MOBILE, Ala. — A small audience of dignitaries celebrated the Aug. 29 christening of the future littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28) at Austal’s advanced ship manufacturing facility. Savannah is the 14th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA has under contract with the U.S. Navy. 

“Austal is honored to christen today what will be the sixth Navy ship named after the great city of Savannah,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. “Savannah and Mobile have much in common both being major U.S. shipping ports but we also share the distinction of being cities where the infamous World War II Liberty ships were built. These were the last Navy ships built in Mobile prior to the littoral combat ships we are building here now. 

“Manufacturing complex small surface combatants efficiently at the fast pace we have established is no small feat,” explained Perciavalle. “We have one of the most talented manufacturing workforces employed today and I am proud to work side-by-side with each and every member of our awesome team as we christen the 25th surface ship since 2011.” 

The ship’s sponsor, Dianne Isakson, is the daughter of a World War II naval aviator and sister to two brothers who both served in the Navy. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Isakson is married to the Rep. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., former U.S. Senator from Georgia. Dianne is active in community and volunteer organizations and boards. She took up watercolor painting late in life and has been fortunate to be able to show and sell her paintings through two art galleries in Georgia.  After raising three children, she now enjoys the time she spends with her nine grandchildren. 

“We are honored to host Mrs. Isakson as the ship’s sponsor,” continued Perciavalle. “Her ties to the Navy through her father and brothers along with the time she has committed to raising a family and supporting her husband, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, is commendable and makes her the perfect choice as sponsor of this awesome combat ship.” 

The Independence-variant littoral combat ship is the most recent step in the small surface combatant evolution. A high-speed, agile, shallow draft, focused-mission surface combatant, the LCS is designed to conduct surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral near-shore region, while also possessing the capability for deep-water operations. With its open-architecture design, the LCS can support modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to capture and sustain littoral maritime supremacy.  

In addition to being in full-rate production for the LCS program, Austal USA is also the Navy’s prime contractor for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program. Austal has delivered 12 EPF, with a total of 14 under contract. Austal USA is also leading the evolution of connector and auxiliary ships as Austal EPF designs for dedicated medical, maintenance, logistics, and command and control ships. 

POTTSTOWN, Pa. — The U.S. Navy has placed another multi-million-dollar order for Defender remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems built by VideoRay, the company said in an Aug. 31 release. 

The purchase is under VideoRay’s existing $49 million contract to deliver the Navy’s Next-Generation ROV. The systems will be assembled and tested in VideoRay’s Pottstown, Pennsylvania, facility prior to being shipped to the Navy for worldwide operations. 

“This order is the culmination of years of tight integration with many Navy units in San Diego,” said Scott Bentley, CEO of VideoRay. “It will result in additional hiring and significant spend in the Pottstown region, and with our development partners throughout the U.S. and beyond.” 

The procurement process was facilitated through the Defense Innovation Unit, which provided open communications and a competitively awarded production contract which allows further scaling within the Navy based on requirements set forth by the Navy’s program office, PMS-408, allowing VideoRay to collaborate on a solution. As a result, the VideoRay Defender systems have been optimized to best support the U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal technician and warfighter. 

The VideoRay Defender is a highly capable remotely operated vehicle and is also becoming a standard in other markets beyond defense, most notably in offshore energy and infrastructure industries. The VideoRay Defender systems will be used by the Navy for defense and security operations including very shallow water, littoral mine counter measures, port security missions and hull and pier inspection. 

The systems will be delivered with solutions from Greensea, Blueprint Subsea, Nortek and Eddyfi. These best-in class sensors, tooling and software are integrated onto the Defender ROV platform. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The People’s Republic of China, increasing its two-decade military buildup, now has the world’s largest navy, according to the U.S. Defense Department’s latest annual assessment of China’s military capabilities.

The Pentagon’s 2020 report to Congress on “Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China,” noted the PRC has marshalled the resources, technology and political will over the last 20 years to build a world-class military. “And China is already ahead of the United States in certain areas” such as land-based conventional ballistic and cruise missiles, air defense systems and shipbuilding, added the report, released Sept. 1.

“The PRC has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants,” according to the report. The 2019 assessment said China simply had the largest navy in the region.

“Those numbers are likely to increase and we estimate that they will,” because the PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy] is seeking “greater far seas or global power projection capabilities,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China Chad Sbragia told a live-streamed discussion of the report presented by the Washington think tank AEI. He noted, however, that ship numbers are just one element of naval capability.   

In comparison, the U.S. Navy, which has a long-sought goal of achieving a 355-ship fleet, had a battle force of 293 vessels as of early 2020.

The PLAN has replaced older weapons platforms with larger, modern, multi-role combatants featuring advanced anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine weapons and sensors. China is also the leading ship-producing nation in the world by tonnage and is increasing its shipbuilding capacity and capability for all naval classes, the report stated. 

The army’s evolving capabilities and concepts continue to strengthen China’s ability to counter intervention by an adversary in the Indo-Pacific region and project power globally, according to the report.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has expanded its participation in bilateral and multilateral military exercises. It has a naval base at Djibouti in East Africa and “is very likely already considering and planning for additional overseas military logistics facilities to support naval, air and ground forces,” the 2020 report stated. It added that  China “has likely considered locations for PLA military logistics facilities” in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola and Tajikistan.

NEW ORLEANS – The Navy accepted delivery of the next-generation landing craft, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 101, Aug. 27.  LCAC 101 is the second craft delivered by Textron Systems to the Navy this year, the Program Executive Office-Ships said in an Aug. 28 release. 

The LCAC is a high-speed, over-the-beach, fully amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60-70 ton payload. The LCAC replaces the existing fleet of legacy LCAC vehicles, and will primarily transport weapon systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel of the assault elements through varied environmental conditions from amphibious ships to and over the beach. 

The delivery follows the successful completion of Acceptance Trials with the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. During these at sea trials, the craft underwent testing to demonstrate the capability of the platform and installed systems across all mission areas to effectively meet its requirements.  

“Our next generation surface connectors are going to significantly enhance the Navy and Marine Corps team’s capability to execute missions – from humanitarian assistance to amphibious assault,” said Capt. Cedric McNeal, amphibious warfare program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “We have 12 additional craft in production with another 10 on contract, positioning us to steadily deliver increased capability to our fleet over the coming years.”  

LCACs are constructed at Textron Systems in Slidell, Louisiana and are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck equipped amphibious ships, as well as Expeditionary Transfer Dock and the Expeditionary Sea Base. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The surface warfare director in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) said the back-fit of the new SPY-6 radar in the Flight II Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a “few years out.” 

Speaking Aug. 27 in the Surface Navy Association’s First Waterfront Symposium webinar ships, Rear Adm. Paul Schlise, director, Surface Warfare, said the new SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar is on track to be installed on the first Flight III DDG, which he said is 36% complete. 

The Flight III is designed to have the SPY-6 installed from the start, but the Navy also plans to back-fit some Flight II DDGs with the Raytheon-built radar.    

Schlise said the SPY-6 back-fit will begin with the later Flight II DDG modernizations. 

“[The back-fit] has some requirements process to go through here in the [Pentagon],” he said. “As with everything we do at the OPNAV staff, it gets stacked against all the other priorities across all the [warfare directors].” 

“The great news is that the radar is continuing to perform well,” he said. “The elements are [being delivered] on time and the testing is tracking along. The back-fit has got a ways to go in terms of the point at which we cut them in, which is a few years out, into the DDG Mod program, but it’s on track.” 

The admiral said he is “happy to say [that the SPY-6] has been a real success story in terms of development,” he said. “The capability is fantastic; the testing is tracking.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations announced the following assignments in an Aug. 28 Defense Department release: 

Rear Adm. Collin P. Green will be assigned as chief of staff, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. Green is currently serving as commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, San Diego, California. 

Rear Adm. John F. Wade will be assigned as director of operations, J3, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. Wade is currently serving as director, maritime operations, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia. 

Rear Adm. Fred I. Pyle will be assigned as director, maritime operations, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia. Pyle is currently serving as commander, Navy Warfare Development Command, Norfolk, Virginia. 

OTTAWA — Following a survey with over 18,000 respondents, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has chosen a new English rank designation for its junior ranks that will result in more gender-neutral terms than the current titles, which are not reflective of the modern, progressive service that is the RCN today, according to an Aug. 27 release. The RCN is continuing to work to create a more inclusive environment within the workplaces, whether that is at sea or at home, the Canadian Armed Forces release continues. 

The RCN’s junior ranks will soon be known as Sailor erd Class (formerly Ordinary Seaman), Sailor 2nd Class (formerly Able Seaman), Sailor 1st Class (formerly Leading Seaman) and Master Sailor (formerly Master Seaman). 

These changes help retain the history of these roles and align the English rank designation with the existing ranks in French. These new rank designations will be effective upon the issuance of a CANFORGEN in early September. At that point, the junior ranks will begin referring to shipmates using the new rank designations. 

“By adopting gender-neutral designation for junior members of the Royal Canadian Navy, we demonstrate to all Canadians that the Canadian Armed Forces will welcome anybody who wants to serve their country and uphold the values of inclusion and diversity,” said Harjit S. Sajjan, minister of National Defence. “We will continue to work to build a diverse force that is representative of the Canadians they protect.” 

In an effort to ensure that this new rank designation reflects the thoughts and ideals of the Royal Canadian Navy, and Canadians, a survey was completed internally and externally, the results of which helped to inform decision-making for this new designation. 

“The Royal Canadian Navy, our senior service, continues to adapt to better reflect Canadian society,” said Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the Defence staff. “Today’s announcement of changes to junior ranks nomenclature is just one example of how we continue to work to remove barriers to a more inclusive Canadian Armed Forces.”  

ARLINGTON, Va. — One lesson learned from the challenge of the novel coronavirus pandemic is that U.S. Navy ships and their crews need to be self-reliant and work with the equipment and skills on hand, the commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic said, noting the unexpected 200-plus days the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto spent at sea.

“From an equipment perspective, if there’s any silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s Sailor self-sufficiency in our ability to maintain our equipment at a higher level,” Rear Adm. Brad Cooper told the Surface Navy Association’s 1st Virtual Waterfront Symposium.

He noted the 32-year-old San Jacinto, escort to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was away from port for more than 200 days. “That’s an unimaginable number,” Cooper said during a live-streamed question-and-answer session on Aug. 25.  COVID-19 “has forced us to be a lot more self-sufficient,” he said, adding “and boy were they self-sufficient.”

Both ships left Norfolk Naval Station on Jan. 17 for the carrier strike group’s composite training unit exercise and follow-on deployment. They did not return to Norfolk until Aug. 9, partly to escape the spread of COVID-19 — which sidelined the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt for months — but also to maintain maritime stability and security, deter aggression and defend U.S. and allies’ interests in the 5th and 6th Fleets’ areas of operations.

Uncertainty posed by COVID-19 also showed the need to change from a Monday through Friday initial training schedule, Cooper said. Earlier this year, Surface Naval Force Atlantic shifted to a pilot program, Afloat Training Groups (ATG) Rodeo, where three ships stayed out at sea conducting drills, planning exercises, executing them and debriefing for three uninterrupted weeks, instead of coming back to on the weekends.

“As we look to the future, that’s the model we’re going to use in the Surface Force in both [Atlantic and Pacific] fleets,” Cooper said. Six ships coming out of maintenance and going into basic phase in the next few months are going to follow that training procedure, Cooper said.

He said leaders in the fleet must have “exquisite knowledge” of the condition of their equipment to meet Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s top priority: operational readiness. But they also need to know their crew members even better to meet their No. 1 priority: People. A key component to that is training, he said.

A day after the massive July fire that seriously damaged the assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard pier-side in San Diego, Cooper explained, he sent guidance to his commanders to do “a gut check” that their firefighting kill chain is “fully intact and you know how to exercise it down to the weakest link.”

When something happens, Cooper said, every single member of a ship’s fire party “has to know, where do they go, what’s the status of the equipment and what’s their responsibility.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The admiral in charge of the U.S. Navy’s regional maintenance centers said the Navy, as currently resourced, is not able to keep up with the ship repair demands of the current fleet and would have greater challenges in keeping up in wartime. 

“We don’t have enough capacity for peacetime,” said Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, commander, regional maintenance centers, and director of surface ship maintenance and modernization for Naval Sea Systems Command, speaking at an Aug. 25 webinar conducted by the Navy League of the United States and sponsored by L3Harris Corp. and Tri-Tec. 

“We have so much to be proud of, but we’re not as effective or efficient,” Ver Hage said. “We can’t get ships delivered on time with the predictability we need today.” 

“Think about how long it took [the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers] Fitzgerald and McCain to get back in operation,” he said, referring to their respective collisions at sea in 2017. “We’ll see what we do with the [Wasp-class amphibious assault ship] Bonhomme Richard [which was devastated by fire in July], but that would be a massive effort to repair her, if that’s the decision. I’m talking years.” 

The admiral said that developing the workforce needed to repair ships in both the public and private shipyards is critical to the repair industrial base. 

He also stressed more discipline is needed in maintenance planning. He said that 50% to 55% of every ship repair availability should be planned in advance and that port loading projection needs to be scrutinized constantly to optimize the flow of ships in and out of maintenance. A positive development is that the fleets are increasingly cognizant of the importance of level-loading the maintenance ports for the ship availabilities.   

The admiral said that the increased use of distant support in the COVID-19 era has improved the resilience of the ship-repair efforts. 

Ver Hage said that public-private investment is needed to have the industrial base needed to repair ships on time. 

He said his command is trying to buy materials and components more deliberately and proactively.  

The admiral said he is trying to simplify and reduce the diversity of systems, for example, steering and navigation systems, so as to reduce the parts support and repair expertise needed. He also noted that software is increasingly more central to the testing of a component. 

Also speaking in the webinar were Rear Adm. Tom J. Anderson, program executive officer-ships, and John Rhatigan, chairman of the Maritime Machinists Association. Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, served as moderator.

BREMERTON, Wash. — The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson departed Bremerton, Washington, on Aug. 23 to start sea trials as the final phase in completing a 17-month docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Lt. Cmdr. Miranda Williams of USS Carl Vinson public affairs said in a release. 

Upon the conclusion of the DPIA, which began Feb. 28, 2019, Vinson returned to the fleet to begin her operational training cycle. 

The DPIA included a complete restoration and system retrofit to accommodate F-35C Lightning II strike fighter mission capabilities as well as upgrades to combat systems, electrical systems and crew living spaces and maintenance on the ship’s hull, rudders and shafts. Vinson has the speed, agility and maneuverability to travel more than 5,000 nautical miles in less than seven days and arrive on station ready to fight.  

“I am proud of all of the hard work and dedication shown by the entire crew throughout the DPIA — and particularly with the added challenges we faced during this pandemic,” said Capt. Matthew Paradise, Vinson’s commanding officer and a native of Tacoma, Washington. “Also, a huge thank you to our family and friends, because our success was, in large part, due to their unwavering support. We just couldn’t have done this without them.” 

Prior to departing Bremerton, Vinson conducted extensive COVID-19 prevention measures to ensure the health and safety of the crew while at sea, and to prevent potential spread to their families and the community upon their return to port. Those measures included: restriction of movement for all personnel for 14 days prior to embarking the ship, mandatory face coverings, continued cleaning and disinfecting throughout common areas, routine COVID-19 testing, and social distancing. 

Upon completion of sea trials and underway training, Vinson will shift its homeport from Bremerton to San Diego.