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. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s future Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG) program is scheduled in spring 2022 for two program reviews that are milestones for the program to pass en route to production, the shipbuilder said. 

Mark Vandroff, CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine at Fincantieri Marine Group, the builder of the Constellation FFG, speaking Sept. 23 in a Defense One webinar, said the program’s Critical Design Review is scheduled for February 2022, followed in March by the program’s production readiness review. 

Vandroff, a retired Navy engineering duty officer, said his company expects to begin preparing for production of the first hull, FFG 62, in the spring of 2022 and to launch the ship in 2025. Delivery of the future USS Constellation is scheduled for 2026. 

A new Frigate Erection Bay at the company’s shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, will be able to house two FFG hulls (complete except for installation their mainmasts.) Vandroff said the bay will provide comfortable working conditions for shipbuilders during the Wisconsin winters. The FFGs will be 90% complete before they are launched. 

He also said that unlike the Freedom-class littoral combat ships the company is building for the Navy, which are side-launched from the building ways, the Constellation frigates will be launched with a Synchrolift. 

The Multi-Mission Combatants being built by Fincantieri also will be launched by a Synchrolift, Vandroff said. 

Fincantieri also is building the last four Freedom-class littoral combat ships (LCS 25, 27, 29, 31). 

Vandroff said his company has invested $250 million in capital investment and will need to hire 400 more shipyard workers over the next two years to meet the predicted workload. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The General Dynamics Electric Boat shipbuilder is focusing on its own nuclear-powered submarine construction programs while standing ready to assist in any plan to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. 

Last week, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia announced the formation of a partnership, AUKUS, with its first project being the construction of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian navy, instead of procuring French-designed diesel-electric submarines. 

“My message to my team is absolutely clear and that is: We stay focused at the mission at hand,” said Kevin Graney, president of Electric Boat, speaking Sept. 23 in a Defense One webinar. “The mission at hand is two Virginia [-class attack] submarines a year and Columbia [-class ballistic-missile submarine or SSBN]. Those are our No. 1 and No. 2 priorities, Columbia first and Virginia second. From that perspective there’s just an awful lot of work that we’ve got to do to get right and make sure we are supporting the U.S. Navy.” 

Graney said he saw opportunities for Electric Boat going forward but that with the 18-month consultation phase for the Australian navy there currently is no task yet on the program. 

“We stand ready,” he said. “The Naval Reactors team and the Navy knows we stand ready to support when tasked and, in the meantime, we’ve got plenty of work to do.” 

Graney said that six of the super modules of the first Columbia SSBN are under construction. It will be 2040 before the 12th and last planned Columbia SSBN is completed, he noted, and that the program would be the defining project for many of Electric Boat’s shipbuilders. 

Electric Boat has added more than 18,000 workers to the company over the last decade and has invested more than $250 million in workforce development. The company’s suppliers have increased from 3,000 to 5,000, located in all 50 states. The company is the largest employer in Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

Graney praised the efforts of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition during the COVID-19 pandemic for its response to the pandemic by accelerating funding forward to shore up suppliers and, thus, keeping them in business producing the materials and supplies needed to build submarines.    

JOHNSTOWN, PENN. — The U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, (NSWCDD) and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace have signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to demonstrate a weapon system with autonomous target identification, recognition and engagement, the company said in a Sept. 23 release.

NSWCDD develops the Automated Remote Engagement System (ARES) that increases the efficiency of remote weapon systems and remote turrets, which will be integrated onto Kongsberg Remote Weapon Stations to evaluate technology performance at a system level and support the demonstration of a weapon system for autonomous target identification, recognition and engagement. The common goal is to demonstrate this performance on Kongsberg’s latest weapon systems that will be fielded in the Navy such as the Tech Refresh Common Remote Operation Weapon System (CROWS), the RT20 turret on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS).

Kongsberg’s selection for the CRADA follows on the heels of several other Marine Corps programs started in the last two years. In addition to the fielding of CROWS on ACV and the Amphibious Assault Vehicle, Kongsberg’s RS6 30-by-113-millimeter Remote Weapon System (RWS) was selected for the MADIS program, its RT20 30-by-173-millimeter turret was selected as the ACV medium caliber weapon system, and various Kongsberg RWSs are the weapon systems on the prototypes selected for the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle. For the CRADA, Kongsberg is leveraging work it has already done as the remote lethality architecture provider for the U.S. Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle program.

Kongsberg brings more than 20 years of remote-control weapon technology of different sizes, complexity and payloads and is an ideal partner for this co-development effort with NSWCDD. While continuing to perfect its systems, Kongsberg has developed a fire control system that can be wireless operated and controlled by a robotic operator. This independently funded fire control system for RWS and medium caliber turrets is capable of interacting with ARES and will be demonstrated through this CRADA.

Kongsberg has delivered nearly 20,000 RWS units to more than 20 countries worldwide. Kongsberg is also the sole provider of RWS and remote turrets to the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. All RWS and remote turrets bound for U.S. customers are manufactured in the Kongsberg Johnstown, Pennsylvania, facility.

FREIDRICHSHAFEN, Germany — To provide customers with complete automation solutions from a single trusted source, Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines Robotics announced a new collaboration that will deliver comprehensive remote command, autonomous control and intelligent crew support systems to the marine market and complement Rolls-Royce’s mtu NautIQ marine automation portfolio, Rolls-Royce said in a Sept. 22 release.  

As part of this agreement, Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems business unit and Sea Machines, the leading developer of remote-vessel command and autonomous control systems, will join forces on the development and sale of fully and semi-autonomous vessel control systems. The combination of Rolls-Royce’s propulsion and automation solutions with Sea Machines’ vessel control products will offer marine customers significant benefits in terms of vessel operations, safety, efficiency and environmental impact, according to the companies. 

Michael Johnson, CEO and founder of Sea Machines, said, “Our autonomous vessel control products and advanced perception systems are pioneering the revolutionary shift of conventional and manual vessel control effort from human to intelligent technology. Autonomous systems take over routine efforts, reduce stress for crews and thus increase operational predictability and safety. The technology makes shipping more productive, economical and contributes to more sustainable operations. We partner with those best-in-class and Rolls-Royce stands out as being most trusted. We look forward to serving the market together and furthering the technology that provides solutions for customers.” 

Denise Kurtulus, Vice President Global Marine at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said, “As part of our PS 2030 strategy, we are evolving from a propulsion supplier to a provider of integrated sustainable solutions. In the marine sector, we want to provide our customers with complete solutions from ‘bridge to propeller’ with the highest quality customers have come to expect from us. We are delighted to have found another strong and agile partner in Sea Machines to help us achieve this.”  

The strategic cooperation will focus on products for remote and autonomous vessel control and situational awareness, primarily for yachts, commercial and government vessels. As part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce Power Systems will receive sales and service rights for existing and future Sea Machines products. The two companies will also work together to develop new capabilities to provide customers with advanced total solutions that aggregate and analyze all vessel data and intelligently control vessels based on this information.  

Claudius Müller, head of Business Development of the marine business at Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said, “Our aim is to offer our customers highly innovative and integrated solutions which are industry-leading – from propulsion, ship automation, bridge systems to semi- and fully autonomous control systems, complemented by our digital solutions like our latest Equipment Health Management system mtu NautIQ Foresight. Following the acquisition of Servowatch and the inclusion of bridge systems into our newly launched mtu NautIQ portfolio, the agreement with Sea Machines is the logical next step.”  

Moran David, Chief Commercial Officer at Sea Machines, stated, “This partnership is a milestone for the marine industry. It signifies Rolls-Royce’s trust with Sea Machines in continuing their long tradition of being at the forefront of innovation. Expanding on Sea Machines’ commercially deployed product range, the companies are already aiming at joint efforts reaching far beyond the development of autonomous ship controls. It’s an exciting time for the future of the marine industry.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of Defense today announced the award of 13 grants totaling approximately $60 million under the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program and the award of five grants totaling approximately $25 million under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program, the department said in Sept. 22 releases.  

The grants were made by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. The infrastructure projects benefit local installations, supporting service members, their families and the department’s missions. The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program makes long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, research and development, and small business support in order to strengthen the national security innovation base.    

The maritime industry-related grant award under Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program was for $5 million to the Virginia Office of Veterans and Defense Affairs-led Defense Manufacturing Consortia to undertake a $7,045,113 project to recruit, train and modernize the commonwealth’s maritime workforce. The goal of the Virginia Maritime Industrial Base Consortium is to increase manufacturing capacity, capability, resiliency and diversity in the maritime industrial base by creating a cross-region K-12 to university training pipeline for skilled workers and manufacturing engineers to support the Navy’s sustainment and shipbuilding needs. 

The naval-related Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program grant awards are as follows: 

• $650,000 to Carteret County, North Carolina, to undertake a $1,950,000 project to implement shoreline and infrastructure protection measures on Radio Island. The project supports Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia, and will include restoration of a beach and dune system to mitigate erosion problems. 
• $3,500,000 to the city of Oceanside, California, to undertake an $18,601,703 project to construct a new fire station to support emergency response resources provided to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. 
• $395,118 to St. Mary’s County, Maryland, to undertake a $564,454 project to improve pedestrian access across Route 235 to installation gates, supporting Naval Air Station Patuxent River.  
• $6,440,985 to Escambia County, Florida, to undertake an $9,201,408 project to construct emergent and submerged offshore reef breakwaters and 20 acres of sandy beach habitat in support of Naval Air Station Pensacola. 
• $3,000,000 to the city of Milton, Florida, to undertake a $4,371,500 project to increase wastewater treatment capacity in support of Naval Air Station Whiting Field.  
• $10,000,000 to the Kitsap County Sewer Utility, Washington, to undertake a $20,300,000 in support of Naval Base Kitsap (Bangor & Keyport).  
• $4,230,133 to United Water Conservation District, California, to undertake a $12,429,191 project to construct a treatment facility for three existing lower aquifer system wells in support of Naval Base Ventura County. 
• $5,254,800 to the Port of Everett, Washington, to undertake an $8,758,000 project to support the Port of Everett’s marina facilities in support of Naval Station Everett. 
• $250,000 to the city of Portsmouth, Virginia, to undertake a $640,000 in transportation improvements to Naval Support Activity Hampton Road’s Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. 

The U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is conducting its annual Warfare Innovation Continuum (WIC) scenario this week on a critical naval priority: the future hybrid force. 

Led by the NPS Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI), WIC 2021 is addressing a “design challenge” of “How might emerging technologies, new operational concepts and alternative fleet designs contribute to a more effective naval force across the spectrum from competition to conflict, and how do the alternative fleet designs enhance the effectiveness and resilience of joint, combined and coalition forces across all domains?”

NWSI serves as a hub to facilitate teamwork and collaboration with the NPS innovation ecosystem to optimize NPS’ interdisciplinary educational and research response to naval warfighting needs.

The hybrid event is led by retired Capt. Jeff Kline, the NWSI WIC director, and research associate Lyla Englehorn, the NWSI concepts branch lead, and is taking place both in person on the NPS campus in Monterey and on the “Virtual Campus” via Microsoft Teams this week.

According to NPS spokesman Dave Nystrom, the organizers expect more than 140 participants, including facilitators, panelists, moderators, observers and students, with international participation from Australia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Greece, Romania and the United Kingdom.  “Participation teams” will look at the design challenge from different perspectives, with two working at the classified level.

“WIC leverages classroom projects, theses and research in advancing naval concepts, assessing new technologies and developing tactics while enhancing our students’ educational experience and sharpening their combat skills,” Nystrom said. “It’s a perfect example of how NPS combines student operational experience, defense-focused education and applied research to deliver real solutions and leaders educated to employ them.”

Retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, president of NPS, told the participants that Hybrid Force 2045 theme will examine “how the naval services will operate in an era of robots, drones, crewed and un-crewed systems as part of the CNO’s vision outlined in the NAVPLAN and [Marine Corps] commandant’s vision outlined in Force Design 2030. As you consider this challenge, joint concepts and capabilities must also be accounted for as it is the Joint Force that will allow us to fight and win but will also give our nation’s leaders options in the competition phase or in preparation to employ our kinetic capabilities in conflict.

“This is the tenth year NPS has hosted the warfare innovation workshop, which is fully integrated into our year-long Warfare Innovation Continuum,” said Rondeau. “Following the workshop, the Continuum will carry on your ideas, proposed concepts and assessments of emerging technologies as capstone projects, theses work, prototyping, experimentation, modeling and simulation, and other research threads.  You are the first step in, and now completely part of, that Continuum.”

NWSI Director, retired Vice Adm. Dave Lewis added, “Using participant insights, NWSI will begin to inspire formation of various interdisciplinary research groups to address major topics of concern for our naval service. We anticipate the Hybrid Force 2045 Warfare Innovation Continuum to morph into a NWSI Research Task Force named “Hybrid Force 2045” in early fiscal year ’22. Other NPS Research Task Forces, which the WIC will inform, are the already established Task Force Overmatch and another Task Force planned for FY22 “Maritime Gray Zone.” Research groups will leverage the WIC and follow-on workshops as initiating events and as a construct to begin their own work,” Lewis said. “As some of the very best and brightest from industry, academia, system commands and defense labs, our WIC participants are invited to participate in these efforts.”

In its 70^th year, NPS provides defense-focused graduate education, including classified studies and interdisciplinary research, to advance the operational effectiveness, technological leadership and warfighting advantage of the naval service.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Kaman Corp., builder of the K-MAX unmanned helicopter for the Marine Corps, is proposing an autonomous quadrotor unmanned helicopter for the Marine Corps to enhance its re-supply capabilities in expeditionary advanced based operations, the company said in a Sept. 21 press conference and news release.  

The KARGO UAV is designed to be a robust, reliable, easy-to-operate UAV that can be shipped in a standard ISO container, quickly assembled by two personnel, and flown with internal pod-contained cargo or external sling-loaded cargo. 

The KARGO UAV will be a quadrotor with a length and width of 24.4 feet, a height of 7.5 feet and a weight of 1,340 pounds. It will be powered up to a speed of 121 knots by a 300-shaft horsepower gas turbine engine to carry payload up to 800 pounds. Range will vary according to payload. For example, a 600-pound payload could be carried 143 nautical miles one way. The range with no payload is planned for 523 nautical miles. 

“The Kaman KARGO UAV is the only system of its class that is purpose-built to provide deployed Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Soldiers and Coast Guard autonomous resupply in the lethal, fluid combat environment that future military operations will entail or for regular logistics missions. Our deployed service men and woman have persistent logistics challenges that we are answering with this reliable, maintainable and affordable solution,” said Ian Walsh, CEO of Kaman Corp., in the release. 

Kaman has been flight-testing a 50%-scaled demonstrator UAV of the KARGO UAV to refine the design. The demonstrator was developed using Kaman’s internal research and development funds. The company plans to build a full-scale KARGO UAV and flight-test it in 2022. 

Kaman has extensive experience in fielding autonomous cargo UAVs. Two of the company’s K-MAX UAVs were operated by the Marine Corps a decade ago in the mountains of Afghanistan. Romin Dasmalchi, senior director of business development, government, at Kaman, said in the press conference, said that the two K-MAX UAVs delivered accrued 4.5 million pounds of cargo and saved numerous lives by reducing the needs for vulnerable truck convoys. The two UAVs, designated CQ-24A by the Marine Corps, were stored for several years, but Kaman was contracted by the Corps to restore them to flight and upgrade them for more demonstrations of an autonomous cargo delivery capability. 

Dasmalchi said that the KARGO UAV would reduce manpower and training requirements for the Corps and provide a self-deploying capability. He said the Marine Corps has not published requirements for a cargo UAV but are in the process of developing its requirements.  

Walsh said the KARGO UAV has potential to serve as a vertical replenishment aircraft got the Navy’s at-sea logistics force. 

He said the KARGO UAV is being designed with a gas turbine engine to meet a high technology readiness level to reduce cost and risk.  

“The KARGO UAV leverages commercial off-the-shelf components as well as thousands of hours of automated and autonomous flight data from Kaman’s K-MAX TITAN program, to reduce schedule and technical risk,” Kaman said. “Kaman selected Near Earth Autonomy as a partner on the pilot KARGO UAV program. Leveraging ongoing and concurrent collaboration between the two companies on the U.S. Marines Corps K-MAX TITAN UAS, Near Earth will provide obstacle avoidance and other technologies such as precision landing, sense and avoid, and navigation in a GPS-denied environment.” 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy’s Specialized and Proven Aircraft program office (PMA-226) recently delivered the first F-5N aircraft to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to begin ground and flight test of the F-5 block upgrade prototype project, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a Sept. 20 release.  

Aligned with the Navy’s strategic imperative of increasing capability and enhancing lethality, the newly redesigned tactical fighters will include features found on modern aircraft that improve both safety and readiness. 

The F-5 aircraft, performing for many years as a high-altitude, high-speed tactical fighter used by the Navy and Marine Corps as an adversary aggressor, lacks modern safety systems, avionics and common tactical capabilities found in modern aircraft. This F-5N aircraft is one of three F-5Ns that will be used as prototypes of the modernized cockpit, avionics and supporting aircraft architecture. These upgrades improve safety, capability and reliability, while resolving increasing obsolescence issues. 

Upon successful completion of test, the program office will use these upgrades as a major element in the conversion of the 16 F-5E and six F-5F aircraft the Navy recently acquired from the Swiss air force. The program office will convert these 22 aircraft under the Avionics Reconfiguration and Tactical Enhancement/Modernization for Inventory Standardization (ARTEMIS) program. PMA-226 successfully completed the independent logistics assessment for the ARTEMIS Program in June and anticipates reaching a Milestone C decision in early fiscal 2022. 

“Constructive collaboration with our partners, the fleet and the PMA-226 team drove mission success despite the technical, schedule and management challenges of integrating 21st-century technology into a 1970s airframe during the pandemic,” said Boyd Forsythe, PMA-226 adversary team lead.     

The F-5 aircraft receiving the block upgrade prototype modifications will be designated F-5N+/F+. The potential risk of loss of a pilot and/or aircraft will be reduced by adding necessary instrumentation that provides air-to-ground warning, severe weather protection and fuel level warnings. This upgrade will also add tactical capabilities designed to improve “friendly” force air-to-air training.  

Given the significant use of commercial-off-the-shelf components with well-defined maintenance and support equipment requirements for the block upgrade prototype configured aircraft, the product support strategy will be organizational level (O-level) to original equipment manufacturer. The block upgrade O-level preventive maintenance will consist of inspections, cleaning and scheduled maintenance tasks. Additionally, the O-level maintainers will load system software using currently fielded commercial off-the-shelf portable electronic maintenance aids. 

“This program will provide modernized aircraft with exceptional avionics and tactical capabilities which are needed to allow pilots to practice the tactics and techniques employed against a near-peer threat. Delivery of these improvements will ensure realistic and relevant tactical training the pilots need to win in combat,” said Capt. Ramiro Flores, PMA-226 program manager. 

PMA-226 is responsible for life cycle cradle-to-grave management of several legacy and out-of-inventory aircraft and engines, assigned by Naval Air Systems Command and contracted air services. Assigned platforms and services include: Adversary Aircraft (F-5, F-16); Contracted Aircraft Services; U.S. Naval Test Pilot School/Naval Postgraduate School T-38, H-72, X-26, U-6, NU-1B, O-2 and OH-58C; and Out of Active Navy Inventory aircraft T-2, H-2, H-3 and A-4, in support of the Naval Aviation Enterprise and international partners.