ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps continues to tweak its Force Design 2030, adjusting the number of tube artillery batteries, the number of MV-22B squadrons, the operation of a Marine Littoral Regiment and the size of an infantry battalion. 

Under Force Design 2030, the Marine Corps is divesting itself of some force structure and weapon systems and building others to reshape the Corps to be more capable of operating inside a threat zone in the current era of great power competition. 

Brig. Gen. Mark Clingan, assistant deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration and deputy commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, speaking April 21 in a webinar of the National Defense Industrial Association, said the Corps is looking at retaining more tube artillery batteries, choosing to retain seven batteries instead of five. 

The tube artillery batteries operate M777 155mm howitzers. 

Clingan also said the Corps will continue to field 16 Marine Medium Tilt-rotor Squadrons rather than reduce to 14 squadrons. However, the number of MV-22B Osprey aircraft in each squadron would decrease from 12 to 10 aircraft. One squadron, VMM-166, was deactivated last year. 

He said the Corps’ force design plans “probably weighted too much on the Marine Littoral Regiment and did not really acknowledge that to appropriately be able do the recon/counter-recon fight is going to require the full complement and scope of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, and so MLRs are singular units but are still going to be very much a part of reaching back and employing the resources of the entire MAGTF. 

Regarding the design of the MLR, Clingan said, “we probably focused too much on lethality without taking enough look or considering specifically the requirement to ‘sense and make sense,’ the mobility and maneuverability and also the need for deception. Now we’re making refinements to that as well. 

“Our initial thoughts were that MLR units would be sourced through UDP [the Unit Deployment Plan] rotation and now we’re opening the aperture and think, maybe, some PCS [permanent change of station] personnel may be more suited to the terms of the units,” he said. 

The Corps has one MLR on strength, the 3rd MLR. Two more MLRs are planned in the future: the 12th and probably the 4th. 

Regarding the size of an infantry battalion, “we initially thought we would be cutting that from about 896 [Marines and Sailors] down to 735,” he said. Noting the need to make the battalions more “robust and capable,” the number of personnel in a battalion “probably need to hover around numbers about 800-835 to have the capabilities it needs.” 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned the USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia’s sixth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter, into service at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City on April 21, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a release. 

Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, presided over the ceremony. 

The cutter’s namesake is Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Clarence Sutphin Jr., a New York native who served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1941 to 1945. During this time, Sutphin served as landing craft coxswain on board the attack transport USS Leonard Wood (APA 12), a landing craft supporting our troops in North Africa and Sicily. 

In November 1941, just weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 18-year-old Sutphin enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. After enlisting, Sutphin attended boot camp at the Coast Guard Yard near Baltimore. He then received orders to the North Carolina coast to train in amphibious operations and landing craft, also known as Higgins Boats, landing troops in North Africa and Sicily. 

When that operation was complete, the boat transited to the Pacific theater. During the Battle of Saipan in 1944, Sutphin helped oversee boat operations, including landing, loading, and salvaging landing craft as the USS Leonard Wood endured the heavy fire. During the conflict, he repeatedly risked his life to save others. He swam a towline to a landing craft stranded on a reef, saved another boat stuck on the beach under enemy fire, and came to the aid of eight Marines who a mortar round had struck. He provided first aid to the survivors and evacuated them to the nearest aid station. 

Sutphin stayed aboard the Leonard Wood through May 1945 and participated in its eight primary amphibious operations. Sutphin was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his “exceptional bravery under fire” during the Battle of Saipan. 

The Clarence Sutphin Jr. was officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on Jan. 6 in Key West, Florida. It is the 47th Sentinel-class fast response cutter. While the ship is commissioning in New York City, it will be homeport in Manama, Bahrain, part of U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia.

GAVIAO PEIXOTO, BRAZIL — Embraer delivered on April 20 the last modernized AF-1 fighter (AF-1B) to the Brazilian navy. The ceremony was held at Embraer’s industrial unit in Gavião Peixoto in São Paulo state. Under the AF-1 program (the Navy designation for the McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk), seven subsonic fighter jets were modernized, five single-seater AF-1Bs and two two-seaters AF-1Cs. 

The AF-1 is an intercept and attack aircraft operated from airfields or aircraft carriers as a vector for the fleet’s air defense. The Brazilian navy’s modernized aircraft received new navigation, weapons, power generation, computers, tactical communication, and sensor systems, including a state-of-the-art multi-mode radar and a new operating system. In addition to the modernization, the revitalization of the cell was carried out, increasing the aircraft’s useful life. 

Modernization provides pilots a situational awareness and familiarity with modern combat aircraft systems operations — essential and relevant criteria for the current combat scenario. 

As part of the modernization program carried out by Embraer, a high-fidelity flight simulator was developed permitting the Brazilian navy to carry out pilot training, thus increasing safety in its operations. Briefing and debriefing stations used in the training and proficiency of pilots were also provided to improve their use, to reduce costs and to bring greater effectiveness to mission planning and execution. 

TUCSON, Ariz. — The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defense an activation, sustainment and modernization contract for $483 million with options, if exercised, totaling $1.68 billion across five years, the company said April 20. 

Under this contract, Raytheon Missiles & Defense will provide the U.S. Navy services and professionals to complete the activation and fleet introduction of the three Zumwalt-class destroyers, while continuing to develop technology and warfare capabilities. 

“This contract underscores our role as a systems integrator, which goes beyond offering customers weapons and radars,” said Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “Our team provides Zumwalt destroyers extensive support, from engineering and cyber protection to software development and upgrades.” 

Additional services will include design, integration, test and evaluation, system upgrade and replacement, logistics product development, configuration management and training systems. 

The Zumwalt-class destroyers recently achieved initial operational capability in December 2021, with the inaugural fleet employment of USS Zumwalt scheduled for later this year. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is proposing to deactivate five electronic attack squadrons, or VAQs, that operate the Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack jet, roughly a third of the Defense Department’s tactical jet electronic attack force. 

As laid out in the recently released Department of the Navy’s fiscal 2023 budget highlights book, the Navy proposes to deactivate its entire expeditionary VAQ force, which deploys to overseas bases to provide electronic attack capabilities to the joint force. The five expeditionary VAQ squadrons are separate from the Navy’s VAQ squadrons that deploy on aircraft carriers. 

The Navy is the only provider of expeditionary electronic attack jets to the joint force. The Air Force retired its last EF-111A Raven jets in 1998 and the Marine Corps retired its last EA-6B Prowler tactical jets in 2019. The expeditionary VAQ squadrons have deployed to Southwest Asia, Japan and Italy over the years in support of U.S. and coalition forces. Last month, one squadron, VAQ-134, was deployed to the European Command as part of the build-up of forces in support NATO’s eastern flank after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The budget book says the five squadrons include a total of 25 EA-18Gs which would be placed in storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Montham Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, half in fiscal 2024 and half in fiscal 2025. The cuts also would free up approximately 1,020 officer and enlisted personnel. The Navy estimates the savings over the Future Years Defense Plan would be 807.8 million. 

The Navy’s five expeditionary VAQ squadrons are all based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington: VAQs 131, 132, 134, 135, and 138. The Navy’s only reserve VAQ squadron, VAQ-209, also has been used in an expeditionary role. 

The carrier-deployable VAQ squadrons are VAQs 130, 133, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, and 142, with another, VAQ-144, set for establishment in October. All are based at Whidbey Island, except for VAQ-141, which is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, as part of the forward-deployed Carrier Air Wing Five for USS Ronald Reagan. 

The expeditionary VAQ squadrons are considered high-demand/high-value assets by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The assessments of the various regional combatant commanders may be instrumental in reversing or mitigating the Navy’s proposal. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s 2023 budget proposal — including the Future Years Defense Plan — would result in profound changes to the missions, organization, force structure, training and crews of the Navy’s littoral combat ships in addition to the force reduction by decommissioning of many of the ships.

The LCS remaining in service would see a second order of effects that would further show a force dramatically changed from the original vision for the ships. The surface warfare mission and the mine countermeasures mission will be divided by coast instead of mixed on both. 

The Freedom-class LCS would be most the most affected by the proposed budget. Including earlier decisions, the Navy would, because of fiscal constraints, decommission LCS 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 across the FYDP. (LCS 1 was decommissioned in 2021.) Six Freedom-class ships (LCS 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 31) would be retained, having been or will be completed with the combining gear improvement installed. 

The Independence-class LCS will not be unscathed. The Navy proposes to reduce LCS 6 and 8 to single crews (from dual Blue-Gold crews) in 2023, and then decommission the two ships in 2024. (LCS 2 was decommissioned in 2021, and LCS 4 is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2022.) A total of 15 Independence-class ships would be retained in the fleet. 

All LCS assigned the surface warfare mission would be assigned single crews only. Such crews would see their manpower increased by approximately 25 Sailors each to help sustain readiness levels that a second off-hull provided. 

Since the antisubmarine warfare mission package is being divested, all LCSs marked for the ASW mission will be shifted to the surface warfare or mine countermeasures mission. Because of the substantial reduction in the number of LCS planned, the ASW mission in small surface combatants will reside solely in the future Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG 62), which the Navy says is a “foundational mission set for the FFG 62 program, which is a more suitable platform and Variable Depth Sonar [VDS] capability will be added to the fleet through the FFG 62 class.”  

The Navy is proposing the East Coast littoral combat ships — which are of the Freedom class — be assigned only the surface warfare mission and the West Coast LCS — planned to be only Independence-class ships — be assigned only the mine countermeasure mission. As a result, there would be changes in the LCS command and support organization structure. 

Accordingly, the LCS antisubmarine warfare divisions on both coasts would be disestablished in 2023 with the divestiture of the ASW mission. MCM Division 22 on the East Coast and SUW Division 11 on the West Coast also would be disestablished in 2023.   

With the overall reduction in LCS ships and their crews, and a force of just 21 LCS planned (15 MCM ships and 6 SUW ships), the training infrastructure required for training would be reduced. The proposal calls for the disestablishment of LCS Training Facility Atlantic, consolidating all LCS training at LCS Training Facility Pacific. 

All of these proposals will receive the scrutiny of the congressional armed services and appropriations committees. 

If the total LCS changes were to be approved, the Navy estimates the savings to be $391.4 million for fiscal 2023, totaling $2.46 billion over the FYDP. 

NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — The Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) arrived at Naval Station Rota, Spain, following a successful maritime security patrol in the Gulf of Guinea on April 18, 2022, said U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs. 

From March to April, Hershel “Woody” Williams completed maritime security operations with African partners from Sierra Leone, Cabo Verde and Senegal as well as members of the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. 

“The men and women that made this possible are a testament to our shared values and commitment to ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of navigation on the waters surrounding the African continent,” said Capt. Michael Concannon, commanding officer, USS Hershel “Woody” Williams. 

In March, the joint U.S. and African maritime team interdicted an illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing vessel operating in Sierra Leone’s economic exclusive zone.  

In April, as part of the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership, the joint team, led by Cabo Verde, worked in coordination with the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics, INTERPOL and Cabo Verde’s national Maritime Operations Center to conduct a compliant boarding of a Brazilian-flagged fishing vessel, which led to the seizure of approximately 6,000 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $350 million. 

 “I couldn’t be more proud of the professionalism and integration of the U.S. tri-maritime services, partner nations and other supporting organizations during our maritime security operations,” Concannon said. “These maritime security events show the world that our African partners are poised and ready to strike against illicit activity.” 

Hershel “Woody” Williams is the first warship permanently assigned to the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility. The U.S. shares a common interest with African partner nations in ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation on the waters surrounding the continent, because these waters are critical for Africa’s prosperity and access to global markets. 

The ESB ship class is a highly flexible platform that may be used across a broad range of military operations. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to support missions assigned. 

For over 70 years, U.S. 6th Fleet forces have forged strategic relationships with our allies and partners and solidified a foundation of shared values, experiences and vision aimed at preserving security and stability. 

BOULDER, Colo. — Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $99.6 million contract by U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific to provide mission-critical capabilities for Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A), the company said April 19.

Northrop Grumman will design, develop, integrate, test and deliver the first of the next-generation relay ground stations to support legacy and future missile-launch and missile-warning detection satellites. 

“The advanced technologies we bring to this mission build on our proven capabilities to provide existing and future missile warning systems that help keep our nation and its allies safe,” said Aaron Dann, vice president of strategic force programs at Northrop Grumman. “The model-based open-systems architecture provides the ability to rapidly deploy follow-on RGS systems in future locations around the world.” 

The RGS-A award will help address the U.S. Space Force’s mission to revolutionize existing missile warning and missile defense systems with the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution system. A key element of the FORGE architecture includes relay ground stations that support existing and new satellite constellations and the capability to handle changes in bandwidth and resiliency. 

NIWC Pacific will develop six antennas for RGS-A to enable the Space Systems Command Next-Generation Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Ground System to operate the legacy satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The antennas will be deployed to the island of Guam and remotely monitored and operated from the United States. 

Most of the work for the five-year contract will take place at Northrop Grumman’s campus in Boulder, where it just opened a 23,680-square-foot office building. Northrop Grumman has more than 2,200 employees across Colorado supporting key customers including the U.S. Space Force, Air Force, Missile Defense Agency and the intelligence community. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Even as the U.S. Navy was christening the first prototype of the Snakehead large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV) in February, planning was underway to cancel the program. 

The Navy is proposing in its 2023 budget to eliminate the Snakehead program, according to the Navy Department’s recently released Fiscal 2023 budget highlights book. 

The Snakehead is intended to be a major advance in UUVs and designed to be the largest UUV to be deployed on the interfaces of the Navy’s attack submarines. It is designed to be autonomous, modular and reconfigurable, equipped with a government-owned architecture. It features innovative hull materials and certified lithium-ion batteries. It is designed to be deployed from a modernized dry-deck shelter.  

According to the budget highlights book, the major problem in the program was “Misalignment of Snakehead LDUUV design and procurement efforts with submarine hosting interfaces result[ing] in limited availability of host platforms to conduct Snakehead operations.”  

The book also said that “cost and schedule delays associated with LDUUV development and Virginia Class SSN [attack submarine] integration prohibited further investment.” 

The only alternative launch and recover interface for the Snakehead is the Modernized Dry Deck Shelter. The U.S. Special Operations Command in conjunction with the Navy is modernizing three Dry Deck Shelters between 2022 and 2026. They are scheduled to become available for use in 2022, 2023, and 2026, respectively. 

Under Phase One of the Snakehead program, only one vehicle was built. 

The Navy estimates the cancellation of Phase Two of the program and future Snakehead procurement will save the Navy $185.9 million in fiscal 2023, resulting in a total savings of $516.8 million over the Future Years Defense Plan.  

The Snakehead Phase One prototype was christened on Feb. 2 at the Narragansett Bay Test Facility in Newport, Rhode Island, by a team from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport and the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants. 

BATH, Maine — Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday traveled to Bath, Maine on April 18, where he met with congressional leaders from Maine to visit General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, the CNO’s public affairs office said. 

Gilday met with Sen. Susan Collins and other congressional leaders and together they visited shipyard facilities, toured and met with Sailors aboard the future USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120). 

“The work being done here in Maine is critically important to our Navy,” said Gilday. “The entire workforce of Bath Iron Works is delivering cutting edge capabilities at a critical time for our nation.”  

“It was a pleasure to welcome back Adm. Gilday to Bath Iron Works, where he had the opportunity to see firsthand the tremendous skill and dedication of employees who are building the Navy’s most capable ships. We also met with the commander of the future USS Carl M. Levin. It is reassuring to know that the brave men and women of the Navy will crew a ship built by the world’s best shipbuilders,” said Collins.  “Increasing the size of our Navy fleet is imperative to our national security in order to counter the rising aggression by Russia and China. As a senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue to work to ensure that BIW has the resources it needs to support our Navy.” 

During the tour they visited and received updates at the Bath Iron Works outfit facility, post-blast paint shop, and spoke with shipyard workers. 

Gilday also met with BIW leaders to include the Interim President Robert Smith. They discussed the importance and challenges of the shipyard, which include material delays and connecting with a younger generation of shipyard workers. 

Aboard the Arleigh-Burke guided-missile destroyer, Gilday presented an award to a Sailor and expressed his appreciation to everyone on board.   

“Seeing a new warship being built is exciting, but what truly breathes life into a new ship is her crew,” said Gilday. “We are the finest fighting force in the world because of our people. I am confident USS Carl M. Levin Sailors will embrace a warfighting ethos with the integrity and uncompromising dedication that truly embraces their ship’s namesake, who helped ensure our nation’s armed forces remained the best in the world.” 

The visit marked CNO’s second trip to Bath Iron Works.