ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy base in Diego Garcia, an outpost in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, would be welcome to remain if Mauritius succeeds in its sovereignty claim over the archipelago, currently known as the British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT), a Mauritian official said. 

Diego Garcia, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, hosts an air and naval base that have been strategically important to U.S. military operations in the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia since the mid-1970s. 

The Chagos archipelago in which Diego Garcia is located has been claimed by the United Kingdom, which in 1965 moved the Chagocian population from the islands to Mauritius and the Seychelles. Mauritius, an island group to the southwest between the Chagos and Madagascar, disputes the sovereignty over the Chagos by the U.K. The British have claimed the islands since 1814.    

Speaking in a June 24 online discussion sponsored by Arlington, Virginia-based think tank CNA, Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul, the permanent representative of Mauritius to the United Nations, said the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared in February 2019 that the Chagos Archipelago “is and always has been an integral part of Mauritius.”  

Last May, the UN General Assembly voted 116-6 in favor of the Chagos being returned to Mauritius. The ICJ gave the British until last November to withdraw, which did not occur.  

The British partitioned the Chagos from Mauritius in 1965 when the U.K. purchased the Chagos for 3 million pounds. Mauritius claimed the separation was forced in order for Mauritius to gain its independence from Britain, finalized in 1968. 

The U.S. has a lease on the facilities there until 2036. Koonjul said Mauritius would propose a 99-year lease for the U.S. to retain the facility and would even allow the British to maintain facilities there if such an agreement were reached. But he said the current impasse is unsustainable. 

As part of an agreement, Mauritius would insist that any Chagocians wishing to re-locate back to the Chagos be allowed to do so, excluding Diego Garcia, but that Mauritians and Chagocians be allowed to seek employment on Diego Garcia.  

Koonjul noted that Mauritius favors the stability that the U.S. base brings to the Indian Ocean and that, as a close partner of India, it favors the increasingly close defense relationship of the United States with India. 

“Mauritius stands ready to be a reliable partner to the United States,” Koonjul said. 

Also speaking in the discussion was Mark Rosen, senior vice president and general counsel for CNA, who said that Diego Garcia was “already developed” and “very precious from a logistics standpoint” and that its isolation from civilian populations gave it “more operational freedom.”   

Rosen said the United Kingdom’s position has substantially weakened” in light of the ICJ decision and UN resolution and that the “political optics” for Britain were “not good” in an era of anti-colonialism. 

He said that time is not on the side of the United States and the U.K. and that the U.S. needs to be proactive in seizing the opportunity to resolve the impasse. 

Koonjul said that Mauritius has “no objection whatsoever to the U.S. base in Diego Garcia. … The importance of the base cannot be underestimated.” 

He stressed the endurance of an agreement between the U.S. and Mauritius in that all Mauritian political parties support the base in Diego Garcia. 

By an earlier agreement, the United States is not allowed to base nuclear weapons in Diego Garcia, although nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered ships are allowed in and out of the port facilities.

WASHINGTON — The commandant of the Coast Guard saluted the cutter John Midgett as the ship heads for decommissioning after 48 years of service.  

In a June 23 message to the Coast Guard, Adm. Karl L. Schultz commended the John Midgett crew as having embodied the cutter’s motto — dedication, service, excellence.   

“The John Midgett was named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer John Allen Midgett Jr., who served for nearly 40 years with the U.S. Lifesaving Service and the Coast Guard,” the commandant said.

“He was one of five Midgett family members awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal for heroic action during the rescue of 36 crewmen from the torpedoed British tanker Mirlo in 1918.” 

The high-endurance cutter — the 12th and final of the Hamilton class — is in an “In-Commission Special” status as it is prepared for transfer to another nation. It was named simply “Midgett” until a new Legend-class national security cutter, the Midgett, was commissioned, upon which the older Midgett’s name was changed to John Midgett. 

The John Midgett was built by Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana and commissioned on March 17, 1972. The cutter was homeported in Alameda, California, until it was temporarily decommissioned in 1991 to undergo fleet renovation and modernization (FRAM). Upon completion of FRAM in 1992, the cutter changed its homeport to Seattle. 

“Throughout the cutter’s distinguished career, John Midgett served in domestic and international theaters, from the Bering Sea to the South China Sea, and from the eastern Pacific Ocean to the Arabian Gulf,” the commandant’s message said. 

Schultz said that the John Midgett’s “proud legacy of honorable service to the nation spanned nearly five decades.” He noted some highlights of that service: 

• On Christmas Day 1996, the cutter’s crew conducted a “power rudder” tandem tow of the disabled M/V Banasea to Adak, Alaska, with the tug Agnes Foss.  
• In 1999, John Midgett became the first Coast Guard cutter to deploy to the Arabian Gulf with a U.S. Navy battle group, helping to enforce U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iraq.  
• From September 2006 to March 2007, the cutter deployed as part of Expeditionary Strike Group 5 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, circumnavigating the globe and transiting the Suez and Panama canals.  
• While deployed to the eastern Pacific in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South from December 2016 to March 2017, John Midgett’s crew seized more than three tons of cocaine.  
• During the cutter’s last year of service, it patrolled the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for more than 200 days, boarding 67 fishing vessels and prosecuting 16 search-and-rescue cases, ultimately assisting 20 mariners and four vessels in distress. 

NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. — Bell Textron Inc. and Boeing delivered the first CMV-22B Osprey for fleet operations to the U.S. Navy on June 22. The CMV-22B is assigned to Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. 

“We are thrilled to bring the Osprey’s capabilities as a warfighting enabler and its ability to provide time-sensitive logistics to the men and women deployed around the world in support of U.S. Navy operations,” said Kurt Fuller, Bell V-22 vice president and Bell Boeing program director. 

This aircraft is the third overall delivery to the Navy. Bell Boeing delivered the first CMV-22B at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in February for developmental testing, followed by a second in May. The Navy-variant V-22 will take over the carrier onboard delivery mission, replacing the C-2A Greyhound. 

“This first fleet delivery marks a new chapter of the V-22 tilt-rotor program providing enhanced capabilities and increased flexibility to the U.S. Navy as they conduct important operational missions around the globe,” said Shane Openshaw, Boeing vice president of tilt-rotor programs and deputy director of the Bell Boeing team. 

The CMV-22B and C-2A Greyhound conducted a symbolic passing of the torch flight in April. 

“The CMV-22B will be a game-changing enabler to the high-end fight supporting the sustainment of combat lethality to the carrier strike group,” said Navy Capt. Dewon Chaney, commodore, Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing. “The multi-mission capabilities of the CMV-22B, already recognized, will be realized in Naval aviation’s air wing of the future. The arrival of this aircraft is the first of many steps to that becoming reality.” 

The CMV-22B carries up to 6,000 pounds of cargo and combines the vertical takeoff, hover and landing (VTOL) qualities of a helicopter with the long-range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft. 

Bell Boeing designed the Navy variant to have the expanded range needed for fleet operations. Two additional 60-gallon tanks and redesigned forward sponson tanks can cover more than 1,150 nautical miles. 

The CMV-22B also can provide roll-on/roll-off delivery of the F135 engine power module for the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has approved the possible foreign military sale of up to 16 Mark VI patrol boats and related equipment to Ukraine for an estimated cost of $600 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a June 17 release. The DSCA has delivered the required certification to Congress of the possible sale. 

Ukraine’s government had requested the boats along with 32 MSI Seahawk A2 gun systems; 20 Electro-Optics-Infrared Radar systems (16 installed and 4 spares); 16 Long-Range Acoustic Device five-kilometer loudspeaker systems; 16 Identification Friend or Foe systems; and 40 Mk44 cannons (32 installed and eight spares). 

As part of the sale, Ukraine also requested communication equipment; support equipment; spare and repair parts; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support; and other related elements of logistics support. 

“The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a modern, fast, short-range vessel,” the release said. “Ukraine will utilize the vessels to better defend its territorial waters and protect other maritime interests.” 

The prime contractor will be SAFE Boats International of Bremerton, Washington.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Top U.S. missile defense officials say they are not overly concerned about Japan’s decision to suspend the planned deployment of two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense systems aimed at countering North Korean missiles.

Japan’s defense minister, Taro Kono, announced June 15 that he was halting the installations at Akita Prefecture in the north and Yamaguchi Prefecture in the south of Japan’s main island of Honshu, citing cost and technical issues.

Those issues included concerns that the interceptors’ rocket boosters might endanger civilian lives and infrastructure if they did not fall in designated safe areas after separating from the SM-3 Block IIA missile. Communities near both sites opposed the installations, concerned about radiation from the system’s Lockheed Martin Long Range Discrimination Radar.

“I’m not necessarily shocked” by the decision to suspend work in Japan, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s commander, Vice Adm. Jon Hill, said on June 23. “There are options out there, and we’ll work them,” he told a livestreamed roundtable on Global Missile Defense Responsibilities presented by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Hill noted the longstanding U.S.-Japanese partnership in the Pacific region, including cooperative technology development, like the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor, co-developed by Raytheon Missile Systems and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

“Fundamentally, the issue is the siting,” Hill said. “We spent a lot of time going through the impacts of the sensing capability [and] what it means to have interceptors near a community area.”

Hill said he wanted to give the Japanese government time to work the issues out, pledging to Tokyo “we are going to lean in and give you whatever support and help you need to make the decision.”

Rear Adm. Stephen Koehler, director of operations for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, emphasized the strength of the U.S.-Japanese partnership on ballistic missile defense and pledged  to work for “the best solution in the theater for them, for us, and for the overarching threat that we face together.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is working hard and making progress in developing concepts and making technological advances in developing its planned large and medium unmanned surface vessels (USVs), said the admiral in charge of their development.  

“USVs are one of the centerpieces of distributed maritime operations,” said Rear Adm. Casey Moton, program executive officer, Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO-USC), speaking June 23 at an event sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute, Huntington Ingalls Industries and the Center for Strategic and International Studies — a Washington think tank.  

Moton said the Navy views the future Large USV (LUSV) and Medium USV (MUSV) as platforms that will enable the fleet to operate in a more distributed manner either as part of a carrier strike group or as vessels pressed forward with an acceptable risk of attrition. 

The LUSV and MUSV are envisioned as distributed platforms with lower cost than manned warships that will have sensors and/or missiles and that normally will operate under the protection of a carrier strike group. Both types of USVs will need to be capable of open-ocean transits, Moton said.   

The LUSV, for example, is envisioned to be a node in the Aegis protective network and could function as an “add-on magazine” of missiles, Moton said.  

Moton’s office is “laying a lot of the foundational work” for USV operations by developing mission autonomy; navigation and control systems; hull, mechanical and electrical reliability; cyber and anti-tamper protection; and integration of the USV into the Aegis Combat System, with a focus on retiring risk in the prototype phase of development. Moton said the LUSV to be equipped with vertical-launch systems.    

The Navy’s Surface Development Squadron One in San Diego now operates the single Sea Hunter USV, which he said has been exercising with guided-missile destroyers. A second Sea Hunter is under construction. 

The Navy’s two Overlord commercial-standard vessels with unmanned systems also have been busy with concept and systems development. One of the Overlord vessels made two long transits of 1,400 nautical miles from the Gulf of Mexico to Norfolk, Virginia, and back, in an autonomous mode, Moton said.  

One of the concepts being worked on is the degree to which people will be involved in servicing the LUSV, for example. Personnel will need to be involved in maintenance, resupply, protection, and moving the vessel in and out of port. The need for personnel to temporarily board and stay onboard these vessels for a period is one of the areas being studied. Redundancy of some systems may reduce the need for unscheduled maintenance. A goal is to have a 30-day threshold of operation between preventative maintenance periods. 

“Our starting point for those two vessels [LUSV and MUSV] is we are driving from a technology standpoint to try and automate everything that we can,” Moton said. 

He said the Navy has two more Overlord vessels under construction that will be delivered in fiscal 2021. 

“The plan is to push our prototypes out to the West Coast [for the Surface Development Squadron One] but we’re looking for opportunities for the East Coast as well,” Moton said. 

The first program-of-record LUSV is planned for procurement in fiscal 2023. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has awarded an $869 million contract modification for continued work on the Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) design and support, but which also includes an option to build the first two Columbia SSBNs when funds are authorized and appropriated by Congress, the Navy announced on June 22. The work to ready the contract option will enable the Navy, if authorized, to begin construction of the first Columbia in October 2020. 

Naval Sea Systems Command awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat the $869 million contract modification to pursue “continued design completion, engineering work, affordability studies and design support efforts for the Columbia class,” the 22 June Defense Department contract announcement said. “This modification also includes submarine industrial base development and expansion efforts as part of the integrated enterprise plan and multi-program material procurement supporting Columbia SSBNs and the nuclear shipbuilding enterprise (Virginia-class [submarine] and Ford-class [aircraft carrier]). The contract modification also provides additional United Kingdom Strategic Weapon Support System kit manufacturing and effort to support expansion of the domestic missile tube industrial base.” 

The contract modification also features an option — that already has been fully priced by the Navy — that would start construction of the first Columbia, SSBN 826, in October 2020, and fund advance procurement, advance construction and 2024 construction start of the second Columbia, SSBN 827. If exercised, the option would increase the value of the contract to $9.5 billion. 

In a June 22 teleconference with reporters, James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, defense and acquisition, said the Navy is focused on its supplier industrial base and improving the capacity of its sub-tier vendors, which would reduce risk in its nuclear ship programs and thereby reduce risk and delay in the Columbia program. He expressed appreciation of Congress for its support of the Navy’s efforts to shore up the industrial base. 

Geurts said the work of the Navy to price out the two SSBN contract option will help the service keep on schedule and achieve economies on materials and advance procurement for the class.  

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, in whose district Electric Boat’s main facility is located, praised the Navy’s initiative in a June 22 statement.  

“Today’s announcement means ‘game on’ for this exciting and transformational project that will shape our region’s economy for the next two decades — and I know that our talented shipbuilders of Electric Boat are up to the challenge,” Courtney said. “This award is the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of preparation for this milestone moment for our region and our nation,” Courtney said. “The replacement of our sea-based strategic deterrent comes only once every other generation, and this work is already fueling unprecedented growth in the workforce in Groton and transformation of the shipyard. This isn’t just good news for Groton — the work that will be done on this program will fuel activity at suppliers across our state and our nation for years to come. This exciting news is a testament to the hard work of countless designers, engineers and waterfront tradesmen and women who have worked so hard each and every day for more than a decade to see this day come.” 

Geurts said the strategic imperative of fielding the USS Columbia on its first deterrent patrol in 2031 requires a delivery of the submarine in 2028. 

The Navy plans to build 12 Columbia-class SSBNS to replace 14 Ohio-class SSBNs. The Trident D5LE nuclear-armed ballistic missile will arm both classes. 

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA has been awarded a modification to previously awarded contract with a total potential value of $43,362,000 by Naval Sea Systems Command to exercise the options for littoral combat ship (LCS) class design services, material to support LCS class design services and the integrated data product model environment (IDPME), the company said in a June 23 release.  

“The continued award of LCS post-delivery services contracts reflects the Navy’s ongoing confidence in Austal to perform quality work throughout the life cycle of the ship,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. “Austal’s post-delivery service and supply team’s performance will help continue Austal’s outstanding support to the fleet well into the future.” 

Austal will provide LCS class design services to all LCS ships and services may include program management, fitting out services, change processing, software maintenance, engineering and lifecycle efforts. Austal will also maintain an IDPME that shall enable Navy access to enterprise LCS data management. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Naval Air Systems Command has ordered two MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles for the Marine Corps. 

The Naval Air Systems Command ordered the two Reapers from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), of Poway, California, with a $26.9 million firm-fixed-price contract, according to the June 22 Defense Department announcement. The contract also provides for one dual-control mobile ground-control station, one modular data center and one mobile ground-control station 

The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle used for surveillance and strike operations. The Reaper is a battle-proven development of the RQ-1 Predator, upgraded for longer endurance, a heavier payload, and the ability to launch heavier precision munitions in a benign aerial environment. 

The Marine Corps selected the Reaper in 2018 to fill an urgent needs request for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in support of forward operations in Southwest Asia. GA-ASI has provided ISR services since September 2018 through contractor-owned/contractor-operated (COCO) Reapers and their teams to support Marine Corp forces in Afghanistan. Marine UAV squadrons (VMUs) have been learning to operate the Reaper in preparation for the Corps’ procurement of government-owned/government operated MQ-9s. On March 20, 2020, a Marine crew of VMU-1 controlled a COCO Reaper for the first time on an operational mission in support of forward-deployed ground forces. 

The Marine Corps plans to begin operations with its own Reapers in 2021. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces has announced its proposals for the mark-up of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. 

In a June 22 release, chairman Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., and ranking member Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., released the proposals the day before the scheduled June 23 mark-up session.  

Of major naval-related items, the proposal: 

• Recommends the restoration of a second Virginia-class submarine and the required advanced procurement to maintain the two-per-year build rate. 
• Recommends to the full committee that the Navy procure eight battle force ships, including one Columbia class fleet ballistic missile submarine; two Virginia-class submarines; two Arleigh Burke destroyers; one guided-missile frigate (FFG); and two T-ATS towing, salvage, and rescue ships. 
• Prohibits the retirement of littoral combat ships LCS 3 and LCS 4 until all operational tests have been completed.  
• Prohibits the retirement of any aircraft carrier before its first refueling.  
• Recommends six P-8 Poseidon aircraft. 
• Recommends four additional V-22 Osprey aircraft. 
• Authorizes efficient construction of the first two Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines. 
• Restricts funds associated with the secretary of defense until the 30-year shipbuilding plan is delivered. 
• In fiscal 2021, prohibits the retirement of any Navy vessel until the secretary of defense provides a Navy force structure assessment. 
• Authorizes the procurement of up to four used sealift vessels.   
• Requires the secretary of defense to provide ship requirements to implement the Commandant’s Planning Guidance. 
• Establishes a Tanker Security Fleet to help fill the gap in at sea logistics. 
• Recommends funding of the fourth National Security Multi-Mission Vessel for the state maritime academies and recommends additional funds for previously authorized ships. 
• Continues to provide strict oversight of the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel.