ARLINGTON, Va. — The Coast Guard commandant has announced the creation of a cyber mission specialist rating and corresponding chief warrant officer specialty to increase the focus and professionalism of the service’s cyber capabilities. 

Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz made the announcement during his Feb. 24 annual “State of the Coast Guard Address” before an audience at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Florida.  

In a Feb. 25 message to the Coast Guard, Shultz further amplified the announcement, saying, “Cyberspace is an operational domain continuously evolving while growing in importance and complexity. Operations in cyberspace require a professional and skilled workforce [military and civilian]. Competition to recruit, retain, and grow cyber talent is constant. A dedicated CMS enlisted rating with accessions beginning at the E-5 paygrade, as is done with the diver rating and an accompanying CYBR [cyber] specialty, will best provide a trained, proficient, and professional workforce to enable and conduct cyberspace operations. 

“Members of the CMS rating and CYBR specialty will have the opportunity to serve in a broad range of missions,” he said. “The Coast Guard’s cyber program plays a critical role operating a secure cyberspace for the Service, protecting the Marine Transportation System against malicious actors seeking to identify new ways to exploit cyberspace, and countering adversaries’ intent on disrupting Coast Guard operations or negatively impacting national interests. Members of the CMS rating and CYBR specialty will continue to serve in critical positions within [Coast Guard] Cyber Command, U.S. Cyber Command, DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency areas, districts and sectors and elsewhere as required. 
 
 

HAIFA, Israel — The Israel Missile Defense Organization, Israeli Defense Forces and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have completed a successful series of live-fire tests of the C-Dome, an advanced naval configuration of the Iron Dome defense system, Rafael said Feb. 25.

The C-Dome was operated for the first time aboard the Israeli Naval Ship Magen, a Sa’ar 6 corvette, against multiple advanced threats. Crew members of the INS Magen led the C-Dome tests. 

“I commend the DDR&D [Directorate for Defense R&D, parent of the missile defense organization], IDF and Rafael for the completion of an unprecedented test,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “The systems that we are developing as part of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array enable us to operate against Iranian proxies in the region and defend against their weapon systems, which are constantly being upgraded. We continue to be two steps ahead of them and we will continue developing and upgrading our capabilities in order to maintain security superiority in the region and to defend the citizens and assets of the state of Israel.” 

The test campaign consisted of a number of scenarios simulating advanced threats, including rockets, cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft. The C-Dome is capable of successfully intercepting such threats. 

This successful live-fire test is an important milestone and demonstrates the operational capability of the Israeli navy to defend the strategic assets and vital interests of Israel against current and evolving threats. 

The C-Dome onboard missile defense system is based on the Iron Dome defense system developed by Rafael, with the command-and-control system developed by mPrest. C-Dome interfaces with the Sa’ar 6’s Adir radar, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta division. It joins other advanced systems that make up Israel’s multi-tier missile defense array, including the Arrow and David’s Sling systems. Development of C-Dome was led by the Israel Missile Defense Organization. 

“The success of this test constitutes a significant technological breakthrough in the field of missile defense and is the result of the directorate’s vision and cooperation with the IDF and Israeli defense industries,” said Brig. Gen. (Res.) Danny Gold, head of the Directorate for Defense R&D in the ministry of defense. 

“Today we mark another historic milestone for the Iron Dome defense system — the completion of a series of successful offshore tests of the missile defense system onboard a naval vessel,” said Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. “The advanced detection system accurately identified various threats including rocket fire, cruise missiles and UAVs. The system successfully intercepted the threats with surgical precision. The success of today’s tests further strengthens our confidence in our missile defense systems as well as the ability of the Israeli navy to defend the maritime assets of the state of Israel.” 

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA celebrated the keel laying of the future littoral combat ship USS Kingsville (LCS 36) at its ship manufacturing facility on Feb. 23, the company said in a release.   

Kingsville will be an Independence-variant LCS, one of 18 the Navy has contracted Austal to build. The ship is the first U.S. Navy ship named for the city of Kingsville in Texas. 

A keel laying ceremony is the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction.  At Austal USA, the keel laying symbolically recognizes module erection in final assembly and the ceremonial beginning of a ship. 

The ship’s sponsor is Katherine Kline, a member of the sixth generation of the King Ranch family, decendents of Capt. Richard King who founded the King Ranch located in Kingsville, Texas, in 1853. Naval Air Station Kingsville, located three miles from Kingsville, was founded in 1942 and continues a special relationship with the King Ranch. 

As the keel authenticator, Kline welded her initials onto an aluminum keel plate with the assistance of Austal USA A-class welder, Joseph Bennett Jr. 

DAHLGREN, Va. — The U.S. Navy has been researching and perfecting directed energy weapons to include railguns, high-powered microwaves and lasers, along with hypervelocity projectiles — to make futuristic weapons a reality on ships today.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dahlgren, Virginia, has been leading the way in creating capabilities to give warfighters a high-tech advantage at sea, to include directed energy weapons.

“We take great pride in being a hands-on research, development, test and evaluation institution, where we possess and practice the organic technical knowledge for the Department of the Navy with respect to surface warfare,” said Dale Sisson, NSWC Dahlgren Division’s technical director. “That ends up being a fairly broad ranging mission, for sure. Having the opportunity to design, develop, test and integrate warfighting systems through the confluence of a physical range infrastructure, and a digital architecture such as our digital proving ground, is fundamentally who we are.

“We’re also in the threat engineering business, which means we understand those threats well, and that knowledge translates back into understanding how to develop the weapons to counter that on a defensive standpoint, as well as create the offensive advantage that puts us ahead of the game,” said Sisson.

While the Navy’s railgun efforts are currently on hold, laser systems are installed or in the process of being integrated into ship combat systems today. In fact, much of Dahlgren’s work on railguns is being leveraged today for new capabilities such as hypervelocity projectiles. 

Today, lasers are a reality in the fleet. A prototype Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy, or ODIN system, designed and built by Dahlgren, is being evaluated aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Dewey (DDG 105), and other Burke-class ships. The Lockheed Martin High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance system is being tested aboard another Burke-class ship, USS Preble (DDG 88). The Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) program is developing an integrated Laser Weapons System Demonstrator, built by Northrop Grumman, which is installed and being tested aboard landing ship dock USS Portland (LPD 21). 

All of them can thank Dahlgren for vital concept development, design and testing. Dahlgren’s Laser Lethality Laboratory and Laser Firing Range have provided knowledge, expertise and experience to mature the technologies and integrate the capabilities into the combat systems on the Navy’s warships.

“Our laser firing range allows us to fire across Upper Machodoc Creek so we can examine how the maritime boundary layer between the water and the atmosphere affects laser performance. We have a two-story building within our explosive experimental area we use as a backstop for laser beams,” Sisson said. “We can shoot up to about four kilometers, depending on where we position lasers on the range from the backstop.” 

Dr. Chris Lloyd, distinguished scientist for laser weapon system lethality, leads the Navy’s laser lethality efforts.

“NSWCDD has extensive experience in integration of Navy laser weapon systems, from subcomponents up to full systems. The Navy laser lethality team supports development, assessment and deployment of laser weapons and conducts rigorous testing, modeling and simulation to drive requirements for advanced laser weapon system development for the Navy. Lethality is more than simply damaging materials, but understanding how threats are going to respond. We have to understand threat response, based on the damage we inflict, and apply that data, along with weapon system parameters and propagation information to tell the complete weapon effectiveness story,” he said.

“Our industry partners team closely with the government directed energy workforce to integrate and test laser weapon systems at Dahlgren test ranges as well as other DoD test locations in the country,” said Lloyd. “If they have a system that’s ready to be tested in preparation for deployment, we can use actual system performance test data in our lethality and effectiveness analyses to validate models and assess overall lethality.”

Working Together

Lloyd said the Dahlgren team has been part of technical area working groups that have been together for the better part of 20 years, and, as a result of that, have become very proficient at working together and sharing data.

“We collaborate closely with the Army, Air Force, Missile Defense Agency and the Joint Directed Energy Transition Office,” he said. “We also work with the FFRDCs [Federally Funded Research and Development Centers] and academia to advance key S and T [science and technology] areas.”

Dahlgren’s lethality lab has several key features, including a repurposed World War II tunnel for longer range propagation studies. It’s environmentally controlled, and can introduce moisture and aerosols to see how they affect not only propagation but lethality.

“We can look at battlefield contaminants, atmospheric conditions, and understand lethality through those conditions,” said Lloyd.

“We’re in the business of putting holes in targets and damaging components. That’s the ‘target vulnerability’ piece of it,” he said. “But we’re interested in the overall weapon lethality. We have to understand the weapon system performance specifications, as well as the atmospheric conditions and the impact on overall effectiveness. We work very closely with the atmospheric community to grasp those principles and pull them into the modeling. We also collect vulnerability data on different materials all the way up to subsystem components and full systems.”

Another aspect of Dahlgren’s laser lethality efforts involves the modeling and simulation analysis team.  “Fundamental properties for the materials we test against are fed into those models, along with all the basic parameters like conductivity,” said Lloyd. “It all has to be well understood.”

Sisson said the science and technology is important, but Dahlgren’s staff knows how to put that knowledge into practical systems.

“We have the technical knowledge to build a system. But that’s not enough. We have that true subject matter expertise that knows how to design, develop, deliver and field systems. When we’re working on a tactical laser system, our engineers also understand systems integration and what it takes to go acquire things. We have to be able to install and operate that system on a ship reliably and effectively,” Sisson said. “We need a system to target the beam and conduct battle damage assessment, and it has to integrate with the ship’s combat management system. We have to be able to make it fit and work on a ship in a challenging maritime environment.” 

Not Just A Laser

“Dahlgren has been instrumental in the continued technology maturation for high energy lasers and the success of LWSD,” said Donna Howland, acting general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Directed Energy operating unit. “We learned from their expertise on how to operationalize high energy lasers.”

“It’s not just a laser. We want to integrate the laser — as both a sensor and weapon — as a full participant in the combat system,” said Capt. Casey Plew, NSWC Dahlgren Division’s commanding officer. “We’re building a weapon that includes the mount, power, thermal management, command and control, tracking and doctrine, all done in coordination with government, industry and academia partners.

“Lasers are a great piece of the mission we perform, but they are only one part of the complex puzzle. And the awesome women and men of NSWC Dahlgren Division have been helping to solve our surface navy warfighting puzzles — for almost 104 years. It is in our DNA. It is what we do,” said Plew.  

ARLINGTON, Va. — The commandant of the Coast Guard used the occasion of his annual “State of the Coast Guard” address to announce the name of the first future polar security cutter. 

“Today, I am excited to name the first polar security cutter; that name will be Polar Sentinel,” said Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz, speaking Feb. 24 before an audience at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater in Florida.  

The name is in keeping with the Coast Guard’s earlier class of polar icebreakers, one of which — the Polar Star — is the only operational heavy icebreaker in the U.S. military services and is badly in need of replacement. The first PSC is expected to be delivered by Halter Marine in 2025. Halter Marine also is under contract for a second PSC. 

“Detailed work remains underway in preparation for construction of our first polar security cutter,” Schultz said. “That will be a state-of-the-art ship requiring exacting designs, complex steel work and systems integration. … When our fleet of polar security cutters becomes operational, the work of these uniquely capable assets will be essential to protecting our economic, our environmental and our national security interests in what we call the high latitude regions.”   

The commandant said the Our Coast Guard “is amidst [its] largest shipbuilding effort since the Second World War as we build the fleet that will serve the nation for decades to come.” 

He said the the 10th national security cutter to be named for the first master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard, the Charles Calhoun, will be christened in June. 

He also noted the first offshore patrol cutter, the Argus, is more than 60% complete and the second OPC, the Chase, is “well on its way.” 

Shultz said the Coast Guard anticipates “awarding the largest acquisition contract in the history of our service for the next 11 offshore patrol cutter hulls” this spring.

The newly competed OPC contract award follows the earlier OPC contract award to Eastern Shipbuilding Group for the first nine OPCs. The Coast Guard plans to procure a total of 25 OPCs, which will replace 28 medium-endurance cutters, some of which are more than 50 years old. 

“That legacy fleet [of medium-endurance cutters] loses nearly 500 patrol days on an annual basis due to unplanned maintenance and repairs,” the admiral said, noting that if all those days were lost from counter-narcotics patrols, it would result in 44,000 pounds of illegal drugs that could have been interdicted from reaching the United States. 

Shultz also said the service is making progress on the acquisition of 30 waterways commerce cutters, noting that “these new tenders will have greater endurance, speed and deck-load capacity to efficiently maintain 28,000 aids to navigation, marking over 12,000 miles of navigable inland waterways. These aids to navigation are a critical component of our marine transportation system, upon which cargoes and commodities comprising 25% of our nation’s gross domestic product move annually. 

“For the first time in history, our inland fleet will be able to accommodate mixed-gender crews, providing all enlisted members of our service these unique afloat experiences,” he said. 

APOPKA, Fla. — Northrop Grumman Corp. has been selected to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with the Next Generation Handheld Targeting System (NGHTS). This compact targeting device provides unparalleled precision targeting and is capable of operation in GPS-denied environments, the company said in a Feb. 22 release. 

“NGHTS will significantly enhance the ability of Marines to identify ground targets under a wide range of conditions,” said Bob Gough, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability, Northrop Grumman. “Connected to military networks, NGHTS can provide superior situational awareness and accurate coordinates for the delivery of effects from beyond the line of sight.” 

Northrop Grumman’s NGHTS is capable of performing rapid target acquisition, laser terminal guidance operation and laser spot imaging functions. Its high-definition infrared sensors provide accuracy and grid capability over extended ranges. Additional features include a high-definition color display and day/night celestial compasses. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a developmental design contract to an aerospace company for very low frequency communications systems modernization for integration into C-130 aircraft.  

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Collins Aerospace of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a $48.3 million contract for “developmental design and risk reduction engineering efforts for airborne very low frequency systems modernization in support of Airborne Strategic Command, Control, and Communications Program Office (PMA-271) program capability requirements,” according to a Feb. 22 Defense Department contract announcement. 

The VLF system would be installed on C-130 aircraft, which is planned by the Navy to assume the TACAMO strategic communications role from the E-6B Mercury aircraft.  

The communications role called TACAMO by the Navy — a term meaning “Take Charge and Move Out” — has been performed for three decades by the E-6 Mercury, a variant of the Boeing 707 airliner. After the Cold War, the Airborne National Command Post role previously performed by Air Force EC-135 “Looking Glass” aircraft was incorporated into the E-6 with the installation of the Airborne Launch Control System, combining the TACAMO and ALCS in one platform.  

The Navy has performed the TACMO mission since 1963, beginning with four C-130G (later EC-130G) Hercules aircraft, later augmented by eight newer EC-130Q Hercules. The E-6 replaced the EC-130s, giving the two TACAMO squadrons, VQ-3 and VQ-4, a faster, quieter, more comfortable platform for the long missions.  

The TACAMO aircraft are equipped with a long trailing-wire antenna used to relay very low frequency radio messages to submerged ballistic-missile submarines. The airframes go through considerable stress as they maintain high angle of bank for prolonged periods to maintain tight orbits to wind the trailing-wire antenna into a vertical position, needed for the radio waves to penetrate the water most effectively.  

A request for information issued Dec. 18, 2020, by PMA-271 announced the Navy “intends to negotiate and award sole-source contracts to Lockheed Martin Corporation, Marietta, [Georgia], for the efforts associated with the procurement of up to three C-130J-30 “Stretch” green airframes in [fiscal 2022/2023] for testing and analysis.  

The C-130J is the current, much more modern version of the C-130 and is flown by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as many foreign air forces. The C-130J-30 is similar but has a 15-foot-longer fuselage. The rugged C-130J is able to operate from many more airfields than the current E-6B Mercury.  

“Specifically, this contract provides non-recurring engineering effort to address size, weight, and power cooling in the components, systems, subsystems, or weapons replaceable assembly, model-based systems engineering development, weight reduction analysis, cyber security risk assessment and logistics analysis,” the announcement said. 

The contract work is expected to be completed in March 2024. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division ceremonially has authenticated the keel of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Harrisburg (LPD 30), the company said Feb. 23.

The ship’s sponsor, Alexandra Curry, a resident of Middletown, Pennsylvania, and wife of the Middletown mayor, was unable to attend the ceremony, so Program Executive Officer Ships Rear Adm. Tom Anderson stepped in to declare the keel “truly and fairly laid.” 

“While she could not join us, we welcome Mrs. Curry in spirit as she is now an important part of our shipbuilding family,” said Kari Wilkinson, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding. “We look forward to being with her throughout the life of the ship, and we are very grateful for her commitment to this crew. She is a true patriot, with deep respect and gratitude for military service.” 

The keel ceremony marked the start of construction for Harrisburg by welding the initials of the ship’s sponsor into a ceremonial plate. 

Harrisburg is being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding and will be the first Flight II amphibious ship in the San Antonio class. LPD Flight II is the next generation amphibious ship to replace Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) classes of dock landing ships. Ingalls has delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships to the U.S. Navy and has three more under construction. 

The San Antonio class is a major part of the Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century. 

TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned the USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC 1146), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia’s fifth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter, into service at the Port of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, Feb. 23, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a release. 

Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, presided over the ceremony. Nancy Vannoy, John Scheuerman’s niece, is the ship’s sponsor. 

The cutter’s namesake is Seaman 1st Class John Scheuerman, a native of Toledo, Ohio, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves from Oct. 16. 1942, to Sept. 9, 1943. While serving aboard the U.S.S. LCI (L) 319 during the amphibious allied invasion of Italy, Scheuerman exhibited conspicuous gallantry and intrepidness in action. Observing an enemy fighter plane diving for a strafing attack as his vessel approached the assault beaches in the Gulf of Salerno, Scheuerman manned his battle station at an exposed antiaircraft gun and, with courage and aggressive determination, exerted every effort to direct accurate gunfire against the hostile aircraft. Although mortally wounded before he could deliver effective fire, he remained steadfast at his post in the face of imminent death, thereby contributing materially to the protection of his ship against further attack. The U.S. Coast Guard awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart Medals to Scheuerman posthumously for his heroism. 

“This is an exciting time for each member of the crew,” said Lt. Trent Moon. “We’re honored to be a part of this historical day and look forward to our upcoming transit to Bahrain and continuing the legacy of the ship’s namesake.” 

The John Scheuerman was officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 21, 2021, in Key West, Florida. It is the 46th Sentinel-class fast response cutter and the fifth of six Fast response cutters to be homeported in Manama, Bahrain, which will replace the aging 110-foot Island-class patrol boats, built by Bollinger Shipyards 30 years ago. Each of these cutters carries the name of a U.S. Coast Guard enlisted hero. 

AMARILLO, Texas — Bell Textron, a Textron company, has started production of the first AH-1Z Viper for the Czech Republic at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center, the company said Feb. 23. The production of the Viper joins UH-1Y production as part of the Czech Republic Foreign Military Sale FMS of mixed fleet aircraft. 

“Bell understands what it means to execute a successful international program,” said Mike Deslatte, vice president and H-1 program director for Bell. “We understand the importance of providing the unmatched capability of the H-1 aircraft to our customers. Bell remains focused on producing exceptional combat aircraft and providing modern capabilities for the Czech Air Force as a partner in the H-1 program, along with the U.S. government.” 

Bell’s work beyond aircraft manufacturing includes building a flight training device for the Czech Republic, essential to integrating the new helicopters into the Czech Armed Forces. 

Bell began production on the Czech Republic UH-1Y in 2021, marking the first production for an international operator of the UH-1Y. The Czech Republic’s purchase of both the AH-1Z and UH-1Y takes full advantage of the 85% commonality between parts and enabling full mission capabilities between both aircraft.  

In addition to the Czech Republic, Bell is actively producing AH-1Zs for the U.S. Marines Corps and the Kingdom of Bahrain. In total, the H-1 program is on track to produce 217 AH-1Zs and 168 UH-1Ys, with more than 100 consecutive H-1s delivered on time for the USMC and FMS customers.