WASHINGTON — The Department of Navy has awarded Alion Science and Technology, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award SeaPort Next Generation contract vehicle, the company said in a Jan. 10 release.

This contract has a five-year base period of performance, with an additional five-year ordering period option. Under this vehicle, Alion will compete for individual task orders for engineering and program management support services.

Engineering services consist of supporting the research and development of new and existing naval platforms and systems. Innovative warfighting capabilities are introduced through the design and complex integration of hardware and software into ships, submarines and aircraft during new construction, maintenance and modernization availabilities. These efforts include the analysis and evaluation of foreign as well as nondevelopmental systems, equipment and technologies.

Program management services consist of the application of acquisition, business, financial, technical and quality-control expertise within large and small Navy programs. These services enable Navy leaders to manage the design, development, production, training, deployment, sustainment and disposal of equipment, systems and platforms.

“Alion has been a trusted partner of the Navy for many years and as a company we are humbled and thrilled to be able to continue this work so vital to our country.” said Vince Stammetti, Alion senior vice president. “In concert with our Navy customers, our singular mission is to ensure that fleet assets are on station and our Sailors, Marines and Airmen are equipped to do the nation’s bidding — simple as that.”

NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Coast Guard Academy announced in a Jan. 10 release that Rear Adm. William G. Kelly to be its 42nd superintendent.

Kelly will relieve current Superintendent Rear Adm. James E. Rendon this summer.

Kelly currently serves as the assistant commandant for Human Resources since April 2016. He also oversees the Coast Guard’s human resources field activities, from accession of new military personnel to retirees’ pay and benefits. His previous flag assignment was as the commander, Personnel Service Center.

Kelly is a 1987 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and he earned his master’s degree in Instructional Systems Design from Florida State University and a Certificate in Human Resource Management. He has extensive experience in personnel development as the director of the Coast Guard’s Leadership Development Center in New London, and also served as the school chief for Officer Candidate School.

Ranked among the nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London is proud to educate future leaders of America’s multimission, maritime military force. Each year, approximately 200 graduates are commissioned as Coast Guard officers to help ensure the safety, security and stewardship of our nation’s waters.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard interdicted a vessel Jan. 7 with 35 Dominican migrants and 4 kilograms of heroin approximately 34 miles west of Desecheo, Puerto Rico, the 7th Coast Guard District said in a release.

The crew of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry, deployed to Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico, detected the vessel on the evening of Jan. 7. Watchstanders with Coast Guard Sector San Juan diverted the Cutter Heriberto Hernandez, which arrived on scene, embarked the 35 migrants and discovered a backpack with 4 kilograms of heroin floating near the vessel.

“While this interdiction is certainly a success of Coast Guard operational units through Operation Unified Resolve partnered with the Caribbean Border Interagency Group, it is also a symptom of a serious threat to our national security and maritime borders where narcotics smuggling is paired with illegal migrant ventures.” said Capt. Jason Ryan, chief of enforcement for the 7th Coast Guard District.

“Together with other DHS [Department of Homeland Security] components and local law enforcement partners, we will continue to diligently patrol throughout the Caribbean Basin and Florida Straits to stem the flow of maritime smuggling and criminal organizations that bring violence to our shores and fuel the growing epidemic of drug use and overdoses throughout our country.”

On Jan. 10, 27 of the migrants were repatriated to the Dominican Republic, while the remaining eight were transferred into the custody of the Department of Justice’s District of Puerto Rico for further investigation and possible prosecution. One of the individual’s is a suspected smuggler who is being investigated for participation in prior smuggling operations in which several migrants lost their lives.

In the past month, the Coast Guard and partners have made multiple interdictions in the Caribbean. Heriberto Hernandez is a 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in San Juan.

WASHINGTON — The Navy needs to capture the best talents resident in its Sailors to meet the needs of a future fight, the service’s senior enlisted adviser said.

The Navy needs to “find ways to best capture that talent and set it up for success in the fleet,” said Master Chief Petty of the Navy (MCPON) Russell L. Smith, speaking Jan. 10 along with Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green at an event sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Smith pointed out that the Navy needs recruits who are comfortable with high technology.

“The Navy is a STEM service,” he said, referring to science, technology, engineering and math as the skills Sailors need to man the ships, aircraft, weapons, networks and other electronic systems used in the modern Navy. “We have to be qualified, astute technicians.”

Smith said “bringing that [STEM] talent forward is one of our biggest lines of effort.”

He also emphasized that sea-going skills such as damage control and firefighting remain just as important now as ever, noting that Sailors must “first meet the mission, then save their shipmates.”

Smith noted that the Navy is in stiff competition with other military services and the other high-tech sectors of the U.S. economy for tech-savvy young adults. However, Smith said that the Navy’s retention of Sailors is the highest it has ever been, upward of 70 percent, better even than after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Green said the Marine Corps, which recruits 30,000 people each year, continues to achieve its quotas, attributing that to the ethos of the Marine Corps that attracts people looking to be something special.

Green said that while the Marine Corps is adopting new technology, the focus is “maximizing lethality and not compromising the standard.”

He said that the Corps’ focus is on the lethality and readiness of the individual Marine.

“The robot is not kicking in the door, the Marine is,” Green said.

Smith said that child care for Sailors’ families is becoming a conundrum for the Navy. Green seconded that, noting that 49 to 50 percent of today’s Marines are married, a situation much different from decades ago.

FAIRFAX, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Atlantic has awarded its Navy Secure Voice Systems contract to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), the company announced in a Jan. 9 release.

The single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract holds a ceiling of $91.2 million. It includes a five-year base period with one four-year option as well as one six-month option period. GDIT will submit proposals for individual task orders to provide next-generation solutions for the Navy’s voice systems.

“GDIT continues to expand our platform of next-generation services and solutions for the Navy,” said Rich Farinacci, vice president and general manager for GDIT’s Naval and Training Solutions Sector. “Our secure voice systems portfolio will provide robust engineering support to the Navy worldwide. Together, we will fortify this support and enable the Navy to remain focused on their important mission.”

GDIT has supported SPAWAR Atlantic under this program since 2001. Through this contract, GDIT will provide systems engineering and life-cycle sustainment support for the Navy’s secure voice systems, which includes VINSON/ANDVT Crypto Modernization, Automated Digital Network System, Defense Red Switch Network, Tactical Shore Gateway, and other secure voice systems and equipment. Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed by November 2023. If all options are exercised, work could continue until June 2028.

PARIS — MBDA successfully demonstrated the use of the Mistral missile against fast boats such as fast inshore attack craft during tests conducted at the end of the year, the company said in a Jan. 9 release.

A number of foreign delegations attended the demonstration firing that was performed from a SIMBAD-RC automated naval turret firing from the land against a fast-moving, remotely controlled semi-rigid boat more than 3 kilometers off the coast. The scenario was intended to be representative of the self-protection of a vessel against an asymmetric threat (commando or terrorist attack).

In its latest version currently in service with the French armed forces, the Mistral is an air-defense missile equipped with an imaging infrared seeker with advanced image processing capabilities that allow it to engage low thermal signature targets from a long distance (such targets include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles and fast boats), while at the same time offering excellent resistance to countermeasures.

The SIMBAD-RC is a remotely-controlled very short-range naval air defense system that provides highly efficient capacities against a wide range of threats, from combat aircraft through anti-ship missiles to small-sized threats such as UAVs.

The system is easy to install and thus provides small units or support vessels with a true self-defense capacity or can even ensure reinforced defense for the other types of surface vessels. Each turret supports two ready-to-fire Mistral missiles. The turret is remotely operated, allowing the operator to remain under cover in the vessel’s operation center, and thus ensures longer operational availability in case of a combat alert.

“MBDA is constantly striving to help armed forces make optimum use of their investments in our products,” said Antoine Bouvier, MBDA CEO. “The demonstration of the SIMBAD-RC Mistral combination against surface targets reflects our policy of giving our systems additional capacities to supplement those they were originally designed to provide.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — Leonardo DRS Inc. has been awarded an undefinitized contract action initially worth $79.6 million to provide the U.S. Army and Marine Corps with additional TROPHY Active Protection Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. said in a Jan. 9 release. This brings the total funded value of the program to over $200 million.

Developed by long-time partner Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel, TROPHY provides combat-proven protection against anti-armor rocket and missile threats, while at the same time locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response.

“Leonardo DRS is proud of the confidence shown by the Army in deciding to field TROPHY to even more U.S. combat brigades,” said Aaron Hankins, vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Land Systems division. “Together with our Rafael partners, we are fully committed to meeting our customers’ demands and are working in parallel to further address the urgent protection needs of other U.S. platforms.”

The DRS and Rafael team led a successful demonstration featuring a new, lighter TROPHY VPS variant on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Israel in August. The team will also be participating in the Army’s Stryker Expedited APS demonstration “rodeo” in February.

“Rafael does not stand still. TROPHY VPS provides the same capabilities and performance as TROPHY in a significantly smaller package,” said Moshe Elazar, executive vice president and head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Division. “We are also leveraging our global leadership in both active protection (close to 1,500 TROPHY systems) and medium-caliber remote weapons systems (over 1,000 systems), to offer the mature, reliable, lightweight Samson turret, which combines both capabilities. Given our wide customer base and existing production lines for both, Samson is a capable, affordable, low-risk solution for the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicles, other programs in Israel and other markets.”

MIAMI — The Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) interdicted a sport fisher boat with a suspected smuggler, two migrants, a U.S.-Bahamas dual citizen and 7 kilograms of cocaine Jan. 7 north of Miami, the 7th Coast Guard District said in a release.

At approximately, 5:25 a.m. Coast Guard Sector Miami watchstanders received a report from the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber crew stating that they spotted an unlit 46-foot sport fisher boat approximately eight miles east of Dania Beach. The Bernard Webber crew interdicted the vessel to find one Bahamian suspected smuggler, two Bahamian migrants and the dual citizen aboard.

The Bernard C. Webber crew embarked the four persons while one of their small-boat crews drove the sport fisher boat to Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale. The Coast Guard, HSI and CBP jointly searched the boat and located 7 kilograms of cocaine. The Bernard Webber crew later transferred the persons to CBP custody.

“Our partnerships with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations were crucial in the success of this interdiction,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Emily Wilhite, the command duty officer for Coast Guard Sector Miami. “We were able to stop the illegal smuggling of migrants and drugs and will continue to maintain a strong presence in the Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea.”

Federal prosecution has been accepted in the Southern District of Florida.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been awarded a contract to deepen the Port of Corpus Christi ship channel.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. received a $93 million construction contract on Jan. 4, to deepen and widen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel from the Gulf of Mexico to Harbor Island, as part of the first phase of the port’s $326 million Channel Improvement Project (CIP).

Corpus Christi is the largest crude oil port in the United States and handles both imports and exports. The port exports about 100 million tons annually.

Charles W. Zahn, chairman for the Port of Corpus Christi Commission said the deeper channel “will allow larger vessels access to much needed export facilities, safely and responsibly.”

The dredging will deepen the entire ship channel to 54 feet from 45 feet and widen it to 520 feet from 400. The full project, which will be completed in phases and take about five years, will permit two-way supertanker traffic, including very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which can carry up to 2 million barrels of crude oil. Great Lakes will start this first phase later this year, which will take about a year to complete.

“We commend the Army Corps of Engineers for progressing the highly anticipated Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, and the selection of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to perform on this first contract is an extraordinary step forward in positioning the United States as the largest exporter of energy in the world,” said Sean Strawbridge, CEO for the Port of Corpus Christi.

The CIP will result in the first shore-based VLCC terminal in the U.S. The only other terminal is located offshore.

Based in Oak Grove, Illinois, Great lakes is America’s largest dredging contractor, although much of its work is international.

“We are confident that this will drive the much-anticipated future investment and development in the port,” said Lasse Petterson, CEO of Great Lakes. “It all starts with dredging.”

MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Haitian Coast Guard in stopping approximately 70 Haitian migrants Jan. 6 approximately 26 miles north of Cap Haïtien, Haiti, the 7th Coast Guard District said in a release.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant crew sighted a roughly 40-foot Haitian freighter. The Vigilant crew launched a small-boat crew to question the people aboard. Upon detection, the freighter changed course back south to Haiti. The Vigilant crew continued to shadow the vessel while 7th District watchstanders contacted the Haitian Coast Guard. A Haitian Coast Guard marine unit arrived on scene at approximately 9:30 a.m. and relieved the Vigilant crew.

“This case highlights a critical component to the success of curbing illegal immigration in the Caribbean and that is of our international partners, and in this case specifically, the Haitian Coast Guard,” said Capt. Aldante Vinciguerra, chief of response for the 7th District. “The close cooperation between both U.S. Coast Guard and Haitian Coast Guard operational teams in this instance helped prevent a dangerous and ill-advised illegal migrant voyage from potentially capsizing and ending tragically as we unfortunately have seen happen recently.

“The U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a continual presence in the Florida straits and Caribbean basin and will continue to do so to detect, deter, and stop these illegal and unsafe voyages.”