ARLINGTON, Va. — The tiered system for testing of U.S. military personnel for COVID-19, considered a key element in defeating the novel coronavirus, has exceeded the goal of 56,000 tests per week, Defense Department officials told Pentagon reporters on July 30.

Not only has the program exceeded the 56,000 tests-per-week goal set in May, the Defense Department has been administering nearly 60,000 tests per week for several months, said Air Force Major Gen. Lee E. Payne, assistant director for combat support at the Defense Health Agency and a medical doctor.

“We’ve seen testing increase five-fold in the last three months, and to date, we’ve conducted over 540,000 tests since January,” said Lee, who also leads the Pentagon’s diagnostic and testing task force.

Defense Department personnel are testing positive for COVID-19 at lower rates than the general population, except for the 18- to 24-year-old age group, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the Joint Chiefs of Staff surgeon. The reason is not attributable to young people’s behavior, but because they are the largest demographic group across the U.S. armed services and are tested more, especially those who are incoming recruits, he added.

The Defense Department unveiled the priority-based, four-tiered system on April 22, when the department’s testing ability was limited by equipment shortages and slow turnarounds on test results. Tier 1 targeted critical national-security capabilities, like strategic nuclear deterrent units. Tier 2 focused on engaged, fielded forces around the world, while Tier 3 was for testing forward-deployed and redeploying forces. The remainder of the military makes up Tier 4.

Even with the rise in testing, infection rates for COVID-19 among active-duty military have held steady for several weeks at 5.7%, Payne said. The cumulative number of service personnel hospitalized for COVID-19 has been far less than the number diagnosed with the virus and far less than medical experts expected in January and February, Friedrichs noted.

“There were a lot of unknowns” about COVID-19 back then, he said, adding, “We have a lot more knowledge today about how to treat those infected.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s top acquisition official said the service is focused on sustaining its shipbuilding industrial base and the shipyard workers, critical to avoiding the pain of losing the services of any yard and its highly trained work force.  

“The shipyard workers in that workforce are valuable members of our shipbuilding community and have built great ships and built them well for our Navy,” said James F. Geurts, speaking July 30 to reporters during a teleconference, responding to a question from Seapower about the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, whose production of Independence-class littoral combat ships and Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ships will end in the next few years. 

“I am absolutely interested in ensuring that we don’t lose large chunks of the industrial base such as that shipbuilder or others.”  

Geurts said that “restarting an industrial base that you lose is really hard, really painful, and takes a long time. We are absolutely focused on ensuring we do not lose an industrial base because we don’t have the time or resources to re-generate it later when we need it.” 

He emphasized the value of the Defense Production Act in shoring up the industrial base. “We’ve been working with Austal to enhance their capabilities to be able to be effective for future ships,” he said. “So that work is ongoing as a shared activity between the Navy and the shipbuilder there.” 

He also pointed to the current stimulus bill draft in Congress, noting that “there is certainly opportunity there to look for key capabilities that we can build in the near term that allows us to bridge to future needs.”  

Geurts said he was optimistic about the future of shipbuilding for the Navy, including for Austal. 

“For the entire shipbuilding community, it’ a heck of an exciting time here,” he said. “We have a lot of new ship types that we want to go build, both manned and unmanned, so the critical activity from my perspective is ensuring we’ve got the industrial base — both at the shipbuilder and the supplier — ready to go so we can pivot and continue to expand the number and types of ships we’re building and drive the cost out of those ships.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing two concepts of operations for unmanned ships and other watercraft, the agency’s acting director said July 30. 

DARPA, which successfully developed what is called the Sea Hunter autonomous unmanned surface vessel, now operated by the U.S. Navy, is doing more work on autonomy and other crew-less technology. 

Peter Highnam, acting director of DARPA, who spoke to the Defense Writers Group at a webinar of the Project for Media and National Security of the George Washington University, said the agency is developing the Sea Train and the NOMARS (No Manning Required Ship) concepts. 

Under the Sea Train concept, a group of four or more unmanned vessels, either physically connected in trail or unconnected but sailing in formation, would be able to reduce the resistance of high sea states. They would be linked by command-and-control and navigation systems that could detach hulls for different missions and reassemble in trail or in formation.    

“How do we find a way involving [artificial intelligence] or autonomy?” Highnam asked rhetorically. “How do we put three or four hulls very closely in trail through different sea states to really be very efficient? Think of bike racing, being … up close behind the guy up front. You have to be constantly tracking that. So, there are potentially huge wins in terms of fuel efficiencies in autonomous longhaul work.” 

The NOMARS program involves a vessel designed from the outset to need no accommodations for a crew. “If you were to design a vessel completely from scratch, with no intention of ever having people on it, including perhaps repair at sea, what would you do differently?” he asked. “What I like about is, does the notion of ‘up’ even matter? Think of no [air conditioning], no messing, no staterooms, it’s a very different place to be.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. Marine Corps leaders on Okinawa have relaxed restrictions for some essential off-base activities as the spread of COVID-19 on the island has slowed and U.S. military headquarters in Japan ordered a more rigorous novel coronavirus testing policy for personnel arriving on the island.

On July 29, Okinawa-based Marine Corps Installations Pacific (MCIPAC) reported that no one affiliated with the Marines on the island — uniformed, family member, or civilian employee — had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours. “We are still testing some groups and will be testing close contacts before they can exit quarantine,” Maj. Kenneth Kunze, an MCIPAC spokesman, said in a July 29 statement e-mailed to Seapower.

“Leadership is confident that we have contained the outbreak and are working hard to continue to mitigate the spread as the number of cases within the civilian population continues to rise on Okinawa and service members and families continue to [permanent change of station] to the island.”

Also on July 29, U.S. Forces-Japan, a component of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command overseeing all U.S. defense issues in Japan, directed all Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) personnel to undergo COVID-19 exit tests prior to release from the 14-day restriction of movement (ROM) already required of all new arrivals, including military, civilians, families and contractors.

Exit testing will be done between day 10 and 14 of the ROM requirement, and individuals must complete their full 14 days of isolation, regardless of the test result. Individuals testing positive will move from ROM into isolation. Component commanders were directed to develop and implement safety procedures for the new testing. Japanese officials in Okinawa and Tokyo have complained that the U.S. military was not doing enough to ensure all their arrivals from overseas were being tested.

On July 28, the Marines loosened some restrictions on off-base activities on Okinawa, which has been under stricter health protection rules than bases in Japan since July 11. Restrictions were eased on outdoor physical fitness activities and visiting off-base essential services like doctors, veterinarians, banks, grocery stores and gas stations. While personnel and their families may opt to use off-base schools and child-care centers, off-base liberty and recreation still are prohibited.

Navy and Marine Corps medical personnel, after “vigorous contact tracing and conducting more than 4,500 COVID-19 tests in the past month,” have identified two clusters, III Marine Expeditionary Force said in a press release. Those clusters are at Camp Hansen and Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, both of which are on Okinawa. Most of these individuals have been in quarantine since July 18, some since July 12, III MEF said on a Facebook posting.

“The level of testing has decreased over the last few days as the large batch testing of entire groups and units on Camp Hansen and MCAS Futenma have [been] reduced,” Kunze said.

As of July 24, there were 189 cases of COVID-19 at U.S. military installations in Japan and outlying islands, according to U.S. Forces-Japan. They included 84 at Camp Hansen, the worst-hit, 78 at MCAS Futenma, and two at Kadena Air Base, a U.S. Air Force facility, all on Okinawa. Two other Marine Corps installations on Okinawa, Camps Courtney and Kinser, each reported one person testing positive.

MCAS Iwakuni and Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan both reported three cases each and Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, reported nine cases. The remaining cases were at Army and Air Force bases in Japan.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s overseas expeditionary warfare capacity has expanded significantly with the deployment of the second expeditionary base ship USS Hershel “Woody” Williams.

The ship is forward-deploying to the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of operations. The Williams likely will give the Navy a more enduring presence in waters off Africa.  

The Navy’s first ESB, USS Lewis B. Puller, is forward-deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command area of operations. Both ships operate with two crews, Blue and Gold, which rotate with each other in a manner like the Navy’s four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines. Both ESBs operate with a mixed crew of Sailors and civil mariners of the Military Sealift Command.

The Hershel “Woody” Williams, with its Blue Crew on board, departed Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on July 27, the U.S. 2nd Fleet public affairs said in a release.

In recent years, the Navy occasionally has deployed expeditionary fast transport ships, destroyers, and amphibious warfare ships to waters off West Africa for theater security cooperation missions.

“As the commanding officer of the “Woody” Williams’ Blue Crew, I can tell you that we are excited to embark on the ship’s first deployment,” Capt. David Gray, commanding officer of the Blue Crew, said in the release. “For the majority of our Sailors, this will be their first deployment, and I can’t think of a more exciting area to operate in. We look forward to our deployment in U.S. Naval Forces Africa.”

The 784-foot-long Hershel “Woody” Williams “features a 52,000 square-foot flight deck, fuel and equipment storage, magazines, repair and mission-planning spaces,” the release said. “Its features include a four-spot flight deck, a mission deck and hangar, work and living spaces for a couple hundred staff and embarked personnel.”

The ship can embark rotary-wing aircraft, mine-countermeasures unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles, patrol craft, SEAL teams and other special operations forces. It has command, control, and communications capabilities for its embarked forces. The ESB is named for Hershel “Woody” Williams, a Marine Corps veteran, awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

NEW ORLEANS — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Diligence arrived at the cutter’s new homeport in Pensacola, Florida, at the end of a 64-day patrol in the Caribbean, July 27, the Coast Guard 8th District said in a release.

The Diligence crew performed counter-drug, search and rescue, and migrant interdiction operations in support of the Coast Guard’s 7th District.

This patrol began May 25 when the ship departed Wilmington, North Carolina, for the last time. The Diligence spent the prior 28 years homeported on Wilmington’s historic downtown Riverwalk, along the bank of the Cape Fear River. The cutter marked the completion of its third homeport shift throughout its service history after mooring on July 27 at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

The Diligence crew patrolled the Windward Pass between Cuba, the Bahamas, and Haiti alongside interagency and international partners to prevent and respond to dangerous illegal maritime migration and narcotics smuggling from Central and South America. The crew also completed necessary shipboard training to maintain qualifications and operational readiness during a summer period that featured an approximate one-third turnover of the ship’s crew.

“Diligence’s departure from Wilmington, North Carolina, was bittersweet, and we look forward to starting the next chapter of Diligence’s long and storied history in Pensacola,” said Cmdr. Luke Slivinski, Diligence’s commanding officer. “The crew’s commendable professionalism and proficiency enabled Diligence’s successful patrol execution amidst the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Diligence is a 56-year-old, 210-foot medium-endurance cutter and has a crew of 70 personnel. The cutter’s primary missions are counter-drug operations, migrant interdiction, enforcing federal fishery laws, and search and rescue in support of Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron, the aeronautical team known as the Blue Angels, received its first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter, marking the beginning of a new generation of aircraft for the world-renowned team.

The Super Hornet was delivered July 27 to the Blue Angels at their home base, Naval Air Station Pensacola, according to a spotter.

The Blues have flown the legacy Hornet since 1986, when it replaced the A-4F Skyhawk on the team. Single-seat F/A-18A and two-seat F/A-18B versions were used by the team and have been supplemented by single-seat F/A-18C and two-seat F/A-18D versions.

Boeing, the builder of the Super Hornet, was awarded a contract in August 2018 to convert nine single-seat F/A-18Es and two F/A-18F two-seater versions for the team.

The Super Hornets are receiving more than a new paint scheme. The internal M61 cannon is removed and replaced by a smoke generator is installed. An Artificial Feel Spring is installed on the flight controls to help the pilot in close formation flying. The modified flight software helps the pilot align the demonstration flight path to help give the watching airshow crowd the most advantageous view. The landing gear is modified to allow flight at higher speeds and increased Gs with the gear extended.

This year the Blue Angels also are receiving a new “Fat Albert,” a transport aircraft that flies the team support personnel and equipment to its airshow destinations and also performs at the show demonstrating a Rocket-Assisted Takeoff. The old C-130T was retired and is being replaced by an ex-Royal Air Force C-130J.

CARIBBEAN SEA — The Cyclone-class patrol ship USS Shamal with an embarked U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment (LEDET) recovered more than 3,900 pounds of suspected marijuana on July 4, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet public affairs said in a July 27 release.

While on routine patrol in the Caribbean Sea, Shamal spotted the go-fast vessel. Once detected, the crew observed suspected drug smugglers aboard jettisoning packages overboard.

In a coordinated effort, Shamal launched their small boat and the LEDET was deployed to the scene to further investigate.

Upon arriving on scene, the Shamal and the embarked LEDET recovered a total of 708 bales of suspected marijuana, totaling more than 3,940 pounds worth over an estimated wholesale value of $6.9 million.

“The Shamal team performed very well during the interdiction and safely boarded the vessel,” said Shamal’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Daniel O’Neill. “We received outstanding training in preparation for this patrol, and it really motivates the Shamal team when we’re able to demonstrate our abilities with a successful bust.”

USS Shamal is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations supporting U.S. Southern Command’s enhanced counter drug operations mission in the Caribbean.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and its escorting ships arrived in the U.S. Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility on July 24, where its strike group is relieving the USS Eisenhower carrier strike group (CSG). The Nimitz CSG, like the Eisenhower CSG before it, participated in a Competitive Unit Training Exercise (COMPTUEX) and departed coastal waters on deployment without the normal post-exercise return to port prior to deployment. 

The COMPTUEX is a final exam for a CSG prior to deployment. Traditionally, until recently, a CSG would get a homeport period of a month or so for crew leave and final deployment.  

By combining a COMPTUEX and a deployment on the same at-sea period, the Navy introduces more flexibility and less predictability in deployments, in the spirit of the Dynamic Force Employment concept. 

Another benefit is that the CSG reduces risk of infection by COVID-19 of its crew during the period between COMPTUEX and deployment. 

The Nimitz departed its West Coast homeport on April 27 but remained in the Eastern Pacific its COMPTUEX before turning west in June. The CSG participated in dual-CSG operations with the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Ronald Reagan CSGs and operated in the South China Sea. The Nimitz CSG also participated in exercises with the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean while en route to the North Arabian Sea. 

According to a Navy release, the Nimitz CSG, commanded by Rear Adm. James A. Kirk, includes Nimitz and its embarked carrier air wing, CVW-17; Destroyer Squadron 9, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59); and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114). 

The Eisenhower CSG has been deployed for more than six months, having departed the East Coast on Jan. 17. The CSG included the Dwight D. Eisenhower, with CVW-3 embarked; Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), USS Stout (DDG 55) and USS Truxtun (DDG 103). 

St. LOUIS — Boeing is preparing its MQ-25 T1 unmanned aerial refueling test asset to return to flight test later this year, this time with a U.S. Navy aerial refueling store, the company said in a July 23 email. 

The store was recently integrated onto a purpose-built pylon under the wing of T1 during a planned modification. It is the same store currently carried by F/A-18 fighter jets that perform aerial refueling off aircraft carriers. MQ-25 will relieve F/A-18s of carrier-based aerial refueling, freeing up those assets to perform other missions. 

 “When we resume flight testing later this year, we’ll have the opportunity to gather test points about the aerodynamics of that pod and the software commands that control it – all happening well before we deliver the Navy’s first MQ-25 jet with the same pod,” said Dave Bujold, MQ-25 program director. “That early testing and early software development is a big part of supporting the Navy’s goal to get MQ-25 to the fleet as quickly as possible.” 

The Boeing and Navy team conducted an initial round of flight testing that began with T1’s first flight in September 2019 and resulted in nearly 30 hours in the air. Bujold said those flights helped accelerate the team’s understanding of the aircraft’s aerodynamic performance and informed design decisions for both the air vehicle and its software. 

The MQ-25 will be the U.S. Navy’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Boeing is under contract to manufacture seven aircraft that will subsequently go into Navy flight test. 

When T1 returns to flight with the aerial refueling store, it will be under the control of Boeing air vehicle operators and monitored by a team of flight test engineers, including those from the Navy. That team first will be looking at the aerodynamic effects of the store at various points of the flight envelope and later will be monitoring the hose and drogue’s behavior in the wake of the MQ-25 airframe.