FAIRFAX, Va. — General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) will support the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s (NAWCWD) Joint Electronic Warfare Effects Laboratory through a new $40 million task order, the company announced in a Jan. 4 release.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command recently awarded its Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services task order to CSRA LLC, a managed affiliate of GDIT. The single-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) task order includes a one-year base period with two one-year options. GDIT will provide engineering services support to NAWCWD’s Systems Engineering Department and Electronic Warfare Integrated Laboratories Division.

“This award continues GDIT’s relationship as a key player within NAWCWD,” said Leigh Palmer, senior vice president and head of GDIT’s Defense Division. “Our team offered the right technical capabilities, corporate experience and qualified staff needed for this task order. We are excited to continue this legacy and support the Navy through our next-generation solutions.”

As electronic warfare and information operations continue to evolve, maintaining relevancy and technological superiority is critical in this realm. Through this task order, GDIT will perform engineering services related to electronic, cyber and information warfare, as well as information operations and foreign military sales requirements.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in honor of U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran, Navy Cross recipient and former U.S. Senator from Alabama Adm. Jeremiah Denton, the public affairs office for the secretary said in a Jan. 4 release.

“Admiral Denton’s legacy is an inspiration to all who wear our nation’s uniform,” Spencer said. “His heroic actions during a defining period in our history have left an indelible mark on our Navy and Marine Corps team and our nation. His service is a shining example for our Sailors and Marines and this ship will continue his legacy for decades to come.”

In 1947, Denton graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a test pilot, flight instructor and squadron leader, and developed operational tactics still in use, such as the haystack concept, which calls for the dispersing of carrier fleets to make it more difficult for the enemy to find the fleets on radar.

On July 18, 1965, Denton was shot down over North Vietnam and spent nearly eight years as a prisoner of war (POW), almost half in isolation. During an interview with a Japanese media outlet, Denton used Morse code to blink “torture,” confirming that American POWs were being tortured. He suffered severe harassment, intimidation and ruthless treatment, yet he refused to provide military information or be used by the enemy for propaganda purposes.

In recognition of his extraordinary heroism while a prisoner of war, he was awarded the Navy Cross. Denton was released from captivity in 1973, retired from the Navy in 1977 and in 1980 was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he represented Alabama.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously, and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities.

The ship will be constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy’s newest fast-attack submarine, USS South Dakota (SSN 790), will be commissioned at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, Feb. 2 as the 17th Virginia-class submarine to join the fleet, commander, Submarine Forces Public Affairs, said in a Jan. 2 release.

Deanie Dempsey, wife of retired Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the ship’s sponsor. After spending several decades of service in support of just the Army, Deanie became a champion for all of the services in her role as the chairman’s spouse. She remains actively engaged in countless activities in support of military families and participates in dozens of private and charitable organizations in support of military spouses and their families.

Designed to operate in both coastal and deep-ocean environments, South Dakota will present leadership with a broad and unique range of capabilities, including anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface ship warfare; strike warfare; special operation forces (SOF) support; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare missions. South Dakota is a part of the Virginia-class Block III contract, in which the Navy redesigned approximately 20 percent of the ship to reduce acquisition costs.

South Dakota features a redesigned bow, which replaces 12 individual Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs) capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles each.

South Dakota has special features to support SOF, including a reconfigurable torpedo room which can accommodate a large number of SOF and all their equipment for prolonged deployments and future off-board payloads. Also, in Virginia-class SSNs, traditional periscopes have been replaced by two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms. Through the extensive use of modular construction, open architecture, and commercial off-the-shelf components, the Virginia class is designed to remain at the cutting edge for its entire operational life through the rapid introduction of new systems and payloads.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has directed the establishment of a submarine group command in Norfolk, Virginia, later this year.

According to an internal Navy directive, commander, Submarine Group Two (COMSUBGRU TWO) will be established on Sept. 30 at Naval Station Norfolk.

“Due to designation of Commander, Submarine Forces, as Deputy for Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander, strategic establishment of COMSUBGRU TWO is necessary to better align flag officer responsibilities and to increase warfighter readiness for the Atlantic coast nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine (SSN) force,” the directive said.

The mission of the group will be, “To man, train and equip assigned forces to provide combat ready SSNs to Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic, for force generation to combatant commanders; to serve as Commander Task, Force (CTF) 24, to Commander, Second Fleet, or as CTF-46 to Commander, Fourth Fleet; to be responsible for all SSN and guided-missile submarine operations and employment of anti-submarine warfare ready forces for the conduct of theater anti-submarine warfare; to ensure assigned personnel, staffs, and submarines achieve and maintain a level of training, personnel, and material readiness necessary to carry out their assigned missions,” the directive said.

An earlier Submarine Group Two was based in Groton, Connecticut, from 1965 until Aug. 22, 2014.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The 26th National Fire Control Symposium (NFCS) is scheduled to meet at the Shades of Green Resort in Lake Buena Vista Feb. 4-7. The NFCS is a tri-service event with technical program advisory rotating among the services.

NFCS is under the lead technical advisorship of the U.S. Army for the 2019 event. Heralded as the premiere forum for discussing the entire kill chain, NFCS has served the Integrated Fire Control Community of Interest (IFC-COI) for over two decades. Due to its restricted format, the NFCS is in a unique forum to cultivate relationships among the forward operators, service communities, warfare centers, laboratories and industry partners.

The 2019 theme is “Extending the Reach of the Multi-Domain Kill Chain.” The event will feature more than 130 speakers, in 20 technical sessions including:

■ Advanced Technologies

■ Combat ID

■ Cyber Warfare (Threat, Exploitation, Assurance, Attack and Defense)

■ Directed Energy

■ Electronic Warfare

■ Enabling Joint Fire Control: Warfighter Challenges and Operational Lessons Learned

■ Fire Control Platform Capabilities

■ Hypersonics/Conventional Prompt Strike and Hypersonic Threat Defense

■ Joint Integrated Air & Missile Defense

■ Kill Chain & Distributed Lethality

■ Live, Virtual and Constructive Modeling and Simulation

■ Multi-Domain Command and Control and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

■ Rapid Transition of New Technology to the Warfighter

■ Sensor Resource Management/Sensor and Data Fusion

■ Unmanned and Autonomous Systems (Sensors, Weapons and Platforms, including Counter-UAS)

■ Utilizing Space as a Force Enhancer or Force Applier

■ Weapons, Munitions and Engagement Alternatives

The 2019 NFCS will provide a continued opportunity for dialogue that will resonate with the challenges the front-line commanders face. The Plenary Session will be moderated by Richard De Fatta, director of the Future Warfare Center U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command. Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, commanding general, U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, will kickoff the Plenary Session as the keynote speaker.

Lt. Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., military deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; Rear Adm. Jon A. Hill, deputy director, Missile Defense Agency; Rear Adm. James Kilby, director, Warfare Integration, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; and James Faist, director of Defense Research & Engineering for Advanced

Capabilities, also will speak at the 2019 event. Event features include a technical poster session, an exhibit show, and many networking and collaboration functions.

Launched in 1992 by the Air Force, and subsequently supported by the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, the NFCS is now an industry-sponsored event. With continued reduction in budgets, the government has an increasing need for cooperative research efforts. The size and focus of the NFCS promotes a greater number of productive contacts and collaborative relationships and provides an overview of a larger number of external research efforts while providing U.S. researchers with a deeper understanding of the state-of-the-art and the warfighter’s perspective.

Sponsors, poster presentation abstracts, and tabletop exhibit applications will be accepted until full or in January, whichever comes first. Because attendance at the 2019 NFCS will be limited to the first 400 that sign up, the symposium organizers encourage early registration to take full advantage of the technical and networking opportunities this event will offer.

More information is available at https://www.usasymposium.com/nfcs/default.php.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) has announced the second round of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program through a Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Federal Register.

The INFRA program is expected to make approximately $855 million to $902.5 million, subject to funding provided by fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations, available to projects that are in line with the administration’s principles to help rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure. In addition to providing direct federal funding, the INFRA program aims to increase the total investment by state, local, and private partners.

INFRA advances a grant program established in the FAST Act of 2015 and utilizes criteria that let DoT evaluate projects to align them with national and regional economic vitality goals and to leverage additional non-federal funding. The program will increase the impact of projects by leveraging federal grant funding and incentivizing project sponsors to pursue innovative strategies, including public-private partnerships.

Additionally, the new program promotes the incorporation of innovative technology that will improve our transportation system. INFRA will also hold recipients accountable for their performance in project delivery and operations.

“This administration is committed to revitalizing, repairing and rebuilding America’s aging infrastructure,” said Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “By creating the right incentives, this program will be better able to make significant, long-term improvements to America’s transportation infrastructure.”

The department will make awards under the INFRA program to both large and small projects. For a large project, the INFRA grant must be at least $25 million. For a small project, the grant must be at least $5 million. For each fiscal year of INFRA funds, 10 percent of available funds are reserved for small projects.

Under a statutory requirement in the FAST Act, the INFRA grant program must award at least 25 percent of funding for rural projects. The administration understands that rural needs may well exceed this limit, and the department will consider rural projects to the greatest extent possible. For rural communities in need of funding for highway and multimodal freight projects with national or regional economic significance, INFRA is an opportunity to apply directly for financial assistance from the federal government.

INFRA grants may be used to fund a variety of components of an infrastructure project, however, the department is specifically focused on projects in which the local sponsor is significantly invested and is positioned to proceed rapidly to construction. Eligible INFRA project costs may include: reconstruction, rehabilitation, acquisition of property (including land related to the project and improvements to the land), environmental mitigation, construction contingencies, equipment acquisition, and operational improvements directly related to system performance.

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII’s) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received two fixed-price incentive contracts from the U.S. Coast Guard to build two additional National Security Cutters (NSCs), the company said in a Dec. 21 release. The contract values for the a 10th and 11th ships in the program are $468.75 million for NSC 10 and $462.13 million for NSC 11.

“This additional funding for two NSCs is a great accomplishment on which to end the year,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “The outstanding work being done by skilled men and women of Ingalls, as well as the recognition by Congress and the U.S. Coast Guard as to the important contributions these ships make to our nation’s defense, are the reason for this success. These ships provide capable assets that our Coast Guard customer uses to perform essential homeland security missions, and we look forward to delivering two more quality NSCs to help with this important work.”

Ingalls has delivered seven NSCs, the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, designed to replace the 12 Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s. The seventh ship, Kimball (WMSL 756), will be commissioned in Hawaii on Jan. 19.

Both the eighth ship, Midgett (WMSL 757), and the ninth, Stone (WMSL 758), are currently under construction at Ingalls. Midgett is scheduled for its first set of sea trials in the first quarter of 2019. Stone is scheduled to launch in 2019. NSCs are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.

KEY WEST, Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk, homeported in Key West, returned Sunday following a 42-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea, the 7th Coast Guard District said in a Dec. 24 release.

The cutter crew worked with multiple Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Navy maritime patrol aircraft while countering transnational criminal organizations attempting to smuggle drugs, humans and other dangerous cargoes to the United States.

Over the course of the patrol, Mohawk’s crew, complimented by a deployable specialized forces team from U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South, successfully interdicted and seized nearly $17 million of cocaine.

Part of the cutter’s duties included a four-day engagement with the Guatemalan Naval Forces to exchange tactics and best practices, strengthening the collaborative efforts of regional security partners. Furthermore, crew members spent over 20 hours restoring a local K-12 community school to make it more habitable for the students. These efforts resulted in a new roof for one of the buildings, the rejuvenation of athletic and bathroom facilities, and the repainting of one of the classrooms.

“Additionally, Mohawk’s crew conducted daily damage control, navigation, and combat drills to ensure the cutter remains ready to save lives, defend our nation and enforce federal laws,” said Ensign Kira Dabrowski, public affairs officer aboard the cutter. “Upon our return to homeport, the crew will continue to work diligently to prepare to return to sea and continue to serve the American people.”

The Mohawk is a 270-foot Famous-class cutter named after the Algonquin tribe of the Iroquoian Indians who lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York.

BATH, Maine — The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) a contract to build a fifth DDG 51 destroyer as part of the multiyear award announced in September, the company said in a Dec. 21 release. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works is a business unit of General Dynamics.

In the most recent multiyear competition, BIW was awarded four ships. The Navy held a separate competition for an option ship as part of its commitment to growing the fleet. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be funded in the fiscal 2019 budget.

“Bath Iron Works is privileged to continue producing state-of-the-art surface combatants for the longest running naval shipbuilding program in our nation’s history,” said Dirk Lesko, president of BIW. “This award demonstrates the vital role the DDG 51 plays in the security posture of the United States and the confidence the Navy has in our shipyard to produce these important assets.”

There are currently five DDG 51 destroyers in production at BIW: Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum (DDG 124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127). The shipyard’s backlog includes Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126) and the five ships that are part of the multiyear contract awarded this fall. BIW also is building the third Zumwalt-class destroyer, Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002).

MOBILE, Ala. — The Department of Defense has awarded Austal USA, as the prime contractor, a $21 million order against a previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement to accomplish the post-shakedown availability (PSA) execution for the littoral combat ship USS Manchester (LCS 14), the company said in a Dec. 23 release.

This effort encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, nonstandard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the USS Manchester PSA. The work to be performed will include correction of government responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA, and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise in the building yard’s responsibility under the ship construction contract.

“This order is evidence of the Navy’s confidence in Austal USA to provide significant post delivery services and support for the LCS fleet,” said Austal USA President, Craig Perciavalle, “and it directly supports our growth strategy in the service business in San Diego, and Mobile, as we continue to support an ever-growing fleet of small surface combatants.”

With nine ships delivered, five under construction and five more under contract, Austal USA is proving to be a major player in the Navy’s plan for a 355-ship fleet. The Independence-variant LCS, along with Austal USA’s expeditionary fast transport, are designed, constructed and well positioned to meet the needs of the fleet today and into the future.