MARINETTE, Wis. — Littoral Combat Ship 21, the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, has completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin said in an Aug. 24 release. 

Trials included a full-power run, maneuverability testing, and surface and air detect-to-engage demonstrations of the ship’s combat system. Major systems and features were demonstrated, including aviation support, small boat launch handling and recovery and machinery control and automation. 

Now that trials are complete, the ship will undergo final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery to the U.S. Navy. LCS 21 is the 11th Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the Lockheed-led industry team and is slated for delivery to the Navy early next year. 

“LCS 21 joins a fleet of sister ships delivering unique flexibility and capability to the U.S. Navy,” said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of small combatants and ship systems. “Freedom-variant LCS are inherently capable to serve freedom of navigation, drug interdiction and humanitarian missions, and with additional capabilities onboarded, they can serve further focused missions. On LCS 21’s acceptance trials, we successfully tested the ship’s maneuverability, automation and core combat capability.” 

The Freedom-variant has completed four successful deployments, including the USS Detroit’s deployment this summer. The Detroit deployed to the U.S. Southern Command supporting the Martillo campaign — a multinational effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in Central American coastal waters. 

Regarding LCS’ capabilities, U.S. Southern Commander Adm. Craig Faller recently stated, “LCS has proven to be an effective and adaptable platform capable of multiple missions in our area of responsibility. It has become an end-game enabler for U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement authorities who disrupt transnational criminal organizations and the smuggling of deadly narcotics. Adding the LCS to our enhanced counter-narcotics operation is helping save lives.” 

Unique among combat ships, the focused-mission LCS is designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions and is easily adapted to serve future and evolving missions. 

“I am pleased to see another successful acceptance trials on Lake Michigan,” said Jan Allman, chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marinette Marine. “Together with our partners, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy, our proud shipbuilding team puts in long hours to deliver a proven warship for the fleet.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will decommission three of its Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships over the next few days, commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNSFP) said in an August 20 release.  

The USS Champion, the USS Scout and the USS Ardent officially will be decommissioned at Naval Base San Diego on Aug. 25, Aug. 26 and Aug. 27, respectively. Their retirements will leave eight MCMs remaining in service, forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan, and Manama, Bahrain. Ceremonies marking their retirements were held this week. 

“Due to public health safety and restrictions of large public events related to the novel coronavirus … pandemic, the ceremonies were virtually celebrated with ship plank owners and former crew members,” according to CNSFP. 

The 14 Avenger-class MCMS were part of the naval build-up of the 1980s. The MCMs were “designed as mine sweepers/hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying, and destroying moored and bottom mines,” the CNSFP release said. 

“These ships use sonar and video systems, cable cutters, and a mine-detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. They are also capable of conventional sweeping measures. The ships are fiberglass sheathed, wooden hull construction.” 

Three MCMs preceded their sister ships into retirement: The Avenger was decommissioned on Sept. 30, 2014, followed by the Defender on Oct. 1, 2014; the Guardian left service in 2013 after being grounded near the Philippines. 

“Champion, Scout and Ardent Sailors, past and present, are a special breed,” said Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said at the Scout’s ceremonies. 

“These Sailors served with distinct pride and dedicated tremendous energy in representing the U.S. Navy’s mine-sweeping community over the lifespan of these unique ships. As this chapter comes to a close, we look back proudly on the efforts of these Iron Sailors, their families and these tested and proven wooden ships as they all played an important role in the defense of our nation and maritime freedom around the globe.” 

The following brief histories of the ships were provided by CNSFP: 

The Champion was built in Marinette, Wisconsin, by Marinette Marine Corp. and commissioned on Feb. 8, 1991. Originally assigned to active Naval Reserve, Mine Countermeasures Squadron 2, the Champion spent most of its years homeported in either Ingleside, Texas, or San Diego. Since 2000, the Champion has operated exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast. Its stateside presence allowed for continuous improvement of mine-warfare technologies and crew training for forward-deployed naval forces in Bahrain and Japan. 

The fourth ship to bear the name, the Scout was laid down on June 8, 1987, at Peterson Builders in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It was launched on May 20, 1989, and commissioned on Dec. 15, 1990. Among the Scout’s achievements were helping to evacuate refugees from Kosovo in 1999, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and joining Hurricane Katrina relief operations in 2005. 

USS Ardent was commissioned on Feb. 8, 1994. In 1998, in the North Arabian Gulf, the Ardent received emergent tasking to assist USNS Catawba in locating and recovering a downed F/A-18C. Later that year, it conducted operations inside Iraqi territorial waters in Mine Danger Area (MDA) 10 in support of Operation Desert Fox. The Ardent departed on an emergency sortie from Mina Salman Port, with all other ships, in the wake of USS Cole bombing in Port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV) being designed and built by L3Harris Technologies will be a purpose-built commercially derived vehicle, the company said in an Aug. 19 release. 

Although the Navy’s selection of Camden, New Jersey-based L3Harris was announced by the Defense Department on July 13, the company’s own Aug. 19 announcement provided a few additional program details. 

“L3Harris will integrate the company’s ASView autonomy technology into a purpose-built 195-foot commercially derived vehicle from a facility along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana,” the announcement said. “The MUSV will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the fleet while maneuvering autonomously and complying with international collision regulations, even in operational environments.” 

As prime contractor, L3Harris will be the lead systems integrator for the MUSV program and will provide the mission autonomy and perception technology for the vessel. Gibbs & Cox and Incat Crowther will design the vessel, which will be constructed by Swiftships in Morgan City, Louisiana. 

Naval Sea Systems Command awarded to L3Harris a $35 million fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract for the design and fabrication of a prototype MUSV. 

This contract includes “options for up to eight additional MUSVs, logistics packages, engineering support, technical data, and other direct costs, which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $281 [million],” the Pentagon announcement in July said. 

The prototype MUSV is expected to be completed by December 2022. 

“The MUSV program award reinforces our investments in the unmanned market and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bring mission-critical capabilities to our warfighters,” Sean Stackley, president of integrated mission systems for L3Harris, said in the Aug. 19 release. “L3Harris is continuing to develop a full range of highly reliable and affordable autonomous maritime capabilities to enable distributed maritime operations in support of the National Defense Strategy.”

WASHINGTON — The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is investigating the feasibility of using the Navy’s Aegis Combat System and Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA as segment of a layered defense of the U.S. homeland. 

“We are investigating the possibility of deploying layered homeland defense for additional opportunities to engage long-range missile threats,” said Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill, director of MDA, speaking in an Aug. 18 webinar sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank. 

“This means we are investigating the potential of existing proven weapon systems such as Aegis ballistic-missile defense using Standard Missile-3 [SM-3] Block IIA and if that weapon can contribute to homeland defense.” 

Hill said that later this year the MDA will conduct the first Aegis test with SM-3 Block IIA interceptor against an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He said that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the preparations but that the test will go ahead. 

“We were ready and postured to go to the Pacific to execute Flight Test Maritime 44 (FTM-44), the first Aegis weapon system engagement against an intercontinental ballistic missile — a long-range ballistic threat being engaged by a ship that’s maneuvering with the SM-3 Block IIA missile,” he said. “Our plan right now is to get that test under our belt before the end of the calendar year. We’re on track to do that.”  

Hill said the FTM-44 test is to be conducted in a “defense of Hawaii” scenario, with a ship and the SM-3 Block IIA. 

“We’re going to really stress the SM-3 Block IIA way outside of its design space,” he said. “It was designed for medium- and intermediate range. Now we’re going against a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile. The analysis says we’ll be successful. But nothing is real to any of us until we actually get the empirical data from being out on the flight range.”  

Hill said that a successful test will not be the end of the work.  

“There will be upgrades required to the missile based on threats,” he said. “We will have to certify the combat system, and we’ve got to work very closely with the Navy about where these ships would deploy and how fast we can increase the production line on the Block IIAs to get those out to sea and where we need them to add that complement to the Ground-Based System. If we succeed with Aegis … [U.S. Northern Command] can decide where they want these assets placed to provide that sort of layered defense.” 

The FTM-44 test will be against an ICBM without countermeasures.  

“It allows us to take a missile that wasn’t designed for that space and just go after that target,” Hill said. “It’s going to be very stressing because of the very long range that it flies, the error that it builds up, so we’ll see how we do.”  

The admiral said that a successful test will allow the MDA “to start to think through that architecture and start working more closely with the warfighters and where they would position a ship. Then we want to march up to another test where would test against a very complex ICBM, one that has a lot of separation debris, one that has a lot of countermeasures. We want to make sure the system in total — from the space assets to the radar to the engage-on-remote capability that passes that information to the ship — and the ship can actually sift through all of that and say, ‘that’s the RV [re-entry vehicle] and that’s where the missile is going to go.’” 

Hill said another challenge is coordinating the engagement coordination between the different layers [of defense.] The systems ‘talk’ with each other already today but the challenge is to get them talking as being different layered defenders.

SAN DIEGO — BAE Systems has received a $103.5 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the maintenance and modernization of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Preble, the company said in an Aug. 18 release. The value of the competitively awarded contract could reach $117.7 million if all options are exercised. 

Under the depot maintenance period availability contract awarded, BAE will dry-dock the ship, perform underwater hull preservation work, upgrade the ship’s Aegis combat system and its command-and-control equipment, and refurbish the living spaces for the ship’s 280 crew members. The work is expected to begin in October and be completed in February 2022.  

“The depot maintenance availability BAE Systems will perform aboard USS Preble is complex and critical,” said David M. Thomas Jr., vice president and general manager of BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair. “Our team of employees, subcontractors and Navy personnel have a great deal of experience with the DDG class and look forward to ushering the USS Preble into its next phase of fleet readiness.” 

BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard is completing similar work aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Shoup. 

The Preble is the 38th ship in the Arleigh Burke class and was commissioned in 2002. The ship is named in honor of Commodore Edward Preble, an early 19th-century Navy hero. Five previous U.S. naval combatants were named after the commodore.

ST. LOUIS — Boeing has inducted its 20th F/A-18 Super Hornet into service life modification (SLM), supporting U.S. Navy readiness needs for mission-capable aircraft, the company said in an Aug. 17 release. Two SLM jets already have been returned to the Navy. 

Initially, SLM will extend the life of Super Hornets from 6,000 to 7,500 flight hours. Future modification plans in 2022 will enable the jets to fly 10,000 hours and incorporate Block III capabilities. 

“The Super Hornet is the workhorse fighter for the U.S. Navy,” said Steve Wade, vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18G programs. “SLM is critical because it gives the Super Hornet a new life and next-generation Block III capabilities. The combination of Block III Super Hornets coming out of SLM and new builds off the production line will enable the Navy to maintain the force structure necessary to meet its mission needs.” 

The Block III conversion will include enhanced network capability, conformal fuel tanks, an advanced cockpit system, signature improvements and an enhanced communication system. The updates are expected to keep the F/A-18 in active service for decades to come. 

Boeing is on contract for the modernization of 24 aircraft. An additional contract award covering inductions through 2022 is expected later this year. SLM consists of two production lines in St. Louis and San Antonio, Texas.

MAYPORT, Fla. — The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) team seized over 120 kilograms of suspected cocaine July 24, U.S. 4th Fleet/U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs said in an Aug. 11 release. 

While on routine patrol approximately 200 nautical miles southwest of Jamaica, a helicopter assigned to the “Wolf Pack” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 located the vessel and Pinckney soon arrived on scene. After coordination with the government of Colombia and the Colombian navy, the vessel was searched and six suspected drug smugglers were detained. The mariners are now in Colombia’s custody. 

Upon examination, Pinckney personnel determined one detainee required medical assistance, and a medical evacuation was necessary for the patient to survive. That individual was transported further medical treatment.   

Pinckney and the embarked LEDET recovered an estimated 120 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth an estimated wholesale value worth over $4.5 million. 

USS Pinckney is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations conducting U.S Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counter drug operations missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has ordered 24 Harpoon Block II+ Harpoon cruise missiles from Boeing Defense, Space & Security, the Defense Department said in an August 12 announcement. 

The Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Boeing a $15.6 million firm-fixed-price order for the 24 missiles plus 25 captive air training missiles (CATMs). 

The Harpoon Block II+ includes a new GPS guidance kit, improved weapon reliability and survivability, and a new data-link interface that enables in-flight updates and improved target selectivity. Fleet introduction of the Block II+ was achieved in 2017 on the F/A-18E/F followed by the P-8A in 2019.  

A CATM is installed on the weapon pylon of an aircraft and gives the electronic signals of a live missile without an actual launch.  

The order is expected to be completed in August 2023. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s top acquisition official said the Columbia ballistic-missile submarine is on track and ready for a fiscal 2021 official construction start. 

Speaking Aug. 12 in a teleconference with reporters, James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said the Columbia SSBN program went through a review Aug. 11 with program and shipyard teams. 

“The design maturity of Columbia is exceeding 86% right now,” Geurts said. “We’re focusing on converting that design into manufacturing plans, instructions, [and] material parts. Advance construction is continuing on all of the super-modules.”  

The Navy announced on June 22 a contract modification with Electric Boat that featured an option — that already has been fully priced by the Navy — that would start construction of the first Columbia, SSBN 826, in October (the first quarter of fiscal 2021) and fund advance procurement, advance construction and 2024 construction start of the second Columbia sub, SSBN 827.  

Geurts said at the time that the work of the Navy to price out the two SSBN contract options will help the service keep on schedule and achieve economies on materials and advance procurement for the Columbia class.   

“We’ve got the Build 1 contract in place,” he said in the latest teleconference. “We’re ready to exercise that upon appropriation and authorization in fiscal year 2021. … We’re continuing to ensure that Columbia stays on track as our highest priority program.” 

He said that the COVID-19 pandemic “has not impacted Columbia in terms of readiness to proceed.”

MAYPORT, Fla. — The U.S. Navy commissioned the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS St. Louis on Aug. 8, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2 said in a release. 

Due to public health safety concerns and restrictions of large public gatherings related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Navy commissioned St. Louis at a private event. 

“Nearly 200 years after the first ship to bear the name was launched, today we commission the seventh USS St. Louis,” Navy Secretary Kenneth J. Braithwaite said. “Much like that sloop of war did in 1828, LCS-19 and her crew will protect the U.S. and our interests near and abroad.

Video from the commissioning ceremony is here on Facebook 

“Whether conducting counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean or working to enhance interoperability with partners and allies at sea, USS St. Louis will provide maneuverability, stability and lethality in today’s era of Great Power Competition.” 

Adm. Craig Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said littoral combat ships, like the St. Louis, have played an important role supporting operations in his command’s geographic area of focus. 

“The littoral combat ship has proven to be an effective and adaptable platform capable of multiple missions in our area of responsibility,” Faller said. “It has become an end-game enabler for U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement authorities who disrupt transnational criminal organizations and the smuggling of deadly narcotics. Adding the LCS to our enhanced counter-narcotics operation is helping save lives.”  

Rear Adm. Brad Cooper II, commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, welcomed the ship, which brings capabilities to counter diesel submarine, mines, and fast surface craft threats. 

“St. Louis brings speed and agility to the fleet,” Cooper said. “Congratulations to St. Louis’ captain and crew for all of your hard work to reach this milestone. You join a proud surface force that controls the seas and provides the nation with naval combat power when and where needed.” 

Barbara Broadhurst Taylor, the ship’s sponsor, offered congratulations to everyone who played a role in delivering USS St. Louis to service.  

“To witness the skill and commitment of the officers and crew of USS St. Louis as they brought our magnificent ship to life has been one of the greatest honors of my life. All of us in the great city of St. Louis are proud to be part of our ship’s historic legacy and extend our appreciation and lasting friendship to the crew and their families,” Taylor said. “Your patriotism and dedication to preserving peace and freedom inspires us. May God bless our ship and all who sail her.” 

Charles Williams, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment, expressed gratitude to the ships sponsor for their commitment to the Navy. “I want to express the Navy’s deep appreciation to the Taylor family. Much of what they do is anonymous but believe me when I say they are the preeminent philanthropic family of the St. Louis community and a donor to Navy causes,” Williams said. 

St. Louis’ commanding officer, Cmdr. Kevin Hagan, reported the ship ready. 

“I’m incredibly proud of the work the crew of St. Louis put in to get this ship ready to sail. I am absolutely honored to lead this crew through all of the trials required of a brand-new ship in the fleet,” Hagan said. “Their perseverance and dedication will set the foundation for our crew and for all future crews that will call USS St. Louis their home.”  

St. Louis is the 22nd LCS to be delivered to the Navy, and the tenth of the Freedom-variant to join the fleet and is the seventh ship to bear the name. The first St. Louis, a sloop of war, was launched in 1828. It spent the majority of its service patrolling the coasts of the Americas to secure interests and trade. In addition, it served as the flagship for the West Indies Squadron working to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region.