ARLINGTON,
Va. — The Navy has awarded a contract for Blackjack and ScanEagle unmanned
aerial vehicles for the Navy and Marine Corps and several foreign nations.

Insitu Inc.
of Bingen, Washington, was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command a $390.1
million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for
up to 63 RQ-21A [Blackjack] attrition air vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps
and U.S. Navy,” a June 28 Defense Department announcement said. “In addition,
this contract provides for up to six RQ-21A unmanned aircraft systems and up to
17 RQ-21A air vehicles for foreign military sales customers, including the
governments of Canada, Poland and Oman.”

Insitu also will
also provide up to 93 ScanEagle UASs in various configurations, the
announcement said. “In addition, this contract provides for associated
services, including training, test and engineering, development of engineering
change proposals, operations support, organizational level maintenance, field
service representatives, land and ship surveys, hardware site activations,
hardware installs, repairs, and data.”

The RQ-21A
Blackjack has seen service as a surveillance platform with the Marine Corps in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Contractor-owned and operated ScanEagles
have operated in support of U.S. and partner nations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The ScanEagle also has be operated by U.S. Special Operations command and by
several foreign nations. 

The orders
are expected to be completed by June 2022.

MAYPORT, Fla. — Chile will host maritime forces from 12 countries to participate in exercise Unitas LX (60) Pacific from June 24-July 3, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command-U.S. 4th Fleet said in a July 1 release.

Joining
the U.S. and Chile this year are 11 countries including Brazil, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.

This
year’s exercise will include 10 warships that will conduct maritime maneuvering
operations in the Pacific Ocean through July 2.

U.S. forces participating in Unitas this year are USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, Patrol Squadron (VP) 4, Destroyer Squadron 40 and U.S. 4th Fleet. While participating in the exercise, U.S. forces will be under the operational control of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, Rear Adm. Donald Gabrielson.

Unitas, Latin for ‘unity,’ is the world’s longest running multinational maritime exercise. Conceived in 1959 and first executed in 1960, Unitas is a demonstration of U.S. commitment to the region and the strong relationships forged between partner nations and their militaries. In addition to the Pacific phase of Unitas LX, there will be Atlantic and amphibious phases hosted by Brazil in August.

Unitas will focus on strengthening existing regional partnerships and encouraging the establishment of new relationships through the exchange of maritime mission-focused knowledge and expertise during the exercise. The exercise develops and tests participating navies’ capabilities to respond to a wide variety of maritime missions as a unified force.

U.S. Naval
Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet is responsible for U.S. Naval forces in
the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, including the Caribbean,
Central and South America.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has deployed a littoral combat
ship to the Western Pacific for the first time in 18 months, the first of three
LCSs the service plans to deploy this year.

The first LCS deployment this year apparently was kept
quiet by the Navy until the service published a July 1 web article by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Greg
Johnson of commander, Logistics Force, Western Pacific/CTF 73 Public Affairs,
of the Independence-class USS Montgomery (LCS 8) making a port call in Davao,
Philippines, on June 29.

The last LCS to deploy, USS Coronado (LCS 4), returned from the
Western Pacific on Dec. 5, 2017. It had been preceded by the USS Freedom (LCS
1) and its Freedom-class sister ship, USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), in 2015 and 2016,
respectively.

The commander of Naval Surface Forces told reporters in a
Jan. 11 teleconference that LCS deployments would resume in 2019, saying that
the Independence-class LCSs USS Montgomery and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) would
deploy from the West Coast and that the first LCS deployments from the East
Coast, departing from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, would be undertaken by
the Freedom-variant LCS USS Detroit (LCS 7), followed by sister ship USS Little
Rock (LCS 9) in 2020.

For all of these deployments, the ships will carry the
full surface warfare mission package, Brown said.

“It’s happening,” Brown said during the teleconference,
noting that from then on “there will always be LCS forward-deployed.”

MIAMI
— The Coast Guard interdicted 49 Haitian migrants Saturday approximately 21
miles northeast of Punta Maisi, Cuba, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a
July 1 release.

The
crew of the Royal Netherlands Navy ship HNLMS
Groningen (P-843) with a Coast Guard law enforcement team interdicted a 35-foot
Haitian sail freighter with 49 migrants aboard, three of those being
unaccompanied children. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa (WMEC-902)
was diverted to assist.

The
cutter Tampa crew arrived on scene and embarked the 49 migrants — 39 males and
10 females, due to safety concerns with the vessel.

“The Coast Guard continues to maintain a focused and coordinated
effort with multiple agency assets to interdict any attempt to dangerously and
unlawfully immigrate by sea to the United States,” said Cmdr. Michael Vega,
Coast Guard 7th District enforcement branch. “Those who are interdicted at
sea attempting to illegally immigrate will be repatriated to their country in
accordance with existing U.S. immigration policy.”

Approximately 2,932 Haitian migrants have attempted to illegally
enter the U.S. via the maritime environment in fiscal year 2019 compared to
2,727 Haitian 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 Atlantic. Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all
migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley (WPC-1117) repatriated 44 Dominican migrants and transferred them to Dominican naval authorities June 28 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of two illegal migrant voyages June 25 and 26 in the Mona Passage, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a June 28 release.

Six other
migrants interdicted in both voyages are facing possible federal prosecution in
Puerto Rico on charges of attempted illegal re-entry into the United States.

The
interdictions are the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified
Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group
(CBIG). Since October 2018, the Coast Guard and CBIG federal and state partner
agencies have interdicted over 1,573 migrants at sea near Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Islands.

The first
interdiction took place the night of June 25 after the crew of a Customs and
Border Protection DHC-8 maritime patrol aircraft detected a 25-foot migrant boat
transiting toward Puerto Rico, approximately 17 nautical miles north-northwest
of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the cutter Donald Horsley to
interdict the suspect vessel. Upon arriving on scene, the Donald Horsley crew
stopped the blue makeshift boat with 25 Dominican migrants aboard — 19 men and
five women, and a 16-year-old boy. Horsley crewmembers proceeded to embark all
the migrants from the makeshift boat.

The crew of
the DHC-8 maritime patrol aircraft detected a second illegal migrant voyage on
the night of June 26, approximately nine nautical miles north of Mona Island.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the cutter Donald Horsley to
interdict the suspect vessel. Upon arriving on scene, the Donald Horsley crew
stopped the 35-foot blue fiberglass boat with 25 adult Dominican migrants
aboard — 20 men and five women. Horsley crewmembers embarked all the migrants
for safety of life at sea.

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

“I am
extremely proud of the crew of cutter Donald Horsley for their tremendous
efforts which culminated in the interdiction of 50 migrants during two
different cases this week,” said Lt. Christopher Martin, Coast Guard Cutter
Donald Horsley commanding officer. “These illicit ventures put migrants in
extremely dangerous situations at sea and our crew along with our other DHS
partners did an excellent job detecting and intercepting these vessels to stem
the flow of illegal migration to Puerto Rico and ensure the safety of all the
migrants involved in these voyages.”

The cutter
Donald Horsley transferred custody of the six migrants facing federal
prosecution to Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

The CBIG
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 cutter
Donald Horsley is a 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in San Juan,
Puerto Rico.

ARLINGTON,
Va., and MOBILE, Ala.— The U.S. Navy christened its newest Independence-variant
littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Oakland (LCS 24), during a June 29
ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, the ship’s builder, Austal USA, said in a release
of the same date.

U.S. Rep. Ken
Calvert of California delivered the christening ceremony’s principal address.
Kate Brandt, Google’s sustainability officer, served as the ship’s sponsor.

“The
christening of the future USS Oakland marks an important step toward this great
ship’s entry into the fleet,” said Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer in a
June 26 Navy Office of Information release. “The dedication and skilled
work of our industry partners ensure this ship will represent the great city of
Oakland and serve our Navy and Marine Corps team for decades to come.”

“I’m proud to
represent Austal’s amazing workforce today as we commemorate a significant
milestone in the life of this amazing warship,” said Austal USA President Craig
Perciavalle. “Our talented shipbuilding team is proud to provide our Navy with
an extraordinarily capable vessel that will honor the great city of Oakland as
she becomes an integral part of the U.S. naval fleet protecting our nation.”

The ship’s
sponsor, Kate Brandt, a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award,
the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, headlined the group of
officials, naval guests, civic leaders, community members and Austal USA
employees who attended the ceremony beneath the hull of the ship in Austal
USA’s final assembly bay.  

“We are
honored to host Ms. Brandt as the ship’s sponsor,” continued Perciavalle. “Her
time spent serving our country through her work for the government,
specifically the Navy, and her dedication to green initiatives protecting the
environment make her a clear choice as the sponsor of Oakland.”

As Google’s
sustainability officer, Brandt leads sustainability across Google’s worldwide
operations, products and supply chain. Previously Brandt served as the nation’s
first chief sustainability officer, where she was responsible for promoting
sustainability across federal government operations including 360,000
buildings, 650,000 vehicles, and $445 billion annually in purchased goods and
services. Brandt’s prior government service also includes senior adviser at the
Department of Energy, director for Energy and Environment in the White House
Office of Presidential Personnel, and energy adviser to the Secretary of the
Navy.

A Gates
Cambridge Scholar who graduated with honors from Brown University, Brandt
currently serves on the boards of The Institute at Brown for Environment and
Society, The Roosevelt Institute, Planet Forward, and the Stanford
International Affairs Network.

The future
USS Oakland is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation
in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed
to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet
diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be homeported in San
Diego.

The LCS class
consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant,
designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by
Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The
Independence variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama (for LCS 6
and subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The future
USS Oakland is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the city in California. The
first Oakland (2847) was commissioned in 1918 and used for cargo transport. The
second, CL 95, was commissioned in 1942, and during seven years of service, it
played a key role in many antiaircraft missions across the Asia-Pacific theater
of operations.

Oakland is
the 12th of 19 Independence-variant littoral combat ships Austal USA has under
contract with the U.S. Navy. In addition to being in full-rate production for
the LCS program, Austal USA is also the Navy’s prime contractor for the
Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program. Austal has delivered 10 EPF, with a
total of 14 under contract.

ST.
PETERSBURG, Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Venturous (WMEC-625)
returned home to St. Petersburg June 27 following a 62-day patrol in the
Caribbean Sea, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release of the same date.

Venturous’
crew spent the first three weeks of the patrol at Naval Station Mayport for
their biennial Tailored Ship’s Training Availability, which is designed to test
the crew’s ability to respond to various operations and shipboard emergencies.

After
departing Mayport, the Venturous crew transited over 7,000 miles while
operating in the Caribbean Sea enforcing international laws and treaties in
support of the Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy by countering
transnational organized criminal networks and deterring human smuggling while
safeguarding life at sea.

On June 12th,
the crew of the Venturous partnered with rotary and fixed wing aircraft from
Coast Guard Air Stations Clearwater and Miami and Royal Bahamian Defense Forces
interceptor and rescued 177 Haitian migrants from an overloaded 40-foot vessel
approximately 20 nautical miles southwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

“From responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, to completing four consecutive deployments through the Panama Canal to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to preventing over nine tons of illicit narcotics, valued at over a quarter billion dollars, from reaching our shores, and rescuing 189 migrants and 10 fishermen from the perils of the sea, the crew of Venturous truly upheld her motto, Nemo Supra, None Better.”

Cmdr. Matthew Chong, commanding officer of the Venturous

The Venturous
crew utilized both of the over the horizon cutter boats to safely offload all
177 migrants from the vessel, which was slowly flooding due to its severely
overloaded state and choppy seas. The Royal Bahamian Defense Forces interceptor
provided security on the vessel and the Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk
helicopter provided overflight coverage as Venturous embarked the migrants.
Once aboard Venturous, crewmembers provided the migrants with food, water,
shelter and basic medical care.

On two other
occasions, Venturous intercepted overloaded vessels closer to shore and
directed them to return back to port rather than face the dangerous journey in
open waters.

Six cadets
from the Coast Guard Academy also joined Venturous during the deployment and
worked alongside the crew while earning various shipboard qualifications and
gaining valuable operational experience that will aid in their development as
future Coast Guard officers.

Additionally,
Venturous hosted two ship riders from the Cayman Islands. While on board, the
ship riders attended operations briefings and engaged with crewmembers to
exchange best practices to fight human and narcotics trafficking networks while
strengthening the strategic partnership with an important regional ally.

“As I
complete my final patrol on Venturous, I can’t help but look back on the past
two years with immense pride and awe in all that our crew accomplished.” said
Cmdr. Matthew Chong, commanding officer of the Venturous. “From responding to
Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, to completing four consecutive deployments
through the Panama Canal to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to preventing over nine
tons of illicit narcotics, valued at over a quarter billion dollars, from
reaching our shores, and rescuing 189 migrants and 10 fishermen from the perils
of the sea, the crew of Venturous truly upheld her motto, Nemo Supra, None
Better.”

The Venturous
is a 210-foot Reliance-class cutter, homeported in St. Petersburg and has a
crew of 76. Medium endurance cutters, like the Venturous, are slated for
replacement by a new class of cutter — the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). With
the ability to operate more than 50 miles from land, the OPC will be a
multi-mission asset, providing surface and air pursuit capabilities and
interoperability with other military and federal partners.

Despite the current heavy focus on great power competition,
the Navy must retain and build its ability to engage in irregular maritime
conflict, which historically has always been a fundamental part of maintaining
maritime security, a panel of historians and naval security analysts said June
26.

Although the early Navy considered irregular actions, such
as raids on coastal cities and enemy commerce and antipiracy missions, as a
part of general maritime conflict, the current Navy thinks of itself as
blue-water force that must be prepared for the clash of battle fleets. But some
potential adversaries, including China and Iran, are engaging in “gray zone”
actions below the level of war and the Navy and Marine Corps must be able to
respond, the panel said at a Hudson Institute forum.

Benjamin Armstrong, a Naval Academy
professor and author of a history of 18^th and 19^th
century U.S. Navy, contrasted John Paul Jones’ raids on British ports and
merchant ships with the current Navy’s devotion to the clash of battle fleets
championed by Alfred Mahan, while Iran harasses U.S. warships with small boats
and China build artificial islands and employs its fishing fleet as an
auxiliary force to control the South China Sea.

“Today’s Navy and Marine
Corps are wrestling with how to balance great power conflict with gray zone
acts … the kind of maritime competition below the level of war,” Armstrong said.

Martin Murphy, a fellow at
the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies and author of a book on piracy
and maritime terrorism in the modern world, and Joshua Tallis, from the Center
for Naval Analysis and author of a similar history of irregular maritime
conflict, also said the current Navy’s strategy and self image does not account
for the broader dimension of maritime security and the challenges from
non-state actors.

Murphy said, “I do not believe
the United States is prepared” for the broader dimensions of maritime security,
because the importance of sea power has “lost all traction in U.S. foreign policy.”

Peter Haynes, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and a former deputy with the Special Operations Command, said the Navy’s problem is that it “has defined the [maritime] competition very narrowly in the context of global conflict,” which reflects the Navy’s self-identity of “we only do blue-water operations.”

Linda Robinson, the senior
international/defense researcher at the RAND Corp., said that while the new
National Defense Strategy cited the return of great power competition, it also
said “irregular warfare was part of what the U.S. needs to be about,” because
small-state and non-state actors can employ a “broad range of powers.”

In response to a question,
several of the panelists said the Navy should be buying more smaller ships to
deal with the challenges from adversaries other than China and Russia,
including Iran’s threat of swarming attacks of small fast craft. “When
we see the Navy buying small ships, we’ll know the Navy has got it,” Murphy
said.

WASHINGTON —
Alaska’s junior senator, a member of the Armed Services Committee, is critical
of the Pentagon’s lack of support for a strategic Arctic port but is pleased
that the nation has a Secretary of the Navy who understands the need for the
Navy to have the infrastructure to sustain a presence in the Arctic region.

“The good
news is having a Secretary of the Navy who gets it and is an advocate,” said
Sen. Dan Sullivan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management
Support on the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaking June 26 on Arctic
defense issues to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, a Washington think tank, noting that Congress, not the Defense
Department, is usually driving the efforts to strengthen U.S. strategic presence
in the Arctic.

Sullivan,
also a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, said he was concerned about Russian
hegemony in the Arctic, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that
the Arctic is “the new Suez Canal that Russia will control,” and that Russia is
devoting four of six new brigade combat teams to the Arctic region.  

He noted that
Russia fields 40 icebreakers and is building 13 more, while the Coast Guard has
only one heavy icebreaker. He is pleased that the Congress has authorized six
icebreakers, including three polar security cutters (PSCs), and has funded the
first PSC and made a down payment of a second.

Sullivan said
the Navy will be sending one or two guided-missile destroyers along with Coast
Guard assets to the Arctic this summer and in September will be conducting
exercises from the former naval air station on Adak, an Aleutian island, as
well as operating P-8 maritime patrol aircraft from Adak for part of the year.

The Arm Corps
of Engineers is studying the challenges of building a strategic port at Nome,
Alaska, he said. 

He pointed
out that the Navy currently does not have the capability to conduct freedom of
navigation operations in the Arctic, noting that submarines, being covert under
the ice, do not count as a ‘presence.’ 

Sullivan also
said the Navy needs to consider ice-hardening some future ships.  

“I’m very
supportive of a 355-ship Navy, but we need to look at the Navy and we’ve had
this in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] for the Secretary of the
Navy to look, the ice-hardening capabilities of some of that new fleet that
we’re building, so we have a lot of work to do and we’re way behind with regard
to capabilities, particularly on the Navy side, the strategic Arctic port side,”
he said.

WASHINGTON – Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) released the Naval Power and Energy Systems Technology Development Roadmap, providing an evolutionary strategy to meet future weapon and sensor systems power requirements, June 26, the command said in a release of the same date.

Developed
by the Electric Ships Office within Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, the
roadmap aligns electric power and energy system development with increasing
warfighter power needs, enabling the U.S. Navy to expand maritime superiority
over our adversaries. 

“The U.S.
Navy faces increasingly sophisticated threats,” said Vice Adm. Tom Moore,
commander, NAVSEA. “Our mandate is to maintain sea control by delivering a
decisive advantage to the warfighter. We do that by ensuring our platforms have
enough space, weight and power margin to adapt to future threats.”

As
existing U.S. Navy power and energy systems represent a century of combined
private and public partnership, the roadmap establishes priorities to guide
future research and development investments across the government, industry and
academic enterprises; leveraging the best in science and engineering; and
allowing the Navy to more efficiently field future capabilities.  

“Now is
the time to invest in future naval power systems and capabilities to influence
technology developments for tomorrow’s fleet,” said Stephen Markle, director,
Electric Ships Office. “As new technologies evolve, it’s imperative we lead the
innovation of power and energy architecture necessary for tomorrow’s sensors
and weapons and deliver the Chief of Naval Operations’ mandate of as much power
as we can afford to the warfighter.”

Power and
energy systems offer the potential to provide revolutionary warfighting
capability at an affordable cost. The Electric Ships Office’s efforts have
helped conceptualize and field the power generation, electrical distribution
and propulsion machinery on the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers; and power
generation and conversion systems on the DDG 51 Flight III. Future efforts
include development of the Energy Magazine to enable pulsed high-power weapons
and sensor systems for both back fit and forward fit applications, and
evolution of Integrated Power Systems found on DDG 1000 and Royal Navy Type 45-
and Queen Elizabeth-class ships by integrating energy storage and advanced
controls as the Integrated Power and Energy System.