SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114) offloaded approximately 1,981 kilograms of cocaine, 28 kilograms of amphetamines and six suspected smugglers at Sector San Juan Oct. 2, following two separate interdictions in the Caribbean Sea, the Coast Guard 7th District said in an Oct. 3 release. 

The seized illegal narcotics have a wholesale value of more than $48 million. 

The interdictions are the result of multi-agency and international partnership efforts in support of U.S. Southern Command’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF). The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico is leading the prosecution for the two cases. 

“The Coast Guard is uniquely equipped to support the U.S. Navy and partner nation navies and coast guards in the interdiction of illicit drugs,” said Rear Adm. Eric C. Jones, Seventh Coast Guard District commander. “Our relationships with nations across the Caribbean basin, along with our law enforcement authorities, enable us to provide essential support to the mission against international criminal networks attempting to smuggle people and drugs into the U.S.  We strive to continue building these relationships, further enabling our essential missions that safeguard the American people and our nation’s vital maritime commerce.” 

“We continue to work with federal and state law enforcement agencies, along with our partners from the Royal Netherlands and United Kingdom navies, against drug traffickers in our area,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “These seizures mark two more successful operations in our fight against criminal organizations attempting to use our territories as a hub for their illegal operations.” 

The most recent interdiction occurred Monday, Sept. 28.  During a routine patrol of the RFA Argus, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship from the United Kingdom, the ship’s helicopter crew observed a suspect go-fast vessel with multiple packages and barrels of fuel onboard. The HNLMS Groningen, a Holland-class offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy that was operating nearby with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment onboard, responded and interdicted the go-fast with the assistance of the ship’s surface asset. 

The crew of the HNLMS Groningen embarked three smugglers; a Colombian, a Venezuelan and a Dominican Republic national from the go-fast.  They also located and recovered aboard the go-fast 49 bales that weighed 1,721 kilograms and tested positive for cocaine, and one package that weighed 28 kilograms and tested positive for amphetamines.  

The second interdiction occurred Sept. 24, after the aircrew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection maritime patrol aircraft detected a suspicious 35-foot go-fast vessel transiting without the use of navigational lights. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan directed the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft that relieved the first aircraft and maintained aerial coverage of the go-fast. 

The cutter Heriberto Hernandez responded to the sighting and interdicted the go-fast with the assistance of the cutter’s small boat and the Coast Guard aircrew. The Coast Guard boarding team embarked the three men, who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals, along with 13 bales of suspected contraband that were located under a blue tarp aboard the go-fast. The seized contraband tested positive for cocaine and weighed 260 kilograms. 

The cutter Heriberto Hernandez transported the seized contraband and suspected smugglers from both cases to Sector San Juan, where awaiting federal law enforcement agencies received custody. 

Cutter Heriberto Hernandez is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) has awarded $157,801 in Phase 1 funding to Kenautics, Inc., of Encinitas, California, to provide a more reliable system for marking objects in water, under SVIP’s Maritime Object Tracking Technology (MOTT) solicitation, the department said in an October release. 

The MOTT solicitation supports U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) missions by seeking more reliable tracking systems for accurately marking and monitoring objects in the water for recovery. The solution is intended to be used during operational missions to bolster waterway security, drug interdiction, search and rescue, and disaster response. 

Kenautics proposes to adapt their handheld Diver Navigation and Imaging System ― meant for waypoint navigation; subsea imaging; situational awareness; and information, surveillance, and reconnaissance ― by repackaging the system into a ruggedized buoy deployable from land, air, and sea under adverse conditions. The Kenautics GPS-AIS Navigation and Tracking Buoy will be usable in both overt and covert operations and will be designed to provide tracking and position data, geo-referenced forensic data sets, localization capabilities, and interactive functions. 

“Working together with DHS S&T and SVIP allows the Coast Guard to pursue innovative solutions through start-ups and small companies that are developing advanced technology, and we are looking forward to Kenautics’ Phase 1 effort,” said Wendy Chaves, chief of Coast Guard Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, and Innovation.   

“This marks the first award made under our partnership with USCG,” said Melissa Oh, SVIP Managing Director. “With experience designing for Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal, special operators, and first responders, we are optimistic that this project with Kenautics will enhance the USCG’s ability to carry out their missions.” 

The MOTT solicitation is open through 12:00 p.m. PST on February 20, 2021. Applications will be accepted on a continuous, rolling basis, and SVIP will evaluate applications three times on a quarterly basis. The next application deadlines are Oct. 20, 2020, and Feb. 20, 2021. 

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUDA BAY, Greece – The Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), shifted its homeport from Norfolk, Va., to Souda Bay, Greece, effective Oct. 1, 2020, the U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs said in an Oct. 2 release. 

Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams conducts U.S. Africa Command missions in the Mediterranean, and the waters around East, South and West Africa, to include the Gulf of Guinea operating with regional partners. 

“Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams provides a new capability in the theater, which enhances our interoperability with our partners across the spectrum of maritime operations,” said Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet. “The unique design of the ship fosters inter-service operations with our U.S. Marine Corps and Special Operations communities, which improves our ability to ensure maritime security and stability.”     

Due to the ship’s extended overseas assignment, Military Sealift Command (MSC) will conduct her routine maintenance in existing facilities at NSA Souda Bay and other overseas ports. 

“The ship truly demonstrates the U.S. Navy’s incomparable maritime flexibility and professionalism,” said Capt. David Gray, Hershel “Woody” Williams’ commanding officer, blue crew. “We operate with a crew of Sailors and civilians who, since our arrival in Sixth Fleet have supported U.S. Marine Corps and Special Operations training, as well as partner nation missions from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf of Guinea.”  

The ship’s two-fold mission provides the U.S. a forward deployed naval presence in Africa, as well as increased naval power through Navy and Marine Corps integrated operations, including Marine aviation and support to amphibious operations. Other operations and training capabilities the ship performs include support to special operations, command and control, and staging of equipment. 

NSA Souda Bay serves as a naval logistics hub for U.S. 6th Fleet, providing support to U.S. warships and logistics ships in the region. 

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conduct the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has announced plans to activate the force structure to operate its future MQ-25A Stingray aerial refueling unmanned aerial vehicle late next year. 

In an internal notice, the chief of naval operations directed the establishment of Unmanned Carrier-Launched Multi-Role Squadron 10 (VUQ-10) on Oct. 1, 2021. 

The squadron, to be based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, part of Naval Base Ventura, California, will assign detachments to carrier air wings to provide aerial refueling services to the wing’s first aircraft. 

VUQ-10 will operate under the administrative control of commander, Airborne Command & Control Logistics Wing, also based at Point Mugu.  

The Navy plans to procure 72 Stingrays. A Boeing-owned prototype is being test-flown by the company, which is scheduled to deliver four Engineering and Manufacturing examples of the MQ-25A beginning in 2021. 

The MQ-25A is scheduled to achieve Initial Operational Capability in 2024. The Navy also has said it plans to use the Stingray in the surveillance role, hence the multi-role term in the squadron’s designation. 

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) maker VideoRay has begun shipping its new Defender underwater robot to the U.S. Navy, the company said Oct. 1.

The shipments are done under an existing $49 million contract to deliver the Navy’s Next Generation ROV. The systems are being delivered with integrated sensors, tooling and software from Greensea, Blueprint Subsea, Nortek and Eddyfi, the company said.

The systems are being assembled at VideoRay’s Pottstown, Pennsylvania facility and will be used by the Navy for operations including littoral mine countermeasures, port security missions, and hull and pier inspection. Defender ROV shipments will be completed under the contract by the end of the year.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard Cutter Northland (WMEC-904) returned to its homeport in Portsmouth after a 47-day patrol conducting counter-drug and migrant interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 30, the Coast Guard 5th District said in an Oct. 1 release. 

The Northland deployed in August and offered pre-storm information and assistance to locals off the coast of Haiti.  

Prior to the arrival of Tropical Storm Laura off the island of Hispaniola, Northland crewmembers located a disoriented fisherman who had drifted approximately 17 miles offshore. The crew provided him with food and water as the ship escorted him back to land well ahead of the storm’s passage. 

The Northland also hosted a civilian Haitian-Creole interpreter for the majority of the patrol to assist with translations. 

“Before this mission I did not know anything about the Coast Guard,” said Rishi Jolivian, a Haitian-Creole interpreter aboard the Northland. “But, now I have so much gratitude and appreciation for what the Coast Guard does. I have tremendous respect for the Northland and it’s truly an awesome place to be.” 

The Northland crewmembers provided Coast Guard presence along the north coast of Haiti by conducting 20 transits through the Canal de Tortue. The crew also maintained a robust training schedule earning more than 160 qualifications in addition to running over 60 shipboard drills and over 30 hours of small boat training. A highlight for the crew was the live-fire gunnery exercise of the 76mm Mk75 Gun Weapon System. 

“I am truly humbled to command a crew that diligently works to get the job done,” stated Cmdr. Patricia Bennett, commanding officer of of the Northland. “Their remarkable ability to overcome the inherent challenges of serving aboard an aging 36-year old asset downrange during a global pandemic cannot be overstated. The crew maintained a high level of morale and camaraderie that, in my opinion, is really only encountered by those of us who serve aboard Coast Guard cutters. This crew truly demonstrates the spirit of why I go to sea.” 

Upon the Northland’s return to homeport, the crew will conduct critical maintenance and repairs to extend the ship’s service life and will undergo a rigorous training assessment to ensure emergency readiness for future deployments. 

The Northland is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia and routinely deploys in support of counter-drug, migrant interdiction, fisheries, and search and rescue and homeland security missions. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Unmanned aircraft maker AeroVironment has developed a bigger, badder version of Switchblade, its man-portable, tube-launched, loitering small aerial missile system.

The Switchblade 600 has greater capabilities for engaging larger, hardened targets with multi-purpose anti-armor ammunition at longer distances than the original Switchblade, now called Switchblade 300, AeroVironment officials said Oct. 1.

Both versions of small loitering missile, or loitering munition, are unmanned aerial vehicles designed to engage fixed and moving ground targets beyond line-of-sight with an explosive warhead. While launched from a tube like a mortar shell, they can “loiter” in the air for an extended period of time before striking, giving the operator time to decide when and what to attack.

Switchblade 600 comes with a patented “wave-off” feature that allows operators to abort the mission at any time if non-combatants are spotted too close to the target. If the situation changes, the feature allows operators to re-engage either the same target or others, avoiding collateral damage.

Larger than the back-packable 5.5-lb. (2.5 kg) Switchblade 300, the 600 model, weighing 50 lbs. (22.7 kg) is still considered to be portable and takes about eight minutes longer to set up than the two minutes for the smaller version. Both platforms are deployed via the launch tube in which they are transported. The new version has greater endurance, 40 minutes of flight time versus 15 minutes for the 300. It also comes with a high performance electro-optical/infrared gimbaled sensor suits, precision flight control and a touchscreen, tablet-based fire control system with the option to pilot the loitering missile manually or autonomously.

The $76 million contract awarded recently for Switchblade 300 procurement and support as part of the U.S. Army’s Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) program “is a testament to its battle-proven track record,” said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment’s president and CEO. Since 2012, Switchblades have been fielded by the Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command.

AeroVironment has been developing the Switchblade 600 with several Defense Department customers, said Brett Hush, senior general manager of Product Line Management for AeroVironment’s Tactical Missile Systems. “But the only one that we can talk about publicly at this point in time is the U.S. Marine Corps,” where AeroVironment is one of the competitors in a program that will hold a fly off in January to down select to a single supplier.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants (PEO USC) has set an ambitious plan to push development of the systems in his portfolio on the eve of fiscal 2021. 

Rear Adm. Casey Moton, speaking Sept. 30 at a Special Topics Breakfast webinar sponsored by the Navy League of the United States, said his PEO is excited to be overseeing the introduction of five new classes of warships over the next few years: the FFG(X) New Guided-Missile Frigate, the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LSV), Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV), Orca Extra-Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) and Snakehead Large-Diameter Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LDUUV). 

Moton set six major program priorities of advancing current systems and introducing new systems. 

Continue steady execution of littoral combat ship (LCS) building. This includes starting construction of the last two LCSs, laying keels for three LCSs, launching and christening of three ships, and commissioning four ships. Five additional ships will transition from post-delivery phase into sustainment.   

“I will continue to expect improvement in cost and schedule,” he said. 

Field the LCS Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Mission Package. The variable-depth sonar (VDS) had been deployed on an LCS in 2020 and is in testing, which is expected to be completed on the Freedom-variant LCS, allowing achievement of initial operational capability in 2021 and the beginning of testing on the Independence-variant LCS. 

“The [VDS] is detecting and tracking submarines now, and its critical offensive ASW capability will be ready to field on LCS, ” Moton said. “Our work on this resolution is critical because FFG(X) will operate this same VDS as part of its multi-mission capability.”  

Complete Operational Test on Mine-Countermeasures (MCM) Systems and demonstrate them together on the LCS. Individual systems are being tested operationally first before the full package. The Airborne Mine Neutralization System and the Airborne Laser Mine-Detection System are fielded in the fleet. The Block 1 Knifefish UUV, the Unmanned Influence Sweep System and the Mine-Hunting USV will be tested in 2021. These ASW Mission Package systems also can be deployed on other vessels of opportunity. 

“The package-level test is important as a demonstration of the system-level test that we’re doing now on and off LCS where we show that we can find and kill mines reliably,” he said. “FY ’20 was a big year, but FY ’21 is a critical year for us.” 

To prove LCS reliability and maintainability. Moton the four production LCSs that deployed in fiscal 2020 “have been successful and accomplishing their missions in support of our fleets and combatant commands, but the reliability must improve. … Our focus in reliability is in key ship systems such as propulsion and controls, deck and handling systems and radars.” 

Moton said a cross-functional LCS Strike Team has been formed to us a metrics-based approach “focused on availability drivers to generate and execute action plans … and on maintainability. … We want to ensure the Navy has the ability to better organically support the ships, including improvements in Navy ability to troubleshoot, to source spare parts and to perform appropriate levels of maintenance ourselves.” 

Complete frigate detail design and prepare for production. “Fincantieri is well in progress on material procurement and they are executing their staffing plans. … Our team is preparing to conduct a thorough baseline review with the prime contractor to ensure we have a good baseline to track cost and schedule,” Moton said. 

Execute our unmanned systems prototyping and acquisition plans. “In the USV arena we are executing a robust prototyping plan using our sea-based prototypes in combination with land-based development and testing,” he said. “By the end of FY ’21, we will have four USV prototypes on the West Coast — two Overlord and two Sea Hunter-types.”   

Moton said the two current Overlord USVs will be moved to the West Coast “and execute a busy year of testing which includes autonomous [increasing longer] transits and development vignettes.” 

The Overlord USVs “will go through a full year of testing and experimentation, including government-furnished  C4I payloads; combat system payloads; hull, mechanical and electrical upgrades, and with more complex autonomous behaviors.”   

Moton said that testing with the Sea Hunter “has been and will be critical. Out FY ’21 plans include the use of Sea Hunter in multiple fleet exercises, tactical training events.”    

He said the Sea Hunter and Overlord USVs will be used to exercise manned ship control over multiple USVs, test command and control, perform as part of surface action groups, and train Navy Sailors on these platforms.”  

He also said the “Aegis Combat System is being adapted to make LUSV and MUSV part of our netted fleet.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II strike fighter collided with a Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules tanker/transport aircraft over Southern California on Sept. 29, resulting in the loss of the F-35B and a crash landing of the KC-130J.  

“At approximately 1600 [local time] it was reported that an F-35B made contact with a KC-130J during an air-to-air refueling evolution, resulting in the crash of the F-35B,” the Marine Corps said in a release. “The pilot of the F-35B ejected successfully and is currently being treated. The KC-130J is on deck in the vicinity of Thermal Airport. All crew members of the KC-130J have been reported safe.” 

A photo of the KC-130J published in the Palm Springs Desert News showed the KC-130J largely intact, having made a gear-up landing in a field in a carrot field in Thermal, California. The photo showed that the two starboard engines and external fuel tank had been heavily damaged. The F-35B crashed near Salton City, California. 

The KC-130J was assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler/Transport Squadron 352, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. The squadron of the F-35B was not announced.  

The F-35B crash is the second for the Marine Corps. An F-35B assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort crashed in 2018.  The Corps lost its first KC-130J in December 2018 in a mid-air collision during an aerial refueling with a Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet strike fighter off Japan. 

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A contract to recycle an out-of-service U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser has been awarded to International Shipbreaking Limited LLC., one of the world’s largest green ship recycling companies, MarineLink reported on Sept. 29.

The USS Ticonderoga (CG 47), decommissioned in 2004, concluded its final voyage last week to the Port of Brownsville, Texas, where full dismantling will commence with 98% of all removed materials being recycled. The recycling work, which requires complete demilitarization of the entire ship, is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Ticonderoga was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and delivered to the Navy on Dec. 13, 1982. The warship was the lead vessel of the Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers and was the fifth ship in U.S. Navy history to bear the name.

The ship provided naval gunfire support off the coast of Lebanon on its maiden voyage in 1984. In 1986, it served as the lead ship crossing the “Line of Death” off the coast of Libya and removed surface-to-air missile batteries that had launched a SA-5 missile against an F-14 from USS America (CV 66). It was assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Battle Group and participated in: Operation Desert Shield in 1990, Operation Southern Watch (the enforcement of the no-fly zone over Iraq) and Operation Deny Flight, (the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over Bosnia) in 1995. From 2001 to 2004, Ticonderoga participated in security and counter-narcotics operations out of homeport Pascagoula. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she got underway the next day at 8 a.m. to support Operation Noble Eagle (protecting airspace along the Gulf Coast).

“We take great pride in having been awarded the Defense Logistics Agency contract to recycle this historic vessel,” said Chris Green, senior manager at International Shipbreaking Ltd. “The USS Ticonderoga has significant sentimental meaning to the men and women who served our country and spent a part of their lives with her. She will be recycled in a safe, respectful and environmentally responsible manner.”

International Shipbreaking Ltd., part of EMR Metal Recycling, has three specialist facilities located in Brownsville, Texas; New Orleans and Amelia, Louisiana. These specialized facilities have recycled more than 400 ships and marine structures including USS Tripoli (LPH 10), USS Constellation (CV 64), USS Ranger (CV 61) and USS Independence (CV 62). The USS Cape Florida (AK 5071) currently is being recycled.