ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of the Navy (DoN) should invite supporters in Congress to the wargaming process “so we can better advocate for the Navy,” a House Armed Services Committee member has suggested.

During a Washington think tank event June 28 on the state of the U.S. maritime industrial base and competition with China, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) said he would like to see Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and other Pentagon officials “join a few of us navalists in Congress,” in a room with just a map  “and just in simple terms, have them walk us through their theory of the case for what they think the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] is trying to do. What we need to do to counter.”

Irritated by the limited time lawmakers get to question military leaders during public committee hearings, Gallagher called for better communication between Navy and Marine Corps leaders and congressional supporters during a virtual joint appearance with fellow HASC member, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Virginia), presented by the Hudson Institute.  “So, I’m an advocate for allowing some congressional participation in Navy wargaming this year,” Gallagher said.

Without directly commenting on Gallagher’s idea, Wittman acknowledged “folks want to know and hear more, especially, as Rep. Gallagher said, outside the committee hearing side.”

Wittman and Gallagher joined several senators in introducing the Supplying Help to Infrastructure in Ports, Yards, and America’s Repair Docks (SHIPYARD) Act of 2021 in April. The proposed legislation would provide $25 billion to make investments needed to optimize, improve, and rebuild shipyard facilities, electrical infrastructure, environmental systems, and the equipment of public and private shipyards in the U.S. that support the U.S. Navy fleet.

The act would designate $21 billion for the Navy’s four public shipyards in Virginia, Maine, Hawaii, and Washington, $2 billion for major Navy private new construction shipyards, and $2 billion for Navy private repair shipyards. 

Wittman and Gallagher noted U.S. shipyards were having trouble servicing the current 296-ship fleet and would be insufficient to maintain a 355-ship needed to counter the PLA Navy (PLAN) in China, which now has the world’s largest navy with an overall battle force of 350 ships and submarines.

“We are far behind China in the trajectory of building our Navy. We are far behind China in the shipyard infrastructure that we need,” Wittman said.

He noted the U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2022 budget request seeks only eight ships, but plans to retire 15 ships, seven of them cruisers. “The question is, if you’re going to be reducing the number of ships you build, how do you sustain an industrial base — not just the physical facilities but also the manpower?”

Gallagher said PLAN has grown its battle force by 117 ships since 2005 and over the same period, the U.S. Navy battle force has grown by just five ships.

“That is not the right trendline,” he said.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy’s Air-to-Air Missiles program office (PMA-259) has accepted delivery of the 10,000th AIM-9X Sidewinder air intercept missile for on May 27, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a June 29 release. 

As a joint program with the U.S. Air Force, the Navy-led AIM-9X Block II missile is the most advanced short-range air-to-air missile in the world. The AIM-9X Block II+ missile is one of multiple variants that make up the fifth-generation Infra-red AIM-9X weapon system family. 

“To reach this milestone is a great privilege and showcases our team’s ability to continuously produce and distribute quality products in support of the U.S. warfighter and our international partners,” said Cmdr. Sarah Abbott, PMA-259 deputy program manager for AIM-9X. 

Nearly 3,000 AIM-9X Block II/II+ missiles have been procured on behalf of 25 countries globally. The program’s Foreign Military Sales team has accounted for an average of over 250 FMS missiles procured annually since 2012. 

PMA-259 will join Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona later this year to celebrate this milestone achievement. 

SAN DIEGO – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) will depart San Diego July 16 to change its homeport to Bremerton, Washington and conduct a docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington, the commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a June 29 release. 

The DPIA is scheduled to commence this September and will include a system retrofit to accommodate the F-35C Lightning II mission capabilities, as well as upgrades to the ship self-defense system, the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services network and the Mk 38 25mm machine gun, as well as refurbishment and preservation of the ship’s hull, rudder, propulsion shaft, anchor, and 25 berthing spaces. 
 
Approximately 3,000 Sailors and their families will relocate from San Diego to Bremerton as part of the homeport shift. Theodore Roosevelt is scheduled to arrive in Bremerton July 20. 
 
Theodore Roosevelt returned to San Diego May 25, following a six-month deployment conducting maritime security operations, and ensuring freedom of navigation and economic trade in the Indo-Pacific region. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s plan to deploy Marine Corps fighter-attack squadrons (VMFAs) on its aircraft carriers is very much in force as the two services continue to equip some of their tactical jet squadrons with F-35C Lightning II strike fighters. 

“TACAIR Integration is alive and well,” said Vice Adm. Kenneth R. Whitesell, commander, Naval Air Forces, answering a question during a June 29 webinar of the West 21 symposium of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the U.S. Naval Institute. 

He noted that VMFA-314, the Marine Corp’s first F-35C squadron, is beginning workups this summer with Carrier Air Wing 9 on board USS Abraham Lincoln for a deployment in 2022. It will be the second deployment of the F-35C on a carrier.  

The USS Carl Vinson is deploying this summer with the Navy’s first fleet F-35C squadron, Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147). VFA-97 has been in transition to the F-35C since April to become the fleet’s second F-35C squadron.  

Whereas Marine Corps VMFA squadrons have deployed on carriers with some frequency for decades, the practice was institutionalized two decades ago with the implementation of the TACAIR Integration plan, which originally planned for four VMFA squadrons embedded in carrier air wings, with some Navy VFA squadrons serving in sequence with a Marine aircraft group in Japan under the Unit Deployment Plan. 

Whitesell said that the TACAIR Integration Plan was modified four or five months ago to provide a total of two VMFA squadrons to embed in the Navy’s carrier air wings. 

“It’s critical for us as we keep that naval warfighting concept alive and well,” Whitesell said.  

The latest deployment of a VMFA squadron ended Feb. 25 when VMFA-323 returned to its home base after a deployment with Carrier Air Wing 17 on board USS Nimitz. It was the last deployment of the legacy F/A-18C Hornet on an aircraft carrier.   

El Segundo, Calif. — Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, has completed Milestone C for the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band, or NGJ-MB, the company said in a June 29 release. 

“We’re well into development testing. It’s time to move towards production,” said Annabel Flores, vice president of Electronic Warfare Systems at Raytheon Intelligence & Space. “We’re ready to give the Navy and our Australian partners a leap forward towards the electromagnetic spectrum superiority they need.” 

The recommendation from the Milestone Decision Authority is based on the program’s achievements to date and an assessment of readiness to enter low-rate initial production, or LRIP.   

“The Milestone C decision drives home the stability and maturity of NGJ-MB,” said Flores. “The system is ready for validation and LRIP, and we’re gearing up for the delivery of this critical capability to the fleet.” 

To date, NGJ-MB has successfully completed over 145 hours of developmental flight-testing using mission systems and aeromechanical pods. NGJ-MB has also completed over 3,100 hours of anechoic chamber and lab testing at Naval Air Stations Patuxent River, Maryland, and Point Mugu, California. Chamber tests evaluated the system’s performance both on and off the EA-18G Growler aircraft, in addition to jamming techniques and reliability testing.  

NGJ-MB is the Navy’s advanced electronic attack system that offensively denies, disrupts and degrades enemy technology, including air-defense systems and communications. NGJ-MB uses the latest digital, software-based and Active Electronically Scanned Array technologies. This allows operators to non-kinetically attack significantly more targets and at greater distances. 

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA delivered the future USS Savannah, the 14th Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), to the U.S. Navy June 25, the company said in a June 28 release. Savannah (LCS 28) is the seventh ship Austal has delivered to the Navy in less than two years, highlighting Austal’s unique capability in the serial production of ships for the U.S. Navy. 

“Delivering yet another quality ship on time and on budget demonstrates the important role Austal USA plays in the shipbuilding industrial base and value of Austal USA’s highly skilled workforce. Delivering two major ship programs on schedule and on budget is something our team is incredibly proud of, ”Austal USA Interim President Rusty Murdaugh said. “It has been especially rewarding to hear the very positive feedback from the Navy commanders and Sailors on how well these ships are performing operationally, especially in the in the South China Sea where they are conducting routine patrols.” 

Austal’s production efficiency continues to soar. Already a leader in on-time and on-budget delivery, the company has reduced overall time of construction from ship to ship. LCS 28 was completed in just under three years, a full 12-month improvement over earlier ships in the program. 

Five LCS and two expeditionary fast transports are currently under construction at Austal’s Alabama shipyard. Two additional ships, LCS 38 and EPF 15, are under contract and will soon be under construction. Austal USA was recently awarded a design contract for the U.S. Navy’s light amphibious warship that would be manufactured on Austal USA’s new steel construction serial production line.  

LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The Independence-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littorals. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced Jan. 23 that the president has nominated Rear Adm. Daniel W. Dwyer for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as commander, 2nd Fleet/commander, Joint Forces Command Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia.  

Dwyer is currently serving as director, Plans and Policy, J5, United States Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Maryland. If confirmed by the Senate, he would succeed Vice Adm. Andrew L. Lewis. 

Dwyer is a native of Alameda, California, and a 1988 graduate of the California Maritime Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and a third mate’s license in the Merchant Marine. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, Newport Rhode Island, and holds a Master’s in Foreign Affairs and Strategic Studies, and a Master’s in Computer Information Science. 
 
Dwyer received his Wings of Gold in March 1992 with orders to fly the F/A-18C in Lemoore, California. 
 
He has previously commanded Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 27; Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Asadabad, Kunar Province, Afghanistan; VFA-106; Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8; and CVW 17. As a flag officer, Dwyer commanded the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (CSG 9) and was the 36th chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA). 
 
Other at sea and ashore assignments include two tours with VFA-151, Topgun Class 97-1; F/A-18 Tactics instructor at Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific Lemoore, California; Hornet air combat placement officer at Naval Personnel Command Millington, Tennessee; director, Regional Outreach Headquarters, Commander, International Security Assistance Force Kabul, Afghanistan; and director of Aviation Officer Distribution Naval Personnel Command Millington, Tennessee. 
 
As a flag officer Dwyer served as the chief of staff and assistant chief of staff for Strategy, Resources and Plans for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa and for Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy. 
 
Dwyer assumed his current duties as the Director of Plans and Policy (J5) for U.S. Cyber Command in July 2020. 

Dwyer was the 1997 Commander Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Adm. Wesley McDonald Junior Officer of the Year and his personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal Strike/Flight, Combat Action Ribbon, Battle E (three awards) and has accumulated over 3,600 F/A-18 flight hours, and over 1,100 carrier arrested landings on 12 different aircraft carriers. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee zeroed in on two aspects of the Navy’s 2022 shipbuilding plans that would cost the nation more than $1 billion in contract penalties and lost savings because of reduced shipbuilding. 

The Navy’s 2022 budget calls for the procurement of only one Flight II Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer (DDG) instead of the two planned for that year under the class multi-year procurement plan with Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. With the cut of one destroyer, the Navy would incur a $33 million penalty for the contract breach.   

Testifying before SASC June 22, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker confirmed to Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, that the $33 million penalty would in fact be a result of building only one DDG in 2022. The second DDG is the top item on the Navy’s 2022 Unfunded Priority List and would stand a chance for funding if Congress decides to add funds to the Navy’s budget. 

King also pointed out the “chilling effect on investment” that contract breach would have on the shipbuilding industry, part of which, Bath Iron Works, is located in his home state, Maine.  

“The point I want to make about this is not only the lack of a destroyer but the impact that this decision has on the industrial base, not only in the immediate future in terms of how many people do you need to build the ships but also the principle of breaking a multi-year, I would argue, sends a shudder through the industrial base in terms of their investment,” King said. “If they’re going to make major hundred-million-dollar investments is shipbuilding capacity, and also in training of new shipbuilders, they have to have some confidence that there’s a stream of demand coming.” 

Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, concurred. 

“It’s not lost on me the significant impact on the industrial base with decisions like this,” Gilday said.  

“The problem with this is you can’t turn the industrial base off and on,” King said. “If it goes down, you’re taking about welders going somewhere else, and in this economy, they’re going to go somewhere else.” 

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, in whose state is Ingalls Shipbuilding, which builds the Navy’s amphibious warfare ships, criticized Navy’s 2022 shipbuilding plan in failing to plan for a build up to a force of a required 31-ship amphibious ship force — including 10 amphibious assault ships and 21 amphibious platform dock ships (LPDs) — and that the number LPDs would only each 15 of the required 21 by 2027.  

Section 124 of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act “provided the Navy with a mechanism to procure two more LPDs [under a multiple ship procurement] to fill this gap. If OSD executes this authority, it would save the taxpayers over $700 million,” Wicker said, addressing Marine Corps Commandant Gen David Berger. “General Berger, you have a need for more LPDs,” Wicker said. “Does the amphibious ship authority provided for you in Section 124 help you meet your warfighting requirement?” 

“It would do both parts of what you mentioned, senator, the warfighting requirement and it would save an estimated $722 million,” Berger said.   

“The fact is, we couldn’t afford it because somebody in the Office of Management and Budget sent word to the Pentagon that they weren’t going to give you enough money,” Wicker said.  

Wicker repeated Gilday’s statement at the hearing that “if we’re going to meet the challenge [of great power competition], we’re going to need a bigger Navy. 

“’Tis is a crying need that we’re going to have to meet,” Wicker said.   

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – General Dynamics Mission Systems was awarded two contracts by the U.S. Navy worth $30.5 million in support of various maintenance and upgrade initiatives for the Navy’s Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) fleet, the company said in a June 21 release.  

As part of a $17.4 million contract announced by the Department of Defense on May 4, General Dynamics Mission Systems will develop and upgrade the Independence-variant LCS fleet’s hull mechanical & electrical system, which includes software upgrades and maintenance of the engineering control system. Work for this contract will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Mobile, Alabama; San Diego; Philadelphia; and Singapore, and is expected to be completed by May 2026.  

As part of a $13.1 million contract announced by DoD on May 24, General Dynamics Mission Systems will provide the Independence-variant LCS’ in-service engineering and life cycle support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber and intelligence and training systems to include critical engineering, design, integration. test and evaluation, software development and testing, logistics product development and distribution and configuration management. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $79.2 million. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Mobile, Alabama, San Diego and Singapore, and is expected to be completed by May 2026. 

“General Dynamics Mission Systems is excited to continue this sustainment and modernization work for U.S. Navy,” said Stan Kordana, vice president of surface systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems. “Our engineers have a long history of collaborating with our industry and Navy partners to sustain the performance of LCS engineering control and core mission systems; ensuring they are ready and able to support the Navy’s mission requirements at home and abroad. Our sustainment team recognizes the critical role the Independence-variant littoral combat ship plays on the national stage, especially with three ships planned for deployment to the western Pacific this year. Our ‘any program, any mission system on any platform’ approach ensures LCS will be able to successfully achieve their missions, today and in the future.” 

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Collins Aerospace, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp., has successfully completed Milestone C for the U.S. Navy’s Tactical Combat Training System II (TCTS Inc. II) program.

In addition, Collins Aerospace was awarded the first production order for TCTS II. TCTS Inc. II was developed and built by Collins Aerospace and Leonardo DRS. 
 
Completion of Milestone C marks the transition to system production, based on meeting all key performance parameters. Initial Operational Capability is set to be declared in 2022. 
 
TCTS Inc. II is the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force program of record for fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft that enables highly secure air combat training between the U.S. and international platforms. Through Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) technologies, TCTS Inc. II simulates various highly contested combat situations, tailoring the threats to enable pilots to train as they fight.

It also collects relevant data to rapidly develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures in real time. It is the only air-combat training system with security certification that supports encryption requirements from Top Secret through Unclassified that is needed for today’s legacy U.S. and coalition fighter aircraft. The scalable TCTS Inc. II system architecture is envisioned to create a fully immersive environment for all aircraft, ships and vehicles in the U.S. Navy inventory, and the U.S. Air Force. 
 
“The successful completion of Milestone C demonstrates the Live, Virtual, and Constructive-enabled capabilities of the TCTS Inc. II technology from Collins Aerospace,” said Heather Robertson, vice president, and general manager, Integrated Solutions for Collins Aerospace. “Enabling more realistic and secure cross-service air combat exercises is invaluable preparation for fourth- and fifth-generation pilots to ensure warfighters achieve the readiness levels needed.” 
 
TCTS Inc. II securely connects to the Navy Continuous Training Environment to live aircraft allowing synthetic threats to stimulate the aircraft’s sensors via a multiple independent levels of security architecture featuring an NSA-certified, Type 1 encryptor. When used with the onboard cross domain solution, the system enables sharing of information in near real time and uses SITL to properly stress the warfighter with representative realistic threats. TCTS Inc. II is capable of Future Airborne Capability Environment certification which enables best-in-class third applications to be integrated easily and accelerates new capabilities to the warfighters. With the ability to host operational capabilities, TCTS II creates the infrastructure able to run both training and tactical waveforms across a multitude of platforms.