KARLSKOGA, Sweden – BAE Systems has been selected by the
vessel contractor to provide the German federal police force, Bundespolizei,
with three 57 mm naval guns for its three new 86-meter offshore patrol vessels
(OPVs) built by Fassmer shipyard.

The gun systems, known as the Bofors 57 Mk3, will support
the maritime arm of the Bundespolizei that monitors the country’s North Sea and
Baltic coastlines.

The 57 Mk3 is a versatile gun system designed to react
quickly for close-to-shore operations.

“The Bofors 57 Mk3 is a versatile naval gun with firepower
and range that exceeds expectations when compared with similar, medium-caliber
naval gun systems. That’s how our 57 mm system has earned its reputation as the
deck gun of choice for ships operating in coastal environments,” said Ulf
Einefors, director of marketing and sales for BAE’s weapons business in Sweden.
“This contract expands the number of European nations deploying the 57 Mk3 and
reflects the growing interest we’re seeing in the region, where we look forward
to supporting new opportunities in the near future.”

The 57 Mk3 naval gun is also in use with the allied navies and coast guards of eight nations, including Canada, Finland, Mexico and Sweden as well as the United States, where it is known as the Mk110 naval gun.

This contract also includes accompanying fire control systems as well as systems integration support. Work is expected to begin immediately and will be performed at the BAE facility in Karlskoga, Sweden. The first unit is scheduled for delivery in 2020.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114) repatriated
12 migrants to the Dominican Republic Navy patrol boat Proción (GC-103) Sept. 1
near Samaná, Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of an illegal
migrant voyage in Mona Passage waters near Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard 7th
District said in a release.

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

Coast
Guard watchstanders at the Sector San Juan Command Center received a report at
5:30 p.m. Aug. 31 from the aircrew of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144
Ocean Sentry aircraft on a routine patrol of the Mona Passage. The aircrew
reported sighting what appeared to be an illegal migrant vessel transiting
eastbound, about 51 nautical miles north of Mona Island, Puerto Rico.

Coast
Guard watchstanders diverted the cutter Heriberto Hernandez to the scene.  Once on scene, the cutter’s crew stopped the
18-foot makeshift boat and safely embarked, for safety of life at sea concerns,
the nine men and three women who were aboard. The interdicted migrants claimed
to be of Dominican nationality.

“I’m proud
of all our Coast Guard crews who quickly returned in full force to protect the
coasts and our citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following
the passing of Hurricane Dorian through the Eastern Caribbean,” said Capt. Eric
King, commander of Sector San Juan. “Their efforts prevented this illegal
migrant voyage from reaching our shores and saving 12 lives from a highly
dangerous situation, since migrant voyages often take place aboard grossly
overloaded and unseaworthy vessels with little or on no lifesaving equipment
onboard.”

Once
aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and
basic medical attention.

The Caribbean Border Interagency Group unifies efforts between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action.

These agencies share a common goal of securing the maritime border of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal migrant and drug smuggling threats. The Heriberto Hernandez is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

NEWPORT
NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division
successfully completed the initial sea trials on the newest Virginia-class
submarine, Delaware (SSN 791), the company said in a release.

The
submarine, in the final stages of construction, spent three days at sea proving
all systems, components and compartments. Delaware submerged for the first time
and performed high-speed maneuvers on the surface and underwater.

“Delaware performed well during sea trials, which is a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the incredible team of shipbuilders who are working to uphold our high standards of quality,” said Dave Bolcar, Newport News’ vice president of submarine construction. “We look forward to continuing our testing program to deliver the submarine to the U.S. Navy later this year.”

The submarine is scheduled to undergo a round of acceptance trials before it is delivered. More than 10,000 shipbuilders from Newport News and teaming partner General Dynamics Electric Boat and thousands of companies across 48 states have participated in Delaware’s construction since the work began in September 2013.

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala.  — The U.S. Army awarded two contracts this week as it advances the fielding of a prototype hypersonic weapon by fiscal 2023, the U.S. Army said in an Aug. 30 release.

The Army Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) will
introduce a new class of ultrafast, maneuverable, long-range missiles that will
launch from mobile ground platforms.

“Delivering hypersonics to a unit of action will provide
a critical combat capability for the Army in support of the National Defense
Strategy,” said LTG L. Neil Thurgood, director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy,
Space and Rapid Acquisition. “With a collaborative effort by our partners in
industry and the Department of Defense, we will advance this strategic weapon
system and fulfill a critical mission for our nation.”

Hypersonic weapons are capable of flying at five times
the speed of sound and operate at varying altitudes, making them unique from
other missiles with a ballistic trajectory.

In March 2019, the secretary and chief of staff of the
Army directed the accelerated delivery of a prototype ground-launched
hypersonic weapon with residual combat capability by fiscal 2023. To execute
this strategy, the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office
(RCCTO) has selected two prime contractors to build and integrate components of
the LRHW prototype.

On August 29, the Army awarded an Other Transaction
Authority (OTA) agreement to Dynetics in the amount of $351.6 million to
produce the first commercially manufactured set of prototype Common-Hypersonic
Glide Body (C-HGB) systems.

Also on August 29, the Army awarded a second OTA
agreement to Lockheed Martin in the amount of $347.0 million as the LRHW
prototype system integrator.

The Army RCCTO is responsible for delivering the prototype LRHW battery, consisting of four trucks with launchers, hypersonic missile rounds and a command and control system. The OTA awards support the design, integration and production work that enables a series of flight tests beginning next year, leading to fielding in fiscal 2023.

In developing the LRHW, the Army is working in close
collaboration with the other services through a Joint Service Memorandum of
Agreement on hypersonics design, development, testing and production. As part
of the agreement, the Army will execute production of the C-HGB for all
services, while the Navy will lead the glide body design beginning in fiscal 2020.
This joint cooperation allows the services to leverage technologies, while
tailoring them to meet specific air, land and sea requirements.

The two contract awards mark an important step in
transitioning the development of Army hypersonic capabilities out of the
government laboratories and into commercial production. Initially, Dynetics
will work with Sandia National Laboratories to learn building of the glide
body.

Additional future awards are expected in order to
increase production of the C-HGB and to establish an industrial base for
hypersonics within the United States. Vendors selected for these subsequent
awards would also work with Sandia National Laboratories to learn production of
the C-HGB.

“Hypersonics is not a new technology – it’s a new
application of technology, with a new sense of urgency,” said Bob Strider,
deputy director of the Army Hypersonic Project Office, part of the RCCTO. “This
prototyping effort will leverage the great work of the government science and
technology community to take these systems to the next level and create an
industrial base going forward.”

The Army RCCTO, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.,
is chartered to develop rapid prototypes and field residual combat
capabilities.

SAN PEDRO,
Calif. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward (WPC-1130) returned Aug.
29 from their first patrol of the drug transit zones of the eastern Pacific
Ocean with about 2,800 pounds of seized cocaine, the Coast Guard 11th District
said in a release.

The
cocaine, worth an estimated $38.5 million, was seized by the crews of the
Robert Ward and another Coast Guard cutter patrolling the region. An additional
estimated 3,000 pounds of cocaine, seized by the crew of the Robert Ward in
mid-July in the cutter’s first-ever drug bust, was transferred to the Coast
Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) and brought ashore in San Diego last month as
part of a 13-ton bulk offload.

“The
Cutter Robert Ward and three other newly commissioned cutters based in San
Pedro are strengthening the Coast Guard’s safety, security and
counter-smuggling efforts along our coast and in the shipping zones off Central
and South America,” said Rear Adm. Peter W. Gautier, the 11th District’s commander.
“I’m proud of the Ward’s crew and applaud their actions to disrupt the cartels
that profit from crime, addiction and ruin American lives.”

The Robert
Ward, commissioned in March, is one of four newly commissioned fast-response cutters
(FRCs) homeported in San Pedro as part of the Coast Guard’s efforts to
strengthen forces in the region and increase safety, security and emergency
response capabilities. 

“This was
a fantastic patrol,” said Lt. Benjamin Davne, Robert Ward’s commanding officer.
“We helped stem the flow of illegal drugs by seizing and disrupting more than
three tons of cocaine. We saved lives by keeping these drugs off the streets.
Our crew is in friendly competition with other fast-response cutter crews
stationed in other parts of the nation and on our first patrol we are already
credited with the second largest cocaine seizure and disruption rate for any
Coast Guard ship in our class.”

The fight
against drug cartels in the eastern Pacific requires unity of effort in all
phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions
by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation.

The Coast
Guard increased U.S. and allied presence in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean
Basin, which are known drug transit zones off Central and South America, as
part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy.

During at-sea
interdictions, a suspect vessel is detected and monitored by allied, military
or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South
based in Key West, Florida. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling
operations in the eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the 11th
Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda.

WASHINGTON —
The Navy may attract more unmanned technology than can handle and deploy as it
develops its unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs),
a Navy official said, noting that industry also has opportunities to provide
the supporting infrastructure.

“We’re going
to have way more technology available than we’re going to be able to field in
an operational manner until we build up infrastructure, Sailor training, pier
space, supply network, spare parts, the transportation systems, the logistical
support networks or all of the stuff,” said Capt. Pete Small, the Navy’s
program manager for Unmanned Maritime Systems. speaking last week at the
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s Unmanned
Systems—Defense. Protection. Security. Conference in Washington.

“I am focused
on that and would put out that industry consider that not all of the investment
needs to be in cutting-edge machine learning and autonomy,” Small said. “I’m
not implying that we don’t need that, but if we just focus on that without all
of the more mundane logistics trails, there’s a whole giant assumption of a
logistical infrastructure network to get to the warfighter where the capability
is needed, to do a lot to bridge that gap to deploy the system at that far
forward point.

“There’s
absolutely an industry role in doing that as well,” he said. “We’re going to
need help to get all of that stuff.”

He also
mentioned the need for infrastructure such as piers, cranes and test ranges to
support unmanned vehicle development and deployment.

Small said
the Navy does not need to re-learn lessons from the UAV [unmanned aerial
vehicle] community with regard to providing enough bandwidth and other
infrastructure requirements.

“We envision
lots of unmanned vehicles providing the capacity that we need,” he said.

The Navy has established
one UUV squadron and a surface development squadron on the West Coast. Small
anticipates that the Navy will need to establish a second UUV squadron on the
East Coast.

TUCSON,
Ariz. — The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon Co. a $190 million low-rate initial
production contract for Block 2 versions of the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile, the
company said in a release. ESSM Block 2 missiles feature a new guidance system
with a dual mode active and semi-active radar.

This award
follows the Navy’s decision to shift from development to production on the
enhanced intermediate-range, surface-to-air missile, placing the Block 2
variant on track for initial operating capability next year.

The ESSM
missile is the primary ship self-defense missile aboard Navy aircraft carriers
and large-deck amphibious assault ships. It is an integral component of the
Navy’s layered area and ship self-defense capability for cruisers and
destroyers.

“ESSM
plays a critical role in protecting navy sailors worldwide and our
international partners share our commitment to evolve this missile,” said Mitch
Stevison, Raytheon Strategic and Naval Systems’ vice president.

ESSM is
the foundation of several allied navies’ anti-ship missile defense efforts and
is operational on almost 200 naval platforms worldwide.

The ESSM program is a
cooperative effort managed by a NATO-led consortium made up of 12 nations:
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The Navy Department’s recent completion of migration of some networks to
a server cloud is seen as an example the kind of procurement agility and
innovation the Navy is looking for in its programs servicewide.

“The Navy
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) “tech refresh” completed Aug. 19,
10 months ahead of the projected completion date — the Navy’s largest system
migration to the cloud,” the Program Executive Office for Enterprise
Information Systems and Naval Supply Systems Command Public Affairs offices
said in a release.

The effort
went “from cold start to contract in 45 days,” said James F. “Hondo” Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development
and acquisition, speaking to reporters Aug. 23 at a media roundtable at the Pentagon.

The effort,
which cost $100 million as part of a larger information technology contract,
was scheduled to take 20 months but instead was accomplished in 10 months,
Geurts said.

“The Navy ERP
tech refresh is a major milestone toward consolidating all Department of the
Navy financial systems into a single general ledger, which is essential to the
department’s ability to produce accurate financial information, obtain a clean
audit opinion and improve our data analytic capability,” said Thomas Harker, assistant
secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller, who also briefed
reporters at the roundtable.

Harker said
the effort combined eight general ledger systems into to one. Those legacy
systems were based on COBALT or home-grown software.

He said that
the goal of the effort was toward “being auditable” and “being transparent
using modern business practices.”

“This will
increase our ability to do data analytics and provide much better information
for decision-making,” Harker said.

Geurts said
the ERP may have been the largest cloud migration ever conducted in North
America.

Navy ERP now
is available to about 72,000 users across six Navy commands: Naval Air Systems
Command, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command,
Naval Supply Systems Command, Strategic Systems Programs, the Office of Naval
Research.

Navy ERP “is
now entirely cloud-based, operating significantly faster in memory, data
storage and processing,” the release said. “Prior to the migration, Navy ERP
operated on a Systems, Applications, and Products (SAP) server-based Oracle
platform. During the tech refresh, Navy ERP upgraded to the SAP HANA
(high-performance analytic appliance) cloud-based platform.”

Harker said
that one immediate impact of ERP will be an ability to produce reports in 30
minutes that used to take five or six hours. He said the impact will be felt in
improving customer support, getting rid of inefficiencies and enhancing the
ability to make rapid decisions.

He said the
ERP “gives the Navy the capacity to bring on new customers so we are moving the
half of the Navy that isn’t already on the ERP system onto the ERP system over
the next two years.”

The ERP cloud
incorporates rigorous, widely accepted cyber protections, with its coherent
single system reducing the attack surface compared with legacy systems.

The prime
system integrator for the ERP implementation was Advanced Solutions Inc., a
small business.

“The
magnitude of this accomplishment is incredible,” Navy Secretary Richard V.
Spencer said in the release. “The Navy ERP tech refresh is our largest system
cloud migration to date and will enhance the performance of our force.

“I am
proud of the team efforts to accomplish this on an accelerated schedule,
cutting the projected timeline nearly in half,” Spencer said. “The
team managed this through innovative approaches to problem-solving and close
collaboration with integration teams, network engineers and industry partners.”

The Navy ERP program is
managed by Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems’ (PEO
EIS) Navy Enterprise Business Solutions program management office.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has awarded a contract to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV), a key mission module for the littoral combat ship’s Mine Countermeasures Mission Package.

Naval Sea Systems Command awarded on Aug. 26 a $44.6 million contract modification to Knifefish prime contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems for LRIP of the UUV. The contract will fund the initial deliveries of the Knifefish that will be used to provide the “initial systems for the Navy to test and operate,” the Defense Department release said.

Earlier on the date of the contract announcement, the Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) announced that it had granted Milestone C approval to the Knifefish program, which cleared the way for LRIP.

“The Knifefish system is designed for deployment from the littoral combat ship (LCS), vessels of opportunity or from shore to detect and classify buried, bottom and volume mines in high-clutter environments,” the PEO USC release said. “Knifefish is a critical element of the LCS Mine Countermeasure Mission Package and will reduce risk to Navy personnel and equipment.

The following are excerpts from the PEO USC release:

“The Knifefish system, which consists of two unmanned undersea vehicles along with support systems and equipment, uses cutting-edge low-frequency broadband sonar and automated target recognition software technology developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and successfully transitioned to industry. It acts as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the mine field boundaries.

“Knifefish’s common open systems architecture design and modularity allow for platform flexibility and quick reconfiguration of the mission package to respond to evolving and dynamic mission requirements. Planned block upgrades will improve its sensors and automated target recognition software to keep pace with mine threats.

“Formal
developmental testing and an operational assessment were conducted from January
through May 2019 in multiple locations off the coasts of Massachusetts and
Florida. The Knifefish tests involved end-to-end operational mine-hunting
missions against a deployed, simulated target field.

Operations performed by fleet Sailors during developmental testing and operational assessment included mission planning, launching and recovering the system, monitoring the sorties and processing data. The unmanned undersea vehicles were deployed from a support craft in the vessels of opportunity configuration for all test events to provide a characterization of the performance of the entire Knifefish system, including the launch and recovery subsystem.

“A full-rate production decision is expected in fiscal year 2022 after additional testing of LRIP systems. The Navy plans to procure 30 Knifefish systems in all, 24 in support of LCS Mine Countermeasure Mission Packages and an additional six for deployment from vessels of opportunity.”

MOBILE,
Ala. — USNS Puerto Rico successfully completed the first integrated sea trials
for an expeditionary fast transport ship on Aug. 22, the Program Executive
Office Ships said in a release. The ship returned to the Austal USA shipyard
following two days underway in the Gulf of Mexico.

Integrated trials combine builder’s and acceptance trials, allowing for theshipyard to demonstrate to the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey the operational capability and mission readiness of all the ship’s systems during a single underway period. During trials, the shipbuilder conducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate the performance of the ship’s major systems.

“The
EPF program continues to be an example of stable and successful serial ship
production,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic and Theater Sealift program
manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “I look forward to seeing EPF 11
deliver in the fall and expand the operational flexibility available to our
combatant commanders.” 

Expeditionary
fast transport ships are noncombatant vessels designed to operate in shallow-draft
ports and waterways, increasing operational flexibility for a wide range of
activities such as maneuver and sustainment, relief operations in small or
damaged ports, flexible logistics support or as the key enabler for rapid
transport. The ships are capable of interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge
facilities as well as on/off-loading vehicles such as a fully combat-loaded
Abrams main battle tank.

EPFs
support a variety of missions including the overseas contingency operations, conducting
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, supporting special operations
forces, and supporting emerging joint sea-basing concepts.

In addition to Puerto Rico,
Austal USA is also currently in production on the future USNS Newport (EPF 12)
and is under contract to build the future USNS Apalachicola (EPF 13) and EPF
14.