ARLINGTON, Va. — The Coast Guard is continuing rescue-and-recovery operations in the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. 

As of 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, Coast Guard forces had rescued 308 people in the Bahamas, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The Coast Guard has five MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters conducting missions in the area, including search and rescue, logistics and for assessments. The helicopters are staged out of Andros Island, site of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, where the U.S. Navy stages helicopters for antisubmarine training such as torpedo drops.  

The Coast Guard also has five cutters providing support in the disaster recovery operations.  

Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, also are participating in the relief efforts under the auspices of U.S. Northern Command. 

The 7th District said that all ports have been re-opened.

SEATTLE —
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC 717), including two Canadian
fishery officers, returned to their homeport of Seattle on Sept. 2 after an
80-day patrol detecting and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

IUU
fishing deprives the international economy of billions of dollars and
undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fish harvesters around the world. It
impacts food security, affecting millions of people, including many vulnerable
coastal communities. Combatting global IUU fishing through international
partnerships is a priority for Canada and the United States.

“IUU
fishing is one of the greatest threats to the ocean’s fish stocks,” said Capt.
Jonathan Musman, Mellon’s commanding officer. “It was an honor to be on the
front lines of enforcement efforts of the distant waters fishing fleets.”

The
fisheries patrol was performed under the auspices of the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission. During
the patrol, Coast Guard and Canadian fishery officers boarded 45 vessels
flagged in Japan, Russia, South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei and Panama, and
they encountered violations ranging from improper gear to intentionally fishing
for sharks without a license. Boarding officers also found evidence of illegal
shark finning. Altogether, boarding teams detected 68 potential violations.

“Canada is
serious about ending illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Jonathan
Wilkinson, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian coast guard. “We are
working with our U.S. partners to achieve this goal. By preventing fish and
seafood products derived from IUU fishing from entering our ports, we will not
only help level the playing field for Canadian harvesters and Canadian
businesses involved in the fish and seafood trade: we are also sending a very
strong message that Canada’s ports have zero tolerance for illegally caught
fish.”

This is
the second joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and Fisheries and
Oceans, Canada’s Conservation and Protection program, this year. Along with the
two fishery officers aboard the Mellon, Canada also provided fishery officers
aboard a Dash-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, operated by PAL Aerospace. The
aircrew performed multiple missions over the North Pacific and Bering Sea using
state-of-the-art radars and maritime surveillance tools. Canada shared the data
from these flights with U.S. Coast Guard counterparts to support the Mellon’s
patrol mission.

The ship
also embarked two different helicopter crews from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station
North Bend, who provided 63 flight hours that directly assisted with
enforcement efforts.

Mellon’s
crew members had several port calls in Yokosuka, Japan, near Tokyo, during the
almost three-month long patrol, which covered nearly 19,000 nautical miles.

The USCG Mellon is a
378-foot high endurance cutter, one of two homeported in Seattle. The ship was
built in 1966 and was designed to perform each of the Coast Guard’s missions,
including search and rescue, national defense, law enforcement, and
environmental protection.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard repatriated 27 migrants Sept. 5 to the Samaná,
Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of two illegal migrant voyages
in Mona Passage waters off Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.

Four men
and a woman, among the interdicted migrants, remain in Puerto Rico, where they
face possible federal prosecution for attempted illegal re-entry into the
United States.

The
interdictions were a result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified
Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group
(CBIG).

“The
collaboration between the Coast Guard, CBP and the Dominican Republic navy
helped save 32 lives and ensure the quick return of the repatriated migrants,”
said Capt. Eric King, commander of Sector San Juan.

“The
migrants are very fortunate, they risked losing their lives by capsizing or
drowning since both vessels were grossly overloaded, unseaworthy and had little
or no lifesaving equipment onboard.”

On the
morning of Sept. 5, the crew of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and
Marine Operations DHC-8 marine patrol aircraft detected a migrant vessel near
Mona Island.

Coast
Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted a Coast Guard cutter on patrol,
while a CBP marine unit also responded to interdict the suspect vessel.

The crew
of the CBP marine unit interdicted the 16-foot makeshift boat with 17 migrants
aboard, 16 men and a woman, who claimed to be from the Dominican Republic. The cutter
arrived on scene shortly thereafter and safely embarked the migrants. The U.S. Coast
Guard transported five migrants from this group to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where
Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents received them. 

The crew
of a CBP Air and Marine Operations DHC-8 marine patrol aircraft sighted a
second illegal migrant voyage Wednesday night in the Mona Passage.

A Coast
Guard cutter diverted to the scene and interdicted a 20-foot boat with 15
migrants aboard. The cutter crew safely embarked 11 men and four women from the
makeshift vessel, who claimed Dominican nationality.

The Coast Guard cutter
rendezvoused with a Dominican Republic Navy vessel Thursday night just off
Samaná, Dominican Republic, where the repatriation of the migrants was
completed.

SAN DIEGO —
The U.S. Navy conducted four scheduled missile test flights of unarmed Trident
II (D5) missiles from USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), an Ohio-class ballistic missile
submarine, off the coast of Southern California, U.S. Navy Strategic Systems
Programs Public Affairs said in a release.

The first
two launches took place Sept. 4, and the last two were Sept. 6. All occurred
before sunrise.

These test
flights were part of a Commander Evaluation Test (CET), whose primary goal was
to validate performance expectations of the life-extended Trident II (D5)
strategic weapon system. These launches mark 176 successful flights of the system.

CETs and
other flight tests are conducted on a recurring, scheduled basis to evaluate
and ensure the continued reliability and accuracy of the system. The missile
tests were not conducted in response to any ongoing world events.

“Our
nation’s sea-based deterrent has been a critical component of our national
security since the 1960s, and this week’s launches continue to demonstrate the
credibility and reliability of our life-extended missiles,” said Vice Adm.
Johnny R. Wolfe, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, the command
responsible for the Navy’s strategic weapons.

The
Trident II (D5) strategic weapon system, originally designed with a life span
to 2024, recently underwent a life extension that will keep it operational
through the late 2040s. The life-extended missiles will serve for the remaining
service life of U.S Ohio-class and United Kingdom Vanguard-class SSBNs, and as
the initial loadout for the U.S. Columbia-class and U.K. Dreadnought-class
SSBNs.

The life-extension
program addressed potential aging and obsolescence issues. “The life-extended
missiles are now being deployed to the fleet, but our work is not done,”
Wolfe said.

“The
nuclear deterrence mission is the Department of Defense’s No. 1 priority, and
for the U.S. Navy that means not only maintaining our current capability, but
also developing the next generation of Trident missiles and shipboard strategic
weapon system that will ensure a credible sea-based deterrent for the next 40
years and beyond,” he added.

A
credible, effective nuclear deterrent is essential to our national security and
the security of U.S. allies. Deterrence remains a cornerstone of national
security policy in the 21st century.

Strategic Systems Programs is the Navy command that provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support for the sea-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. This includes training, systems, equipment, facilities and personnel responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nation’s Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Trident II (D5) strategic weapon system. SLBMs are one leg of the nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent triad that also includes the U.S. Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear-capable bombers.

Each part of the Triad provides unique capabilities and advantages. SLBMs make up about 70 percent of the U.S.’s deployed strategic nuclear deterrent Triad. The SLBM is the most survivable, provides persistent presence and allows flexible concept of operations.

A plan for an 8,600-person residual U.S. force in
Afghanistan after any peace agreement came from military leadership — not
President Trump — and such an agreement must be based on conditions and not on
trust in the Taliban or the belief that they could prevent other extremists
from planning an attack on America, the nation’s top military officer said.

The purpose of the current U.S.-Taliban negotiations “is to
deliver inter-Afghan deliberations” that will establish a path to a future
political arrangement. And, “one thing we’ve all been clear on is any agreement
will be conditions-based,” Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, said before the Council on Foreign Relations on Sept. 5. “We
have very specific conditions, and if they are not met, my assumption is the
negotiations will run down.”

The primary conditions for an agreement are that it would
reduce the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan to a level that the Afghan
security forces could handle, while U.S. and coalition forces deal with the
extremist elements that would like to attack America, and it would set up
negotiations between the Taliban and the government in Kabul on Afghanistan’s
political future, Dunford said.

In response to questions, Dunford said: “The number of 8,600
that the president has referred to was a number that was generated by military
leadership,” including the U.S. commanders in Afghanistan and Central Command.

“No advice I’ve provided is founded on trust in the Taliban …
nor based on the assumption that the Taliban can protect us from over 20
extremist groups in South Asia,” he emphasized. “The level of violence and
extremism in South Asia is inextricably linked to the level of the insurgency
in Afghanistan” and if it “can be reduced, then the Afghan security forces and
the U.S. and coalition forces left can focus on counter-terrorism not the
insurgency.”

Afghanistan must be viewed “in context of the overall national
defense strategy,” Dunford said. “We need a fiscally, politically and
militarily sustainable strategy against violent extremism,” which will remain a
threat, so the military can focus its attention and resources on the primary
threat of great power competition with Russia and China, he added.

“Clearly, China and Russia are the benchmark against which
we measure our strategy, how we think about risk and allocate resources for the
forces today,” Dunford said. But they also “have to be able to deal with the
threats we have today — violent extremism — at the same time we shift
sufficient resources to ensure we maintain the competitive advantage we have
today well into the future.”

Crafting a defense budget means making choices, he noted. “First and foremost, we must protect cyber, space, electronic warfare, the maritime capabilities … to make us more functional in the context of great power competition.” Dunford cited the growing defense capabilities of China and the aggressive efforts by Russian President Vladimir Putin to re-establish Russia as a major world player.

Asked about efforts to renew the U.S.-Russian New Start nuclear limitation treaty, Dunford said he “would be in favor of extending the agreement, providing if all the parties would follow the agreement.” But he noted it was “hard to say that” in wake of Russia’s violations of the INF treaty.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V.
Spencer announced the newest expeditionary fast transport (EPF) ship will be
named USNS Cody (T-EPF 14), the secretary’s public affairs officer said in a release.

The future USNS Cody is the first ship named
in honor of the city of Cody, Wyoming. At least 28 other U.S. Navy ships have
been named after the state of Wyoming’s cities, places and people.  

“The people of Cody are staunch supporters of
a strong Navy and Marine Corps team, and it is fitting to name a ship in honor
of this great city,” Spencer said. “I am pleased that the spirit of Cody will
live on in the future USNS Cody.”

EPFs transport personnel, equipment and supplies. They can transport 600 short tons of military cargo with a crew of 26 civilian mariners — equipped with airline-style seating for 312 embarked troops, along with a fixed wing berthing outfitted for an additional 104 personnel.

With a shallow draft under 15 feet, a flight deck for helicopter operations, and vehicle offload ramp, EPFs can support a wide range of operations — from port access to littoral operations. Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, is under contract to build the new EPF, which will be 338 feet long, have a waterline width (beam) of 93.5 feet, displace about 2,362 tons and be capable of 35-plus knots.

EDGEWOOD,
N.Y. — Raytheon Co. has authorized CPI Aerostructures Inc. to begin production
of pod structures and air-management system (AMS) components for the system demonstration
and test article (SDTA) phase of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB)
program, CPI Aero said in a release.

The binding
notification provides about $2 million in funding to begin work and establishes
a maximum value of $23.3 million for a contract that is expected to be
finalized before the end of 2019. Deliveries of SDTA pods and AMS components
are expected to begin in August of 2020 and end in the first half of 2021.

Raytheon is designing and manufacturing NGJ-MB, a high-capacity and power airborne electronic attack weapon system for the EA-18G Growler aircraft. It is designed to protect air forces by denying, degrading and disrupting threat radars and communication devices. There are two NGJ-MB pods per EA-18G aircraft. CPI Aero announced in August 2018 that it is manufacturing the pod structure and AMS components for Raytheon, which delivered the first NGJ-MB engineering development model pod to the U.S. Navy for ground and aircraft integration testing in July.

“CPI Aero has been a key supplier to Raytheon on this program since 2016, and we are proud to play an important role in getting this critical electronic warfare capability into the hands of the U.S. Navy for testing,” stated Douglas J. McCrosson, president and CEO of CPI Aero. “As we begin the SDTA phase, we reach another waypoint on the path towards receiving a decision by the U.S. Navy to proceed with low-rate initial production in late 2020 to keep the program on track to achieve initial operating capability in 2022.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Leonardo DRS Inc. has won a U.S. Navy
contract for the development, integration and production of hardware solutions
for various Navy platforms, the company said in a Sept. 4 release.

The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has
a base award of more than $382 million. With options, the cumulative value of
the contract is estimated at more than $830 million.

Under the contract, Leonardo DRS will provide design,
procurement, production, sparing, test, installation, and support of displays,
workstations, processors, and network systems; the production of subsequent
systems, kits and enclosures; and engineering and technical services.

This contract combines purchases for the Navy and the
government of the United Kingdom under the Foreign Military Sales program as
well as under a memorandum of understanding with the Commonwealth of Australia.

“We are proud to continue our long history of providing the U.S. Navy with off-the-shelf and custom hardware systems that deliver the mission-critical modernization needs for our sailors. We have already delivered or are under contract for over 250 shipsets of products, going back to 1998,” said Lee Meyer, vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Naval Electronics business.

The contract was awarded through the Leonardo DRS Laurel Technologies business.  Work will be performed in Leonardo DRS facilities in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Burnsville, Minnesota; Germantown, Maryland; Largo, Florida; and Chesapeake, Virginia. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

OKINAWA,
Japan — The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) departed U.S. 7th Fleet
area of operations as part of a scheduled homeport shift on Sept. 4, the ship’s
public affairs office said in a release.

Wasp,
which replaced USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of
operations in January 2018, operated with U.S. Marine Corps forces from the III
Marine Expeditionary Force and helped expand the relationships the U.S.
military maintains with allies and partners in the region.

“The
performance by the Wasp crew has quite simply been superb,” said Rear Adm. Fred
Kacher, who is commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 7.

“Over the
last two years, no ship in the Navy has been asked to do more than USS Wasp,
and the ship delivered in every way. The officers and crew rose to every
challenge, and we could not have asked for a better flagship to operate in the
most important and dynamic area in the world.”

As part of
the U.S. 7th Fleet’s forward deployed naval forces in Japan, Wasp made history
as the first U.S. Navy ship to deploy with the the F-35B Lightning II strike fighter,
which began operating onboard with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in March 2018.

“It has
been a profound honor for Wasp and her crew to serve 7th Fleet and its
ancillary commands during this time,” said Wasp’s commanding officer, Capt.
Gregory Baker. “Our Sailors have embraced the experiences and opportunities
available in this part of the world and are more operationally prepared to
continue supporting and executing the missions we are presented with. I
couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated or capable crew.”

President Trump
visited the ship and crew during his tour of Japan, becoming the first U.S.
president to visit the ship, and he extended accolades to the crew for their
accomplishments. Wasp participated in exercise Balikatan with the Philippine
military and exercise Talisman Sabre with the Australian Defence Force and
additional forces from Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The
ship also engaged in partnership missions designed to enhance interoperability
with numerous partners and allies supporting security and stability in the
Indo-Pacific region.

“What our
Wasp Sailors have accomplished here over almost two years, given the
operational tempo, and the nature of our multipronged mission, is overwhelming,
and it’s difficult not to constantly shine with pride,” said Wasp Command
Master Chief Kevin Guy, who also noted that more than half the ship’s company
had been geo-bachelors during the ship’s tenure in Japan.

“When you
consider that we have a large number of Sailors thousands of miles away from
their families and friends — their level of dedication under these
circumstances truly exemplifies the Navy core values of honor, courage and commitment.”

The Navy announced earlier this year that Wasp will be replaced by the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), which will be accompanied by dock landing ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18). USS America is scheduled to become part of the U.S. 7th Fleet forward-deployed naval forces in Sasebo, Japan, later this year.

The 7th Fleet spans more than 124 million square kilometers, stretching from the international date line to the India/Pakistan border, and form the Kuril Islands in the north to the Antarctic in the south. Encompassing 36 maritime countries, about 50 percent of the world’s population also falls within its area of responsibility.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In its effort to spread innovation and procurement
agility across the workforce, the U.S. Navy has created regional “tech bridges”
in five areas of the country that will serve as “combustion chambers” of ideas
and encourage collaboration among stakeholders.

The tech bridges, with support from the Office of Naval
Research and the Navy’s Systems Commands, will partner with start-ups,
academia, nonprofits, government entities, small businesses and large
corporations to share ideas, experiences and best practices that can make the
Navy and U.S. Marine Corps faster and more agile at developing and acquiring
problem-solving technologies, according to the Naval Expeditions (NavalX)
agility office.

NavalX was created last February by Assistant Secretary of
the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts. The central
idea was to create a workforce “super-connector” that could link people with
ideas to individuals and organizations with needs, across all the sea, air and
space domains. Successes, lessons-learned and subject-matter expertise could be
shared servicewide and eventually across the Defense Department.

“Everything from Marines learning how to 3-D print to
writing software to getting folks who don’t normally interact with the military
to learn from each other,” Geurts told reporters during a media roundtable
Sept. 3 at the NavalX’s temporary offices in Virginia.

The first five tech bridges (more are planned) are in Newport,
Rhode Island; Keyport, Washington; San Diego; Orlando; and Crane, Ind. All the
bridges must have a local Navy Department sponsor willing to dedicate funding,
personnel or programming. For example, Newport is home to the Navy War College
as well as a Naval Undersea Warfare Center, said Navy Cmdr. Sam Gray, the tech bridge
director at NavalX. Additionally, the regional bridges must have non-Navy local
or regional partners providing funding or in-kind services and a sustainable
business plan independent of NavalX support after 12 months.

The tech bridges will operate on a “franchise” model, allowing each region to develop their own way to connect to their unique innovation ecosystem. Geurts stressed that the tech bridges will not create platforms or systems. “This is not the place to invent things, this is the place to share knowledge, so others can invent,” he added.

The idea of tech bridges is to create “a gathering spot, kind of a combustion chamber” for innovative ideas that “close that distance” between the end-user, developer and acquiring agency, Geurts said.