WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the availability of $19.6 million in federal funding to support capital improvements and employee training at small U.S. shipyards. The Small Shipyard Grant Program helps modernize eligible shipyard operations by improving efficiency and fostering quality ship construction, repair and reconfiguration.  

“The Department of Transportation will be investing $19.6 million to help shipyards across the country improve their facilities and maintain their efficiency,” Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao said. 

The private American shipyards that build and repair America’s military and commercial fleets contribute billions of dollars to the nation’s economic growth. In 2013, the private shipbuilding and repair industry supported nearly 400,000 direct and indirect jobs nationwide, $37.3 billion in gross domestic product and $25.1 billion in labor income. 

“U.S. small shipyards are the economic backbone for communities throughout the country,” Maritime Administrator Mark. H. Buzby said. “They are a proven, wise investment, leveraging the skills and expertise of our shipyard community, which in turn empowers our entire maritime industry.”  

Available to U.S. shipyards with fewer than 1,200 production employees, the Small Shipyard Grant Program supports a variety of projects, including capital and related improvements and maritime training programs to foster technical skills and operational productivity. Since its inception in 2008, the program has awarded more than $223 million through 244 grants. 

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Comtech Systems Inc. has been awarded a 10-year, $211 million contract by the Cubic Mission Solutions for next-generation troposcatter systems to support the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Comtech Systems is part of Comtech’s Government Solutions segment. Cubic Mission Solutions is a business division of Cubic Corp. 

In connection with this contract award, Comtech received an initial $13.4 million order to supply next-generation terminals to Cubic. Delivery of the first units will support test and evaluation for the Marine Corps. 

Compared to legacy systems for the Marines, Cubic and Comtech’s next-generation troposcatter solution increases bandwidth by an order of magnitude and reduces the size, weight and power by nearly 90%, making it the highest data capacity and most mobile beyond-line-of-sight system in the world. 

“We are extremely excited to be able to provide our leading next-generation troposcatter solution to Cubic, in support of the U.S. Marine Corps,” said Fred Kornberg, president and CEO of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. 

“As the world’s leader in digital troposcatter systems, our next-generation technology will enable the warfighter to communicate more reliably and with greater capability on the battlefield than ever before.” 

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Northrop Grumman Corp.’s AQS-24 mine-hunting sonar recently completed initial in-water testing of a next-generation deploy and retrieval payload, the company said in a release. 

Operated from the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vessel (MCM USV), the AQS-24 D&R demonstrated the unmanned operations needed to perform a mine hunting mission off the MCM Mission Package aboard the littoral combat ship (LCS). 

“Achieving this important milestone demonstrated reliable unmanned mine hunting operations, while using operationally representative hardware from the LCS MCM Mission Module,” said Alan Lytle, vice president of undersea systems for Northrop Grumman. “This allows the program to begin preparation for further at-sea testing of the system for extended duration missions in rigorous conditions.” 

The MCM USV tests are ahead of planned user-operated evaluation system testing of the AQS-24 on LCSs. The company has multiple versions of the AQS-24 to provide mine-hunting capabilities for navies. The AQS-24B is a deployed system which uses side-scan sonar for real-time detection, localization and classification of bottom and moored mines in addition to a laser line scanner for precise optical identification. 

Integration of the AQS-24 sonar with USVs allows for the real-time transmission of all AQS-24 data to a remote sonar operator, who can then commence real-time mission analysis (RTMA) of all recorded mission data. RTMA significantly reduces MCM detect to engage timelines, as well as the real-time reacquisition and identification of bottom mines following traditional mine hunting sorties. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Coast Guard will commission the fast-response cutter Daniel Tarr in Galveston, Texas, on Jan. 10, according to the Coast Guard’s 8th District.  

The Daniel Tarr is the 36th FRC delivered to the Coast Guard by Bollinger Shipyards. Vice Adm. Scott Buschman, Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, will preside over the ceremony. 

Lt. Nicholas Martin is the Daniel Tarr’s commanding officer. 

Daniel Tarr, the cutter’s namesake, was one of four Coast Guard coxswains who served with the Marines during the amphibious invasion of Tulagi, Solomon Islands, in August 1942. Tarr enlisted as a surfman and later became coxswain of USS McKean’s Boat Number 1 prior to the invasion. 

On Aug. 7, 1942, Tarr, along with the other three coxswains, landed the first wave of the Marine Corps’ Raider Battalion on the beaches of Tulagi. In the following three days, they also delivered vitally needed equipment, ammunition and supplies. For their role in the landing of the Marines’ first wave and capture of Tulagi, the four coxswains were awarded the Silver Star Medal. They were the first enlisted men in the Coast Guard to receive the Silver Star Medal. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Daniel Tarr’s patrol area will encompass 900 miles of coastline for the 8th District, from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. Fast-response cutters are named after Coast Guard enlisted heroes and are replacing the service’s 110-foot patrol boats. These vessels feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. 

NORFOLK, Va. — BAE Systems has received a $175 million contract
from the U.S. Navy to modernize the guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg, the
company said in a Jan. 6 release. The Vicksburg will undergo about 18 months of
work at the company’s shipyard in Norfolk, the ship’s homeport.

The modernization period (MODPRD) contract includes options that,
if exercised, would bring its cumulative value to $175.1 million.

BAE Systems initiated the first phase of Vicksburg’s
modernization program in May 2017. The company will begin the final phase of
work, called MODPRD, later this month. Under
the new contract, the shipyard’s employees and industry partners will work on
the ship’s weapons and engineering equipment, including its gas turbine
propulsion system, restore crew habitability spaces and support the
installation of a new Aegis combat system, communication suite and CANES
(Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise System). The Vicksburg’s MODPRD is
scheduled to be complete in July 2021, allowing the ship to rejoin the
operational fleet afterward.

BAE’s Norfolk shipyard also is performing similar work on the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg. The Gettysburg’s MODPRD work began in January 2019 and is expected to be complete this fall. The Gettysburg and Vicksburg were commissioned in the early 1990s, but BAE’s work is expected to extend the service lives of both ships into the mid-2030s.

“Over the last few years, BAE Systems has worked extensively on modernizing the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet cruisers,” said Dave Thomas, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair. “The Vicksburg and Gettysburg modernizations are big jobs. Our experience with cruisers and the expertise of our ship repair partners will return these vital combatants to the fleet with clear improvements and upgraded capability to carry out their missions.”

MIAMI — The Coast Guard interdicted nine Cuban
migrants 25 miles southeast of Tavernier Creek on Jan. 2, the Coast Guard 7th
District said in a release.

Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders received a notification via radio of a migrant vessel with nine people aboard. The watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Islamorada response boat and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) to interdict the vessel.

The cutter crew interdicted the vessel and
safely embarked the migrants.

One migrant was transferred into U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody after being brought ashore for more advanced medical care.

The remaining eight migrants were safely
repatriated to Cuba on Jan. 4.

A total of 52 Cuban migrants have attempted to
illegally enter the U.S. via the maritime environment in fiscal year
2020, which began Oct. 1, 2019, compared to 454 Cuban migrants in fiscal year
2019.  These numbers represent the total number of at-sea interdictions,
landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic.

ASTORIA, Ore. — A 26-foot Coast Guard trailerable aids to navigation boat capsized Jan. 4 with four crew members aboard near Pier 39 in Astoria, the Coast Guard 13th District said in a release. 

Four Coast Guardsmen were aboard the vessel conducting routine operations when the capsizing occurred. The vessel reportedly encountered a series of heavy wakes that came over the bow, which resulted in an unrecoverable starboard list that capsized the vessel. 

At 11:39 a.m., watchstanders at the 13th Coast Guard District command center in Seattle received four personal locator beacon alerts registered to Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Astoria. 

The beacons’ positions correlated with multiple good Samaritan reports of visual distress signals in the vicinity of Pier 39 in Astoria. Correlating reports were also received by Astoria 911 dispatch. 

At about 11:50 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River issued an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB) and directed a Coast Guard Air Station Astoria MH-60 Jayhawk crew and a Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment 47-foot motor lifeboat crew to respond. 

At 12:09 p.m., crew members aboard the Columbia Bar Pilot vessel Connor Foss contacted the Coast Guard reporting they had recovered the four Coast Guardsmen from the water after responding to the UMIB and were en route to awaiting medical personnel at the 17th Street pier. 

Clatsop County Sheriff Marine Unit assisted in the recovery by towing the capsized vessel to the 17th Street pier. 
 
All persons involved are reported to be in healthy condition after being evaluated at Columbia Memorial Hospital. The Coast Guard is overseeing salvage operations and has initiated the mishap board review process. 

SAN DIEGO — General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced that high cycle testing of its Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system for Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers was successfully completed over a two-day period in October at the Runway Arrested Landing Site (RALS) in Lakehurst, New Jersey.   

High cycle testing was conducted at RALS on a single AAG system that is identical to the three systems aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Five F/A-18E/F Super Hornets were involved in the testing to simulate the operational tempo of carrier flight operations at sea. 

“Over and over again, in rapid succession, AAG sustained an aircraft arrestment rate of nearly one per minute, successfully testing the system’s capability to handle the recovery sequence required for combat readiness,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. 

“Arresting aircraft at a high rate over a sustained period on the same wire is an aggressive test and shows the ability of the system to withstand extreme conditions. The Ford has the capability for an even higher operational tempo than demonstrated at the test site because it has three wires and clears aircraft from the flight path more efficiently.” 

High cycle testing is part of the verification and validation of AAG System requirements. The AAG system test program has completed more than 5,000 arrestments at the land-based test facilities at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and 747 arrestments aboard CVN 78 during the ship’s initial sea trials. The Navy has also issued an Aircraft Recovery Bulletin for the fleet air wing, clearing the AAG system for use on all Ford-class carriers. 

“We look forward to CVN 78 getting back out to sea in early 2020 to conduct more robust flight operations,” Forney said. “We anticipate executing significantly more sorties during this phase, utilizing both jet and prop aircraft. AAG works as intended, and we will continue to collaborate with the Navy to ensure system readiness and reliability to meet operational objectives.” 

AAG is a turbo-electric system designed for controlled and reliable deceleration of aircraft.  AAG is installed on board Gerald R. Ford along with the GA-EMS Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which uses electromagnetic technology to launch aircraft from the deck of naval aircraft carriers. In addition to CVN 78, EMALS and AAG are being delivered for the future John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and the Enterprise (CVN 80). 

SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf offloaded about 18,000 pounds of cocaine on Dec. 18 seized from known drug-transit zones of the eastern Pacific Ocean worth approximately $312 million. 

The interdictions were made between mid-October and early December by the joint efforts of the following five separate Coast Guard cutter crews: 

•        Northland was responsible for one case, or 3,328 pounds 

•        James was responsible for one case, or 1,609 pounds 

•        Harriet Lane was responsible for one case, or 5,037 pounds 

•        Thetis was responsible for one case, or 2,394 pounds 

•        Bertholf was responsible for three cases, or 5,851 pounds 

“This offload demonstrates another successful example of the ‘cycle of justice,’ said Vice Adm. Linda L. Fagan, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander. 

“This cycle begins with intelligence-driven detection and monitoring of illicit activities that then cue the interdiction and apprehension of smugglers and contraband, and ultimately leads to criminal prosecution. This ‘cycle of justice’ disrupts a ‘cycle of crime,’ which left unchecked, fuels violence and instability that corrodes our Hemisphere’s social and economic fabric, and directly contributes to historically high drug-related deaths in neighborhoods across North America.” 

Also in attendance for the offload was Preston Grubbs, the principal deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Robert Brewer, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. 

“One of our key missions is stopping dangerous drugs before they reach our shores,” Brewer said. “Succeeding in that mission would not be possible without the tireless efforts of the United States Coast Guard.” 

Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations. 

The fight against drug cartels in the eastern Pacific requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The U.S. Navy awarded a contract to General Dynamics Mission Systems that continues a broad scope of work for fire control systems and subsystems aboard U.S. Navy and United Kingdom’s Royal Navy nuclear ballistic-missile submarines (SSBN), the company said in a release. 

The contract has a total potential value of $299.9 million over the next four years.  The omnibus contract is a follow-on to a contract awarded to General Dynamics in December 2015 for the development, production, installation and deployed-systems support of U.S. and U.K. Trident II submarine strategic weapons systems and subsystems. 

General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Maritime and Strategic Systems line of business will deliver support and modernization of the existing SSBN strategic weapon system including fire control subsystem installation, maintenance, sustainment, training and repairs to navigation and launch subsystems. 

The company also will continue development of the fire control system for the U.S Navy’s Columbia class submarine and the Royal Navy’s Dreadnought class ballistic-missile submarine. Work on the development and sustainment of the Navy’s Ohio-class guided-missile submarine attack weapon control system is also part of the contract. Most of the work in support of this contract will take place here. 

“Our support for the Navy’s strategic deterrent program spans nearly six decades and forms the foundation of our U.S. Navy business,” said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Mission Systems’ maritime and strategic systems business. “Continuing the work we have done on existing Ohio SSBN fire control systems and the development of the fire control system for the Navy’s newest fleet of submarines demonstrates our ongoing relationship, built on trust, partnership and innovation, with the U.S. and U.K. naval forces.”