ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Beloit (LCS 29), during a 10:00 a.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, May 7, in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Defense Department said May 6. 

The Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) will be the principal speaker. Also providing remarks are Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), Vice Adm. John Fuller, Naval Inspector General, Vice Adm. Francis Morley, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, Lori Curtis Luther, city manager of Beloit, Wisconsin, as well as shipbuilders Steve Allen, vice president, Small Combatants and Ship Systems, Lockheed Martin Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors, and Mark Vandroff, CEO, Fincantieri Marinette Marine. 

In a time-honored Navy tradition, the ship’s sponsor, Beloit native and retired Army Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow. 

“The future USS Beloit will be the first U.S. Navy ship honoring the proud naval contributions of Beloit, Wisconsin,” said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. “I have no doubt the Sailors of USS Beloit will stand the watch with pride and be ready to respond to any mission, wherever, and whenever, there is a need.” 

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom and the Independence, designed and built by two industry teams. Lockheed Martin leads the Freedom-variant team, or odd-numbered hulls, constructed in Marinette, Wisconsin. Austal USA leads the Independence-variant team in Mobile, Alabama, for LCS 2 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls. 

LCS 29 is the 15th Freedom-variant LCS and 29th in the LCS class. It is the first ship named in honor of the city of Beloit, Wisconsin. 

NAPLES, Italy — In a historic moment for the region, a Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Sioux City (LCS 11), deployed to U.S. 6th Fleet’s area of operations, supporting U.S. and NATO ally and partner interests in Europe and Africa, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs said May 5. 

The deployment provides an opportunity for Sioux City to gain experience in an area littoral combat ships have never before operated. 

“Sioux City’s deployment allows us to integrate the LCS’ unique operational capability into our already diverse fleet,” said Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet. “The agility of littoral combat ships allows them to operate in both near-shore and open-ocean environments, enhancing our ability to provide security and stability across the European theater.” 

The ship’s size, speed, and agility allow it to perform maritime security operations, theater security cooperation engagements, and freedom of navigation patrols — keeping critical maritime commerce routes open, deterring conflict and coercion, and providing a comparable ship to strengthen partnerships with other countries.    

The ship’s motto is “forging a new frontier,” and according to Cmdr. Scott Whitworth, Sioux City’s commanding officer, that is exactly what the crew plans to do. 

“USS Sioux City is a combat ready warship manned by battle-minded Sailors, who are prepared and equipped to execute any mission we are tasked with,” said Whitworth. “This deployment will expand the relevance of these ships, particularly their ability to relieve larger surface combatants in key surface-mission areas.” 

An embarked detachment of two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters from the Sea Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 supports Sioux City’s deployment. 

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA has been awarded a $230.5 million contract for the detail design and construction of EPF 16, the Navy’s newest expeditionary fast transport ship, the company said May 3.  

Austal USA has successfully delivered 12 EPFs, on schedule and on budget. Three additional EPFs are currently under construction. EPFs have demonstrated their operational capability to conduct a variety of missions to include humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, maritime security, surveillance, command and control and counter narcotic missions around the globe. The inherent versatility of the EPF design allows for its mission to be tailored to the needs of each fleet and combatant commander’s geographic command. 

“Like the previously delivered EPFs, EPF 16 will benefit from the serial production of this program, resulting not only in a world-class ship but also providing assurance to the U.S. Navy that capability will be delivered on budget and on schedule,” said Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh. “Our reputation for delivering quality is a direct reflection of the commitment and dedication of our talented shipbuilders and suppliers.” 

EPF 16 will be the third ship constructed in the Flight II configuration. Flight II ships will enhance the original capabilities of the Spearhead class through incorporation of reconfigurable spaces for operating rooms and postsurgical recovery efforts. Combined with the ship’s flight deck that is capable of landing V-22 aircraft, Flight II ships provide unmatched versatility.  

Construction efforts on EPF 16 are expected to commence later this year with delivery projected for 2025. Austal USA is currently under contract to build additional EPFs, the Independence-variant littoral combat ship, and the Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ships and is supporting Navy unmanned vessel programs leveraging its advanced machinery control system. 

WASHINGTON — USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), the Navy’s lead ship of its new class of fleet replenishment oilers, conducted acceptance trials on April 25, Team Ships Public Affairs said May 2. 

Acceptance trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the Navy and the shipbuilder, General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., to assess the ship’s systems and readiness prior to delivery to the Navy. 

“The John Lewis-class oilers will add capacity to the Navy’s Combat Logistics Force and become the cornerstone of the fuel delivery system at sea,” said John Lighthammer, program manager, Auxiliary and Special Mission Shipbuilding Program Office. “We are excited to welcome the USNS John Lewis to the fleet.” 

The John Lewis-class T-AOs will be operated by Military Sealift Command to provide fuel and lubricating oil, and small quantities of fresh and frozen provisions, stores, and potable water to Navy ships at sea, and fuel for the embarked aircraft.   

The oilers feature the capacity to carry barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and a speed of 20 knots. NASSCO designed the new vessels with double hulls to protect against oil spills and strengthened cargo and ballast tanks.  

NASSCO is currently in production on USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), and USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208). The future USNS Lucy Stone (T-AO 209) and USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) are under contract. NASSCO is also currently in production of two Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESB) – the future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) and USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7). 

ATLANTIC OCEAN — The Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport vessel USNS Burlington (T-EPF-10) completed U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet 2022 Fleet Experimentation events in Key West, Florida, April 22-27, 2022, said U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command / U.S. 4th Fleet said April 29. 

The U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility provides a permissive environment to experiment with new technologies, tactics, techniques and procedures. U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet provides an annual experimentation venue for technology developers to embark with the operational force, evaluate new systems in the maritime environment, validate assumptions, and receive feedback from Sailors and Marines. 
 
“The U.S. Navy must move faster, take smart risks, and focus on key operational problems to outpace our global threats,” said Dr. Christopher Heagney, NAVAIR Fleet/Force Advisor to U.S. 4th Fleet. “Our ability to establish maritime superiority in the littorals is foundational to deterring future conflict. Here, we are bringing together air, expeditionary, and information warfare to achieve that effect.” 
 
During the week-long engagement, Burlington went to sea to perform a series of tests and demonstrations with the assistance of scientists and engineers from U.S. 4th Fleet, Office of Naval Research, Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Naval Surface Warfare Centers, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, among other science and research institutions. 
 
Test concepts were selected based on operational needs and gaps. This year’s iteration aimed to demonstrate Navy/Marine Corps integration to protect naval assets during expeditionary advanced basing operations, by evaluating expeditionary systems for force protection and coordinated electronic warfare. 
 
“These fleet experiments provide an important opportunity to test new ideas in a controlled environment. They also put technology experts in close contact with fleet operators to increase mutual understanding of operational problems and the state-of-the-art tools that can be leveraged to address them,” said Rear Adm. Doug Sasse, reserve vice commander of U.S. 4th Fleet. “This year’s experiments were expeditionary focused and demonstrated how spectrum dominance can provide great advantage for our forces operating in littoral waters in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility and around the globe.” 
 
Experiments were conducted in a phased approach, with each segment building upon the previous one. A Humvee was embarked on Burlington as the primary vessel to facilitate experiments and ultimately evaluate capabilities in a contested environment. 
 
In Phase 1, ingress, Burlington was at sea with a Humvee onboard to demonstrate electronic warfare support and establish command and control. Forces tested satellite connections, C2 through tethered aircraft, detection of simulated enemy forces, and the ship’s ability to protect itself with jamming. 
 
Phase 2, the landing, offloaded the Humvee on Saddle Bunch Key en route to establish the EABO. The Humvee followed a route to the basing site, combating simulated attacks from unmanned aerial systems, simulated improvised explosive devices and other cyber and electronic attacks. 
 
Finally, in Phase 3, inside force operations, the Humvee arrived at its basing site, where forces were able to establish a communications network, and conduct coordinated electronic attack tactics on simulated enemy forces. 
 
“The ‘theater of experimentation’ is a well-earned name,” said Dr. Waleed Barnawi, ONR Program Officer. “Dr. Heagney and the 4th Fleet staff provided us a great venue to test cyber and electronic warfare capabilities, and a resilient communications architecture that will connect Navy and Marine Corps warfighters inside and outside the weapons engagement zone. I’m very grateful for Rear Adm. Sasse and his team for coming down as well. He and his team provided unique insight that only comes from an event like this.”

MCLEAN, Va. — HII has been awarded two tactical training systems contracts by the Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake, the company said May 2.  

The first contract, for aircrew electronic warfare tactical training, is a multiple-award, indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery contract with a total ceiling value of $249 million. The second contract, for tactical integrated threat/target training systems, is also a multiple-award, IDIQ contract with a total ceiling value of $92 million. Both contracts have a five-year continuous ordering period. 

Under these contracts, HII will have the opportunity to bid on task orders to provide research, development, engineering, sustainment, upgrades, integration, testing and cybersecurity for the U.S. Navy’s tactical and electronic warfare threat systems and tactical threat systems. 

“For more than 20 years, HII has been dedicated to the Navy’s training missions, providing expertise in live, virtual, constructive cutting-edge software, modeling and simulation, engineering, systems integration, networking and virtual technology, as well as large-scale operations and maintenance,” said Glenn Goodman, president of LVC Solutions business group within HII’s Mission Technologies division. “It is imperative our nation’s training environments provide real world mission rehearsal support for our warfighters, and we look forward to continuing to provide the Navy with world class support to the mission.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The recent surge of several guided-missile destroyers from the U.S East Coast to the North Atlantic Ocean and Baltic and North Seas was a successful demonstration of the flexibility of geographic command relationships and of the value with of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan, the commander of the U.S. Navy’s 2nd Fleet said.

Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer, commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, told reporters April 29 about the surge deployment of the destroyers under the operational control of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22 support operations for the European Command and “to reaffirm our commitment to our NATO allies and partners.

“This historic task marked the first time since our re-establishment [in 2018] that U.S. 2nd Fleet provided command and control for forces operating in Europe, outside of an exercise,” Dwyer said.

Dwyer said his fleet showed the ability to “surge forces to provide the defense of Europe and to reassure our allies and partners of our commitment to the defense of the NATO alliance.”

The admiral declined to comment on whether the surge deployment from January to April 2022 was related to the Russian build-up and subsequent invasion of Ukraine.

The surging ships were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS The Sullivans (DDG 68), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) the USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), and the USS Mitscher (DDG 57). Also attached was the command-and-control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), which normally serves as the flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

Dwyer said the surged DDGs were within the OFRP cycle, with each ship trained and certified.

“Some [DDGs] were at the beginning of their operational deployment cycle; some had just returned from an operational deployment and were in that sustained period which allowed me to use their certified and ready ships to meet mission,” he said. “Once we train and certify naval forces, we can deploy them right away as scheduled, or we can hold that readiness and deploy them later at time of need, or when they get back from a deployment and they are still trained, certified and ready in that sustainment phase if crisis occurs or need occurs. We can then deploy them and continue to leverage that training [and] certification and readiness. This shows that this OFRP cycle — the way it is built — allows us to move naval forces to the point of need and at the time of need with incredible agility.”

The fleet embarked DESRON 22 staff on one of the DDGs to act as the forward command element reporting back to the 2nd Fleet’s maritime operations center in Norfolk. When the USS Mount Whitney was assigned to the 2nd Fleet for the operation, the fleet was able to “use it to command and control forces in the North Atlantic with DESRON 22 embarked.” Dwyer said.

Operational Flexibility

The admiral stressed the operational flexibility of the number fleets to operate in different combatant commander areas of responsibility.

“Numbered fleet commanders are operational-level headquarters that can command and control naval forces at the point of need unconstrained by lines on a map,” he said. “This operation that we conducted showed that the 2nd fleet — [with the Western Atlantic up to the North Pole] — at time of need can surge forward to support a four-star naval headquarters with my maritime operations center commanding and controlling ships that are outside my normal area of responsibility.”

Dwyer said this operation was the first time the concept — with 2nd Fleet and 6th Fleet both supporting Naval Forces Europe — was put into practice.

“We showed and proved that unique, agile, mobile capability of a numbered fleet headquarters supporting another four-star naval headquarters, he said.

In an April 28 release, the 2nd Fleet said the ships operated with maritime forces from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s top officer said his thinking about integrating unmanned systems into the fleet has been changed by the observations of the service’s recent experimentation during fleet exercises. 

“We are learning so fast in fielding these capabilities out to the fleet or potentially fielding them quickly inside the FYDP [Future Years Defense Plan] we may be able to close capability gaps with small, expendable unmanned [systems] off of any platform rather than thinking we have to build a larger [platform],” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, speaking April 28 in a Maritime Security Dialogue event on the future of the U.S. Navy conducted by the U.S. Naval Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and sponsored by HII. 

Gilday said by the time the DDG(X) program is underway “we will be in a better place with LUSV [large unmanned surface vehicle]. I don’t know if we’ll have an unmanned medium [USV] or not. The stuff that [U.S. 5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Brad] Cooper is doing with CTF-59 and using small, unmanned [systems] on the sea and in the air to sense the environment and make sense of it in order to yield a common operational picture for allies and partners as well as the 5th Fleet headquarters has changed my thinking on the direction of unmanned. … I’m not saying that we don’t need an MUSV [medium USV]; I’m saying it will cause us to consider numbers and what potential payloads they’re going to have.” 

Gilday said unmanned systems have “so much potential, coupled with AI [artificial intelligence] software integration that it’s difficult to put a definitive number on the numbers we’re going to have in the air, on the sea, and under the sea. I like the way we’re going with the unmanned task force that has tied together acquisition specialists, requirements folks, scientists from the Navy research labs, and also the fleet with CTF-59 in terms of real-time exercising, experimenting, and developing CONOPS [concepts of operations]. It’s been a powerful awakening experience for us. Also, industry and foreign partners have dived in on this thing.” 

Gilday said the Navy’s four experimental large and medium USVs — two Project Overlord vessels and the Sea Hunter MUSV and Sea Hawk USV — have accrued 41,000 nautical miles of autonomous travel so far.  

“In terms of the mastery of COLREGS [Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea] and vessel avoidance, we think we’re in a really good place with that,” he said. “To send an unmanned [vessel] out into the ocean, with a mission, to expect that unmanned to come back and salute and say, ‘mission complete,’ is a different problem set. That’s something that we’re working on, but, quite frankly, that’s going to be a journey for us.” 

Gilday said USVs may need to be “minimally manned for a while. I’d like to get to a place with large USVs where we can deploy them with strike groups and ARGs [amphibious ready groups] in the 2027-2028 time frame. A lot of the work we’re doing right now with the Unmanned Task Force and CTF-59 hopefully will buy down technical risk, make us an informed customer with respect to what we’re going to buy — both in engineering plant and a command-and-control framework — so that we can begin to deploy those things and do the same things we’re doing with CTF-59 to earn stuff out there as we’re using these LUSVs and perhaps medium USVs. I don’t want to wake up in 15 years and say, we bought the wrong kind of LUSV with the wrong engineering plant. … We’re trying to prove ourselves in an evolutionary, deliberate, informed kind of way.” 

PHILIPPINE SEA — The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Jackson (LCS 6) completed underway return to flight operations of the Navy’s unmanned helicopter, the MQ-8C Fire Scout, in the Philippine Sea on April 20, commander Destroyer Squadron 7 public affairs said April 27. 
 
The flights at sea were a conclusion of MQ-8 operational testing to return to routine flights on littoral combat ships deployed to the Indo-Pacific. The MQ-8C, assigned to the “Wildcards” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, attached to Jackson, operated simultaneously with the squadron’s MH-60S Seahawk helicopter. 
 
The completion of the return to flight operations will allow the MQ-8C to continue to operate concurrently with other ships and airborne assets as operations require. In recent weeks, the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 also completed return to flight operations for their MQ-8B Fire Scout variants, assigned to USS Tulsa (LCS 16) and USS Charleston (LCS 18) on deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. 
 
“It’s great to be flying the MQ-8C again, especially for an extended period with our MH-60S,” said Lt. Cmdr. Richard Mooney, head of HSC-23 detachment attached to Jackson. “Coordinated manned-unmanned operations like these provide numerous advantages to our surface combatants.” 
 
MQ-8B and C Fire Scout variants are designed for suitably equipped ship-based and land-based autonomous systems. MQ-8B and C Fire Scout combined with MH-60S extend Naval Aviation’s capability to support maritime operations providing integrated, over-the-horizon intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting, and combat logistics support. 
 
Fire Scout operations are a whole-ship effort, requiring effective coordination between the aviation and surface entities aboard. 
 
“I am extremely proud of our crew and the HSC-23 detachment for their planning and execution in getting the MQ-8C in the air,” said Cmdr. Brian Bungay, commanding officer of the USS Jackson. “We’re excited to build on this success and continue to increase the LCS’s war-fighting capability.” 
 
Attached to DESRON 7, USS Jackson is on a rotational deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the region, and to work alongside allied and partner navies to provide maritime security and stability, key pillars of a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is planning to use a “rheostat” approach to adjust the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter Service Life Modernization (SLM) program to mitigate the strike fighter shortfall in the fleet, a senior service official said. 

The SLM is a sustainment program designed to increase the service life of Block II F/A-18E/Fs. The initial SLM phase extended the service life from 6,000 flight hours to 7,000 flight hours. The program beginning in 2023 will increase the service life to 10,000 flight hours. The line also will be used to upgrade many Block II aircraft to the Block III configuration.  

During an April 27 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, the chairman, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), said in his opening remarks that “two years ago the strike fighter shortfall would have lasted until 2030. However, last year the Navy told us that the strike fighter shortfall would be resolved to zero in 2025, primarily due to the solid justification for terminating the new F/A-18 Super Hornet line.” 

Norcross said he was skeptical of this year’s analysis of the F-35C production rate and the “lackluster” F/A-18E/F SLM program and the “non-rapid development of the Navy’s Next-Generation Air Dominance [program].”  

He said the Congress authorized the procurement of 12 F/A-18/E Super Hornets in the 2022 budget as “risk mitigation,” aircraft the Navy said that it did not want. The Navy also did not request any Super Hornets in the 2023 budget proposal.  

He said the Navy’s strike fighter shortfall “will not be resolved until six years later [from 2025] in 2031 because of further unplanned reduction in F-35 purchases, reduced aircraft inductions into the F/A-18 [SLM] program.” 

Frederick “Jay” Stefany, performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, told the subcommittee that said the SLM program had been “stabilized.” 

Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, director, Air Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, said the Navy has drilled down on the issues with the SLM and has begun to turn around the cost of the program. 

“In the past year we’ve seen a 30% percent cost reduction in our Phase One 7,500-hour SLM deliveries due to the implementation of best practices with pre-SLM grooming, engineering reutilization and overall touch-flavor learning and efficiencies,” he said.  

“We expect continued cost savings as SLM matures and we are executing our planned transition to full-kit, 10,000-hour SLM inductions if fiscal ’23,” Loiselle said. “Full-kit inductions will provide full Block III capability identical to new production aircraft at one third of the cost, giving us 4,000 additional flying hours, or enough to fly for 13 additional years. 

“Right now, our SLM plan is our rheostat that we’re using to control availability in the out years, depending on schedules and future budgets that are unknown at this point in time,” he said. “Right now, I do not plan to do SLM on the entirety of my Block II force and I do not plan to do it on my Block I force. If there are changes in the future that require additional capabilities [and] I need more Block III aircraft, then I have the ability to dial up that rheostat on SLM and be able to do that for a longer period of time and to potentially use the FRCs [Fleet Readiness Centers] to increase capacity for SLM beyond the currently planned 35 per year.”   

Loiselle said two Block I Super Hornets were put through SLM but based on the results the Navy decided not to proceed with SLM of Block I aircraft “unless there is some requirement to do so in the future.”  

Loiselle said the turn-around time of an SLM will be 15 months. 

Boeing currently is building Block III Super Hornets to the Navy. At the current production rate, the production is expected to run to the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Loiselle said.