ARLINGTON, Va. — Boeing has delivered the first of 78 contracted Block III F/A-18 Super Hornets to the U.S. Navy, the company said in a Sept. 27 release. Block III gives the Navy the most networked and survivable F/A-18 built with a technology insertion plan that will outpace future threats. 

“The fleet needs capabilities to keep its edge,” said Capt. Jason “Stuf” Denney, U.S. Navy F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager. “Getting the first operational Block III in our hands is a great step forward in supporting our capability and readiness goals.” 

Capabilities of the Block III include the advanced cockpit system with a 10-inch-by-19-inch touch screen display, enhanced networking, open mission systems, reduced radar signature and a 10,000-hour airframe.  

Block III’s new adjunct processor translates to a fighter that will do more work and in far less time increasing a pilot’s situational awareness. The jet is ready to receive apps-based solutions that will allow upgrades to the aircraft throughout its life span.  

“We invested in Block III technology and developed the capabilities in partnership with the U.S. Navy to meet its emerging requirements,” said Jen Tebo, Boeing vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18G programs. “The hardware upgrades are complete. Today we are maximizing the open hardware and software and developing the apps to keep Block III ahead of future threats. We are giving Navy pilots the tools to make the fastest and most informed decisions possible now and in the future.” 

Boeing will continue to deliver Block III capabilities to the Navy through the mid-2030s from three lines. One new build production, and two Service Life Modification lines extending the life and eventually upgrading Block II Super Hornets to Block III. The first aircraft delivered will complete the U.S. Navy flight test program before deploying to a squadron. 

HONOLULU — The Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry crew conducted patrol operations in Samoa’s exclusive economic zone in September 2021, deepening U.S. close partnership with Samoa and promoting resource security within the area, the Coast Guard 14th District said.  

The Oliver Berry’s crew helped to fill the policing gap for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing while Samoa’s Nafanua II patrol boat was out of service.   

“The United States offered to assist the government of Samoa by providing security and sovereignty operations in Samoan waters due to the absence of their patrol boat,” said Cmdr. Jeff Bryant, the 14th District’s chief of enforcement. “It was a pleasure to support Samoa in enforcing their laws to protect fisheries and other natural resources within their EEZ.”  

The United States and its allies are trusted partners in the region. The U.S. Coast Guard employs 11 bilateral shiprider agreements with Pacific Island Forum nations, including Samoa, to help them ensure their resource security and maritime sovereignty. Pursuant to those agreements, host government officials generally join Coast Guard patrols. Due to COVID-19 protocols, in this instance the Oliver Berry did not make any shore visits or host Samoan government officials aboard. 

“The Oliver Berry’s patrol operations highlighted the close U.S.-Samoa partnership and our shared commitment to ensuring security and freedom of navigation in the Pacific,” said Acting Chargé d’Affaires Mark Hitchcock. “We look forward to working with the Samoan government and coast guard to facilitate additional patrols in the near future.” 

The U.S. Coast Guard and the government of Samoa have a history of partnership.  In 2019, the Coast Guard Cutters Walnut and Joseph Gerczak visited Apia Harbor and conducted patrol operations with officials from Samoa’s Ministry of Police and Ministry of Fisheries aboard. Crew from the Coast Guard Cutters also visited Lufilufi Primary School on Upolu Island to donate books, stationary, and sports gear and met with the Samoa Victim Support Group, a nonprofit organization that specializes in providing shelter for domestic abuse victims, to donate children’s clothes, baby bottles, toddler blankets and reading materials. 

The goal of the Coast Guard remains supportive and responsive to our international partners as they seek to improve the daily lives of their people and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific.  

Oceania covers an area of 3.3 million square miles and has a population of 40 million people; it is a melting pot of culture and diversity and each of those cultures has a dependency on living marine resources and maritime commerce to allow their people to thrive. 

STRATFORD, Conn., Sept. 24, 2021 — Sikorsky today celebrated the first Connecticut-built CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter that will be delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps, parent company Lockheed Martin said Sept. 24. This helicopter, which moves more troops and cargo more rapidly from ship to shore, was the first all digitally designed helicopter.  

The CH-53K’s digital thread runs from design through production, maintenance, and sustainment, increasing mission availability while reducing pilot and crew workload.  

“This Connecticut-built CH-53K aircraft is a testament to the Sikorsky legacy of building safe, reliable rotorcraft for decades. But the way we design, test and build helicopters has transformed,” said Paul Lemmo, president of Sikorsky. “Our employees are using digital tools and other advanced technologies such as manufacturing simulation and 3-D laser inspection technology. This factory transformation is a model for all future helicopter programs at Sikorsky.” 

This King Stallion helicopter will be stationed at Marine Corps Aviation Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where Marines will conduct training flights and support the fleet with heavy-lift missions with the aircraft in preparation for the CH-53K’s first deployment in 2024. This heavy-lift helicopter is part of a 200 aircraft program of record for the Marine Corps with a total of 33 aircraft currently on contract and an additional nine on contract for long-lead parts.  

“The CH-53K helicopter provides advanced capabilities allowing Marines to get anywhere in the world where the mission requires heavy-lift logistics support,” said Lt. Gen. Mark R. Wise, deputy commandant for aviation, during a ceremony at Sikorsky. “This helicopter is a much safer aircraft because it can maneuver in low visibility environments. It will forward deploy Marines quickly and effectively.” 

Ramping Up Production

The factory floor at Sikorsky is active with six CH-53K aircraft in build, and there are 36 more in various stages of production, including the nine for which the company is procuring long-lead parts. Sikorsky has made significant investments in workforce training, tooling, and machinery to increase the number of aircraft built and delivered year over year.  

This is the first CH-53K helicopter to roll off the Stratford production line, with the next one set to be delivered in early 2022. Since October 2020, Sikorsky has delivered three operational CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters to the U.S. Marine Corps in MCAS New River.   

The CH-53K program entered initial operational test and evaluation in July. Four aircraft are now in the hands of VMX-1 operational and test evaluation squadron. Marine pilots and maintainers are operating the CH-53K in a fleet environment as part of the rigorous test program.  

Marines are learning to fly and maintain the CH-53K using a suite of training devices developed by Sikorsky. Pilots receive hands-on training by experiencing a highly immersive virtual environment in the Containerized Flight Training Device (CTFD). The CFTD replicates the functionality, flight characteristics, mission profiles, and unmatched capabilities of the CH-53K helicopter. The device can replicate the various environmental conditions the aircraft is likely to fly in as well as a multitude of mission profiles in the operation of a true heavy-lift helicopter. 

Maintenance personnel also prepare with a virtual aircraft environment through the Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer. Marines train with an immersive experience to practice avionics and airframe maintenance in the schoolhouse in order to be fully prepared to perform maintenance on their fleet aircraft. 

The CH-53K is the only sea-based, long range, heavy-lift helicopter in production and will immediately provide three times the lift capability of its predecessor.  

The CH-53K will further support the U.S. Marine Corps in its mission to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift assault transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations, critical in the Indo-Pacific region. 

The new CH-53K has heavy-lift capabilities that exceed all other DoD rotary wing-platforms, and it is the only heavy-lifter that will remain in production through 2032 and beyond.  

SAN PEDRO, Calif. — The Coast Guard Cutter Forrest Rednour returned home Sept. 26 following a 32-day patrol, the Coast Guard 11th District said Sept. 27.  

The crew disrupted illegal narcotics smuggling, seizing more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine that was offloaded in San Diego Friday, Sept. 24. The drugs, worth an estimated $96 million, were seized in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. 

“The crew excelled during this patrol; their hard work and skill was apparent and allowed the cutter to weather a hurricane, conduct international engagements, and stop a vessel carrying approximately two metric tons of cocaine, all while in a 154-foot ship, 1,800 nautical miles and two time zones from home,” said Lt. Drew Ferraro, commanding officer of the Rednour.  

During the Rednour’s deployment, the crew participated in a passing exercise with the Monte Albán, an Armada de México vessel, off the coast of Mexico. 

“This deployment tested crew endurance and provided the same level of logistics challenges normally faced by much larger ships, but the Rednour crew navigated each obstacle with their usual dedication, professionalism, and teamwork,” Ferraro said. “Thank you to our outstanding logistics and finance team, and the shore-side coordinators that made this patrol successful. Lastly, thank you to the families and loved ones back home who supported us during this patrol and held down the home front during our absence.” 

The Forrest Rednour is a 154-foot fast response cutter, commissioned in 2018 and homeported in San Pedro, California. 

JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball crew conducted a joint exercise with members of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) off the coast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Sept. 21, the Coast Guard 17th District said in Sept. 25 release.   

The Kimball crew and the JMSDF crew, aboard the Naval Training Vessel Kashima, operated alongside one another in the Aleutian Island chain to exchange visual communications, followed by honors, as their respective crews lined their ship’s rails for a uniform salute. 

This display of maritime cooperation and mutual respect emphasizes both the United States’ and Japan’s continued commitment to one another and to partnership at sea. 

“The Kimball crew welcomed the opportunity to meet the Kashima and conduct a professional exercise at sea,” said Capt. Thomas D’Arcy, the Kimball’s commanding officer. “Seeing the crews aboard the Kimball and the Kashima line the rails for the passing of honors illustrates the spirit of collaboration between the U.S. Coast Guard and Japan’s maritime forces. The exercise, movements and communications between our vessels were expertly executed and the salutes exchanged exemplify the strength of our relationship with Japan as a key partner.”  

Over the past year, the U.S. and Japan have increasingly strengthened their relationship in the maritime domain through the shared mission set of the JMSDF and the U.S. Coast Guard. This includes search and rescue collaboration with the 14th Coast Guard District in Hawaii and the Japanese Coast Guard Training Ship Kajima, as well as exercises between the Japanese coast guard and the Coast Guard cutters Kimball, Munro and Bertholf near the Ogasawara Islands and in the North Pacific, respectively. 

The first joint exercise between the Kashima crew and a Coast Guard crew occurred in the Bering Sea last September in the form of a personnel exchange with the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley. 

The Kashima is one of four training ships that belong to the JMSDF and is used to train new officers. About 110 newly commissioned officers and more than 300 crewmembers are aboard the ship for its nearly two-month journey from Hiroshima to Alaska, up to the Arctic and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, then back to Japan. 

BRAINTREE, Mass. — Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems (d.b.a Ultra Naval Systems & Sensors), has been awarded a $23.2 million fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost only modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise options for the production of Mk54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedo (LWT) array kits, associated production support material, spares and engineering and hardware support services, the company said in a Sept. 27 release.  

This contract combines purchases for the U.S. government, and the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Spain, and Brazil under the Foreign Military Sales program. This is option year three of the Mk54 Mod 0 LWT array kits program to supply array nose assembly kits. 

“As we continue to provide critical components of the MK54 lightweight torpedo, we understand the ongoing need to deliver reliable and effective undersea warfare capabilities to meet the anti-submarine warfare needs of U.S. and allied fleets,” said Martin Lewis, president of Naval Systems and Sensors. 

The Advanced Naval Technology Exercise – Coastal Trident 2021 Open House is taking place this week at the NavalX Fathomwerx Laboratory at the Port of Hueneme to examine innovative solutions for port and maritime security. Fathomwerx is a partner-run facility with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD), the Port of Hueneme, Economic Development Collaborative and Matter Labs.

According to NSWC PHD’s Brendan Applegate, the director for the exercise, Coastal Trident is an operational research program conducted to advance the state of the art in countering threats to port and maritime security and the global operations of naval forces. “ANTX-Coastal Trident is not just a Navy exercise, but rather a ‘whole of government’ effort to bring together involve non-DoD federal, state and local government partners, as well as academia and industry to respond to maritime security threats and incidents in port and coastal waters,” he said. “Coastal Trident combines scenario-based training, technical demonstration, field experimentation, and exercise activities, and involves the participation of more than 150 public and private sector organizations.”

Hybrid Event

Although teams will be conducting demonstrations throughout the week, the “kick-off” virtual event conducted via Zoom on Sept. 22 provided an overview of the Coastal Trident program and featured presentations by the operational stakeholders.

Participants representing stakeholders from Naval Surface Warfare Center, Naval Facilities Engineering and Research, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Department of Homeland Security and Naval Agility provided perspectives on the science and technology (S&T), research and development (R&D) and warfighter communities to communicate the “pull” from the warfighter, provide guidance and alignment for organizations, companies and academia seeking to develop and transition their technical solutions.

The Sept. 23 sessions in-person “open house” at the Fathomwerx facility focused on engagement between operational and technical stakeholders, with presentations on some of the project demonstrations conducted at the Port of Hueneme and at Fathomwerx. Solution providers also had an opportunity to follow up on the technical needs shared during the first day, and to propose solutions and discuss collaborations for future ANTX-Coastal Trident projects.

Applegate said many of the small companies participating in Coastal Trident do not have an adequate understanding of the Navy and its operational requirements or who would best benefit from their technologies.

“We have an environment where we can get a lot of organizations together to look at the technologies from a number of different perspectives, so there are more paths to success,” he said.” We can introduce our participants to all the different parties, the companies that are developing the technology, people who are going to use it, the program offices that are going to help acquire it, and the people that are going to be part of the logistics and sustainment pipeline. So, the goal is to bring all those people together in some form or another throughout the process.”

Coastal Trident takes advantage of the facilities and capabilities of NSWC PHD and Ventura TechBridge to support high-velocity learning and accelerate development, evaluation and identification of technology implementation to support naval forces with in-service engineering, maintenance and supportability; sensor data fusion, maritime communications and decision support; multi-spectral sensing, augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) and digital engineering; and unmanned systems (UxS) applications and countermeasures.

This year, the exercise is examining the operational and technical capabilities of port and maritime security organizations to counter asymmetric threats to the U.S. Marine Transportation Systems (MTS) and its associated personnel, operations, and critical infrastructure.

A number of teams have been working on their projects for many months, and may continue to leverage the knowledge and experience gained as a result of working together during ANTX.

“This event is the culmination of a lot of effort, but it’s just a part of the picture. We’ve been conducting experiments since May. We have 55 different projects, with about 850 people from 160 different organizations, that are part of the program this year,” Applegate said.

Team Entangles Target

In one scenario at the Port of Hueneme, for example, a team employed asmall unmanned vessel as a force multiplier to provide an initial response to a threat.

“The goal of our team is to detect and engage a high-speed leisure craft entering a security zone ‘on the plane’ without damage to the vessel or occupants,” said Matthew Searle, chief technology officer Marine Arresting Technologies (MAT) of Tarpon Springs, Florida. Our objective is to determine tactics, techniques and procedures for the use of unmanned platforms to deploy non-kinetic effectors, including launch and recovery procedures, the ability to maneuver and deploy payload, and to investigate if speed and stability of the platform is practical in a port environment.”

Working with MAT is SpotterRF of Provo, Utah, which is using its small radar to track targets and pass information to the command and control (C2) hub provided by Houston-based ION, which is demonstrating effective data fusion and tracking and intercepts of fast-moving targets.

In the actual demonstration at the entrance to the Port of Hueneme, the target — a Navy High-Speed Maneuvering Surface Target (HSMST) boat — was detected by the SpotterRF radar, queuing the ION C2 system, which directed the launch of the Theiss UAV and autonomously sent it to deploy the MAT drogue line ahead of the HSMST, which entangled the boat’s propulsion and slowed it, effectively allowing time for security personnel to respond, and preventing or disrupting the intrusion.

The demonstration took place during intermittent thick fog at the harbor entrance. The radar was not only able to track the boat, but also differentiate between the drone, sea birds, floating objects in the water and pedestrians on the shore, and track them all continuously.

For the demonstration, MAT fitted the UAV with a composite canister with a command-initiated life jacket air flask to inflate an airbag that discharges the arresting line in front of the vessel. The UAV can be recovered and the system reloaded for subsequent missions.

According to Ken Gardner, SpotterRF business development manager, the SpotterRF C550 perimeter surveillance radar has a range of about 1.5 kilometers, weighs 3.5 pounds and is about the size of a laptop computer (although the company has larger and smaller models), and multiple sensors can work together to cover larger areas. It can be set up or taken down in minutes, and is powered by regular 117-volt AC current or a small 24-hour battery.

Dave Gentle from ION said the input from the radar was fed into the C2 system which uses ION’s Marlin platform technology to plan and execute the missions for the UAV to autonomously deploy the arresting line and return.

SpotterRF CEO Frank Cristophersen said the ANTX provided a valuable opportunity to bring together a team to collaborate and demonstrate a creative technology solution, with the Navy providing targets, instrumentation and observers from the warfare centers and other organizations that otherwise would not be available to the individual companies.

LOCKPORT, La. — Bollinger Shipyards LLC announced on Sept. 24 that all 11 of its facilities are now open and operational following Hurricane Ida’s landfall last month near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a powerful Category 4 storm. Bollinger’s facilities in Port Fourchon, Larose, Lockport and Houma suffered significant damage as a result of the storm, which tied with last year’s Hurricane Laura and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 as the strongest on record in Louisiana. 

“Despite the devastation and loss suffered throughout South Louisiana, the community has rallied and today we’re proud to welcome our workforce back to our yards across the state. This would not have been possible without the help of our employees, vendors, municipalities and our utility providers Entergy and SLECA,” said Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon. “Each year brings a new storm season and, with it, its own unique set of challenges — this year has been no different. But to know our workers is to understand the strength and resiliency of the Cajun people. I’m incredibly proud of our workforce for their dedication to getting all of our facilities back up and running safely so that we can continue delivering for our customers. In spite of record storms or the ongoing COVID‐19 global pandemic, America’s maritime defense industrial base is unmovable.” 

In advance of the storm, Bollinger took steps to mitigate potential damages to its facilities and any resulting delays to its production schedules. Despite damages sustained to Bollinger’s Lockport facility, the 650‐man production line for the U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter program has resumed operations and Bollinger is on track to deliver the next vessel ahead of schedule. 

Following the storm, the first priority for Bollinger leadership was to ensure the safety of company employees and their families, which are all safe and accounted for. A number of employees lost their homes and personal property. Many remain without access to electricity and running water. To ensure that all employees would be taken care of, Bollinger established the Bollinger Employee Relief Fund to help cover qualified essential and emergency needs of employees throughout the recovery process. The fund is administered by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, a leader in providing disaster relief. 

“In the immediate aftermath of the storm, I was overwhelmed by both the stories of devastation and loss from our community, as well as the offers of support from friends, vendors, customers and others all across the country,” Bordelon said. “When my grandfather founded this company 75 years ago, he knew that taking care of employees and treating them like family was critical to ultimately delivering quality products to our customers. That’s why creating the Employee Relief Fund was a no‐brainer. It was the right thing to do and we’ll continue to put our employees first — it’s in our company’s DNA.” 

EDINBURGH, Scotland — SeeByte and Raytheon Technologies are working together to bring Raytheon’s AN/AQS-20C advanced minehunting sonar system data into SeeByte’s SeeTrack v4, multi-domain command and control system, SeeByte said in a release. 

The AN/AQS-20C’s combination of side-scan, forward-looking and gap-filler sonars enables the sonar to detect and classify mine-like objects from the seafloor to the near surface in a single pass.  

This data can now be brought into SeeByte’s SeeTrack for mission analysis. The AN/AQS-20C has built in automated target recognition (ATR) and identification level contacts can now be displayed in SeeTrack in near-real time. 

The AN/AQS-20C is an advanced minehunting sonar system that has been designated as the minehunting sonar for the U.S. Navy. It is the most advanced and capable mine warfare sensor system, fully integrated with and effectively operated from the Littoral Combat Ship. 

SeeTrack’s post-mission analysis tools provide an intuitive user interface and streamlined workflow for ease of use in operational situations and its open architecture means it can be integrated with different sonars, sensors or behaviours for specific operational needs.  

“The AN/AQS-20C provides safety and efficiency in expansive mine-sweeping operations. Combining this with SeeTrack will allow naval customers to make informed decisions from the ATR data, improving mission tempo even further” said Robert Johnson, business development manager for SeeByte. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The chief of Space Operations announced the transfer of Army and Navy satellite communications billets, funding and mission responsibility to the U.S. Space Force, according to a Defense Department release. 

Space Force Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond made the announcement at the Air Force Association meeting in Washington, yesterday. The transfers are scheduled to be effective Oct. 1, 2021, if the DoD budget is passed and signed. 

“We’re one team with our sister services, and over the last year and a half we have worked with the Army and the Navy and the Air Force to determine which capabilities come over to the Space Force,” Raymond said. “The intent was to consolidate [and] increase our operational capability, increase our readiness and do so in a more efficient manner.” 

The changes are “a first tranche,” he said. 

This is the latest step in building the new service. The idea behind the U.S. Space Force was “to create a unity of effort around our space enterprise,” said Space Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, the service’s deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear. Simply forming the service made the idea of looking for efficiencies possible.  

“We need to create this unity of effort around our space missions, to ensure we’re up to those challenges that we face, because the space domain has rapidly become far more congested, and far more contested than … when I was a lieutenant or a captain operating space capabilities,” Saltzman said.  

The performance of satellite communications will be enhanced by this sort of unity of effort. 

On the Navy side, the Navy’s narrow band satellite constellation will transfer 76 manpower authorizations to the Space Force, as well as 13 satellites — a mix of the new multi-user objective system and the ultra-high-frequency follow-on satellite constellation. 

The U.S. Army will transfer roughly $78 million of operations, maintenance and manpower authorizations. This will include five wideband SATCOM operations centers and four regional SATCOM support centers. This will affect about 500 manpower authorizations. 

All told, 15 global units with 319 military and 259 civilian billets from the Army and Navy combined will transfer to the Space Force.  

These are crucial defense capabilities. The units can’t stop just because the function is transferring to the Space Force. The capabilities are needed 24/7 and they will be, Saltzman said. 

The move puts basically all of the DoD’s narrowband, wideband and protected SATCOM under control of U.S. Space Force. “Now all of that — training, operations, acquisition and sustainment and follow-on activities, user allocations — all of that, will be consolidated under the Space Force to create that unity of effort, and hopefully gain the ability to be more resilient, more dynamic and ultimately more efficient with that mission set,” Saltzman said. 

The Soldiers, Sailors and Army and Navy civilians are not obligated to move to Space Force. There is a process and those involved must volunteer to move. For civilians, the process is relatively easy — simply moving from an Army or Navy system to becoming Department of the Air Force employees. For Soldiers and Sailors, this requires release by their respective services and acceptance by the Space Force.