The Navy requires a single, strategic-scale, sustainable design for supply-chain management, with the right mix of commercial and organic activities to project and sustain the force required for war fighting.

With that in mind, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) kicked off the newest vice chief of naval operations-led naval sustainment system in October 2020. Naval Sustainment System-Supply (NSS-Supply) aims to unify numerous independent supply-chain functions under the leadership of NAVSUP Commander Rear Adm. Pete Stamatopolous, with the goal of improving end-to-end supply chain readiness and affordability.

As NSS-Supply nears its first anniversary in operation momentum continues to build as NAVSUP and mission partners have progressed through several waves of deliberate transformation.

“The Navy’s supply chains lacked end-to-end coordination and alignment for decades, which has created numerous issues: insufficient and inefficient organic repair capacity, high rates of part cannibalization, an excess of unrepaired parts, a cash shortfall and, ultimately, degraded readiness,” Stamatopoulos said.

“Over the past several years, uncoordinated decisions made upstream were constricting our supply chains and causing significant downstream inefficiencies. NSS-Supply is working to better orchestrate, integrate and synchronize the many functions of our supply chains to correct these issues and deliver higher readiness at lower costs throughout the lifecycle of the weapons systems.”

Grounded in commercial best practices pioneered by industrial companies such as Caterpillar, Delta Tech Ops and John Deere, NSS-Supply elevates supply chain management into the Navy “C-Suite.” Designated as the Navy’s single end-to-end supply chain integrator, Stamatopolous is responsible for elevating the visibility of supply-chain performance by holding supporting functions accountable.

Stamatopoulos leads an organization of supply chain professionals responsible for providing responsive logistical support worldwide, through a global network with a presence in more than 17 countries and 21 states, districts and territories.

NSS-Supply is also moving supply-chain decisions upstream to better shape and design life-cycle logistics strategies for which the costs are lower. To hold the Navy accountable, NSS-Supply has created a cash-based metric to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of its supply chain in the long term. This north-star metric, the Supply Chain Effectiveness Figure of Merit (SeFOM), is the Navy’s first enterprise-level metric that balances readiness and costs. For every dollar put into sustaining a platform, the SeFOM measures the value of readiness generated.

In addition, NSS-Supply is driving unity of effort across six pillars that dissect and transform different functions of the supply chain.

• The Achieve End-to-End Integration pillar.
• The Demand Management pillar aims to reduce demand fleet-wide and increase predictability through improving reliability and maintenance.
• The End-to-End Velocity pillar focuses on accelerating the movement of material and parts in the Navy supply chain by lowering repair turnaround times and repair, overhaul or reconditioning queue times.
• The Optimize Working Capital Fund pillar reorients financial management to a commercial cash flow-centric approach designed to improve transparency of cash allocation, collections, expenditures and pricing for long-term stability.
• The Optimize Organic Repair pillar rebalances organic depot repair volume to fully utilize capability and capacity.
• The Shape Industrial Base pillar, the most aspirational pillar, aims to expand competition and deepen partnerships with strategic suppliers to make acquisition and sustainment more efficient, cost-effective and affordable.

NSS-Supply is a hugely ambitious project for the Navy, due both to its broad scope and the speed at which it moves. While NSS-Supply is a multiyear undertaking, it’s divided into three-month “waves” during which three to five initiatives run simultaneously across the six pillars.

The timelines for the waves’ initiatives are based on an agile framework (another commercial best practice). Each initiative has multiple two- to four-week sprints, with clear outcomes at the end of each sprint that define and shape the work of the subsequent sprints.

Although this is a new approach for the Navy, it’s already yielding positive change and realizable gains since launching last fall. With each wave and sprint, NAVSUP and Navy are gaining new supply-chain competencies and confidence in the effectiveness of this way of doing business.

“These first several months of NSS-Supply have given me great confidence and optimism that we are finally within reach of a decades-long goal of achieving a fully integrated and sustainable Navy-wide supply chain,” Stamatopoulos said. “I look forward to its continued success.”

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy conducted its first test flight of the MQ-4C Triton in its upgraded hardware and software configuration July 29 at NAS Patuxent River, beginning the next phase of the unmanned aircraft’s development, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a July 29 release. 

The MQ-4C Triton flew in its new configuration, known as Integrated Functional Capability (IFC)-4, which will bring an enhanced multi-mission sensor capability as part of the Navy’s Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (MISR&T) transition plan. 

Triton’s Integrated Test Team (ITT) comprised of the U.S. Navy, Australian cooperative partners, and government/industry teams completed a functional check flight and initial aeromechanical test points, demonstrating stability and control of the MQ-4C after a 30-month modification period.   

“Today’s flight is a significant milestone for the program and a testament to the resolve of the entire ITT, their hard work, and passion for test execution and program success,” said Capt. Dan Mackin, Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems program manager. “This flight proves that the program is making significant progress toward Triton’s advanced multi-intelligence upgrade and it brings us closer to achieving the initial operational capability (IOC) milestone.”  

Multiple Triton assets have been modified into the IFC-4 configuration in support of IOC in 2023.  A single test asset is in the current IFC-3 configuration to support sustainment of deployed systems as well as risk reduction for IFC-4.  

Currently, two MQ-4C Triton aircraft in the baseline configuration known as IFC-3 are forward deployed to 7th Fleet in support of early operational capability (EOC) and Commander Task Force (CTF)-72 tasking. VUP-19 will operate Triton to further develop the concept of operations and fleet learning associated with operating a high-altitude, long-endurance system in the maritime domain. 

“The MQ-4C Triton has already had a tremendous positive impact on operations in [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] and will continue to provide unprecedented maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities which are especially critical to national interests with the increased focus in the Pacific,” Mackin said. 

Triton is the first high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft that can conduct persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions to complement the P-8 in the maritime domain. The Navy plans to deploy Triton to five orbits worldwide.  

SAN DIEGO — The crew of USS Independence (LCS 2), the lead ship of the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship, recognized more than a decade of naval service during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, July 29, commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One, said in a July 30 release. 

Due to public health and safety restrictions on large public events resulting from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the ceremony was a private event celebrated alongside ship plankowners and former crew members. 

During the ceremony, keynote speaker, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, wished the crew of Independence fair winds and following seas as they said farewell to their ship. 

“The Independence crew shouldered a heavy responsibility. Since the ship’s introduction into the fleet we asked her to serve for a specific purpose; to test emerging equipment and concepts,” said Kitchener. “The crew accomplished that and so much more. Without their efforts and experiences, the ship class would not be where it is today with six ships deployed throughout the world. Those improvements, made largely in part due to this crew’s experience and input, will continue to carry the LCS class into the future.” 

The commissioning commanding officer of USS Independence gold crew, Capt. Michael Riley said it was the Sailors who rose to the occasion that made Independence prosperous. 

“What made Independence successful wasn’t the program managers, industry professionals or even her two captains. It was the officers, chiefs and Sailors of the blue and gold crews that made it operational. They shouldered the burden of shifting programmatic guidance, incomplete documentation or one-of-a-kind systems, and got it to sea,” said Riley. “They were honest in pointing out when system performances or operational processes failed to live up to their expectations. At the same time, they discovered hidden capabilities in the ship, repurposing equipment and systems to suit the situation.” 

Independence maintained a crew of nine officers and 41 enlisted Sailors. The ship was built in Mobile, Alabama, by Austal USA and commissioned Jan. 16, 2010. 

Independence is the sixth ship to carry the name, recognizing the cornerstone of our nation’s foundation for which so many Americans have fought and died. The first Independence was a 10-gun sloop that served during the American Revolution. The second Independence, the first ship of the line in the Navy, was launched in 1814 as a 74-gun ship, but later refitted to a 54-gun frigate. The third Independence served with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) following the end of World War I. The fourth Independence (CVL 22), a small aircraft carrier commissioned in 1943, earned eight battle stars during World War II. The fifth Independence (CV 62) was an aircraft carrier commissioned in 1959 and decommissioned in 1998. 

Independence has been a test and training ship and was key in developing the operational concepts foundational to the current configuration and deployment of LCS today. The decommissioning of LCS 2 supports department-wide business process reform initiatives to free up time, resources, and manpower in support of increased lethality. The LCS remains a fast, agile, and networked surface combatant, designed to operate in near-shore environments, while capable of open-ocean tasking and winning against 21st-century coastal threats. 

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 and is a steel monohull design constructed in the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation’s shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. The Independence variant is an aluminum trimaran design originally built by an industry team led by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for LCS 2 and LCS 4. Currently, Independence variant LCS are constructed by Austal USA in the company’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard. 

LCS are outfitted with mission packages (made up of mission systems and support equipment) that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare or surface warfare missions. 

After the decommissioning of Independence, 22 littoral combat ships remain in service to the fleet. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The shipboard laser weapon system built for the U. S. Navy by Lockheed Martin is being tested at Wallops Island, Virginia, a company official said. 

The first High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, was delivered to the Navy in January 2021 and was shipped to the Navy’s test site at Wallops Island.  

The HELIOS is being test-fired and real-world test data from the weapon is being collected to confirm the models, said Jon Rambeau, vice president and general manager for Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors at Lockheed Martin. 

The single 60-kilowatt HELIOS unit is scheduled to be installed on the Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Preble in line with its deployment schedule, Rambeau said. 

Lockheed Martin built one HELIOS under the Navy contract, which has options for multiple units. 

Rambeau said the HELIOS, which is fully integrated into the Aegis Combat System, has the potential to be a significant counter to anti-ship cruise missiles. The weapon is scalable with additional of fiber-optic laser modules. The HELIOS is adaptable to the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS) on aircraft carriers and most amphibious warfare ships.   

GROTON, Connecticut – The Navy’s newest Virginia-class attack submarine, future USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 795), was christened during a ceremony at General Dynamics’ Electric Boat shipyard facility in Groton, Connecticut, July 31, the U.S. Navy said in a release.

“This submarine is a fitting tribute to Admiral Rickover, who truly transformed our Navy,” said Adm. James Caldwell, director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, during his remarks at the celebration.

Caldwell credited Rickover — who served for 63 years in the Navy and is credited with spurring the service to adopt nuclear propulsion after World War II — with not only technological advances but cultural ones. He lauded Rickover’s legendary work ethic, frankness, attention to detail and commitment to excellence, which he said has since permeated throughout the Navy.

“It’s really great to see this ship come together, and to see so many people here to celebrate the christening of the Hyman G. Rickover and honor the Hyman G. Rickover legacy,” said Cmdr. Thomas Niebel, commanding officer of the newly christened submarine.

The Honorable James F. Geurts, performing the duties of Under Secretary of the Navy, told those in attendance that the construction of the future USS Hyman G. Rickover is a testament to the dedication of America’s shipbuilders and sailors.

“We did not close a shipyard, public or private, for one day during the pandemic,” Geurts said. “The sustained commitment to excellence displayed by this workforce shows in the construction of this boat and adheres to the culture of excellence promoted by Hyman G. Rickover.

“It’s not just a matter of having the world’s best ships,” he continued, “you have to have the world’s best Sailors to maintain the world’s best Navy, and we have both.”

Darleen Greenert, the submarine’s sponsor, a Navy veteran, and wife of former Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert, highlighted the sacrifice of military families during her remarks, and remembered the late Eleonore Rickover, the namesake admiral’s wife.

“She set the bar [for ship sponsors],” Greenert said of Eleonore Rickover, who was the sponsor for a previous Los Angeles-class submarine to bear the Hyman G. Rickover name, SSN 709. “She loved her crew.”

The first Hyman G. Rickover was commissioned at Submarine Base, New London, in Groton, on July 21, 1984. SSN 709 and its crew deployed 12 times until its decommissioning in December 2007. Over the years, its decorations included the Atlantic Fleet Golden Anchor Award, Submarine Squadron Eight’s anti-submarine warfare white “A” and engineering red “E” awards and the prestigious Sixth Fleet “Hook ‘Em” award for anti-submarine warfare excellence.

Greenert asked family members of the crew of the future USS Hyman G. Rickover to stand together when her daughter, Matron of Honor Sarah Greenert McNichol, broke the ceremonial bottle of sparkling wine across the bow.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Electric Boat President Kevin Graney, Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-CT and U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-RI.

Rickover will eventually joint the fleet with a displacement of 7,835 tons, crew of 132, and a weapons payload of 12 vertical launch systems and four torpedo tubes.

Fast-attack submarines like Rickover are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities — sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security, and deterrence. The submarine is designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare; anti-ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare – from open ocean anti-submarine warfare to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to projecting power ashore with Special Operation Forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or preparation of regional crises.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has brought charges against a Sailor who was a crew member of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard for starting the fire that resulted in the devastation of the ship, the U.S. 3rd Fleet said in a July 29 release. 

“On July 29, charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ] were brought forth against a Navy Sailor in response to evidence found during the criminal investigation into the fire started on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on July 12, 2020,” said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson. “Evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to direct a preliminary hearing in accordance with due process under the military justice system. The Sailor was a member of Bonhomme Richard’s crew at the time and is accused of starting the fire.  

“Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet is considering court-martial charges and has directed a preliminary hearing at which an impartial hearing officer will make determinations and recommendations required by the UCMJ prior to any further trial proceedings — including whether or not there is probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and to offer a recommendation as to the disposition of the case.” 

The Bonhomme Richard was pierside at the naval base in San Diego going through modernization when a fire started and spread through much of the ship over a period of days. The Navy considered several options to repair the ship, possibly in another role, but the service decided to decommission and scrap it. 

“Following an extensive material assessment in which various courses of action were considered and evaluated, we came to the conclusion that it is not fiscally responsible to restore her, then-Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said in a Nov. 30 release. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Lockheed Martin’s deliveries of electronic warfare capabilities to U.S. Navy now include Surface Warfare Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Lite as deliveries of (SEWIP) Block 2 reaches 100, a company official said. 

SEWIP Lite is a scaled version of SEWIP Block 2 designed for installation on smaller warships such as the Navy’s littoral combat ships (LCSs) and the Coast Guard’s new offshore patrol cutters now under construction. SEWIP Lite operates with the same hardware software and same inboard processing as SEWIP Block 2. 

“SEWIP Lite now is in production” said Joe Ottaviano, director for Maritime and Air Cyber/Electronic Warfare at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, in an interview with Seapower. “We’ve delivered several of those already. Some are on the way for installation on LCS.”  

Ottaviano said that some international customers have expressed an interest in SEWIP Lite, designed for ships smaller than an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer which have size, weight, and space limitations. Block 2 currently is planned for the Constellation-class frigate. 

The SLQ-32(V)6 SEWIP Block 2, including SEWIP Lite, is being installed on all active U.S. Navy surface combatants. Block 2 is in its second five-year full-rate production run. 

“We’re going through tech refresh now,” Ottaviano said. “A lot of the open-architecture things we had put in place over the years is allowing us to tech refresh SEWIP, our submarine programs, our airborne programs at a pretty rapid pace, every couple of years without causing a huge development cycle.” 

Lockheed Martin is continuing to work with the Navy as they integrate the [electronic attack] Block 3 portion into [SEWIP]. Block 3 is a Northrop Grumman program. 

“Block 2 brings the foundation of the Navy’s EW battle management — the displays, integration, the sharing of EW information across the fleet, and providing the enterprise protection,” Ottaviano said. “It actually cues Block 3 and helps drive its response.” 

He said the SEWIP is now tightly integrated into the Aegis Combat System.  

“Now we can do everything we need to do passively,” he said.  

The Naval Sea Systems Command Program Executive Office Ships (PEO Ships) is establishing a new program office to distribute the support ships, boats and craft responsibilities of PMS 325. PMS 325 currently manages acquisition and life-cycle support for auxiliary ships, boats, service craft and targets, special mission ships and foreign military sales. PMS 300 will assume the duties for boats and craft, while 325 will focus on the larger platforms.

According to NAVSEA spokesman Alan Baribeau, PEO Ships continually assesses and where necessary adjusts program office resources to ensure they are best aligned to efficiently and effectively deliver capability to requirements. 

“The PMS 325 portfolio has grown significantly over time and based on forecasted workload has reached the point where splitting into two separate, focused program offices is prudent,” Baribeau said.  “PMS 300 is being established as the USN & FMS Boats and Craft Program Office; it will oversee FMS, boats & combatant craft and service craft/targets. PMS 325 will be renamed the Auxiliary and Special Mission Shipbuilding Program Office and will oversee auxiliary ships and special mission ships including Next Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS), the Navy Cable Ship (T-ARC(X)) Program to replace the Navy’s only undersea cable installation and repair ship, and the ), and new TAGOS(X) Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Two senior House Armed Services Committee members, who strongly support U.S. Navy plans to acquire a wide range of unmanned air and maritime systems to enhance the size of the fleet, say they still have concerns about how undefined the mission remains.

Appearing at a virtual unmanned defense systems conference sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) on July 27, both Reps. Joe Courtney (D-Connecticut), and Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island), agreed that unmanned surface and undersea vessels will have a key role confronting the pacing threat of China across the vast distances of the Indo-Pacific region.

“These systems will be the key to a distributed force that moves away from exquisite, expensive platforms — which are high value targets — and towards a more modular and nimble fleet that can, hopefully, plan to overwhelm the adversary,” said Langevin, who chairs the HASC’s Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee.

Having unmanned platforms ranging in size from small to extra-large vessels that reduce the risk to Sailors in a contested environment, and handle jobs that don’t require human presence, “is just a really smart investment moving forward,” said Courtney, chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee.

However, “we’ve been wrestling with the issue of what is the future fleet size for the Navy and what’s the fleet architecture look like,” Courtney said, adding that the Biden administration’s first Navy budget had no FYDP [future years defense plan] and the shipbuilding plan had only ranges of vessels, not specific numbers. He acknowledged the White House will have more time and experience by next year’s budget, adding that will be the one to watch.

“We really do need some clarity about just where are we going,” Courtney said, recalling the HASC’s “traumatic experiences” in the past with unique new platforms that were funded in a hurry, like the littoral combat ship, but “didn’t pan out as well as the Navy or Congress hoped.”

Langevin, whose subcommittee Courtney described as “the tip of the spear for a lot of these questions,” said he was concerned the Navy and other services could become over-reliant on unmanned systems.

“They can be a great component, but I’m still very cautious — recognizing that our enemies and adversaries understand where we’re going with new technologies. They’re going to invest in and try to create asymmetric systems that will interfere with those capabilities and take them out,” with less compunction than they might for a manned vessel in a non-war situation, he said.

“The other thing that we have to ensure is, as we get more and more into the 21^st century and make use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, we absolutely have to ensure the integrity of the data decisions are based on and also, that there’s always a human in the loop,” Langevin said, adding, “We have to make sure that we understand the decision-making process by making sure that when it comes to carrying out kinetic effects, we don’t delegate too much in terms of AI decision-making.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Northrop Grumman expects the U.S. Navy to issue a Request for Proposals in August or September for the Very Light-Weight Torpedo (VWLT) Program, company officials said.   

The Navy’s VLWT program RFP was delayed from an expected January issuance, now expected to be issued this summer. Northrop Grumman has used the delay to refine its planned manufacturing processes, adapt robotics to the processes, and press for ways to reduce manufacturing cost. 

The RFP will be for taking the non-production-designed VLWT prototype — designed by Penn State Applied Physics Lab (APL) — into a production design. and develop it as an All-Up Round it to be suitable for manufacturing. Other Transactional Authority will be used to deploy the torpedo to the fleet.   

APL developed the Counter Anti-torpedo Torpedo (CAT), a defensive weapon for use by aircraft carriers to defeat incoming submarine-launched anti-ship torpedoes. Five aircraft carriers were fitted with CAT launchers. The Cat was the first new-design U.S torpedo since the 1980s with the development of the Mk54 Lightweight Torpedo.  

Early in the CAT design process, its potential as a multi-mission torpedo was noticed, said David Portner, Northrop Grumman’s senior program manager for undersea weapons, in a July 28 interview with Seapower magazine. 

The offensive variant that will be the subject of the RFP, the Compact Rapid Attack Weapon (CRAW), involved a software change to make the CAT into an anti-submarine weapon, Portner said. 

The hardware-enabled, software-defined VLWT would be equipped with advanced electronics and processing power, with the software enabling the same weapon to serve in an offensive or defensive role.  

The nine-foot-long VWLT is one third of the size of the Mk54 — the Navy’s most advanced light-weight torpedo — and weighs just over 200 pounds, compared with the 608-pound Mk54. With this weight advantage, a platform can carry more torpedoes or carry the same number at longer ranges and give the platform more endurance. The VLWT could be carried by surface, airborne, and undersea platforms, manned and unmanned.    

The Mk54 is known to carry a 96.8-pound warhead. Portner said he was not at liberty to discuss the size of the VWLT’s warhead, but he said its power has everything to do with the warhead’s design, which he said will give it lethality against modern submarines. 

Portner said the VLWT could be carried by such anti-submarine aircraft as P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, MH-60R helicopters and MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles.   

During an Advanced Naval Technology Exercise in 2018, Northrop Grumman demonstrated the deployment of a VLWT from a surrogate helicopter simulating a Fire Scout.  

The torpedo is fitted with a parachute to reduce the shock of impact with the water. The VLWT also could be fitted with a glide wing kit similar to the one on Boeing’s HAAWC (High-Altitude Anti-submarine Weapon Concept), which is in development to extend the launch range and altitude as well as precision guidance for the Mk54 torpedo.    

Portner said the VLWT also could be deployed from a vessel such as a littoral combat ship by way of an unmanned surface vehicle or unmanned underwater vehicle. He said the light weight of the CRAW, compared with the MK54, would enable a platform to carry more weapons the same distance or the same number of weapons to a greater range or endurance.  

Portner said in a December interview the Navy already has demonstrated that the legacy Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes that fire Mk46 and Mk54 light-weight torpedoes could be fitted with internal sleeves to accommodate the smaller-diameter VLWT, but a new launcher could be developed to house a larger number of VLWTs. He also said one or more VLWTs could be fitted to an Anti-Submarine Rocket in place of a MK54 torpedo if the Navy decided to do proceed with that.