Navy and Industry Partners Complete Production Mk 18 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Systems
By PEO Unmanned and Small Combatants Public Affairs
Washington – The Navy announced today a significant milestone in the delivery of unmanned undersea warfighting capability to the fleet. Production of the MK 18 Mod 2 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) program of record has completed.
Managed by the Expeditionary Missions program office under the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC), the MK 18 Mod 2 UUV program began production in 2012 through competitively awarded contracts with Hydroid, Inc. in Pocasset, Massachusetts (now owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)). Since the initial production lot, more than 90 MK 18 Mod 2 UUV vehicles have been provided to the fleet.
“The Department’s long-standing partnership with HII and their subcontractors demonstrates how mature technologies coupled with innovative acquisition approaches can speed the delivery of critical mission-enabling capabilities to our warfighting forces,” said Capt. Jon Haase, program manager of the Expeditionary Missions program office (PMS 408).
The MK 18 Mod 2 UUVs form a critical component in the Navy’s suite of Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (ExMCM) Company’s mission capabilities. ExMCM forces provide a rapid, world-wide mine countermeasure response capability that supports Joint Force maneuver in various maritime mission areas. In July 2022, the Navy awarded the Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (MUUV) contract to Leidos to design, test, and manufacture the next generation ExMCM MUUV, known as Viperfish. Viperfish will improve upon the current MK18 Mod 2 UUVs by providing increased ExMCM capabilities.
By Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) Public Affairs
WASHINGTON — The Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Marinette (LCS 25) from Lockheed Martin this week at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Marinette,” said Capt. Andy Gold, LCS program manager. “I look forward to the commissioning of Marinette later this year and recognizing the contribution of her namesake town and the great shipbuilders who bring these warships to life, ensuring they are ready to accomplish mission tasking in support of our nation’s maritime strategy.”
The ship successfully completed her acceptance trial in November 2022, which is the last milestone before the ship is delivered to the Navy. During the trial, the Navy conducted comprehensive tests of LCS 25’s systems, which spanned multiple functional areas essential to a ship being able to perform at sea — including main propulsion and auxiliaries and electrical systems. The ship also performed demonstrations of its operational capabilities, including a full power demonstration, steering and quick reversal, anchor drop test, and combat system detect-to-engage sequence. As a result of these successful trials, the Navy accepted delivery and will continue post-delivery certifications and qualifications to ready her for Fleet operations.
LCS 25 is outfitted with the combining gear correction that will allow for unrestricted operations. The correction addresses a class-wide flaw that was identified as the Fleet deployed these ships in greater numbers.
After her commissioning, planned for June 2023, Marinette will be homeported in Mayport, Florida.
Three more Freedom-variant ships are under construction at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. The future USS Nantucket (LCS 27) is scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2023. Additional ships in various stages of construction include the future ships USS Beloit (LCS 29) and USS Cleveland (LCS 31). LCS 31 will be the final Freedom-variant LCS.
The LCS class is now the second-largest surface ship class in production. LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal, and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures and surface warfare missions. The Freedom and Independence-variant LCS integrate new technologies and capabilities to support current and future operational missions, from deep water to the littorals.
Navy, MSC, Coast Guard Ships Involved in Search and Recovery of Chinese Balloon Payload
The next generation landing craft, ship to shore connector (SSC), landing craft, air cushion (LCAC), successfully completed well deck interoperability testing with the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) and demonstrated the craft are another step closer to fleet integration.
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Three U.S. Navy ships, a Military Sealift Command ship, and three Coast Guard cutters have sortied from the U.S. East Coast and are participating in the search and recovery effort for the payload of the Chinese balloon that was shot down over U.S. territorial waters off South Carolina.
The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) took up station to track the descent of the balloon’s payload as it fell into the water.
The ships now include the USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60), an oceanographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command.
The Coast Guard also has deployed to the salvage area three cutters — USCGC Venturous (WMEC 625), USCGC Richard Snyder (WPC 1127), and USCGC Nathan Bruckenthal (WPC 1128) — as well as small boats and aircraft to ensure the safety of the salvage area.
According to the Defense Department, the payload fell into a depth of 47 feet of water, a depth easily accessible to divers.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, briefing reporters Feb. 6, said that the recovery effort was being led by Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Naval Forces, U.S. Northern Command.
VanHerck said the Navy ships in the vicinity of the splashdown of the balloon are collecting and categorizing debris.
“The Pathfinder is a ship that conducts survey operations using sonar and other means to map out the debris field,” VanHerck said. “It’s capable of conducting oceanographic, hydrographic, bathymetric surveys of the bottom of the ocean to do that. And they’ll eventually produce us a map — they’re in the process of doing that, and I expect to have much more today — of the full debris field. But we expect the debris field to be of the rough order of magnitude of about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters, and so, you know, more than 15 football fields by 15 football fields. But we’ll get a further assessment of that today.”
VanHerck said that “[y]esterday’s sea states did not allow us to conduct some of the operations that we would have liked to have conducted such as underwater surveillance. And so those forces that provide the explosive ordnance disposal to make sure the scene is safe, they’re out today, this morning, and they went out in what’s called a rigid hull inflatable boat this morning, Eastern time approximately 10:00 o’clock, to proceed to the — the area to utilize unmanned underwater vehicles using side scan sonar to further locate sunken debris. And so, we expect them to get on there and to do some additional categorization of potential threats such as explosives that may be on, hazardous materials that could be in batteries, et cetera, so we’re working very hard.
The Military Sealift Command operates two dedicated salvage ships, but both are based in the Pacific Ocean.
The balloon, floating at about 60,000 feet above sea level, was launched by China on Jan. 21 and crossed into U.S. airspace over the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28. It crosses over Canada and into the continental United States over Idaho on Jan. 31. President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down the balloon on Feb. 1.
“Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was over land,” a senior Defense Department official said in a Feb. 5 briefing to reporters. ”As a result, they developed a plan to down the balloon once it was over water in U.S. territorial airspace. That mission has now been successfully completed. At the direction of the president, the U.S. military, at 2:39 p.m. this afternoon, shot down the high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina and within U.S. territorial airspace.”
According to Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen Patrick Ryder, the Chinese balloon was steerable, and therefore able to be guided over sensitive U.S. defense bases.
On Feb. 4, the balloon was intercepted by two F-22A Raptor fighters launched from Joint Base Eustis-Langley, Virginia. One of the F-22As fired an AIM-9X air-to-air heat-seeking missile that deflated the balloon and sent the balloon’s solar panels and payload crashing into the ocean off Myrtle Beach.
“We have multiple U.S. Navy vessels and Coast Guard vessels in the region right now, establishing a security perimeter, conducting search for any debris that may be on the water to ensure the safety of U.S. civilians, any maritime activity that is ongoing out in the water,” a senior military official said in the Feb. 5 briefing. “We will provide, under NORTHCOM [U.S Northern Command] command and control, a salvage vessel, United States Navy, which will be on-scene within a couple of days. The debris is in 47 feet of water, primarily. The recovery, that will make it fairly easy, actually. We planned for much deeper water.”
The downing of the balloon is the first aerial kill attributed to the F-22A. The two F-22As in the intercept used the callsigns Frank One and Luke One in apparent reference to Frank Luke Jr., the U.S. Army Air Service ace who was credited with downing 14 German observation balloons as well as four airplanes during combat over the Western Front during World War I. Luke died on Sept. 28, 1918, from German machine fire from the ground.
V-22 Joint Program Issues Bulletin to Restrict Flights
Based on the recommendation from the V-22 Joint Program Office, the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command and U.S. Navy issued a time limit, via fleet bulletin, on the V-22 Input Quill Assembly, effective Feb. 3, 2023.
The imposed time limit will restrict flight on a subset of V-22s until the Input Quill Assembly is replaced. The Input Quill Assembly is an element of the proprotor gearbox, which houses the aircraft clutch.
This recommendation is based on a progressive increase in Hard Clutch Engagement events and ongoing engineering analysis.
A Hard Clutch Engagement event occurs when the clutch, driven by the engine, releases from the rotor system and suddenly reengages, sending an impulse through the drive train, potentially causing damage.
In order to ensure the continued safety of the aircrew, the services took decisive action to implement the bulletin.
The fleet bulletin identifies aircraft with Input Quill Assemblies above a predetermined flight-hour threshold and the requirement to replace that component. Once replaced, the aircraft will return to flight status.
The services previously implemented in-flight and ground training mitigations. Examples include:
Supplying interim flight guidance to the fleet designed to minimize exposure to a hard clutch engagement, highlighting existing emergency procedures
Modified Hard Clutch Engagement scenarios were added during simulator training
Due to operational security concerns, the specific Input Quill Assembly flight-hour threshold and number of aircraft affected will not be released.
The joint program office is exploring 24 initiatives, such as data mining, laboratory and flight testing and hardware redesign, that fall along 4 lines of effort (analyze, identify, mitigate, eliminate). These efforts provide the information required to inform short-, mid- and long-term solutions. It was a result of these efforts that we identified and implemented the time limit for the Input Quill Assembly. We will use relevant findings to continually improve the safety of the V-22.
U.S. Central Command Supports Partner Forces in Major Iranian Weapons Seizure
Seized weapons displayed on the flight deck of a U.S. Navy ship in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, Feb. 1
By U.S. Central Command Public Affairs | February 02, 2023
TAMPA, Fla. —
U.S. Central Command supported a maritime interdiction earlier this month that resulted in the seizure by partner naval forces of weapons that originated in Iran and were bound for Yemen.
The interdiction took place in the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 15, along routes historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen. More than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles were recovered.
CENTCOM and partner naval forces regularly conduct regional maritime security operations. The seizure is one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past two months that have prevented more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition from reaching Yemen.
CENTCOM forces previously intercepted a fishing vessel Jan. 6 in the Gulf of Oman and discovered it smuggling more than 2,100 assault rifles along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.
In 2021, CENTCOM prevented 9,000 illegal weapons from reaching Yemen, representing a 200% increase in the number of weapons seized over the previous year. In 2022, CENTCOM Maritime assets and partner forces seized weapons components for the same type of cruise missiles launched in attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates earlier in the year. In December 2022, U.S. naval forces also seized explosive precursor materials that included 140 tons of urea fertilizer, 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, and 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and propellants for rockets.
MSC CHARTERED SHIP MV OCEAN GIANT CONDUCTS CARGO OPERATIONS AT MCMURDO STATION ANTARCTIC IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION DEEP FREEZE 2023
Materials are staged to be loaded onto the Military Sealift Command chartered ship MV Ocean Giant.
Military Sealift Command-chartered container ship MV Ocean Giant is currently conducting cargo offloads in one of the most remote and challenging environments on the planet; McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The operation is part of MSC’s annual resupply mission in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the Joint Task Force Support for Antarctica mission to resupply the remote scientific outpost.
Seabees from Navy Cargo Handling Battalion ONE (NCHB -1) and NCHB 5 are working around-the-clock offloading the cargo which consists of 443 pieces of cargo, which include containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment and vehicles. The supplies will provide nearly 80 percent of the items needed for survival over the severe arctic winter over period when the station is cutoff from the rest of the world. The Cargo Handlers work with Ocean Giant’s crew, and the MSC representative, to execute a safe and efficient offload and backload of a variety of cargo, as well as with the Antarctic Support Contract logistics team who manage the loads and stow plans for United States Antarctic Program, as well as the New Zealand Defense Force who assist with rigging and transporting loads from the pier to designated laydown areas.
Ocean Giant’s mission began in late December in Port Hueneme, Calif., where the ship was loaded with cargo. From Port Hueneme, the ship sailed to Lyttelton, New Zealand where they took on additional cargo and then transited to Antarctica.
In years past, Ocean Giant would have arrived at the ice-pier at McMurdo Station; a structure made up of rebar and frozen seawater, where cargo offloads were conducted. Due sever damage, the ice-pier was unavailable this year, so Ocean Giant delivered a Marine Causeway System. The 65-ton pier consists of ten, 24-foot, pre-assembled pieces. Six string units were assembled on deck placed into the water and then and joined into two sections. These sections were attached to the others to form the final pier.
Upon completion of their cargo offload, Ocean Giant will load containers of retrograde as well as ice-core samples for scientific study, and return to Port Hueneme.
Operation Deep Freeze is a joint service, on-going Defense Support to Civilian Authorities activity in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Mission support consists of active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard as well as Department of Defense civilians and attached non-DOD civilians. ODF operates from two primary locations situated at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. An MSC-chartered cargo ship and tanker have made the challenging voyage to Antarctica every year since the station and its resupply missions were established in 1955.
New Deputy Commander for the Supervision of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Established
Ms. Karen M. Davis Executive Director, Surface Warfare Naval Sea Systems Command
WASHINGTON — In accordance with the Fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) established a new position, Deputy Commander for the Supervision of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair (SUPSHIP).
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, Frederick J. Stefany, designated that the Senior Executive Service (SES) member who serves as the NAVSEA’s Executive Director for Industrial Operations (NAVSEA 04B) will also serve as the Deputy Commander for SUPSHIPs. Ms. Karen M. Davis now serves as the first dual-hatted Deputy Commander for SUPSHIPs and NAVSEA 04 Executive Director.
“This new position elevates supervisor of shipbuilding by having an SES serve as the conduit between the supervisors and the NAVSEA Commander,” said Vice Adm. Bill Galinis, NAVSEA commander. “This change helps ensure NAVSEA is better focused on delivering ships to the Fleet on time.”
The responsibilities of the new deputy commander will include oversight of the independent administration and management of the execution of the Department of Defense contracts awarded to commercial entities for shipbuilding, conversion, and repair at the facilities of such entities; oversight of the designated contract administration office of the department responsible for performing contract administration services for such contracts; and enforcement of requirements of such contracts to ensure satisfaction of all contractual obligations.
BAE Systems part of contract award supporting CANES program
MCLEAN, Va. – Feb. 2, 2023 – BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) for the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program. The total value of the 10-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract is $4.1 billion. BAE Systems is one of eight companies that will be competing for work on the IDIQ program.
“We look forward to continuing to support the Navy’s CANES mission to update shipboard networks to improve fleet operations,” said Lisa Hand, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions. “Our team has a legacy of exceptional quality and production support to NAVWAR, ensuring timely and critical modernization of the afloat networks.”
CANES is the Navy’s next-generation tactical afloat network and represents a key aspect of the service’s modernization planning by upgrading cybersecurity, command and control, communications, and intelligence systems afloat, and by replacing unaffordable and obsolete networks. Under the terms of the contract, BAE Systems will be responsible for the procurement and production of afloat network devices, spares, laboratory equipment, initial software, software renewal, and maintenance services for surface, shore, and submarine platforms.
BAE Systems has been supporting the CANES program for the past eight years by sourcing, assembling, testing, and delivering CANES production units for large deck surface ships in Summerville, South Carolina.
Navy Is Sustaining 10 Operational MQ-8C Fire Scout UAVs; Rest in Storage
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ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is operating and sustaining 10 MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), having place the rest in storage, from which the service can easily restore them to service. The Navy also has retired its fleet of smaller MQ-8B versions of the Fire.
According to information provided by the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Strike and Unmanned Aviation, the Navy will keep in service 10 MQ-8Cs in service of the 38 procured and keep the remaining MQ-8Cs in Level 2 preservation.
Last year the Navy moved to keep all MQ-8Cs on the West Coast, operated by Helicopter Sea Combat Squadrons 21 and 23. The decision is congruent with the stationing on the West Coast of the Independence-class littoral combat ships on which the Navy will deploy the Mine Countermeasures Mission Package. The MQ-8C, built by Northrop Grumman, is an integral module of that mission package.
“As Fire Scout’s mission sets continued to evolve, an MQ-8C Endurance Upgrade Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC) effort was approved in Feb 2012,” the Navy said. “The larger MQ-8C, based on the Bell 407 airframe, incorporates the same control avionics as the MQ-8B but with an increased payload capacity and increased endurance. The air vehicles share a common mission control system, which is integrated with the ship’s combat systems. Additionally, the MQ-8 can be controlled by the Mobile Mission Control Station from land-based and larger ship-based sites and has developed a “portable” MCS (MCS-P) that is host platform agnostic.
“Designed to operate from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Suitably Equipped air-capable Ships, the MQ-8C Fire Scout system is capable of more than eight hours of operations providing coverage out to 150 nautical miles from the host ship,” the Navy said. “A baseline payload that includes electro-optical/infrared sensors and a laser designator enables Fire Scout to find, track and designate tactical targets, accurately provide targeting data to strike platforms and perform battle damage assessment. The system provides a significant improvement to organic surveillance capability.”
The Navy will add an optical mine countermeasures payload to the MQ-8C in the future.
The first deployments of the MQ-8C began in 2022 on USS Milwaukee in the 4th Fleet and USS Jackson in the 7th Fleet during 2022.
The Navy retired its fleet of MQ-8Bs by October 2022 after 13 years of operations, including operations from frigates off Libya and two years of operations inside Afghanistan. The MQ-8B deployed on board an LCS for the first time in 2014. The Navy procured a total of 30 MQ-8Bs from Northrop Grumman.
RMC Appoints Retired Four-Star Navy Admiral James Foggo III as Board Chair
Appointment reflects firm’s growth trajectory in defense and commercial markets
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 31, 2023 — RMC, the leader in Mission Assurance, Risk Management and Industrial Cybersecurity solutions, today announced the appointment of Admiral James Foggo III, U.S. Navy (Ret.) as Chairperson of its Board of Directors. The appointment will support the company’s high-growth trajectory in the defense and commercial markets. Foggo, a senior executive, industry leader and distinguished military officer, has served on the RMC Board since 2021.
Foggo is an accomplished strategist, innovator, diplomat and technology integrator who achieved the rank of four-star admiral, formerly serving as commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa as well as the U.S. Sixth Fleet. He currently is Dean of the Center for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States and a distinguished fellow of the Center for European Policy Analysis and the Council on Competitiveness.
“Admiral Foggo sits at the intersection of federal, commercial and public interests, providing a unique and expert perspective on the dynamic threats facing our world,” said Vince Kuchar, CEO of RMC. “We are grateful for his invaluable leadership as we expand our mission assurance work and bring military-grade industrial cybersecurity expertise to the commercial sector.”
Mission Assurance
RMC has been delivering mission assurance and cybersecurity solutions to U.S. military leaders worldwide for more than a decade. As cyber adversaries increasingly gain malicious access through neglected and unsecured operational technology and industrial control systems, the company has been supporting a growing number of defense and commercial organizations to better protect their operational assets and critical infrastructure.
“In our growing and complex global threat environment, RMC is helping reduce risks to the critical systems upon which our way of life depends,” said Foggo. “I’m excited to support RMC in harnessing their immense expertise for efficient, accelerated growth.”
About RMC
RMC provides a full lifecycle of Mission Assurance and Risk Management solutions, with deep expertise in Critical Infrastructure Protection and Industrial Cybersecurity, to protect our country’s most important and vital assets. Operating worldwide, RMC provides federal government and commercial organizations the analysis, assessments, strategy and remediation required to protect personnel, facilities, networks and critical infrastructure. Founded in 2011, RMC’s headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia. www.RMCGlobal.com
