QUANTICO, Va. — The Navy’s amphibious ships and their embarked aircraft, landing craft and Marines provide an array of power that can influence world events and reinforce U.S. interests in a region, a Navy official said, listing five roles of the forces. 

The primary purpose of an amphibious ready group (ARG) is to provide a means for a Marine Air-Ground Task Group to conduct amphibious assault, Frank DiGiovanni, deputy director of expeditionary warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, last week at the Modern Day Marine expo at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. 

DiGiovanni said the second role was presence, noting that “[t]he fact that you have a three-ship ARG with a bunch of firepower on it and 2,000 Marines” tells nations in the region that the power of the United States is present, “that there is someone else here, too.” 

Third, he said, is reassurance. 

“The people in this region need to know the United States of America is on watch, and we have combat capability within our reach,” DiGiovanni said. 

Deterrence is the fourth role, one that discourages aggression from nations intent on aggression or harassment. 

The fifth is logistics. 

DiGiovanni mentioned “not only the logistics to support the Marines ashore by the ship to shore, but once that ship is empty, and the Marines are being sustained, what should we do with those ships? Do they serve a purpose to support other logistics needs, particularly in a contested environment? It’s a hypothesis we’re thinking about it.”

ST. LOUIS — Boeing and the U.S. Navy on Sept. 19 successfully completed the first test flight of the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueler, according to a company release. 

The MQ-25 test asset, known as T1, completed the autonomous two-hour flight under the direction of Boeing test pilots operating from a ground control station at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, where the test program is based. The aircraft completed an autonomous taxi and takeoff and then flew a pre-determined route to validate the aircraft’s basic flight functions and operations with the ground control station. 

“Seeing MQ-25 in the sky is a testament to our Boeing and Navy team working the technology, systems and processes that are helping get MQ-25 to the carrier,” Boeing MQ-25 Program Director Dave Bujold said. “This aircraft and its flight test program ensures we’re delivering the MQ-25 to the carrier fleet with the safety, reliability and capability the U.S. Navy needs to conduct its vital mission.” 

The Boeing-owned test asset is a predecessor to the engineering development model (EDM) aircraft and is being used for early learning and discovery to meet the goals of the Navy’s accelerated acquisition program. Boeing will produce four EDM MQ-25 air vehicles for the Navy under an $805 million contract awarded in August 2018. 

The MQ-25 will provide the Navy with a much-needed carrier-based unmanned aerial refueling capability. It will allow for better use of the combat strike fighters currently performing the tanking role and will extend the range of the carrier air wing. 

“Today’s flight is an exciting and significant milestone for our program and the Navy,” said Capt. Chad Reed, the Navy’s unmanned carrier aviation program manager. “The flight of this test asset two years before our first MQ-25 arrives represents the first big step in a series of early learning opportunities that are helping us progress toward delivery of a game-changing capability for the carrier air wing and strike group commanders.” 

T1 received its experimental airworthiness certificate from the FAA in September, verifying that the air vehicle meets the agency’s requirements for safe flight. Testing will continue with T1 to further early learning and discovery that advances major systems and software development.

QUANTICO, Va. — Navy officials said the service is considering installing a modern Marine Corps command and control system on large-deck amphibious assault ships. 

“The Navy is looking to purchase CAC2S [Common Aviation Command and Control System] and put those on L-class ships so that they can do some of the same things we do on L-class ships the CAC2S can pull down off an F-35. It will help build situational awareness for the SWOs [surface warfare officers] on the ship,” said Col. Kurt Schiller, director, Air Combat Element/Maritime Expeditionary Warfare Division in the Capabilities Development Directorate, speaking at a panel discussion sponsored by the Amphibious Warfare Industrial Base Coalition at the Modern Day Marine expo at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.  

CAC2S, built by General Dynamics Mission Systems, provides a complete and coordinated modernization of Marine Air Command and Control System (MACCS) equipment. 

CAC2S provides the MAGTF Aviation Combat Element with the hardware, software and facilities to effectively command, control and coordinate air operations integrated with naval, joint and/or combined C2 units. 

CAC2S is made up of standardized modular and scalable tactical facilities, hardware and software to significantly increase battlefield mobility and reduce the physical size and logistical footprint of the MACCS.  

“The F-35B brings extraordinary situational awareness capability,” Frank DiGiovanni, deputy director, Expeditionary Warfare, said during the panel discussion. “The CAC2S that the colonel was talking about brings the ground common operational picture to the ship and to the rest of the Navy.”

SAN DIEGO — BAE Systems
has received $170.7 million in contracts from the U.S. Navy to perform
simultaneous maintenance and repair on two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile
destroyers in its shipyard here, according to a Sept. 18 company release.

The shipyard will tandem
dry-dock the USS Stethem (DDG-63) and USS Decatur (DDG-73) in October. The
synchronized two-ship docking will be a first for the company’s newest dry-dock
in San Diego. The contracts include options that, if exercised, would bring their
cumulative value to $185 million.

“The ability to simultaneously dock two
DDGs is a special capability that BAE Systems brings to our Navy customer and
comes at a critical time when additional throughput is necessary to meet
surface combatant demands and modernization requirements,” said David M. Thomas
Jr., vice president and general manager of BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair.

“Beyond the remarkable nature of this
tandem docking, it will be business as usual for our shipyard team and partners
given our significant experience working with the Arleigh Burke class.”

Positioned end to end, the Stethem and Decatur
will be lifted together inside BAE’s “Pride of California” dry-dock. Installed
in 2017, the dry-dock is 950 feet long, 160 feet wide and has a lifting
capacity of 55,000 tons — making it the largest floating dry-dock in San Diego.
The destroyers each displace about 9,000 tons and are expected to be refloated next
April.

The Stethem is the 13thship
of the Arleigh Burke class, which is the Navy’s largest class of surface
warfare combatants. Named for Master Chief Constructionman Robert Stethem, the
505-foot-long ship was commissioned in October 1995. BAE Systems will perform
hull, mechanical and engineering repairs aboard the ship. Once back in the
water, the Stethem’s Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA)
is expected to be completed in October 2020.

The Decatur is the 23rd ship of the Arleigh Burke class. Named for the early 19th-century Naval hero Stephen Decatur Jr., the ship was commissioned in August 1998. BAE Systems will perform much of the same upgrade work aboard the 505-foot-long Decatur as it will perform on board the Stethem.

After undocking, the Decatur’s EDSRA work is expected to continue into October 2020. BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard currently employs about 1,300 people and hundreds of temporary workers and subcontractors nearby the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.

ARLINGTON, Va. — As conflicts become compressed in time and more complex, with an increasing number of data sources and platforms feeding information to warfighters, it is a challenge to build and share a complete and accurate operational picture. 

To address this issue and align with the chief of naval operations’ concept for distributed maritime operations, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the U.S. Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program are sponsoring the development of a cloud-computing environment called Cloud-to-Edge (CTE), according to an ONR release. 

By harnessing the power of cloud computing and big-data fusion, the CTE environment will enhance the agility and responsiveness of naval warfighters. 

The CTE environment is designed for use by Sailors and Marines across land, sea and air domains. It enables secure combat system development; automated software testing and analysis; and scalable simulation. It also improves readiness, through extensive pre-mission training, feedback and assessment, and enhances operational information-gathering and decision-making. 

The goal is to enable the Navy to make software changes (without requiring additional authorities) and assess the performance of CTE environments either on single vessels or within larger carrier strike groups and against a variety of mission scenarios. The result will be certified software, deployable by the Navy on demand, for all carrier strike groups. 

ONR Executive Director E. Anne Sandel said, “This is a great example of ONR partnering with Navy SBIR to fill a technology gap, by helping companies transition and commercialize their technologies at scale.” 

“An important step in getting the CTE environment to the fleet is ONR’s work with Navy SBIR to accelerate technology development by partnering with small businesses,” SBIR Director Bob Smith added.   

The key component of the CTE environment is the Automated Test and Re-Test (ATRT) system, which delivers software-driven capabilities to the warfighter as quickly as possible. Virginia-based company Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT) developed ATRT after receiving SBIR funding to design technology that would promote rapid integration, testing and certification of new and updated software. 

Earlier this year, the Navy successfully tested ATRT as part of the AEGIS Virtual Twin project — which involved the tactical deployment of a virtualized AEGIS Weapon System as a digital twin to the existing physical one. 

The virtual twin contains all the computer code used by the existing AEGIS Weapon System. Made up of multiple computer servers, it occupies a relatively small amount of space aboard a ship, does not interfere with the ship’s combat systems and is ideal for training and software testing. 

Several AEGIS Virtual Twin systems were demonstrated on the USS Arleigh Burke, USS Ralph Johnson and USS Thomas Hudner. During the tests aboard the Thomas Hudner, the Virtual Twin executed a successful anti-air warfare engagement (operating as the tactical system) and demonstrated the capability to test and deploy a software update in less than 24 hours. 

James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, described the tests as a pathway to revolutionize the speed at which the Navy can modernize current systems and keep pace with future threats. 

“Success stories like IDT, ATRT and CTE environment demonstrate how the Navy leverages the expertise of small businesses to enable technology adoption at the pace of innovation,” Smith said. “Companies that do business with SBIR are helping to strengthen America’s naval advantage for years to come.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — When the littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Montgomery (LCS 8) visited Davao City, a port on the Philippine island of Mindanao, earlier this summer, it was the first port call there of a U.S. Navy ship in who knows how long.   

Speaking to reporters Sept. 11 in a media roundtable teleconference, Cmdr. Edward A. Rosso, commanding officer of the ship’s Blue Crew, was making the point that the LCS, with its shallow draft, allows the Navy to make port calls in locations that would not accommodate larger vessels such as destroyers, cruisers and amphibious warfare ships. 

The draft of the aluminum trimaran-hull, Independence-variant Montgomery is 15.1 feet, compared with the 30.5-foot draft of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. 

“The U.S. Navy, along with our partners and allies, has long known the importance and value of working together, and from my perspective, that is exactly what Montgomery has done during this deployment,” Rosso said. “We began our time in theater with a historic port visit to Davao City in the Philippines. It perfectly suited to receive our shallow-hull littoral combat ship. This was the first visit by a U.S. warship to that location in recent memory.” 

“It was a great opportunity to build relationships, learn from one another, improve interoperability, and appreciate culture,” he added. “Overall, port visits like this allow us to demonstrate our commitment to maritime security in the region while strengthening relationships with our friends, partners and allies.”  

The Montgomery is the first rotational deployment to the Western Pacific of an LCS in 18 months and is the first of three LCSs the Navy plans to deploy this year. 

The last LCS to deploy, USS Coronado (LCS 4), returned from the western Pacific on Dec. 5, 2017. It had been preceded by the USS Freedom (LCS 1) and its Freedom-class sister ship, USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), in 2015 and 2016, respectively. 

During the deployment, Montgomery participated in the 25th annual CARAT (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training) exercise and the ASEAN-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX). 

“Co-led by the U.S. and Royal Thai navies, AUMX consisted of pre-sail activities in Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, followed by a sea phase in international waters of Southeast Asia, including the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea,” a Navy release said. “It concluded in Singapore. Participating nations included Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States and Vietnam. AUMX included eight warships and four aircraft from seven countries, and more than one thousand personnel representing all ten ASEAN member states and the United States.”  

The Montgomery deployed with the Surface Warfare Mission Package, including an MH-60S helicopter and an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle. 

Rosso praised the value of the LCS Maintenance Support Team deployed to Singapore to support LCS deployments to the area. The team can stage to various ports in the region to rapidly respond to maintenance needs of a deployed LCS. In one such response, the team made a major repair at Sattahip, Thailand. 

He also praised his crew, of which he said, “The things on this ship wouldn’t have happened without my crew,” whom he called “100 people of excellence.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The commodore of a Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) group has praised the performance of the unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) that were used in a recent exercise in the Bering Sea off the Aleutian island chain.  

“The technology that is being incorporated in the Mk18 Mod 1 and 2 and also in our smaller next-generation UUVs [is] incredible,” said Capt. Oscar E. Rojas, commander of EOD Group One and commodore of Combined Task Force 35, speaking Sept. 11 to reporters in a media roundtable teleconference. “The resolution of the images that we are getting back from the topography of the seabed is so amazingly clear that it makes our job in IDing so much easier. That’s why when we say a lane is clear of explosive hazards, we have an almost 100% confidence factor that is a fact because of this technology that has been introduced. It is a true game-changer. 

“The future of warfighting is unmanned systems,” Rojas said. 

The Mk 18 Mod 1 Swordfish, Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish and other smaller UUVs were deployed to Adak, an island halfway along the Aleutian chain from the Alaskan mainland, for the Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise (AECE), the first exercise of its kind. Adak is the site of a former naval air station and deep-water port that were active during the Cold War.  

Rojas stressed that this exercise was the first time that the Navy EOD community had exercised its expeditionary mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities is such a high latitude. He also noted that after 18 years of becoming experts in clearing improvised explosive devices on land in Afghanistan and Iraq, the EOD expertise is being turned toward maritime mine countermeasures in an era of great power competition, although he declined to identify no specific competitor. 

The scenario of the exercise was the employment of MCM capabilities to prepare the landing zone for amphibious forces of a Marine Corps Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force. 

He said the exercise was intended to increase agility in places where EOD forces have not deployed in a very long time and to test the EOD and MCM technology in cold water. One of the goals was to see how the cold water affected the life of lithium batteries in the UUVs and tethered remotely operated vehicles. Another was to see how the UUVs performed in areas of strong rip currents and widely varying tidal changes, and the effect of 40-knot winds on UUV-deploying boats and communications systems. 

“It is important for us to operate in these conditions,” Rojas said. “The environment [in future conflict] is going to be very much like the one we’re training in now.”  

He said that the exercise was an opportunity to operate unmanned systems that were designed for “a more benign environment” and to see if the systems were “going to break or going to function as designed.”  

The commodore also noted that many of the hydrographic charts of the Aleutian are were outdated, with several shipwrecks found that were not marked on the charts. 

Rojas said he tested five different communications systems and exercised the command-and-control systems in a satellite communications-denied environment, also using High-Frequency radios for communications. 

The EOD group also exercised its scalable units of action. In this exercise, approximately 150 personnel from the EOD forces were involved. The EOD group can deploy in three C-17 transport aircraft or with just a few equipment cases on a commercial airliner. 

NORFOLK, Virginia – An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye capable of aerial refueling landed at Naval Station Norfolk Sept. 9, officially marking the arrival of this upgraded aircraft to the fleet, Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Public Affairs said in a Sept. 12 release.     

“This is an important day for naval aviation as we continue to increase our capabilities and maintain our competitive edge in the skies,” said Rear Adm. Roy Kelley, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, “This capability will extend the endurance of Hawkeyes, increasing the Navy’s battlespace awareness and integrated fire control – both from the air and the sea.” 

The aerial-refueling-capable E-2D joined the “Greyhawks” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120. 

“Aerial refueling capability is a game-changer for the E-2D community and future operations in the high-end fight,” said Cmdr. Scott Wastak, VAW-120 commanding officer. “We will now begin to train instructor pilots and refuel with several different Navy and Air Force tanker aircraft, including F/A-18s.” 

VAW-120 is only the first step in rolling out this new capability. The Navy will transition two operational fleet squadrons to aerial refueling capable E-2Ds by 2020. 

VAW-120 is a Fleet Replacement Squadron attached to Airborne Command & Control and Logistics Wing commanded by Capt. Matthew Duffy. Its mission it to train naval aviators, naval flight officers, Navy aircrewmen and qualified maintainers to safely and effectively operate E-2 and C-2 aircraft. 

SAN DIEGO —
The U.S. Navy conducted four scheduled missile test flights of unarmed Trident
II (D5) missiles from USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), an Ohio-class ballistic missile
submarine, off the coast of Southern California, U.S. Navy Strategic Systems
Programs Public Affairs said in a release.

The first
two launches took place Sept. 4, and the last two were Sept. 6. All occurred
before sunrise.

These test
flights were part of a Commander Evaluation Test (CET), whose primary goal was
to validate performance expectations of the life-extended Trident II (D5)
strategic weapon system. These launches mark 176 successful flights of the system.

CETs and
other flight tests are conducted on a recurring, scheduled basis to evaluate
and ensure the continued reliability and accuracy of the system. The missile
tests were not conducted in response to any ongoing world events.

“Our
nation’s sea-based deterrent has been a critical component of our national
security since the 1960s, and this week’s launches continue to demonstrate the
credibility and reliability of our life-extended missiles,” said Vice Adm.
Johnny R. Wolfe, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, the command
responsible for the Navy’s strategic weapons.

The
Trident II (D5) strategic weapon system, originally designed with a life span
to 2024, recently underwent a life extension that will keep it operational
through the late 2040s. The life-extended missiles will serve for the remaining
service life of U.S Ohio-class and United Kingdom Vanguard-class SSBNs, and as
the initial loadout for the U.S. Columbia-class and U.K. Dreadnought-class
SSBNs.

The life-extension
program addressed potential aging and obsolescence issues. “The life-extended
missiles are now being deployed to the fleet, but our work is not done,”
Wolfe said.

“The
nuclear deterrence mission is the Department of Defense’s No. 1 priority, and
for the U.S. Navy that means not only maintaining our current capability, but
also developing the next generation of Trident missiles and shipboard strategic
weapon system that will ensure a credible sea-based deterrent for the next 40
years and beyond,” he added.

A
credible, effective nuclear deterrent is essential to our national security and
the security of U.S. allies. Deterrence remains a cornerstone of national
security policy in the 21st century.

Strategic Systems Programs is the Navy command that provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support for the sea-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. This includes training, systems, equipment, facilities and personnel responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nation’s Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Trident II (D5) strategic weapon system. SLBMs are one leg of the nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent triad that also includes the U.S. Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear-capable bombers.

Each part of the Triad provides unique capabilities and advantages. SLBMs make up about 70 percent of the U.S.’s deployed strategic nuclear deterrent Triad. The SLBM is the most survivable, provides persistent presence and allows flexible concept of operations.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V.
Spencer announced the newest expeditionary fast transport (EPF) ship will be
named USNS Cody (T-EPF 14), the secretary’s public affairs officer said in a release.

The future USNS Cody is the first ship named
in honor of the city of Cody, Wyoming. At least 28 other U.S. Navy ships have
been named after the state of Wyoming’s cities, places and people.  

“The people of Cody are staunch supporters of
a strong Navy and Marine Corps team, and it is fitting to name a ship in honor
of this great city,” Spencer said. “I am pleased that the spirit of Cody will
live on in the future USNS Cody.”

EPFs transport personnel, equipment and supplies. They can transport 600 short tons of military cargo with a crew of 26 civilian mariners — equipped with airline-style seating for 312 embarked troops, along with a fixed wing berthing outfitted for an additional 104 personnel.

With a shallow draft under 15 feet, a flight deck for helicopter operations, and vehicle offload ramp, EPFs can support a wide range of operations — from port access to littoral operations. Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, is under contract to build the new EPF, which will be 338 feet long, have a waterline width (beam) of 93.5 feet, displace about 2,362 tons and be capable of 35-plus knots.