ARLINGTON, Va. — Many of the Mahanian principles of sea power are as applicable today as ever, the U.S. Navy’s top officer said, noting that navies and coast guards are the guarantors of the world’s commerce and hence the well-being of nations.  

“Providing a safe, secure, and stable maritime system is an imperative to all of mankind … and it is an essential part of what our navies do every day,” said Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday. “We are not simply the “keeper of the seas” … but the ‘keeper of the global way of life’ as well.”  

Gilday was addressing a gathering of naval leaders from around the world during the Sept. 15 opening day of the 24th International Seapower Symposium, an event normally held every two years at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. The event was attended in person or over the internet by 135 delegates from 104 nations. Last year’s planned symposium was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

“Like all of you … I believe that robust, resilient, and responsible sea power is an international consortium of like-minded nations,” Gilday said. “We are the primary guarantors of peace, prosperity, and the open flow of goods along the oceans.  
Our navies provide these benefits to the citizens we serve every day … in peacetime and especially during these times of competition … not just in rare moments of conflict.” 
   

The CNO pointed out that the ideas of Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan bring to mind decisive battles at sea, sea control, and combat credibility.  
 
“I think many of those arguments are still relevant today,” Gilday said. “But over time … Mahan refined the rationale for sea power. Naval combat power became less pronounced, and economics took a more central role. Mahan believed that one of the fundamental applications of naval power was to protect an increasingly globalized world economy. You see, wealth generation comes from commerce … and commerce … floats on seawater. … Our economies, our values, and our cultures are more attached to the sea than any point in history.” 

The CNO noted several facts that illustrate the magnitude of the maritime economy today. The world’s trading fleet today includes more than 60,000 ships. New container ships nearly 400 meters long can carry more than 20,000 containers. There are more than 160 offshore wind farms providing electrical power to millions of homes and businesses. There are 20,000 desalinization plants that provide fresh water to hundreds of millions of people. Ships are engaged in deep-sea mining to extract critical minerals. He also noted the importance of underwater cables that transnational communications traffic.  

In a press conference following the speech, Gilday said “the seas are getting more contested and more congested,” and that “almost 100% of our internet connectivity is connected through trans-oceanic cables.” 
 
Gilday championed the international rules-based order that “preserves the maritime commons for freedom and fairness … for coexistence and for harmony … where the collective goals of all people — regardless of where they call home — can be advanced. 

“Since it is in the political, social, and economic interests of all of us to ensure the freedom of the seas … this is a responsibility with truly global consequences, not just for today, but for our children and their children,” he said. “It cannot be taken for granted … peace does not happen by accident. When the rules prevail, everyone prospers. When the rules are undermined … or worse, broken altogether … the world is a less secure and poorer place for all of us.”  
 
The CNO stressed the importance of the navy-to-navy and coast guard-to-coast guard relationships that “serve as a strong and stable keel for the broader international community. This keel serves as a shock absorber … and in turn … provides the underlying structure for global stability. 

“Every day … our Sailors send a “bow wave” of diplomacy in front of their path … assuring our allies, partners, and friends … and deterring malign behavior that threatens the international order that is so important,” he said. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has ordered the first lot of Navy’s AMG-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) following approval from the Defense Department. 

Naval Air Systems Command Awarded Alliant Techsystems Operations — a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Defense Systems — a $41.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for low-rate initial production lot 1 of the AARGM-ER, according to a Sept. 14 Defense Department contract announcement.  

“This contract provides for the production and delivery of 16 AGM-88G AARGM-ER All Up Rounds, six AGM-88G AARGM-ER Captive Air Training Missiles, four Common Munitions BIT Reprogramming Equipment Plus interface devices, initial spares, and required supplies and support,” the announcement said. 

The AARGM-ER received Milestone C approval on Aug. 23. 

The AGM-84G AARGM-ER, designed to attack hostile emitters, particularly radars that guide surface-to-air missiles, is a development of the AGM-84E AARGM that has been in service since 2012 with the role of destruction of enemy ground-based air defenses. The ER missile is considerably different in planform and appearance than the basic AARGM. The ER version is slightly shorter (160 inches versus 14 inches) than the basic AARGM but has a larger diameter (11.5 inches versus 10 inches) and is controlled by its tailfins rather than fins at the mid-body. The ER features a new rocket motor that takes up more of the length of the missile and is equipped with a new warhead. The aerodynamic characteristics of the ER plus its larger motor give the missile twice the tactical range in the same amount of time.   

The AARGM-ER will be carried on Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The missile also is sized to eventually be carried in the weapons bay of F-35A and F-35C Lightning II strike fighters and on wing stations of the F-35B version.  

The Navy plans to continue captive and live-fire flight testing of the AARGM-ER through 2022. Initial operational capability is planned for 2023. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) will establish a new task force to accelerate integration of unmanned systems of all domains and artificial intelligence, the NAVCENT commander said. 

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet and commander, U.S. Naval Forces U.S. Central Command, speaking Sept. 8 to reporters by phone conference, said Task Force 59 (TF59) would be established on Sept. 9 in Manama, Bahrain.  

The first commodore of TF59 will be Capt. Michael Brasseur, who also spoke in the conference.  

Cooper said TF59 “is designed to integrate unmanned systems and AI. Task Force 59 is the first U.S. Navy task force of its kind … taking efforts from across the Navy, concentrating them here in a forward operating environment — a forward fleet — to gradually move toward development and integration.” 

Cooper pointed out the testimony last spring before Congress of Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, then-deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, who said the Navy needed to get unmanned systems out to the fleet and into the hands of operators. Cooper said TF59 is standing up to work out the systems and assess tactics, techniques and procedures in an operational environment. 

“The bottom line on why we’re doing this is so that we can develop and integrate unmanned systems and AI as a means to do two things: enhance our maritime domain awareness and increase our deterrence,” he said. 

“On the unmanned side, we anticipate putting more systems in the maritime domain above, on and below the sea,” he said. “We want more eyes on what’s happening out there in addition to where we see and generate through our manned platforms that continue to patrol the region today. It’s not enough to simply increase the amount of information, the raw data coming in. We’ve got to process and sort in real time to determine what’s relevant to the mission.” 

The admiral said the allied and partner navies in his region have great interest in using unmanned systems, noting the launch of TF59 “really invigorates our partnerships around this particular region as we expand our common operating picture. The waterways here are ripe for real-world evaluation. It’s a very maritime region [with] 5,000 miles of coastline [and] three critical chokepoints,” the Straits of Hormuz, the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal. 

“Our belief is if the new systems can work here, they can probably work anywhere else and we can field them across other fleets,” he said. 

“We’ve assembled quite an impressive team to get after this opportunity,” said Brasseur, speaking of his task force. Brasseur is the former skipper of a coastal patrol ship and a littoral combat ship. “I’m really looking forward to launching the task force tomorrow and getting these systems in the water and in the hands of the operator.”  

Cooper said some systems used earlier this year in Integrated Battle Problem 21 “will be used in an operational context” by TF59 during IMX-22 exercise in January 2022, which will be focused on unmanned systems. 

Cooper affirmed in the future the 5th Fleet could be augmented by unmanned underwater vehicles from UUV Squadron One.   

ARLINGTON, Va. — Shipyards are having challenges attracting or training skilled workers to build and maintain U.S. Navy ships, a Maine congressman said. 

“We have serious workforce challenges similar to the rest of the country, both inside and outside the military industrial base,” said Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, speaking Sept. 2 in a Hudson Institute webinar. In general, manufacturing workforces are in decline.” 

Maine is the home of two major shipyards that build or maintain U.S. Navy ships: General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. 

“We have seen in Maine a population decline accompanied with a change in how we directed youth to pursue work and studies, so an entire generation encouraged to go to four-year college degrees,” Golden said. “We saw a lot of people leaving the state of Maine for those types of opportunities, not necessarily coming back, while at the same time the best jobs we have in the state of Maine [are] at Bath Iron Works, or many of our paper mills. These are very blue-collar, hands-on jobs that historically have not required a four-year degree but require hard skill sets that have been allowed to go away and be lost.”  

Golden said Bath Iron Works “not only has an aging workforce that is retiring or coming up on retirement at a pretty rapid rate, hiring thousands every year just to try and keep up. They are slowly growing, but they’re having to start from scratch with a lot of these young workers and teach them the very basics of shipbuilding, whether that be welding or whatever. It is a different workforce challenge than in other generations past.”  

The congressman spoke of having Maine stand up programs at community colleges, apprenticeship programs or pre-apprenticeship programs “that are going to help people get a foot in the door of eventually getting a great job opportunity in a place like Bath Iron Works.”

Golden said it “takes on average seven years to get a fully competent, specialized shipbuilder at place like Bath Iron Works. That’s a big investment you’re going to make.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps will embark F-35B strike fighters on a Japanese aircraft carrier this fall, the service’s commandant said, a next step to match a current F-35B deployment on board a U.K. Royal Navy aircraft carrier.  

“We’re actually going to fly U.S. Marine Corps F-35s off of a Japanese ship,” said Gen. David H. Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, speaking Sept. 1 during a webinar conducted by the U.S. Naval Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies and sponsored By Huntington Ingalls Industries. 

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force operates the JS Izumo, commissioned a helicopter carrier in 2015 but under conversion to operate F-35Bs, of which Japan has ordered 40 from Lockheed Martin. A sister ship, JS Kaga, was commissioned in 2017 and also is planned for conversion to operate F-35Bs. 

The U.S. Marine Corps operates two F-35B squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan: Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) and VMFA-242. 

Berger pointed to the current deployment of F-35Bs of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) together with Royal Air Force F-35Bs on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is operating in the Pacific region, as an example of how the United States and its allies are working together to solve operational details. 

For one example he discussed, the British and Americans each have their own Special Compartmented Intelligence Facility, or SCIF, on the Queen Elizabeth to avoid complications of handling classified information. 

Berger sees cooperation with such allies as the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia as key to sharing information to countering the influence of China in the region. Enabling the F-35’s of each country to share data over networks is an important part of that cooperation.    

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter crashed into the Pacific Ocean while conducting flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. 3rd Fleet public affairs said in a release. 

Six personnel were on the helicopter when it crashed. One was rescued and transported ashore. He was said to be in stable condition. Search efforts continue by ships Navy and Coast Guard aircraft for the five additional aircrew members. 

The helicopter crashed at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31, while embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The carrier was conducting carrier qualifications for aircraft at the time. 

The MH-60S was “operating on deck before crashing into the sea,” the Navy said. “Five additional Sailors aboard Abraham Lincoln suffered injuries in the incident and are in stable condition. Two of the five Abraham Lincoln Sailors were transported ashore for treatment, while three of the five Abraham Lincoln Sailors had minimal injuries and remain aboard the ship.” 

The MH-60S was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8, based at Naval Air Station North Island, California. 

The crash marked the second loss of an MH-60S this year. On July 16 an MH-60S assigned to NAS Fallon, Nevada, crashed on a rescue mission near Mount Hogue, California. No injuries occurred in that mishap. 

An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A strong partnership between the Navy and the defense industry, including small and medium businesses, is essential to building and maintaining a strong fleet to counter potential adversaries such as China and Russia, the Navy’s new civilian leader said.  

“I know what it takes to build a warship and the teamwork that’s involved with both large companies and small companies, the government, the supervisor of shipbuilding,” said Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, speaking Aug. 30 in a webinar of Southeast New England Defense Industry Alliance(SENEDIA). I was really impressed with the work that was going on at Electric Boat [in Groton, Connecticut] … and Quonset Point [Rhode Island].”

On Aug. 28, Del Toro was in Groton to attend the administrative commissioning of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Vermont. 

“I spent three years of my own life in a shipyard building the [Arleigh Burke-class destroyer] USS Bulkeley,” Del Toro said. “About a year and a half was actual construction and a year and a half was sailing the ship on sea trials. I have tremendous respect for our shipyard workers and the work they do and all of the small businesses that come together to build a surface ship or a submarine.  

“It’s an example of how America’s best can come together to build these tremendous platforms and protect not just our national security, quite frankly but our economic security in every possible way,” he said. 

Del Toro praised SENEDIA for “doing a great job training the next generation of submarine workers through your OTA [Other Transaction Authority] partnership with the many apprenticeship programs.”    

The SECNAV said that the defense industry was critical to keeping pace with the threat of China’s expansion and Russia’s growing and increasingly capable submarine force. 

“China is my No. 1 priority as a more pacing threat to the United States,” he said. “We must do everything we can to prevent China from continuing its malevolent behavior toward the United States, toward other nations, to prevent them from what they potentially want to do [such as take over Taiwan] in some form or fashion.”   

Del Toro pointed out that China “has threatened our shipping lanes, she has demonstrated far greater regional aggression, [with] her expanding her presence, not just in the Pacific but around the entire world.  

“Russia also shows continued aggression in the Arctic and the Mediterranean and right up to our Atlantic shores as well,” he said. “She continues to build first-class submarines. That’s why organizations like SENEDIA working together with the United States Navy are so critically important to us to continue to stay ahead of technology in every possible way … and build the best possible platforms than we can.” 

The SECNAV said the world’s “rules-based order remains under siege in every possible way. We must be present, we must be persistent, and we must be postured for anything that comes our way.”

NORFOLK, Va. — USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) departed Aug. 26 for sea trials, marking completion of one of the largest and most complex aircraft carrier availabilities conducted at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), NNSY Public Affairs and USS George H.W. Bush Public Affairs said in a joint Aug. 26 release.

The Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA), which began in February 2019, marked Bush’s first time out of the water since 2006. The shipyard workforce contributed 762,500 workdays of the 1.3 million workday availability, with the ship’s crew, Alteration Installation Teams and contractors comprising the rest.

The DPIA included a number of complicated planned efforts including a complete shaft and propeller overhaul, rudder refurbishment, catwalk and tank preservation, and modernization and upgrades to electronic and combat systems, catapults, and hotel services.

“At the beginning of this challenging availability I shared with the project team this would be a marathon event due to the large work package and the length of time it would take to return George H.W. Bush to the Fleet,” said Project Superintendent Jeff Burchett. “At that time, we had no idea what we would face with the COVID 19 pandemic and the additional challenges it brought to the team to overcome such a major obstacle on top of the planned work. The team stepped up and worked through it.”

The ship’s commanding officer Capt. Robert “Aggs” Aguilar was complimentary of the collaboration between NNSY and the crew.

“The end of this maintenance period marks the beginning of our team’s ability to execute our primary mission which is to provide combat capability to Fleet and Joint Force commanders whenever and wherever it is needed,” said Aguilar. “We remain grateful for the teamwork with Norfolk Naval Shipyard to get us back to sea. Now the crew of George Herbert Walker Bush will bring the ship to life and return her to full operational capability.”

NNSY implemented process improvement and innovations in several areas of the availability, including the U.S. Navy’s first organic cold spray repairs at any of the four public shipyards to repair components on Bush. Laser scanning was used to facilitate installation of sponsons onboard, supporting first time quality. Additionally, the shipyard’s special emphasis group developed unique weight handling equipment using electric winches for servicing components while in dry dock.

“The team has been all-in with either fixing or elevating any issues as they occurred, with non-stop execution in mind to ensure USS George H.W. Bush was returned to the Fleet,” said Shipyard Commander Capt. Dianna Wolfson. “With such an extensive and challenging availability, it took a daily commitment from our team members in delivering technical excellence and skilled craftsmanship on Bush so it could be ready to excel in its mission and demonstrate Freedom at Work.”

The ship will now complete sea trials and multiple certifications before beginning a pre-deployment training cycle.

“It’s been a unique privilege leading the project team of this availability throughout its entire duration at Norfolk Naval Shipyard,” said Burchett. “When starting the project, we adopted a quote from George H.W. Bush himself: ‘This is my mission and I will complete it.’ It’s taken a lot of teamwork and perseverance, on top of working through unexpected challenges, but today we can say the mission is complete and USS George H.W. Bush—and the Navy—is all the better for it.”

This report was updated on Aug. 27.

ARLINGTON, Va. — A suicide bomber attacked a gate at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26, killing 13 U.S. military personnel and wounding at least 15 others, U.S. military officials said. 

Killed were 11 Marines and one Sailor, according to official statements as of 27 Aug. A press report said that the 13^th military person killed was a soldier. The service identities of the 15 wounded personnel have not been announced yet, pending notification of next of kin, though some are confirmed to be Marines, according to the HQMC statement. 

The units of the dead and wounded have not been announced. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, staged from the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, had dispatched Marines to Kabul in mid-August as part of the U.S. forces deployed to the Kabul airport to evacuate Americans and certain Afghan nationals who had helped with the U.S. war effort.   

The attack is believed to have been conducted by ISIS-K, rather than the Taliban, said Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander, U.S. Central Command, speaking Aug. 26 via internet link to reporters at the Pentagon. At least 79 other people were killed at the scene of the attack, which included small arms fire as well as a suicide vest. 

A second attack thought to have occurred at the Baron Hotel near the airport turned out not to have occurred, said Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director of regional operations, in an Aug. 27 briefing to reporters.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued the following statement: 

“On behalf of the men and women of the Department of Defense, I express my deepest condolences to the loved ones and teammates of all those killed and wounded in Kabul today.  

“Terrorists took their lives at the very moment these troops were trying to save the lives of others. 

“We mourn their loss. We will treat their wounds. And we will support their families in what will most assuredly be devastating grief. 

“But we will not be dissuaded from the task at hand.  

“To do anything less — especially now — would dishonor the purpose and sacrifice these men and women have rendered our country and the people of Afghanistan.” 

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday also memorialized in the following statement the Navy and Marine Corps personnel lost in the attacks:  

“This is a solemn day for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team. Those warriors who died gave their lives to save thousands of men, women and children, Americans and Afghans alike.   

“Their courage and selflessness represent the highest ideals of America. We pay solemn tribute to their sacrifice.  

“To the families and loved ones who grieve — you are not alone. We stand beside you in this pain, humbled by the loss of these heroes, grateful that individuals of such valor chose to serve among us.”  

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger issued the following statement: 

“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we learned several Marines and other service members were killed and wounded in the Kabul attacks today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families as they are notified of this devastating loss.   

“These fallen heroes answered the call to go into harm’s way to do the honorable work of helping others. We are proud of their service and deeply saddened by their loss. As we mourn, we also keep those who are still over there protecting Americans and our Afghan partners at the forefront of our thoughts. Our Marines will continue the mission, carrying on our Corps’ legacy of always standing ready to meet the challenges of every extraordinary task our Nation requires of her Marines.      

“I am continually humbled by the courage and warrior spirit exhibited every day by Marines across the globe. The sacrifices Marines make on behalf of freedom must never go unnoticed or unappreciated. I ask that you keep these Marines and service members, and especially their families, in your thoughts and prayers.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The United States and Singapore have reaffirmed a strong military partnership that includes continuing rotational deployments of U.S. naval units to Singapore, the White House said. 

Singapore, an island nation at the tip of the Malay peninsula in the South China Sea, hosts a U.S. naval logistics presence at a base in Changi, one that has hosted the first rotational deployments of the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships. The location’s importance to regional security has increased with the development in recent years of Chinese bases built in atolls in the South China Sea.  

In an Aug. 23 statement, the White House announced cooperation with Singapore on a number of issues, including military partnership. 

“Singapore provides critical access for U.S. military units deployed to the region, hosting nearly 1,000 service members, civilians, and dependents which support port visits and sorties transiting the country’s military airfields – while Singapore has the second largest military presence in the United States of any foreign partner, with 1,000 Singapore military personnel and dependents stationed across the country,” the statement noted. 

“The United States and Singapore remain deeply committed to working together to uphold regional peace, security, and stability,” the statement said. “The United States and Singapore reached agreements that reaffirm the strength of our bilateral Strategic Partnership, the critical importance of our security relationship, and the U.S. enduring commitment to maintaining a robust presence in Southeast Asia, including through rotational deployments of U.S. P-8 aircraft and littoral combat ships to Singapore.”