Flight III configuration at BIW. Flight III destroyers will have improved capability and capacity to perform anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense in support of the integrated air and missile defense mission. 

This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare. 

The ship will honor Marine Corps Gen. Louis Hugh Wilson Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership and daring combat tactics in the Battle of Guam in 1944. During a prolonged firefight with Japanese forces, Wilson led Marines under his command across rugged terrain to secure a strategic objective. Despite being wounded three times, Wilson and his men defended their position for more than 10 hours of combat. The following day, Wilson led a 17-man patrol to capture, secure, and hold a second position. 

“This is a tremendous occasion as we mark the start of construction on BIW’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, PEO-Ships. 

“General Wilson embodied the spirit of our nation in his will to protect his fellow Marines and countrymen. What better way to honor him than to build a highly capable warship that advances our Navy’s ability to protect and defend our nation.”  

BIW also is in production on the future Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127) as well as the Zumwalt-class destroyer Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002). 

WASHINGTON – Unlike the South China Sea and other contested
areas, the U.S. Navy does not have the
capability to conduct freedom-of-the-seas operations in the icebound waters of
the Arctic, a key Pentagon official conceded.

With only one heavy and one medium icebreaker and no Navy
ships with hulls hardened against ice, “We do have limitations in the Arctic
right now,” James H. Anderson, assistant secretary of defense for  strategy, plans and capabilities, told a readiness
subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 3 during a hearing
on U.S. military readiness in the Arctic.

The subcommittee chairman, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska),
said he doubted the Navy could today follow the route across the Arctic that
Allied supply convoys took to the Soviet Union in World War II. Sullivan noted
that previous Defense Department Arctic strategies called for protecting “our
sovereign territory, our sea lanes through Freedom of Navigation operations
(FONOPS).”

The drastic decline of sea ice in the Arctic has opened sea
lanes across the top of the world, sparking territorial disputes. Russia,
Norway, Canada and the United States all have boosted their military presence
in the Arctic at a rate not seen since the Cold War.

Last year, Russia completed a large new base at Alexandra
Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, while reopening and refitting seven
former Soviet bases within the Arctic Circle. Russia also has modernized its
powerful Northern Fleet. In response, the U.S. has reconstituted the 2nd Fleet,
adding the North Pole to that fleet’s area of responsibility. Last October, a
U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, entered Arctic waters for the
first time since 1991.

Sullivan said the Navy has assured him that U.S. submarines
are all over the Arctic, but “you can’t see a sub. The whole point of a FONOP
is to demonstrate presence.”

When pressed at the hearing about conducting FONOPS in the
large stretches of the Arctic still covered by ice, Anderson said the Navy had
determined that to exercise its Arctic strategy, “they do not have a
requirement for ice-hardened ships.”

In addition to a deficit of ice-hardened hulls, Sullivan said
the U.S. lacks a strategic port on — or even near — the Arctic Ocean that could
handle repairs or refueling of large Navy or even U.S. Coast Guard vessels.

“Russia has close to a dozen or two dozen ports,” he said,
noting the closest viable port at Anchorage or Dutch Harbor, Alaska, was 1,000
nautical miles or more from Arctic waters. In addition to ports and military
bases, Russian President Vladimir Putin has 54 icebreakers, Sullivan said. “He’s
got all the cards.”

Anderson, who is performing the duties of deputy
undersecretary of defense for policy, for which he is expected to be nominated
by President Trump, said the Pentagon, under the National Defense Authorization
Act for fiscal year 2020, is assessing infrastructure needs in the Arctic to
support operational flexibility and power projection. That includes an Army
Corps of Engineers study of Nome as a possible large ship harbor. A draft
report is expected in December, Anderson said.

WASHINGTON — The admiral in charge of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear weapons arsenal said the new warhead in development is needed to modernize the arsenal. 

Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), testifying on March 3 in Washington before the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Forces Committee, said the W93 warhead and Mark 7 re-entry aeroshell are needed to pace the threat. 

The proposed fiscal 2021 budget reflects the direction to pursue the W93 warhead and Mark 7 aeroshell program of record, which “will address an evolving threat environment and ballistic missile warhead modernization requirements, will improve operational effectiveness for U.S. Strategic Command and will mitigate technical, operational, programmatic and geopolitical risk in the sea-based leg of the deterrent,” Wolfe said. 

“The SSP fiscal 2021 budget request not only funds the sustainment of today’s deterrent but it also begins the investment to build and re-energize capabilities, technologies, work force and critical skills required of any nuclear nation.” 

The SSP budget “reflects important investments in our follow-on Trident D5 Life-Extension 2 need for strategic deployment no later than 2039 in an evolving threat environment,” he said. 

Wolfe said the modernization efforts will produce “just-in-time replacements,” noting that the recapitalization “has left no margin for unanticipated challenges and technical work that we have not executed in over 30 years. … We must begin now. Now is the right time to ensure that the sea-based deterrent continues to meet strategic requirements.” 

He said the refurbishment of the W76 warhead family has been completed and a small number of them have been modified with a low-yield option. The timeline for completion of the W88 Warhead Alteration 370 program has been modified to reach production in 2021. 

Lisa Gordon-Haggerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Safety Administration who also testified at the hearing, said the W93 warhead will be based on previously deployed and tested nuclear explosive components. 

Wolfe said it has been 30 years since a new aeroshell had been developed and that “we’ve got to look how we can produce an aeroshell, agnostic of whatever the final solution is. We’ve got to have this for all of our systems as we move into the future.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has ordered another UC-12W Huron utility transport aircraft from Textron Aviation. 

NAVAIR awarded Textron Aviation Inc. $14.3 million to fund the production and delivery of one King Air 350C Cargo Slick aircraft modified to a UC-12W, according to a March 2 Defense Department announcement.  

The UC-12W Huron is the most recent naval version of the C-12 light utility transport aircraft. It is used as a base flight aircraft for Marine Corps air stations. The UC-12W, an FAA-certified military variant of the King Air 300 series aircraft, is a low-wing, fully pressurized, multifunction T-tail monoplane with two turboprop engines. 

The aircraft is certified to operate on unimproved runways, certified/capable of operating in extreme weather conditions and equipped with the latest FAA mandates for operations in and outside of the continental United States. The cabin can be configured to accommodate passengers, cargo or both.  

The Marine Corps operates 8 UC-12Ws equipped with extended-range fuel tanks, additional aircraft survivability equipment, night-vision compatible lighting and satellite phone communications. The UC-12Ws are replacing UC-12F/M versions of the Huron.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office have delivered the 500th F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, the company said March 3. The F-35 surpassed 250,000 flight hours last month. 

The 500th production aircraft is a U.S. Air Force F-35A, to be delivered to the Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont. The 500 F-35s include 354 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variants, 108 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variants for the U.S. Marine Corps and 38 F-35C carrier variants for the Navy and international customers. The 250,000 flight hours include developmental test jets and training, operational, U.S. and international F-35s.  

“These milestones are a testament to the talent and dedication of the joint government, military and industry teams,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed’s vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “The F-35 is delivering an unprecedented fifth-generation combat capability to the warfighter at the cost of a fourth-generation legacy aircraft.” 

The F-35 operates from 23 bases worldwide. More than 985 pilots and over 8,890 maintainers are trained. Nine nations use the F-35 from their home soil, eight services have declared initial operating capability and four services have employed F-35s in combat operations.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Coast Guard Cutter Munro returned home on March 1 after a 78-day deployment, during which the crew seized an estimated $115 million worth of cocaine from suspected smugglers in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a Coast Guard Pacific Area release. 

The crew patrolled known drug-transit zones of the eastern Pacific from late December to mid-January and interdicted three suspected drug-smuggling vessels that carried 6,680 pounds of pure cocaine. 

The cocaine seized by Munro’s crew and three other Coast Guard cutters was part of a nearly 20,000-pound haul of the drug offloaded in San Diego on Feb. 11. 

This patrol was Munro’s second deployment to the eastern Pacific since the cutter’s 2017 commissioning. Last July, Vice President Mike Pence attended Munro’s offload of more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana worth more than $500 million. That offload included contraband found aboard a self-propelled, semi-submersible vessel interdicted by Munro’s crew on June 18 that was carrying more than 17,000 pounds of cocaine. 

Following February’s offload, the crew began a multiweek tailored ship’s training availability — a set of drills, inspections and exercises that assess a ship’s mission readiness and damage control capabilities. The crew passed all 136 required drills, with an overall average of 97%. 

“I truly could not have asked for a better crew with whom to share these memories, but we didn’t do this alone,” said Capt. Jim Estramonte, the Munro’s commanding officer. “Through all our adventures, the friends and family members of Munro’s crew have supported us. It is their hard work at home that allows us to serve. Their sacrifice does not go unnoticed. So thank you to all those who make our success possible.” 

Munro is one of four national security cutters homeported in Alameda. These Legend-class cutters are 418 feet long, 54 feet wide and have a 4,600 long-ton displacement. They have a top speed in excess of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of nearly 150. 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Specialized and Proven Aircraft program office (PMA-226) recently completed a modification on several U.S. Navy F-16A Fighting Falcon aircraft to increase readiness and service life, according to Naval Air Systems Command. 

The FalconUp modification improves F-16A readiness by extending their fatigue lives by more than 500 hours and provides the configuration baseline to incorporate the funded Falcon Star program, which adds an additional 3,750 hours to the service lives of the aircraft. 

“The FalconUp upgrade incorporates structural improvements that extend the service life of the aircraft from 3,665 hours to 4,250 hours,” said Capt. Ramiro Flores, PMA-226’s program manager. “The program procured and installed proven structural modification kits on 10 U.S. Navy aircraft that enhanced and strengthened their internal structure.” 

PMA-226 used a rapid acquisition approach, in this case a build-to-print strategy to minimize risk and eliminate the need for test plans, systems engineering plans and design reviews. Build-to-print is a process in which a manufacturer produces products, equipment or components according to the customer’s exact specifications. 

The program office leveraged existing designs that the U.S. Air Force and international partners have used to install the modification and have been including it in production of the F-16 for more than two decades. The Navy competitively awarded the contract to ES3 Prime Logistics Group Inc., which has previously manufactured the same components for the Air Force and PMA-226. 

“Since the proven design has flown thousands of hours in this configuration, and it doesn’t require expansion of the current flight envelope, we were able to deliver this training capability to the warfighter much faster than a traditional program,” said Lt. Cmdr. Heather Bliss, PMA-226 adversary program team co-lead. 

“The upgrade allows the Navy to provide mission ready adversary aircraft for Naval aviation advanced tactical and aerial combat training, extending the operational life of the F-16A through 2025,” said Boyd Forsythe, PMA-226 adversary program team lead.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Naval Air Systems Command has ordered two MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft and provided funds to continue the modernization of the Osprey fleet. 

According to the Feb. 28 Pentagon contract announcement, NAVAIR awarded Bell-Boeing a $165.3 million contract under the fiscal 2020 defense budget for the two MV-22Bs and for repairs to the existing Osprey fleet under the Common Configuration Readiness and Modernization (CC-RAM) program. 

The CC-RAM program is designed to reduce about 70 different sub-configurations of the Osprey fleet to standard configurations. Most of the existing Osprey fleet is the Block B configuration. Bell-Boeing delivered the first of 129 Block B MV-22Bs to be converted to Block C standards to the Marine Corps on Dec. 10.  

The Block C incorporates upgrades added as a result of lessons learned in combat deployments of the Osprey. The upgrades include improved cockpit displays, a display in the passenger/cargo cabin, chaff and flare dispensers and a weather radar.