SAN DIEGO —
Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) joined the Swedish Defense
Research Agency and the Swedish Coast Guard in Lulea, Sweden, to test how ice
effects sound in the underwater domain March 11-23.

As part of
an ongoing program with Swedish authorities, personnel from the NAVWAR Reserve
Program (NWRP) and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific)
Unmanned Maritime Vehicle (UMV) Lab teamed to support the event.

NWRP
Sailors and NIWC Pacific engineers utilized various sensors, magnetometers and
a Seabotix vLBV, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), to identify the potential
impact of ice on sound propagation and background noise underwater. 

NWRP
Sailors operated the ROV to test acoustic transceivers and collect sonar and
video imagery of the conditions beneath the ice and to provide logistic mission
support with programming magnetometers.

“Sonar
and camera data from the ROV provided insight into the structure of the ice,”
said Tom Pastore, a NIWC Pacific engineer. “Simultaneous acoustic measurement
data between various fixed points will allow researchers to characterize the
impact of ice-covered waters as compared to an open surface. This is an
important addition to the scientific body of knowledge and leads us towards
better modeling capability in under-ice regions.”

The
collective team from NAVWAR and Sweden have a second trial scheduled for first
quarter of fiscal year 2020.

NWRP
Sailors leverage their education, corporate knowledge and military experience
and apply those skills to UMV and other technology testing events to address
potential challenges with respect to complex command, control, communications,
computer and intelligence systems.

“NAVWAR
Reservists provide manpower with diverse technical and operational skill sets,
enabling the sponsor to successfully complete the mission no matter the challenges,”
said Thomas McDermott, NWRP UMV program manager.

WASHINGTON
— The U.S. Navy is leveraging the talent of an independent team of government
and outside experts to assist in advanced electromagnetic, production and
software technology aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), said Research,
Development and Acquisition Public Affairs in a July 1 release.

“We have a
full court press on the advanced weapons elevators,” said the Honorable James
Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and
acquisition. “We’ve gathered a team of experts on the carrier right now, which
will work with the shipbuilder to get Ford’s weapons elevators completed in the
most efficient timeline possible — they will also recommend new design changes
that can improve elevator activities for the rest of the Ford class.

“This team
of experts in electromagnetic systems, fabrication and production control,
software, systems integration, and electrical engineering will focus on
completing the production of the remaining elevators on CVN 78 and recommending
design changes for future ships in the class. In doing so, they will execute
corrective actions and adapt best practices to ensure the completion of the
Advanced Weapons Elevators in support of the USS Gerald R. Ford’s operations.”

Arriving
on the carrier two weeks ago, the Navy-led team has quickly formed a linked and
integrated approach between the shipbuilder, the government, Ford crew and
industry experts. The team is comprised of specialists in their respective
fields and many have had a number of successes at solving developmental
technological challenges.

AWE, as a
first-of-its-kind developmental system, has had its share of production and
technological challenges. 

The AWEs are
operated via electromagnetic, linear synchronous motors.  This new technology increases both speed and
weapons carrying capacity of the platform while reducing required manning,
maintenance and total ownership cost. Due to the concurrent nature of AWE
development and construction, the shipboard weapons elevators have been test
beds for discovering developmental issues that have delayed the scheduled
turnover to the crew.

For those
elevators working on Ford, the ship’s weapons department has been training on
them daily.

“The two
upper stage elevators have absolutely operated as designed,” said Lt. Cmdr.
Chabonnie Alexander, Ford’s ordnance handling officer. “We operate the
elevators 10 times a day, five days a week, and Ship’s Force subject matter experts
continue to get smarter and more comfortable each day with the system and its
operating capabilities. Additionally, as we become more comfortable and more
proficient with the elevators we’re also becoming better able to anticipate and
diagnose any technical issues that may arise.”

Ford
elevators will allow the ship to be able to move up to 24,000 pounds of
ordnance at 150 feet-per-minute. This is in contrast to the 10,500 pounds at up
to 100 feet-per-minute on a Nimitz-class carrier. AWE contributes to a 33%
improvement in sortie generation rate over the Nimitz-Class, which is the heart
of Ford-class warfighting capability.

In
parallel with standing up the team of Navy-led government and industry experts,
the Navy is constructing a land based test site at Naval Surface Warfare Center
Division Philadelphia, and contracted for the production, test and delivery of
system components to complete the site in 2020. The Navy and shipbuilder are
also completing a digital twin co-located at the shipyard facility in Newport
News that will be complete in fall 2019. Both systems will allow the Navy and
shipbuilder to mature the system and aid in troubleshooting.

These
shore efforts combined with the collective team of experts aboard Ford will
bring these elevators online making the Ford-class more lethal and efficient,
while also providing it with the ability to implement future advancements in
technology with relative ease.

NEWPORT NEWS,
Va. — The Apprentice School at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News
Shipbuilding division celebrated its 100-year anniversary on Monday.

The company
held a ceremony to mark the day, July 1, 1919, when the school was established.
During the event, a historical highway marker was unveiled, and tools,
textbooks, commemorative coins and other items were placed in a time capsule.
The alumni room also was dedicated in honor of Danny Hunley, an Apprentice
School graduate and retired vice president who was instrumental in getting the
new school building built in downtown Newport News in 2013.

The school is
celebrating its centennial with special events throughout the year and has
received special proclamations from the Commonwealth of Virginia and City of
Newport News.

The
Apprentice School opened at the end of World War I to recruit, train and
develop shipbuilders. Since then, Newport News has evolved over the years and
currently is undergoing a massive technological transformation. Advanced
digital shipbuilding concepts and technology in The Apprentice School
curriculum are now supporting the company’s integration of digital technology
across the shipyard.

“The
Apprentice School is one of our national treasures,” said Latitia D. McCane,
director of education at The Apprentice School. “The school not only produces
skilled craftsmen and women, but future leaders of our company. Its legacy and
tradition of excellence have sustained the school for all these years, and as
we move forward, our ability to transform ourselves to continue to meet the
needs of Newport News Shipbuilding will be paramount to our success for another
100 years.”

Over the last
100 years, The Apprentice School has produced more than 10,800 graduates who
have designed and built ships for the U.S. Navy. The school currently enrolls
850 students.

“The
Apprentice School is a national model for apprenticeship programs and a shining
example of our commitment to workforce development,” said Xavier Beale, Newport
News’ vice president of trades. “When an institution has operated for 100
years, it’s easy to fall back on what we’ve always done. That’s not how you
succeed. Our faculty and staff go to great lengths to make the apprentice
experience at Newport News Shipbuilding relevant, and I applaud them for this
outstanding accomplishment.”

The
Apprentice School accepts about 225 apprentices per year. The school offers
four- to eight-year, tuition-free apprenticeships in 19 trades and eight
optional advanced programs. Apprentices work a 40-hour week and are paid for
all work, including time spent in academic classes. Through partnerships with
Thomas Nelson Community College, Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion
University, The Apprentice School’s academic program provides the opportunity
to earn associate degrees in business administration, engineering and
engineering technology and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical or electrical
engineering.

MAYPORT, Fla. — Chile will host maritime forces from 12 countries to participate in exercise Unitas LX (60) Pacific from June 24-July 3, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command-U.S. 4th Fleet said in a July 1 release.

Joining
the U.S. and Chile this year are 11 countries including Brazil, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.

This
year’s exercise will include 10 warships that will conduct maritime maneuvering
operations in the Pacific Ocean through July 2.

U.S. forces participating in Unitas this year are USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, Patrol Squadron (VP) 4, Destroyer Squadron 40 and U.S. 4th Fleet. While participating in the exercise, U.S. forces will be under the operational control of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, Rear Adm. Donald Gabrielson.

Unitas, Latin for ‘unity,’ is the world’s longest running multinational maritime exercise. Conceived in 1959 and first executed in 1960, Unitas is a demonstration of U.S. commitment to the region and the strong relationships forged between partner nations and their militaries. In addition to the Pacific phase of Unitas LX, there will be Atlantic and amphibious phases hosted by Brazil in August.

Unitas will focus on strengthening existing regional partnerships and encouraging the establishment of new relationships through the exchange of maritime mission-focused knowledge and expertise during the exercise. The exercise develops and tests participating navies’ capabilities to respond to a wide variety of maritime missions as a unified force.

U.S. Naval
Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet is responsible for U.S. Naval forces in
the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, including the Caribbean,
Central and South America.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has deployed a littoral combat
ship to the Western Pacific for the first time in 18 months, the first of three
LCSs the service plans to deploy this year.

The first LCS deployment this year apparently was kept
quiet by the Navy until the service published a July 1 web article by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Greg
Johnson of commander, Logistics Force, Western Pacific/CTF 73 Public Affairs,
of the Independence-class USS Montgomery (LCS 8) making a port call in Davao,
Philippines, on June 29.

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.

The commander of Naval Surface Forces told reporters in a
Jan. 11 teleconference that LCS deployments would resume in 2019, saying that
the Independence-class LCSs USS Montgomery and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) would
deploy from the West Coast and that the first LCS deployments from the East
Coast, departing from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, would be undertaken by
the Freedom-variant LCS USS Detroit (LCS 7), followed by sister ship USS Little
Rock (LCS 9) in 2020.

For all of these deployments, the ships will carry the
full surface warfare mission package, Brown said.

“It’s happening,” Brown said during the teleconference,
noting that from then on “there will always be LCS forward-deployed.”

ARLINGTON,
Va., and MOBILE, Ala.— The U.S. Navy christened its newest Independence-variant
littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Oakland (LCS 24), during a June 29
ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, the ship’s builder, Austal USA, said in a release
of the same date.

U.S. Rep. Ken
Calvert of California delivered the christening ceremony’s principal address.
Kate Brandt, Google’s sustainability officer, served as the ship’s sponsor.

“The
christening of the future USS Oakland marks an important step toward this great
ship’s entry into the fleet,” said Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer in a
June 26 Navy Office of Information release. “The dedication and skilled
work of our industry partners ensure this ship will represent the great city of
Oakland and serve our Navy and Marine Corps team for decades to come.”

“I’m proud to
represent Austal’s amazing workforce today as we commemorate a significant
milestone in the life of this amazing warship,” said Austal USA President Craig
Perciavalle. “Our talented shipbuilding team is proud to provide our Navy with
an extraordinarily capable vessel that will honor the great city of Oakland as
she becomes an integral part of the U.S. naval fleet protecting our nation.”

The ship’s
sponsor, Kate Brandt, a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award,
the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, headlined the group of
officials, naval guests, civic leaders, community members and Austal USA
employees who attended the ceremony beneath the hull of the ship in Austal
USA’s final assembly bay.  

“We are
honored to host Ms. Brandt as the ship’s sponsor,” continued Perciavalle. “Her
time spent serving our country through her work for the government,
specifically the Navy, and her dedication to green initiatives protecting the
environment make her a clear choice as the sponsor of Oakland.”

As Google’s
sustainability officer, Brandt leads sustainability across Google’s worldwide
operations, products and supply chain. Previously Brandt served as the nation’s
first chief sustainability officer, where she was responsible for promoting
sustainability across federal government operations including 360,000
buildings, 650,000 vehicles, and $445 billion annually in purchased goods and
services. Brandt’s prior government service also includes senior adviser at the
Department of Energy, director for Energy and Environment in the White House
Office of Presidential Personnel, and energy adviser to the Secretary of the
Navy.

A Gates
Cambridge Scholar who graduated with honors from Brown University, Brandt
currently serves on the boards of The Institute at Brown for Environment and
Society, The Roosevelt Institute, Planet Forward, and the Stanford
International Affairs Network.

The future
USS Oakland is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation
in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed
to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet
diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be homeported in San
Diego.

The LCS class
consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant,
designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by
Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The
Independence variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama (for LCS 6
and subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The future
USS Oakland is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the city in California. The
first Oakland (2847) was commissioned in 1918 and used for cargo transport. The
second, CL 95, was commissioned in 1942, and during seven years of service, it
played a key role in many antiaircraft missions across the Asia-Pacific theater
of operations.

Oakland is
the 12th of 19 Independence-variant littoral combat ships Austal USA has under
contract with the U.S. Navy. 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 10 EPF, with a
total of 14 under contract.

Despite the current heavy focus on great power competition,
the Navy must retain and build its ability to engage in irregular maritime
conflict, which historically has always been a fundamental part of maintaining
maritime security, a panel of historians and naval security analysts said June
26.

Although the early Navy considered irregular actions, such
as raids on coastal cities and enemy commerce and antipiracy missions, as a
part of general maritime conflict, the current Navy thinks of itself as
blue-water force that must be prepared for the clash of battle fleets. But some
potential adversaries, including China and Iran, are engaging in “gray zone”
actions below the level of war and the Navy and Marine Corps must be able to
respond, the panel said at a Hudson Institute forum.

Benjamin Armstrong, a Naval Academy
professor and author of a history of 18^th and 19^th
century U.S. Navy, contrasted John Paul Jones’ raids on British ports and
merchant ships with the current Navy’s devotion to the clash of battle fleets
championed by Alfred Mahan, while Iran harasses U.S. warships with small boats
and China build artificial islands and employs its fishing fleet as an
auxiliary force to control the South China Sea.

“Today’s Navy and Marine
Corps are wrestling with how to balance great power conflict with gray zone
acts … the kind of maritime competition below the level of war,” Armstrong said.

Martin Murphy, a fellow at
the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies and author of a book on piracy
and maritime terrorism in the modern world, and Joshua Tallis, from the Center
for Naval Analysis and author of a similar history of irregular maritime
conflict, also said the current Navy’s strategy and self image does not account
for the broader dimension of maritime security and the challenges from
non-state actors.

Murphy said, “I do not believe
the United States is prepared” for the broader dimensions of maritime security,
because the importance of sea power has “lost all traction in U.S. foreign policy.”

Peter Haynes, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and a former deputy with the Special Operations Command, said the Navy’s problem is that it “has defined the [maritime] competition very narrowly in the context of global conflict,” which reflects the Navy’s self-identity of “we only do blue-water operations.”

Linda Robinson, the senior
international/defense researcher at the RAND Corp., said that while the new
National Defense Strategy cited the return of great power competition, it also
said “irregular warfare was part of what the U.S. needs to be about,” because
small-state and non-state actors can employ a “broad range of powers.”

In response to a question,
several of the panelists said the Navy should be buying more smaller ships to
deal with the challenges from adversaries other than China and Russia,
including Iran’s threat of swarming attacks of small fast craft. “When
we see the Navy buying small ships, we’ll know the Navy has got it,” Murphy
said.

WASHINGTON —
Alaska’s junior senator, a member of the Armed Services Committee, is critical
of the Pentagon’s lack of support for a strategic Arctic port but is pleased
that the nation has a Secretary of the Navy who understands the need for the
Navy to have the infrastructure to sustain a presence in the Arctic region.

“The good
news is having a Secretary of the Navy who gets it and is an advocate,” said
Sen. Dan Sullivan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management
Support on the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaking June 26 on Arctic
defense issues to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, a Washington think tank, noting that Congress, not the Defense
Department, is usually driving the efforts to strengthen U.S. strategic presence
in the Arctic.

Sullivan,
also a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, said he was concerned about Russian
hegemony in the Arctic, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that
the Arctic is “the new Suez Canal that Russia will control,” and that Russia is
devoting four of six new brigade combat teams to the Arctic region.  

He noted that
Russia fields 40 icebreakers and is building 13 more, while the Coast Guard has
only one heavy icebreaker. He is pleased that the Congress has authorized six
icebreakers, including three polar security cutters (PSCs), and has funded the
first PSC and made a down payment of a second.

Sullivan said
the Navy will be sending one or two guided-missile destroyers along with Coast
Guard assets to the Arctic this summer and in September will be conducting
exercises from the former naval air station on Adak, an Aleutian island, as
well as operating P-8 maritime patrol aircraft from Adak for part of the year.

The Arm Corps
of Engineers is studying the challenges of building a strategic port at Nome,
Alaska, he said. 

He pointed
out that the Navy currently does not have the capability to conduct freedom of
navigation operations in the Arctic, noting that submarines, being covert under
the ice, do not count as a ‘presence.’ 

Sullivan also
said the Navy needs to consider ice-hardening some future ships.  

“I’m very
supportive of a 355-ship Navy, but we need to look at the Navy and we’ve had
this in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] for the Secretary of the
Navy to look, the ice-hardening capabilities of some of that new fleet that
we’re building, so we have a lot of work to do and we’re way behind with regard
to capabilities, particularly on the Navy side, the strategic Arctic port side,”
he said.

WASHINGTON – Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) released the Naval Power and Energy Systems Technology Development Roadmap, providing an evolutionary strategy to meet future weapon and sensor systems power requirements, June 26, the command said in a release of the same date.

Developed
by the Electric Ships Office within Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, the
roadmap aligns electric power and energy system development with increasing
warfighter power needs, enabling the U.S. Navy to expand maritime superiority
over our adversaries. 

“The U.S.
Navy faces increasingly sophisticated threats,” said Vice Adm. Tom Moore,
commander, NAVSEA. “Our mandate is to maintain sea control by delivering a
decisive advantage to the warfighter. We do that by ensuring our platforms have
enough space, weight and power margin to adapt to future threats.”

As
existing U.S. Navy power and energy systems represent a century of combined
private and public partnership, the roadmap establishes priorities to guide
future research and development investments across the government, industry and
academic enterprises; leveraging the best in science and engineering; and
allowing the Navy to more efficiently field future capabilities.  

“Now is
the time to invest in future naval power systems and capabilities to influence
technology developments for tomorrow’s fleet,” said Stephen Markle, director,
Electric Ships Office. “As new technologies evolve, it’s imperative we lead the
innovation of power and energy architecture necessary for tomorrow’s sensors
and weapons and deliver the Chief of Naval Operations’ mandate of as much power
as we can afford to the warfighter.”

Power and
energy systems offer the potential to provide revolutionary warfighting
capability at an affordable cost. The Electric Ships Office’s efforts have
helped conceptualize and field the power generation, electrical distribution
and propulsion machinery on the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers; and power
generation and conversion systems on the DDG 51 Flight III. Future efforts
include development of the Energy Magazine to enable pulsed high-power weapons
and sensor systems for both back fit and forward fit applications, and
evolution of Integrated Power Systems found on DDG 1000 and Royal Navy Type 45-
and Queen Elizabeth-class ships by integrating energy storage and advanced
controls as the Integrated Power and Energy System.

WASHINGTON —
Sailors aboard Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82), in
partnership with Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) 5.0,
Undersea Systems, successfully tested the Virtual Laboratory on Ship (VLOS), a
virtualized Undersea Warfare Combat System (AN/SQQ-89 A(V)15), during a recent
weeklong underway period, the PEO announced in a June 26 release. VLOS
represents another important step forward in the U.S. Navy’s efforts to speed
combat system element development and software upgrades. 

During the
past year, IWS 5.0 developed VLOS in close collaboration with Applied Research
Laboratory – University of Texas (ARL-UT) and Naval Undersea Warfare Center
(NUWC) Division Newport to meet the Department of the Navy’s demand to speed
the development of cutting-edge weapon systems with industry’s advancements in
software virtualization and virtual machine applications. VLOS is a virtualized
sonar sensor subset of the tactical AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system and operates
alongside the ship’s AN/SQQ-89 system via passive receipt of acoustic and
navigation data from the tactical system. For rapid installation and removal
purposes, VLOS is packaged and installed as a roll-on/roll-off temporary change
to the ship it is installed aboard and incorporates the Naval Sea Systems
Command flexible technology demonstration processes.

The VLOS was
installed on board USS Lassen alongside the existing AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 tactical
system to evaluate new advanced sensor capabilities in an operationally
relevant environment against live submarine targets and weapons. During the
weeklong underway period, PEO IWS 5.0, ARL-UT and NUWC engineers demonstrated
the ability to transmit a software fix from a shore site to a ship at sea using
VLOS.  The successful transmission of
software supports the Navy’s initiatives to speed the delivery of new software
capabilities to combat systems at sea via the existing networks ships use to
send and receive data. 

Additionally,
VLOS operated the latest Advanced Capability Build (ACB) software, ACB 15,
while the ship’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system operated its older certified software
build, ACB 9. The ship’s Sailors performed the undersea warfare exercise with
ACB 9 while the VLOS engineers were utilizing ACB 15, which allowed Sailors to
see what additional combat capability exists within ACB 15 while performing
high-end undersea warfare events.

“This
progression of virtualizing the SQQ-89 system represents the team’s efforts to
rapidly plan and execute demonstrations to take advantage of existing industry
technology and align it with Navy technology,” said PEO IWS 5.0 Major Program
Manager Capt. Jill Cesari. “These efforts will make a real difference in our
ability to deliver more capability faster.”

In 2018, PEO
IWS 5.0 tested VLOS on USS Nitze (DDG 94). During the Nitze trials, VLOS was
tested pier side and at sea over a two-week period. The test results
demonstrated satisfactory performance of a virtualized version of the tactical
AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 advanced capability build software, operating in a relevant
at-sea environment, and supported the decision to proceed with the most recent
underway period on USS Lassen.

The VLOS test
results will be used to evaluate advanced AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 sensor capabilities
prior to fielding, demonstrate the feasibility of transmitting large and
complex software upgrades and fixes for ships at sea, and support future
efforts to virtualize the tactical AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system. Additionally, VLOS
efforts have assisted the progression of virtualized training systems at the
Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center in San Diego, where the majority
of training occurs for shipboard officers and Sailors operating and maintaining
the AN/SQQ-89(A)V15 sonar suite.