ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Defense Department will start a COVID-19 vaccination pilot program at 16 facilities in the United States and overseas, as soon as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants emergency authorization, which is expected in the next few days, Pentagon officials said Dec 9.

 Vaccination, which will be voluntary as long as the department is operating under an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, could start distributing almost 44,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the military’s expected share of a limited initial production, “as early as next week for immediate use,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery told reporters at a live-streamed Pentagon briefing.

The phase-in of other prioritized personnel at additional locations will continue until 60% of Defense Department personnel, about 11 million, have received the vaccine. By then, the department assumes vaccine production will have ramped up enough to permit unrestricted vaccination rates.

The first phase of voluntary vaccinations will target the coronavirus pandemic’s first responders: Healthcare providers and support staff, emergency services, and public safety personnel at Military Treatment Facilities.  At first, only a very small percentage of those first vaccinations will go to critical national capabilities forces, such as the long range bombers, ballistic missile submarines and land-based missiles that make up the nuclear deterrence triad, officials said. In the meantime, mandatory counter-COVID-19 procedures such as wearing a face-covering, social distancing and quarantining before and after deployments will remain in force, they added.

The 16 vaccination sites were picked because they had extra cold storage capability for the temperature-sensitive vaccines, sizeable local populations to vaccinate and large medical staffs, including an on-site immunization health specialist, said Director of the Defense Health Agency Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place.

The 13 vaccination sites in the continental United States include several Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard facilities: Navy Branch Health Clinic at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and the Naval Hospital Pensacola, both in Florida; the Alameda Health Services clinic at the Coast Guard Base  Alameda, the Naval Medical Center at San Diego, the Naval Hospital at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, all in California; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland and the U.S. Coast Guard Base Clinic, Portsmouth, Virginia.

The Pentagon announcement came eight days after a Navy reservist assigned to Navy Operational Support Center Akron, Ohio, died at a local hospital in Canton, Ohio from apparent complications associated with the coronavirus.

Builder 2ns Class Nathan Huff Bishop, 33, a Seabee, was only the second Sailor to succumb to COVID-19 despite widespread spikes in infection and death rates across the country. The first was Chief Petty Officer Robert Thacker Jr., 41, assigned to USS Theodore Roosevelt, the first Navy vessel to suffer a COVID-19 outbreak at sea. He died in April at the U.S. Naval Hospital on Guam. As of Dec. 2, a total of 17,035 uniformed Navy personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020, 14,217 have recovered, nine remain hospitalized and two have died.

BETHESDA, Md. — Sailors will soon spend more time focused on the mission and less on aircraft and ship repairs with a new information system driven by artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, Lockheed Martin said in a Dec. 9 release. 

Digitally re-engineering more than 20 standalone applications into one integrated system, this new tool enables Sailors and Marine Corps maintainers, to anticipate and resolve potential maintenance issues or part failures on aircraft, ships and other systems. 

The U.S. Navy is digitally transforming its legacy maintenance systems with a fully modernized, responsive logistics information systems solution developed by Lockheed Martin. 

Lockheed Martin partnered with the Navy to rapidly develop and test the integrated logistics information systems solution, emphasizing simplified user interfaces, streamlined workflows, and time-saving features such as auto-population and smart searching. 

“Lockheed Martin’s solution is both intuitive and streamlined to maximize end user efficiency,” said Capt. Allan Walters, former program manager of the Navy’s Command and Control Systems Program Office. “The ability to execute rapid and flexible changes to the software is impressive and designed to improve Navy readiness both ashore and afloat through reduced failure rates and improved repair times.” 

The solution’s advanced software capabilities use the latest Department of Defense-approved DevSecOps tools, so software updates can happen in days or weeks instead of months and years, enabling the Navy’s vision of “Compile to Combat in 24 Hours.” 

Navy maintainers can create, view and complete maintenance work orders from a mobile device. Instead of referencing a paper or digital manual, sailors can view 3-D models of objects and see where they’re located in the context of an entire ship or aircraft. 

“Our logistics solution provides a digital twin capability, integrating 3-D model visualization with material data, maintenance history and the entire operational environment,” said Reeves Valentine, vice president of Lockheed Martin Enterprise Sustainment Solutions. “Sailors can simulate a maintenance action and see its results before doing it on the real thing. Having this capability will result in a greater ability to predict part failure, resulting in optimized maintenance actions to improve asset readiness.” 

Smart searching and auto-population functionality help identify proper parts and common issues when creating work orders, which eliminates work and reducing errors. 

Lockheed Martin partnered with non-traditional vendors IFS – an enterprise software developer – and Beast Code, a Florida software start-up, to create the logistics information systems solution, which will be initially fielded at 10 Navy sites with about 10,000 users. The delivered solution is part of the U.S. Navy Naval Operational Business Logistics Enterprise (NOBLE) family of systems providing enhanced situational awareness, planning, execution, and management of maintenance and supply logistics and business functions for more than 200,000 sailors. 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard lit a first-of-its-kind, LED-based rotating beacon at Oak Island Lighthouse on Caswell Beach, N.C., Dec. 7, the Coast Guard 5th District said in a Dec. 8 release. 

This upgrade is the Coast Guard’s first LED-based rotating beacon for an active aid to navigation and will provide a permanent, cost-effective, and energy-efficient solution for the lighthouse. Necessary renovations of the lighthouse to prepare for the new beacon began in October. 

“Lighthouses have navigational and historic significance here in North Carolina,” said Lt. Brittany Akers, chief of waterways management at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “The Oak Island Lighthouse is especially notable as it marks the entrance to the Cape Fear River. The modernization of the light will ensure its continued reliable service to the mariner in a cost-effective way that respects the historical significance of the lighthouse.” 

The Oak Island Lighthouse was completed in 1958 on property that has been in use as a Coast Guard station since the 1930s. In 2004, the lighthouse was deeded to the Town of Caswell Beach, which maintains the property. However, the Coast Guard continues upkeep of lighthouse since serves as an active aid to navigation for the Frying Pan Shoal area. 

The lighthouse is currently not open for public tours due to COVID-19 mitigation measures. 

NASHUA, N.H. — BAE Systems has received a $60 million contract from Lockheed Martin to manufacture and deliver additional advanced missile seekers for the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), BAE Systems announced in a Dec. 8 release. The seeker comprises long-range sensors and targeting technology that help the stealthy missile find and engage protected maritime targets in challenging electromagnetic environments. 

“Our warfighters need resilient, long-range precision strike capabilities to compete with modern adversaries,” said Bruce Konigsberg, Radio Frequency Sensors product area director at BAE Systems. “We’re proud to partner with Lockheed Martin in delivering this distinct competitive advantage to U.S. warfighters.” 

LRASM combines extended range with increased survivability and lethality to deliver long-range precision strike capabilities. LRASM is designed to detect and destroy specific targets within groups of ships by employing advanced technologies that reduce dependence on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, network links, and GPS navigation in contested environments. 

This LRASM seeker contract continues the transition of the program from Accelerated Acquisition to Low-Rate Production. BAE Systems has delivered more than 50 systems to date that have demonstrated excellent technical performance over multiple test events. The company also is working to make the seeker system smaller, more capable, and more efficient to produce. 

The LRASM is being Deployed on Air Force B-1B bombers and Navy F/A-18E/F strike fighters. 

BAE Systems’ LRASM seeker technology builds on the company’s decades of experience designing and producing state-of-the-art electronic warfare technology, and its expertise in small form factor design, signal processing, target detection, and identification. 

Work on the LRASM sensor will be conducted at BAE Systems’ facilities in Wayne, New Jersey; Greenlawn, New York; and Nashua, New Hampshire. 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier repatriated 12 migrants from an interdicted illegal voyage and transferred two men, who were rescued in a separate case, to a Dominican Republic navy vessel Monday near Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a Dec. 7 release. 

The migrant interdiction is the result of ongoing multiagency efforts in support of Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG). 

“I commend the performance of the Joseph Napier crew in both of these cases,” said Lt. Matthew Miller, cutter Joseph Napier commanding officer.  “Their swift and assertive actions ensured the safe transfer of two rescued boaters and 12 migrants to Dominican Republic navy authorities.” 

The migrant interdiction occurred Dec. 6, when the crew of a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit stopped a 35-foot makeshift boat, approximately three and half nautical miles west of Aguadilla. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the cutter Joseph Napier to assist. 

Once on scene, the crew of the cutter Joseph Napier safely embarked 10 men and two women from the grossly overloaded boat.  The crew of the Joseph Napier provided the migrants with lifejackets before embarking the Coast Guard cutter, and once they were safely aboard, they received food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. 

Later Sunday afternoon, Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a communication from a Good Samaritan aboard the motor vessel Statia Glory, who reported being on scene with a disabled vessel with two people aboard, approximately eight nautical miles south of Mona Island, Puerto Rico. The cutter Joseph Napier diverted and once on scene embarked the two men from the disabled vessel that was taking on water from incoming swells.  The men, who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals, had no life jackets, marine radio or cell phone communications onboard. 

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

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will have to significantly increase the size of the fleet in coming decades to deter China from a risky escalation of the great power competition, the Defense Department’s top uniformed officer says.

“We’re  maritime nation,” the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, told the U.S. Naval Institute’s Dec. 3 Defense Forum Washington webcast. “And the defense of the United States depends on air power and sea power, primarily.”

Milley said the international rule-based order that arose after World War II, and for seven decades was maintained by the U.S. Navy “perhaps more than any other element,” is under stress, from climate change and the economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic to the diffusion of power, from two Cold War super powers, to regional powers like Russia, Iran and North Korea.  If that order falls apart, Milley warned, the great power competition could “turn into great power war.”

The transformation of China into the world’s second-largest economy, with an equally robust military, both in size and capability, poses a “longer term, almost existential challenge,” Milley said. “I’m not saying you’re going to have a war with China. I’m saying we want to prevent a war with China.”

However, it will take large investment in U.S. forces to prevent that from happening, he said.

“We’re going to have to have a much larger fleet than we have today, if we’re serious about great power competition and deterring great power war, and if we’re serious about dominant capability over something like China or some other power that has significant capability,” Milley said.

However, he expects funding to be tight.

“We need, roughly speaking, a consistent, predictable and timely budget that gives about 3 to 5 percent real growth,” Milley said. But with the demand to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the  damage it’s done to the U.S. economy, “I don’t see that as a realistic thing in the coming year.”

Acquiring a 500-plus-ship Navy in the next 25 years, as recommended in the Pentagon’s Battle Force 2045 plan, is “an aim point, an aspiration” Miley said, but to stay ahead of China and other competitors may require at least 500 ships in the future. As many as 140 to 250 vessels will be unmanned, he noted.

“Sailorless ships, robots on the water and under the water. That’s as big a change as going from sail to coal,” Milley said.

The U.S. Navy will also need between 70 and 90 more submarines, he added.

In the changing battle environment,  air, land and sea forces will need to be small, widely distributed and difficult to detect while remaining movable and highly lethal using long range precision, directed fires, Milley said.  Unlike the conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the environment in a great power battle will be contested, and “all forces are going to have to assume they are going to be cut off. So tactical data is essential,” Milley added.

SAN DIEGO — General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. recently completed full-scale static (FSS) testing on the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) wing after three months of extensive testing, the company said in a Dec. 7 release.

MQ-9B variants include SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian RPA produced by GA-ASI.  

The testing included multiple load cases to 150 percent of expected maximum flight loads. The wing was loaded using specially designed fixtures to apply a distributed load across the wingspan – simulating gust and maneuver flight conditions – with no failures.   

“Successful completion of FSS testing on the MQ-9B wing was a critical step in proving that our design meets stringent certification standards for structural strength and integrity,” said Dee Wilson, vice president, Engineering Research Development & Design Hardware. “The wing performed as expected, matching analytical predictions closely. Our engineering design, stress and test teams are commended for an exceptional effort in meeting this critical milestone.” 

This particular wing design is the culmination of a large development effort from multiple areas within GA-ASI and represents a major milestone in qualifying the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian RPA to fly in non-segregated airspace. The wing test success also establishes the baseline wing design for the entire MQ-9B product line. This is critical as GA-ASI starts deliveries to the multiple customers pursuing the MQ-9B including the United Kingdom, Belgium and Australia.   

NORTH ARABIAN SEA — The guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), deployed to U.S. Fifth Fleet and operating in support of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), interdicted a shipment of more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of suspected narcotics from a stateless dhow in the international waters of the Arabian Sea, Dec. 4, CMF Public Affairs said in a Dec. 7 release.  

This seizure, conducted in direct support of CMF’s Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, marks the fourth CMF drugs seizure since October. The narcotics are currently in U.S. custody awaiting analysis. To mitigate the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, the boarding team undertook carefully executed precautionary measures during and after the boarding, to include decontamination of all seized contraband. 

Ralph Johnson initially identified a dhow loitering without power in international waters. When the ship approached to determine if the dhow required assistance, they failed to produce flag registration documentation.  A subsequent search discovered the narcotics. 

CMF is a multinational maritime partnership to counter illicit non-state actors in international waters, promoting security, stability and prosperity in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman. CTF 150 conducts maritime security operations outside the Arabian Gulf to disrupt criminal and terrorist organizations, ensuring legitimate commercial shipping can transit the region, free from non-state threats. CTF 150 is currently led by the Royal Saudi Naval Force, the second time the country’s navy has led the task force. 

MAYPORT, Florida – The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11) returned to Mayport, Florida, Dec. 4, following its deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, the Fleet said in a release. 

Sioux City, along with the “Sea Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, Detachment 6, deployed on August 30, 2020, to conduct U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations missions in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. 

During their deployment. Sioux City participated in a multi-lateral passing exercise (PASSEX) with the British River-class Corvette HMS Medway, and the Jamaican Coast Guard Cutter HMJS Nanny of the Maroons, a successful exercise displaying the capabilities of interoperability in the 4th Fleet area of operations. 
 
Along with their embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 104, Sioux City disrupted approximately 2,120 kilograms of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of 148 million dollars. In addition, Sioux City conducted a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) for a tanker in distress and completed multiple days of hurricane assistance and disaster relief in Honduras, collecting and delivering over 36,000 pounds of supplies in support of U.S. Southern Command’s Hurricane Iota relief efforts in Central America. 
 
While completing its mission, Sioux City traveled approximately 14, 000 nautical miles, visited six ports, and launched and recovered her embarked aircraft 304 times. 
 
“The success of this deployment is a direct reflection of the hard work that the Sioux City Sailors have put in over the past nine months,” said Cmdr. Dan Reiher, the commanding officer of Sioux City. “This deployment gives a new meaning to our motto of ‘Forging a New Frontier,’ because we have begun to define the capabilities of Sioux City and littoral combat ships as a whole.” 

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Oshkosh Defense LLC, an Oshkosh Corp. company, announced in a Dec. 1 release that the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal has placed an order for 2,738 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs), 1,001 companion trailers, and associated kits. The Oshkosh Defense JLTVs will be supplied to the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force along with a select group of NATO and non-NATO allies. This is the second largest order of Oshkosh Defense JLTVs, with a contract value of $911 million. 

The Oshkosh Defense JLTV is designed for the future battlefield with reconfiguration capabilities to meet the demands of the Warfighter’s evolving mission requirements. It offers the world’s only light tactical vehicle with the protection, off road mobility, network capability and firepower options to maneuver with combat formations. 

“The men and women of Oshkosh Defense take great pride in what they do,” said George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of Joint Programs for Oshkosh Defense. “Designing, building, and delivering the world’s most capable light tactical vehicle, the Oshkosh JLTV, is one of our greatest accomplishments. And we plan to continue building the Oshkosh JLTV for many years to come.”  

As part of this order, 59 vehicles will be delivered to NATO and non-NATO allies – including Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Brazil.