KEY WEST,
Fla. — The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Billings (LCS 15), the eighth
Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, here Aug. 3. This milestone places the
ship, built by the Lockheed Martin-led team, into active service.

“Billings
was designed to operate and adapt to a rapidly changing environment,” Joe
DePietro, vice president of small combatants and ship systems at Lockheed
Martin, said in a company release. “She is equipped and ready for today’s
threats and easily modifiable to meet the threats we may not even be aware of
yet. Our team is confident Billings will be what the Navy needs when the fleet
needs it.”

The LCS is
designed to complete close-to-shore missions. The ship is capable of speeds in
excess of 40 knots. It is also standard-equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles
(RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220 rounds per minute, and 40
percent of the hull of an LCS is reconfigurable, integrating capabilities like Longbow
Hellfire Missiles, 30 mm guns and manned and unmanned vehicles.

“Having
now commanded two freedom-class LCS variants, I would like to report that these
ships are truly impressive and will fit well in the niche they have been
designed for,” said LCS 15’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Nathan Rowan. “They are
fast, maneuverable, and their weapon systems are some of the most accurate I’ve
witnessed on any platform of which I’ve previously served.”

There are
seven ships in various stages of production and test at Fincantieri Marinette
Marine in Wisconsin, where the Freedom-variant LCS is built. The next
Freedom-variant in the class is LCS 17, the future USS Indianapolis, which was
delivered in late July.

“On behalf of the proud
2,000 men and women who transform flat steel into a fast, agile surface
combatant,” said Jan Allman, chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marinette
Marine, “we are honored to support the U.S. Navy, and we congratulate the
outstanding crew of the USS Billings.”

PAGO PAGO,
American Samoa — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) arrived
in the Port of Pago Pago on Aug. 3, completing a nine-day transit from Hawaii
that demonstrated the long-range capabilities of the fast-response cutter.

The crew
is participating in Operation Aiga to conduct fisheries law enforcement and
strengthen partnerships in American Samoa and Samoa throughout August.

“It was a good transit, the longest we’ve conducted yet, nine days at sea, and we’re proving the capabilities of these new cutters to operate over the horizon throughout the remote Pacific,” said Lt. James Provost, commanding officer of Joseph Gerczak. “This is the first time a fast-response cutter has come to Pago Pago. We’re looking forward to hosting our partners and the public during tours [Aug. 5] from 1 to 3 p.m. here at the port.”

The Coast
Guard is positioned to enforce U.S. federal laws and regulations in the
territorial waters of American Samoa. Worldwide, tuna is a $7 billion-dollar
annual industry, and roughly 70 percent of that tuna comes from the western and
central Pacific Ocean. These pelagic fish migrate and it is essential the U.S.
and its partners protect the resource from illegal, unregulated and unreported
fishing. Estimates place the value of IUU fishing around $616 million annually.

“After
this port call, we will be working with NOAA fisheries and the American Samoa
Marine Police to enforce fisheries regulations in the region while on patrol.
Oceania countries adhering to the rule of law deserve and even playing field.
Presence, partnerships, and regular enforcement can deter IUU fishing and
safeguard these critical fish stocks,” Provost said.

The Coast
Guard Cutter Walnut (WLB 205) crew will also be conducting a fisheries mission
with shipriders from Samoa aboard to enforce sovereign laws in their EEZ and
deter IUU fishing. This effort is being undertaken in coordination with
Australia and New Zealand as Samoa transitions their organic patrol assets,
upgrading their fleet. Both cutter crews will also respond to any emergent
search-and-rescue needs in the area and seek out opportunities to work with
partner nation assets.

The Coast
Guard exercises 11 bilateral shiprider agreements with Pacific Island Forum
nations to help ensure regional security and maritime sovereignty.

“The U.S.
is committed to supporting our allies and neighbors in the Pacific, which is
essential to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The Joseph
Gerczak is a 154-foot Sentinel-Class fast-response cutter homeported in
Honolulu. It is one of the newest patrol boats in the fleet. Three fast-response
cutters will be homeported in Honolulu, the third arriving in August. Three
will also be stationed in Guam and are to begin arriving there next year.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The commander of Naval Air Forces confirmed that the pilot of the F/A-18E
Super Hornet strike fighter that crashed July 31 in Southern California died in
the crash.

“At
approximately 10 a.m. PST on July 31, a F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the
‘Vigilantes’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151 based at Naval Air Station
Lemoore, California, crashed approximately 40 miles north of Naval Air Weapons
Station China Lake, California,” CNAF said in a release. The aircraft was on a
routine training mission in the area at the time. The cause of the crash is
currently under investigation.”

The F/A-18E
was on a low-level flight through a feature called Star Wars Canyon in Death
Valley National Park when it crashed near a popular overlook that aviation
photographers and other tourists visit to watch jets streak through the canyon.
The crash caused minor injuries to seven civilian tourists at the overlook with
fire and flying debris.

The Super
Hornet that crashed is only the fourth Navy aircraft to be lost in a crash so
far in fiscal 2019, according to records.

This fiscal year, prior to the F/A-18E loss, aerial mishaps claimed an F/A-18F Super Hornet, an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and a T-45C Goshawk training jet.

Until the July 31 mishap, no Navy aviators had been killed in a mishap this year.

MIAMI —
The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted 27 Cuban migrants on July 27 about 5 miles
south of Key West, the Coast Guard’s 7th District said in a release.

A Coast
Guard Station Key West 45-foot response boat crew interdicted an 18-foot
migrant chug with 27 Cuban migrants — 22 males, four females and one child — aboard.
The crew safely embarked all 27 migrants aboard the station boat.

“These
illegal ventures attempting to immigrate to the United States are extremely
dangerous, especially during the hurricane season, when weather and sea
conditions can dramatically and rapidly change in minutes, putting migrants in
danger of being lost at sea,” said Capt. Jason Ryan, chief of the enforcement
branch of the Coast Guard 7th District.

“The Coast
Guard and our partner agencies’ priority is safety of life at sea and these
voyages in ill-equipped vessels aren’t safe. The Coast Guard and our partner
agencies maintain their focused and coordinated efforts to interdict and stop
these unlawful migration attempts into the United States.”

The
watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Key West were notified by a good Samaritan
vessel of a possible migrant vessel. The watchstanders directed the launch of a
Station Key West RB-M boat crew and diverted the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter
Kathleen Moore (WPC-1109) to assist.

The
station crew rendezvoused with the cutter Kathleen Moore and safely transferred
the migrants to the cutter.

A total of
438 Cuban migrants have attempted to illegally enter the U.S. by sea in fiscal
year 2019 compared to 384 Cuban migrants in fiscal year 2018. These numbers
represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in
the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and the Atlantic.

The latest in a series of advanced naval technology exercises
(ANTX) provided a lot of new ideas on how to improve maneuverability,
communications, logistics and force protection in the highly contested
environments expected in a future fight against a peer competitor, a trio of
top Navy Department officials said Aug. 1.

But the most exciting thing about the recent ANTX was the
demonstration of how the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps are working together to
meet the challenges of a great power confrontation, James Geurts, the assistant
Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, said at a Pentagon
briefing. It was a way “to kind of close the distance between ideas, wherever
they came from” and, by using some of the new acquisition authorities, to get
new technologies out into the field quicker.

Geurts said they have about a 12- to 18-month window to move
technologies through the acquisition process and into the hands of Sailors and
Marines, instead of a “20-year development program.” By bringing together the
requirements and acquisition officials with the operators, “we tend to find a
bunch of new ideas that we didn’t think of when we didn’t get all those
together,” he said.

The briefing focused mainly on the ANTX held July 9-19 at
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in which Geurts said 53 new
technologies were presented by 32 organizations, from large corporations to a
company with three people, and were tested in the field. Some of those
technologies could be moved into the acquisition process, while others would be
cited for additional development.

Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, the deputy commander of Marine Corps Combat
Development Command, said: “When we start looking at what that future fight
might look like and the things we will need to enable it, this has become a
really great way to start ferreting out some of those technologies that will
enable our Sailors and Marines to do that.” Wise mentioned technologies,
including unmanned air, land, surface and undersea systems, that could help
with force protection and logistics at comparatively low cost.

Michael Stewart, the deputy director of integrated warfare,
said by using the ANTX process, “we’re trying to increase the decision speed …
trying to leap frog [the normal acquisition process] and do it fast.” It was
“all about being a smart buyer.”

Wise said he was excited about some of the concepts for allowing communications for small, distributed Marine units when the current methods are disrupted, including systems that were small enough to fit on a light off-road vehicle, and using unmanned systems to provide fuel and ammunition to expeditionary air fields.

Geurts said a key factor in the ANTX process was, “we don’t call this a test, it’s an experiment. It’s OK to fail.” That is part of the new push for rapid innovation, which requires an environment “where it’s safe to fail.”

NEWPORT NEWS,
Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has
received a $290 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue
planning for the refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS
John C. Stennis, the company announced Aug. 1.

The contract
funds the second and third years of planning, long-lead-time material
procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections and facilities readiness
for the overhaul. As part of the planning contract, Newport News also will
perform some shipboard work, which will take place in Norfolk. The initial year
of planning was funded at a base value of $187.5 million.

“The second
and third year of planning is important to the overall success of a project of
the magnitude of [the overhaul],” said Chris Miner, Newport News’ vice
president of in-service aircraft carriers.

“This
contract allows us to continue our critical planning for each step of the
process so we’re ready to begin execution when the ship arrives in the first
quarter of 2021.”

Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a major life-cycle overhaul at Newport News, representing 35% of all maintenance and modernization completed during its service life.

The overhaul, a RCOH, is an extremely complex engineering and construction project that involves more than 680 suppliers from 40 states providing material and services critical to the overhaul process.

Once completed, a recapitalized carrier can support current and future warfare doctrine and continuing to operate as the centerpiece of the Navy’s fleet and national defense for another 25 years.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy jet that crashed July 31 in Southern California is only the
fourth Navy aircraft to be lost in a crash so far in fiscal 2019, according to
records.

The F/A-18E
Super Hornet strike fighter, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 151, according
to a source, and based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, was on a
low-level flight through a feature called Star Wars Canyon in Death Valley
National Park when it crashed near a popular overlook that aviation
photographers and other tourists visit to watch jets streak through the canyon.
The crash caused minor injuries to seven civilian tourists at the overlook with
fire and flying debris.

As of mid-day
Aug. 1, the pilot of the single-seat Super Hornet was still missing. The Navy
had launched helicopters to participate in the search for the pilot.

So far this fiscal year,
aerial mishaps claimed an F/A-18F Super Hornet, an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter
and a T-45C Goshawk training jet. Until the July 31 mishap, no Navy aviators
had been killed in a mishap this year.

WASHINGTON —
Alion Science and Technology Corp., which designs and delivers complex
engineering solutions for defense and intelligence agencies, has completed the
sale of its naval systems business unit, including its Canadian business and a
small number of related contract operations, to Serco Inc., Alion announced.

“We are pleased to complete the previously announced transaction to sell Alion’s NSBU business to Serco and look forward to continuing to provide best-in-class engineering and technology solutions to our national security customers, including U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy as well as Intelligence customers,” said Steve Schorer, chairman and CEO of Alion.

“This divestiture allows us to focus on advancing technologies and systems in the areas of C5 systems, ISR solutions, artificial intelligence, cyber solutions, electronic warfare technology and live virtual constructive training systems, which are all critical to the mission of our customers.”

ADELAIDE,
Australia — Flinders University has partnered with the Naval Shipbuilding
College, which is also in Adelaide, to ensure graduates are ready to seize
future cutting-edge jobs in the National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise, the
Lead, a south Australian newspaper, said in an Aug. 1 article.

This week
the University of Adelaide announced that its rejuvenated master’s of marine engineering
program had grown in popularity more than five-fold since 2015, thanks in part
to a partnership with Australian submarine company ASC.

Flinders
University is the first Australian university to be endorsed for delivering a
course aligned with the future employment needs of the naval shipbuilding
industry. Its bachelor’s of engineering (mechanical) (honours) has been
endorsed by the Naval Shipbuilding College with five other engineering programs
expected to follow.

The
Australian government is investing $90 billion into the continuous shipbuilding
program, which is expected to create 5,200 shipbuilding jobs within 10 years,
to build Australia’s new fleet of 12 offshore patrol vessels, nine Hunter-class
anti-submarine frigates, 12 submarines and 21 Pacific patrol boats.

Based in
Osborne, South Australia, the Naval Shipbuilding College is a hub that links prospective
workers with suitable and accredited training at universities, TAFEs and
training institutions in all states and territories.

It is
operated by the Naval Shipbuilding Institute, an Australian joint venture
between Kellogg Brown & Root and America’s largest military shipbuilding
company Huntington Ingalls Industries.

A TAFE SA
welding course became the first training program endorsed by the college last September,
but the Flinders program is the first university course to be approved. Five
courses at Tasmania’s Australian Maritime College were also endorsed the last
week of July, a few days after the Flinders University announcement.

Flinders
Learning and Teaching Innovation Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah West
said the university was committed to the partnership with the Naval
Shipbuilding College, which would provide high-quality education pathways into
shipbuilding careers for students.

“The
endorsement of our degrees will ensure our graduates are well positioned for
the large number of job opportunities that are being created as a result of the
growth in the shipbuilding industry,” she said.

Naval
Shipbuilding College sits alongside the Osborne Naval Shipyard near Port
Adelaide. The shipyard has been at the heart of Australia’s defence shipbuilding
program since the late 1980s and has delivered six Collins-class submarines and
three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers. It is also expected to play a key
ongoing role in the $90 billion continuous build program.

The
University of Adelaide’s rejuvenated master’s of marine engineering program is
backed by the expertise and resources of ASC.

This year
49 students are undertaking master’s degrees by course work in submarine design
(naval architecture and maritime engineering), sustainment, supply chain,
project management and related subjects, within the University’s School of
Mechanical Engineering.

The
program, offered every two years, has grown from 27 students in 2017 and nine
students in 2015. It is among only a few postgraduate courses available in
Australia in marine engineering and is the only one in submarine design.

The
students are drawn from industry, defense and recent graduates as well as
French exchange students from the prestigious French Grande Ecole d’Ingénieurs
ENSTA Bretagne, which last year signed a collaboration agreement with the
University of Adelaide.

In the
program each student completes an individual project developing a submarine
concept design using professional tools. Enrolled students are being offered
free membership with the prestigious Royal Institution of Naval Architects and
the best projects are presented to the Submarine Institute of Australia
Technical Conference, SubsTec.

Newly
appointed course director Associate Professor Eric Fusil said the ramp-up in
enrolments for the course reflected the place Adelaide will occupy at the center
of submarine and major warship design and construction in coming decades.

“We are at
the start of a historical and challenging build-up in the submarine sector in
Australia,” said Associate Professor Fusil, a former submarine designer with
both Naval Group of France and ASC in Adelaide.

“The
students are drawing on an incredible wealth of real-life experience in terms
of submarine engineering at ASC — Australia’s only established submarine
company.”

Naval
Shipbuilding College program director Bill Docalovich said the unprecedented
upgrade of the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet was taking a national approach.

“Through
collaboration with education and training providers in every state and
territory we are strengthening student pathways into rewarding, long-term,
sustainable shipbuilding careers,” he said.

“It
demonstrates our commitment to ensuring our students are skilled and capable of
meeting the changing needs of the workforce and future industries in
Australia.”

The
Australian government established the Naval Shipbuilding College in 2018 to
help secure a sovereign workforce to implement its $90 billion continuous naval
shipbuilding program.

A national naval
shipbuilding workforce register has been established for students and workers
interested in working on some of the world’s most technologically advanced
projects.

PHILADELPHIA
— Boeing, the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy celebrated the
transformation of a 350,000-square-foot facility outside Philadelphia into a
modern factory where company employees will build fuselages for the V-22 tilt-rotor
aircraft and modernize the MV-22 fleet for the Marines.

“Boeing’s
$115 million investment supports U.S. and international demand for the
unrivaled capabilities of the V-22,” said David Koopersmith, vice president and
general manager of Boeing Vertical Lift. “We started this project two years ago
in a mothballed building. Now, it is a state-of-the-art manufacturing center
for the only in-service tilt-rotor aircraft in the world.”

The new
factory will improve safety and productivity, lower operating costs and reduce
Boeing’s environmental impact. It will be home to the Common Configuration-Readiness
and Modernization (CC-RAM) program that standardizes the Marine Corps Osprey
fleet by upgrading previously built aircraft to the new Block C configuration.
The factory will also house fuselage production for Navy, Air Force, Marines,
and international Osprey customers.

“The V-22
readiness program is our No. 1 priority,” said Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly,
the V-22 joint program manager. “The CC-RAM program is key in meeting our
readiness goals and returning capable and reliable aircraft to Marine units
around the world.”

Boeing employs about 4,600 people
in Pennsylvania and supports 16,000 direct and indirect jobs in the
commonwealth.