WASHINGTON — The secretary of the Navy said that the U.S. Air Force, not the Navy, will manage the program for the next generation of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). 

The MUOS, built by Lockheed Martin, is a communications satellite equipped with a wideband code division multiple-access payload that enables a 10-fold increase in capability over the previous UHF Follow-On satellite. 

The MUOS provides secure channels for voice and data at high speeds with streaming capability. The five-satellite system includes an in-orbit spare. Four are operational. The fifth — the spare — was launched in 2016 and turned over to Navy control in October 2017. General Dynamics has built MUOS ground stations in Hawaii, Virginia and Australia. In August 2018, the system was approved for expanded use by U.S. Strategic Command.  

The MUOS is unusual in that it is a Navy-developed and owned space satellite system. The Air Force is the primary operator of defense space satellites for the armed services. 

Spencer, speaking Oct. 23 to an audience at the Bookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, replying to a question about the Navy Department’s involvement in space, said the Navy should subscribe to space services rather than purchase more satellite systems itself. 

“My fundamental position, and I believe the CNO [chief of naval operations] and commandant [of the Marine Corps] agree with me, is we’ve moved to a thought process where I just want the service and/or the resource provided to me,” Spencer said.  

“I just signed a memorandum of agreement with the Air Force,” Spencer said. “They will take over MUOS Next Generation. If that’s your expertise, I want you on it and [the Navy Department] will just buy the service from it.”

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy’s C-40 fleet has undergone some major changes in the last few months — adding two airplanes, one squadron and completing its current planned aircraft procurements, according to a Naval Air Systems Command release. 

The Tactical Airlift Program Office (PMA-207) took delivery of the Navy’s 16th aircraft in June and 17th aircraft on Sept. 26. The Navy’s latest C-40A will be assigned to U.S. Naval Reserve Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 57. 

These last two deliveries have allowed the C-40 fleet to realign and expand its horizons. 

“The C-40 plays an important role in the Navy Unique Fleet Essential Airlift (NUFEA) fleet,” said Capt. Steve Nassau, PMA-207’s program manager. “These extremely flexible logistics support aircraft are an integral part of every type of maritime mission, from humanitarian assistance to long-range, high priority deliveries.” 

The sixth Navy C-40 squadron was established in September. VR-51, nicknamed the Windjammers and deploying from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, received two C-40 aircraft from the fleet. The squadron will be fully operational in October, following receipt of its “safe for flight” certification. 

“The … certification is an entire program overview in which the government ensures that all contractor, aircrew and government operating procedures are in place and functioning correctly,” said Darwin Lazo, PMA-207’s medium-lift deputy assistant program manager for logistics. “It is the final certification for a new squadron.” 

VR-51 will soon begin entering the VR deployment rotation. 

“There is always a C-40 deployed to U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Pacific Command to meet mission requirements,” said Donna Elliott, PMA-207’s medium-lift IPTL. 

Over the past year, the C-40 fleet logged 24,374 hours of flight time, completed 1,555 missions, transported 95,746 passengers and 20 million tons of cargo. In doing so, the aircraft has maintained a 90% readiness rate and has played a vital role in providing military transport not available with contract or commercial carriers. The C-40, a commercial derivative of the Boeing 737-700C, is the mainstay of the Navy’s medium-lift capability.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will christen the Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Miguel Keith during a 10 a.m. PDT ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, according to the Defense Department. 

The ship is named in honor of Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith and is the first ship to bear the name. 

Retired Marine Gen. Walter E. Boomer, the 24th assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Keith’s mother, Eliadora Delores Keith, who serves as the ship’s sponsor, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to formally christen the ship. 

“USNS Miguel Keith honors the dedicated and heroic service of a fellow Marine,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said. “This dedication will live on in the ship and her crew as they deploy around the world bringing additional capability to our fleet. This christening cannot be achieved without the dedication demonstrated by the men and women who worked tirelessly to build this ship.” 

Keith was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1951. He left North High School in Omaha, Nebraska, in December 1968 and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Omaha on Jan. 21, 1969. He was discharged and enlisted in the regular Marine Corps on May 1, 1969. 

In 1969, Keith served as a machine gunner with Combined Action Platoon 132, III Marine Amphibious Force in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. He was promoted to the rank of lance corporal on April 1, 1970. 

He was severely wounded on the morning of May 8, 1970, when his platoon came under a heavy-ground attack. Despite being injured in the attack and open to hostile fire, he continued to engage the enemy with heavy machine gun fire. 

Keith’s efforts resulted in him killing three attackers and dispersing two remaining adversaries. Despite receiving further serious injuries caused by an enemy grenade, he continued to advance upon an estimated 25 enemy soldiers, killing four and dispersing the rest. 

Keith was mortally wounded, but his performance in the face of overwhelming odds contributed, in no small measure, to the success of his platoon defeating a numerically superior enemy force. 

ESB class ships are flexible, modular platform optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions, including special operations forces and airborne mine countermeasures support operations, in addition to humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions. 

Built by General Dynamics NASSCO, the Montford Point-class is comprised of five ships across two variants: expeditionary transfer dock and expeditionary sea base. USNS Montford Point, USNS John Glenn, USS Lewis B. Puller and USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams have been delivered to the fleet. Miguel Keith is the third platform of the ESB variant and is scheduled to deliver later this year. 

The platform has an aviation hangar and flight deck that include four operating spots capable of landing MV-22 and MH-53E equivalent helicopters and accommodations, workspaces and ordnance storage for an embarked force. The platform will also provide enhanced command and control, communications, computers and intelligence capabilities to support embarked force mission planning and execution. The reconfigurable mission deck area can store embarked force equipment including mine sleds and rigid hull inflatable boats.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 134, in honor of U.S. Navy Hospitalman John E. Kilmer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War, the secretary’s Public Affairs office said in an Oct. 16 release 

“Hospitalman Kilmer was a hero whose efforts during the Korean War continue to inspire,” Spencer said. “His dedication to his teammates represents everything good about our integrated Naval force.” 

A medical field technician with the Fleet Marine Force, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on June 18, 1953. He was killed Aug. 13, 1952, as a result of enemy action while caring for the wounded during the attack on Bunker Hill. He shielded another man from enemy fire with his body and was mortally wounded. 

From Kilmer’s Medal of Honor citation, “With his company engaged in defending a vitally important hill position well forward of the main line of resistance during an assault by large concentrations of hostile troops, Kilmer repeatedly braved intense enemy mortar, artillery and sniper fire to move from one position to another, administering aide to the wounded and expediting their evacuation.” 

Kilmer was born in Highland Park, Illinois, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947 as an Apprentice Seaman in Houston. Kilmer was serving with a Marine rifle company in the First Marine Division at the time of his death. He had previously served aboard USS Repose (AH 16) and at multiple locations in California. 

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The future USS John E. Kilmer (DDG 134) will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. 

USS John E. Kilmer will be constructed at Bath Iron Works, a division of General Dynamics in Bath, Maine. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and be capable of operating in excess of 30 knots. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s last active-duty patrol squadron to operate the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft has returned from deployment and soon will begin transition to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon.  

Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40) completed its return to Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Washington, on Oct. 10 from its deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet and U.S. 5th Fleet areas of operations. 

VP-40 is the last of the existing 12 VP fleet squadrons to operate the P-3C. It will join those squadrons in flying the P-8A as it begins its transition with the fleet replacement squadron, VP-30 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. 

VP-40 had the distinction of retiring the Navy’s last flying boats, the SP-5B Marlins, in 1967 following a deployment to the Philippines and South Vietnam. 

Although it is no longer in the regular fleet deployment cycles, the P-3 will continue for several more years to be operated by several units, including two reserve VP squadrons, VP-62 and VP-69, as well as VP-30, Special Projects Patrol Squadron Two, Scientific Development Squadron One, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30. 

The EP-3E electronic reconnaissance version will continue to deploy from NAS Whidbey Island with detachments of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One until the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle is deployed in sufficient numbers with signals intelligence capability.       

SAN DIEGO — The Navy’s next-generation narrowband satellite communications system completed a critical test and evaluation phase and was assessed as operationally effective, operational suitable and cyber survivable, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command Public Affairs said in an Oct. 16 release. The successful completion of this testing demonstrates the system’s full operational capability and its readiness for forces to transition it into unrestricted operations. 

Known as the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), it is a Navy-led effort that provides essential narrowband satellite communications for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other U.S. government organizations. The recent required completion of Multiservice Operational Test and Evaluation to evaluate measures of effectiveness, suitability and performance in an operationally representative environment means it is now ready for full operational use. Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, the Navy’s operational test agency, led the multi-month effort that included participants from the Army and Marine Corps.  

“This is the last critical milestone before turning MUOS over for full operations, and I am very proud of the entire team that contributed to this outstanding achievement.” 

Capt. Chris DeSena, program manager, Navy Communications Satellite Program Office

“Sailors and Marines can already use MUOS in situations like humanitarian response, disaster assistance and training,” said John Pope, who leads the Navy’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Space Systems (PEO C4I and Space Systems). “Now, these same advanced communications capabilities will be available in the tactical warfare environment. The advantages MUOS provides will help the warfighter compete, deter and win on the battlefield.” 

The MUOS program falls into the program portfolio of the Navy Communications Satellite Program Office at PEO C4I and Space Systems.  

Each of the five satellites in the MUOS constellation carries two payloads. The legacy communications payload was designed to maintain DoD legacy narrowband communications during the transition to the advanced MUOS Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) capability. The MUOS WCDMA payload interfaces with the MUOS ground system through the MUOS WCDMA waveform that is integrated into end-user radios, adapting commercial cellular technology. This capability allows warfighters to communicate beyond line of sight more securely and reliably than ever before, with 10 times the capacity and significantly improved quality of service compared to the legacy narrowband constellation.  

While the legacy capability continues to support unrestricted operations, the WCDMA capability will dramatically increase effectiveness, information security and global reach for missions across the spectrum of operations.  

The WCDMA payloads were approved by U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) for Early Combatant Command Use in July 2016, paving the way for testing, training, exercises and concept of operations development across the services. In July 2018, USSTRATCOM expanded WCDMA use to include all noncombat operations. 

MUOS provides global connectivity to terminals, platforms, tactical operators and operations centers to support global voice and data communications requirements. Operators today with MUOS WCDMA radios are able to transmit simultaneous voice, video and mission data on an Internet Protocol-based system that connects to military networks. 

“This is the last critical milestone before turning MUOS over for full operations, and I am very proud of the entire team that contributed to this outstanding achievement,” said Capt. Chris DeSena, program manager, Navy Communications Satellite Program Office. “The capability MUOS brings to the warfighter is revolutionary in terms of narrowband communications, and I look forward to seeing the potential of MUOS fully realized.” 

SAN DIEGO — The Navy’s newest Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB), Miguel Keith (ESB 5) successfully completed acceptance trials on Oct. 11, the Naval Sea Systems Command said in an Oct. 15 release. 

The trials were conducted off the coast of Southern California after departure from the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (GD-NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego. During the week of trials, the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey conducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate and evaluate the performance of all the ship’s major systems. 

“Our ESBs are bringing tremendous operational capability to our combatant commanders,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic Sealift and Theater Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “These ships are supporting a wide variety of mission sets in the 5th and 6th Fleet and more recently have demonstrated their ability to integrate mine countermeasure mission packages. These sea trials demonstrated the high quality of this ship and its readiness to join the fight.” 

ESBs are highly flexible, modular platforms that are optimized to support a variety of maritime based missions including Special Operations Force and Airborne Mine Countermeasures support operations in addition to humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions, according to the Navy.  

“Our ESBs are bringing tremendous operational capability to our combatant commanders.”

Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic Sealift and Theater Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office Ships

ESBs include a four-spot flight deck and hangar and a versatile mission deck and are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets. ESBs will operate as the component commander requires providing the U.S. Navy fleet with a critical access infrastructure that supports the flexible deployment of forces and supplies.  

Miguel Keith is the third platform of the ESB variant and is scheduled to deliver in early fiscal 2020. GD-NASSCO is also under contract for detail design and construction of ESB 6 and 7, with an option for ESB 8.    

MARINETTE, Wis. — Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine marked the start of construction on littoral combat ship (LCS) 27, the future USS Nantucket, with a ceremony here Oct. 9, according to a Lockheed Martin statement. 

As part of a ship-building tradition dating back centuries, a shipyard worker welded the initials of Polly Spencer, USS Nantucket’s ship sponsor and wife of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, into the ship’s keel plate. This plate will be affixed to the ship and travel with Nantucket throughout its commissioned life. 

“The USS Nantucket will confront many complex challenges,” Spencer said. “It will confront humanitarian relief all the way to ‘great power competition,’ drawing on the strength of every weld, every rivet applied by the great people here.”  

The focused-mission LCS is designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions today and is easily adapted to serve future and evolving missions tomorrow. 

About 40% of the hull of a Freedom variant LCS is reconfigurable, able to integrate Longbow Hellfire Missiles, 30 mm guns and manned and unmanned vehicles. LCS is equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220 rounds per minute. An LCS also is capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots.  

“LCS can serve a multitude of missions to include surface, anti-submarine and mine countermeasure missions by quickly integrating mission equipment and deploying manned and unmanned aerial, surface or sub-surface vehicles,” said Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of small combatants and ship systems for Lockheed Martin. 

LCS 27 is the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after Nantucket, Massachusetts, in more than 150 years. Nantucket has a deep connection to sailing and maritime traditions, serving as a whaling hub in the 1800s and as the home of generations of American Sailors since the town’s beginning. The previous USS Nantucket, the first to be named after the island, was commissioned in 1862 to serve during the Civil War. 

“I have been given a very special honor in being the sponsor of the future USS Nantucket. I am happy she is being built here in Marinette, Wisconsin, which has an impressive history of shipbuilding,” said Polly Spencer, LCS 27 sponsor. “Thank you to all the talented people who are bringing this ship to life. … It is going to be an amazing journey that I am thrilled to be on.” 

LCS 27 will be the 14th Freedom-variant LCS and will join a class of more than 30 ships. It is one of six ships in various stages of construction and test at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard. 

“We are very excited to begin construction of the future USS Nantucket,” said Jan Allman, chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marinette Marine. “Our men and women are proud to put their efforts into giving the Navy versatile ships to keep our country and its interests safe.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s program for its next-generation ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN), the Columbia class, is on track to start construction on time, but the program has a tight schedule with little margin for delay, the program manager said. 

“Our biggest risk today is the supplier base,” said Capt. Jon Rucker, program manager for the Columbia SSBN, speaking Oct. 8 at the eighth annual TRIAD Conference in the Washington, D.C., area.  

Rucker pointed out that when construction of the current Ohio class began, a supplier base of 17,000 companies contributed to the materiel and systems for the boat. Today, the Columbia program is pressing forward with only 3,000 suppliers. 

The supply of skilled shipyard workers also is a concern to Rucker. He noted that General Dynamics Electric Boat, the prime contractor for the Columbia, is increasing its workforce to 20,000 from 17,000 workers. But the hiring is drawing skilled workers from naval shipyards that routinely maintain subs and carriers. 

Rucker said that robots have been used in building the Common Missile Compartment for the Columbia class and the U.K. Royal Navy’s Dreadnought-class SSBN. Robots used in welding the missile tubes to the bottom of the hull section took 44 minutes and 8 seconds, compared with 4 days for a human worker. 

Electric Boat has invested $1.8 billion in facilities to build the Columbia class and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division is spending $800 million to $900 million to support the construction, Rucker said.  

About 10 percent of the construction of the lead boat, Columbia, already has begun but its formal start is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2020. The first Columbia SSBN needs to be on patrol by the beginning of fiscal 2031, on Oct. 1, 2030. The program goal is to build each of the following boats of the class in 84 months.  

“We will deliver at least 12 Columbia-class SSBNs by 2042,” Rucker said, with emphasis on “at least.” 

The Navy operates 14 Ohio-class missile submarines, which are scheduled for an extended service life of 42.5 years. The last Ohio-class boat built, USS Louisiana, recently entered its final refueling period to extend its life. The Ohio class is scheduled to begin retirement in 2027. 

“We can’t extend them anymore,” Rucker said. 

Rucker noted that the Columbia program has a high design maturity, with a design that will be 83% at construction start. By contrast, the Ohio design was only 2% complete at construction start.  

“We make sure we keep stable requirements,” he said. 

“We own this platform cradle to grave,” Rucker said, noting that the program office will be responsible for sustainment in addition to construction. 

NORFOLK, Va. — After a quarter-century of worldwide operations, the guided missile cruiser USS Hué City was inducted into the cruiser modernization program on Sept. 30 at Norfolk Naval Base, entering a period of major overhaul, according to a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) release. 

The program shifts administrative control from Commander, Naval Surface  Forces Atlantic, to the Commander, NAVSEA, allowing the ships to undergo modernization to extend their service lives and air-defense commander capabilities. 

The modernization program paces the threat through the installation of the latest technological advances in combat systems and engineering, ensuring these ships remain relevant and viable throughout their entire service lives of 40 operational years. Hué City will undergo extensive structural, mechanical and combat systems upgrades and return to the fleet at peak technical readiness, fully equipped for the Sailors who will take her into harm’s way. 

“The induction of Hué City is a major milestone for the CG Mod program,” said Capt. Kevin Byrne, program manager for surface ship modernization. “Her upcoming overhaul will not only extend the life of this critical capability, but will help the Navy on its mission to grow the fleet and expand our warfighting advantage.”  

Once a ship is inducted into the modernization program, two smaller maintenance availabilities are performed to remove equipment for replacement and to conduct structural repairs. These availabilities lay the foundation for the ship to receive new and upgraded systems during a longer dry-docking.    

“This was a tremendous effort between ship’s force, maintenance team and other stakeholders,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ethan Reber, Hué City’s commanding officer. “From the beginning, lessons learned from ships inducted earlier in the process —  Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Anzio — were incorporated effectively into our planning. Our crew is ready to get started and work alongside the maintenance teams to deliver on her next milestone.” 

Six of 11 cruisers have been inducted into the modernization program and are  in various stages of returning to the fleet with modernized capability. USS Hué City is the seventh cruiser to be inducted and will be equipped with the latest technological advances in combat systems and engineering to ensure she remains warfighting relevant through the 2030s.