ARLINGTON, Va. — Carlos Del Toro, the 78th secretary of the Navy, was sworn in on Aug. 9. He issued the following message to the fleet on Aug. 10: 

Today, together, we again embrace the most sacred duty — defending our nation and working to build a world more defined by peace than conflict. 

I join you as someone who loves the Navy — who spent twenty-six years in uniform and another seventeen striving to make sure you had the capabilities you needed to fulfill your mission effectively and safely. Serving you as your 78^th Secretary of the Navy is a high honor. It also carries grave responsibilities to which I will dedicate all my skill and devotion. 

You should also know I have a bias for action. 

Our Navy and our nation face critical challenges on multiple fronts. 

Like Secretary Austin, I view our most pressing challenges as the four Cs — China, culture, climate and COVID, and we need the resources and capabilities to address each now. 

China is determined to reduce our military superiority. We will not let this happen. We will deter China’s aggression, protect our national security, and preserve the peace. Our determination, our skill, and our courage will demonstrate our strength and conviction. 

Culture comes down to one goal. Every Sailor and Marine — of all races, genders, religions, and ethnicities — must treat one another with dignity and respect. This is not just about doing the right thing. It is about ensuring our Navy and Marine Corps will be the most talented, most combat ready, most committed force possible. 

Climate change exacerbates every challenge we face, from naval installations to frequent deployments. It is also a global struggle for resources that demands ingenuity and innovation. It demands solutions that mitigate climate damage while ensuring our operational success and competitive edge. 

Lastly, we must combat COVID. This means we must continue to vaccinate our naval forces with expedience. If we are not vaccinated, we are neither deployable nor combat ready. Immediately, the Navy and Marine Corps will make every effort to vaccinate and care for our force and defeat the scourge COVID has inflicted on our troops. 

Both our nation’s security and your success as Sailors and Marines require your enthusiastic, unwavering commitment. We will succeed or fail together.  Accordingly, with a leadership ethos forged as a destroyer captain, I will strive to be direct and transparent with you about what we need to accomplish together. 

Please know your safety and welfare will always be paramount to me, and I will work tirelessly with you to meet the challenges that lie ahead. 

To do this, we must possess the resources needed to expand our capabilities. I will make that my top priority. I am committed to ensuring you have the tools and training you need to succeed. Just as I am committed to confronting our maintenance backlog, managing our operational requirements, and building our Navy of the future. 

When I began my Navy career over 40 years ago, as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, I looked up to then-Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo. Like me, he was an immigrant to this nation and, like me, his experience taught him why the world needs a strong United States Navy. Most of all, I understood that while I served our nation, he also served me. 

The same is true today. I am your secretary of the Navy-Marine Corps Team focused on your and our collective promise to our Constitution and nation. 

We will succeed together. It has never been more important that we do. 

Finally, a personal note. My wife Betty and I well understand the sacrifices your loved ones make and how crucial they are to our success. We are both honored to be back once again working shoulder-to-shoulder with you. We look forward to getting out to the fleet and meeting you all soon. 

Full Speed Ahead. 

Very Respectfully,                                                                                         

Carlos Del Toro 

MILTON, Fla. The first operational TH-73A “Thrasher” training helicopter landed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Milton, Aug. 6, the Navy said in a release. 

 The helicopter will be assigned to Training Air Wing (TW) 5 and will replace chief of Naval Air Training’s (CNATRA) TH-57B/C Sea Ranger as the undergraduate training helicopter for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. 

The helicopter made the two-day transit to the base from the Leonardo Helicopters facility in Philadelphia, where the aircraft was manufactured. CNATRA leadership welcomed the aircraft alongside representatives from Leonardo Helicopters, Vertex Aerospace, who will provide maintenance support for the TH-73A, in addition to local community leaders. 

Leonardo Helicopters is contracted to deliver 31 additional Thrashers this calendar year for a total of 130 through 2024 before the Sea Ranger’s scheduled sundown in 2025 and will provide the Navy the capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year. 

The TH-73A incorporates a modern avionics suite with a fully integrated flight management system, automatic flight control system, and independent, digital cockpit displays to both pilot stations. It boasts increased performance in power, speed, payload, and endurance over the Sea Ranger, making it comparable to fleet aircraft. These upgrades will help bridge capability and capacity gaps to better prepare newly winged naval aviators as they transition to fleet replacement squadrons for postgraduate training. 

In addition to new helicopters, the full Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) includes aircrew training services that provide availability on new simulators, a modernized curriculum, and a new contractor logistics support contract for Thrasher maintenance and flight line support. 

“Using current cockpit technologies and a new training curriculum, AHTS will improve pilot training and skills and ensure rotary wing and tilt-rotor aviators are produced more efficiently at a higher quality and are ready to meet the fleet’s challenges,” CNATRA Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff said. “AHTS will meet our advanced rotary wing and intermediate tilt-rotor training requirements through 2050.” 

The TH-73As will be housed in a temporary hangar at NAS Whiting Field, while construction of a new helicopter maintenance hangar on base is slated to begin in 2023. Leonardo Helicopters also recently established a TH-73A maintenance support team at Santa Rosa County’s new aviation customer service hangar at Peter Prince Airport in Milton. 

“This delivery signifies a new era for Naval Aviation training,” said Capt. Holly Shoger, Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office (PMA-273) program manager. “The combined government and contractor team set new standards to meet much needed requirements in the fleet. We are proud to develop and provide these new capabilities that will improve pilot training for many years to come.” 

The TH-73A Helicopter Instructor Training Unit (HITU) team under TW-5 at NAS Whiting Field will use the first Thrasher to validate the modernized curriculum efforts, which is a requirement prior to training student naval aviators with the new curriculum in the new system. 

“The simple cockpit design and layout, pushbutton and toggle switch interface, advanced navigation and communication capabilities, and rapid control response make it the ideal training aircraft and the perfect stepping stone to any service rotary wing platform,” said Cmdr. Dustin Robbins, TW-5 AHTS Fleet Integration Team (FIT) officer in charge. “With its all-digital cockpit and fully integrated Flight Management System coupled with superior power and speed margins, the TH-73A is a lot of fun to fly.”  

PMA-273 at Naval Air Systems in Patuxent River, Maryland, oversees the AHTS and TH-73A, and will determine the final disposition of the 35-year-old TH-57 Sea Ranger, which is scheduled to sundown in fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 

The TH-73A Thrasher is named for the brown thrasher, a bird common to the skies over the Southeastern United States including Northwest Florida. The inconspicuous, yet territorial, bird is a fearless defender known for its low-level flying prowess. 

TW-5 is comprises three primary fixed-wing and three advanced helicopter squadrons and trains aviators from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and allied nations. 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Airborne Strategic Command, Control, and Communications Program Office (PMA-271) purchased a retired Royal Air Force E-3D for $15 million that will be used as an E-6B Mercury pilot training aircraft, the Naval Air Systems Command said in an Aug. 4 release. 

The program office had been looking to acquire a dedicated training aircraft for the fleet to take the strain off using the current mission-capable E-6 aircraft. 

“The training flights expose mission aircraft to significant wear-and-tear and impact their readiness and availability,” said Capt. Adam Scott, PMA-271 program manager. “This is a great chance to work with the United Kingdom and bring a much-needed aircraft to the fleet.” 

Since the E-6’s inception over three decades ago, the Navy has looked for ways to train pilots and keep them up to date on the airframe. Those options have included leasing several different commercial aircraft as well as using the mission-capable aircraft. 

For the past several years, the program has been looking for a dedicated trainer and found one when the Royal Air Force decided to retire their fleet of E-3Ds. 

Both the E-3 and E-6 are militarized versions of the Boeing 707. 

When the funds became available in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the team moved fast. 

Members of the program office went to Louisiana at the end of February to inspect the condition of the aircraft as they moved closer to acquiring it. 

“This team has done a great job of moving quickly and capitalizing on this opportunity,” Scott said. “It’s a big win for the entire E-6 community.” 

Once the aircraft comes to NAVAIR, a modification will begin with a goal to get it out to the fleet by October 2023. 

The aircraft will help reduce an estimated 600 flight hours and 2,400 landings/cycles per year from the E-6 mission aircraft. 

The E-6B is a communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft. It provides survivable, reliable, and endurable airborne command, control and communications between the National Command Authority and U.S. strategic and non-strategic forces. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Technical Solutions division announced Aug. 10 it has been awarded a five-year contract with a total value of $273 million to support the U.S. Navy’s carrier engineering maintenance assist team, surface engineering maintenance assist team for West Coast surface ships, and other maintenance and material readiness programs. 

“Continuous modernization and sustainment of our nation’s fleet is essential to our national security,” said Garry Schwartz, president of Technical Solutions’ Defense and Federal Solutions business group. “HII is honored to extend our 40-year partnership with the U.S. Navy in support of these critical defense assets, and to continue leveraging our expertise to maximize efficiency and cost-savings in the future.” 

Work performed on the contract will support maintenance and planning for the overhaul and repair of equipment and systems including hull, mechanical and electrical; aviation equipment and systems; command, control, communications, computer and intelligence; and combat support systems. The programs follow a “find, fix and train” philosophy with assessments, maintenance, and training to enhance sailor self-sufficiency and maintenance capabilities while ensuring platforms remain mission capable. Work will be performed within the U.S. and internationally during operational deployments. 

FAIRFAX, Va. — Schiebel Aircraft and Areté Associates successfully showcased the Camcopter S-100 unmanned aircraft system combined with Areté’s Pushbroom Imaging Lidar for Littoral Surveillance (PILLS) sensor to the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research, Schiebel said in an Aug. 9 release. 

In a combined demonstration sponsored by ONR on a commercial vessel off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Schiebel and Areté demonstrated the combination’s ability to conduct hydrographic mapping of ocean littoral spaces with a low size, weight, and power sensor that easily integrates into the small S-100. PILLS has multiple military and commercial applications.  

“We are proud that we could successfully showcase the outstanding capabilities and data-gathering features of our Camcopter S-100 to the U.S. Navy,” said Hans Georg Schiebel, chairman of the Schiebel Group. “Globally, we operate extensively on land and at sea and we are confident that our unmanned solution is also the right fit for the U.S. Navy.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Senate has confirmed Carlos Del Toro as the 78th secretary of the Navy, the Defense Department said in an Aug. 7 release. 

Below is a statement from Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on the confirmation:  

“Carlos Del Toro’s lifelong pursuits and deep experience advancing America’s national security make him well-prepared to serve as the 78th Secretary of the Navy. A student of the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval War College, Carlos rose through the ranks during the Cold War and Operation Desert Shield and Storm to serve as the first commanding officer of the destroyer USS Bulkeley DDG 84, and then later as a trusted aide to Pentagon leadership. He understands firsthand the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing our Navy, from addressing the pacing challenge of China and modernizing our capabilities, to investing in our most valuable asset — our people. As an immigrant who has dedicated his life to public service, Carlos exemplifies the core values of honor, courage, and commitment in defense of our country. 

“We remain the preeminent force in the world because of leaders like Carlos, and I have no doubt our Navy and our nation will be well served. I congratulate him on his confirmation, look forward to working with him and take pleasure in welcoming him back aboard.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.— USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) successfully conducted a third explosive event off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, on Aug. 8, marking the completion of the ship’s Full Ship Shock Trials (FSST), the Program Executive Office Aircraft Carriers Public Affairs said in an Aug. 8 release.  

Shock Trials validate a ship’s shock hardness and ability to sustain operations in a simulated combat environment using live ordnance. During the four-month testing evolution, the first-in-class aircraft carrier withstood the impact of three 40,000-pound underwater blasts, released at distances progressively closer to the ship. 

“The Navy designed the Ford-class carrier using advanced computer modeling methods, testing, and analysis to ensure the ships are hardened to withstand harsh battle conditions,” said Capt. Brian Metcalf, manager for the Navy’s future aircraft carrier program office, PMS 378. “These shock trials have tested the resiliency of Ford and her crew and provided extensive data used in the process of validating the shock hardness of the ship.” 

Metcalf said that the goal of the tests is to ensure that Ford’s integrated combat systems perform as designed and added “the tests demonstrated — and proved to the crew, fairly dramatically — that the ship will be able to withstand formidable shocks and continue to operate under extreme conditions.” 

CVN 78 is returning to the Tidewater area for a six month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA). As the PIA begins, teams will conduct additional detailed inspections, assess any damage sustained during the shots, and continue modernization and maintenance work in advance of workups for the ship’s deployment in 2022. 

Rear Adm. James P. Downey, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, rode the ship during the first and third shock evolutions, and observed the historic trials, first-hand. “FSST has proven a critical investment in the Ford-class development,” said Downey. “The ship and crew performed exceptionally in these very strenuous conditions and continued their operations throughout the shock events, demonstrating the ship’s ‘fight-through’ capability.” 

“We’re designing and building these aircraft carriers to sail in some of the world’s most contested security environments. So, when you think about the threats to warships posed by non-contact blasts and the number of sea mines in the inventories of navies around the world, the gravity and consequence of these shock trials really come into focus,” he said. “The Navy’s ongoing investment in the design, including this modeling, will help ensure the resiliency of Ford’s integrated, mission critical systems in underway threat environments.” 

Downey added that the trial’s ultimate success hinged on the extraordinary performance of ship’s force, in coordination with crews on several surface and aviation platforms that support FSST. 

“The countdown to the actual shot is choreographed down to the smallest detail, and the coordination between the ship and the other surface and aviation platforms, as well as the on-scene environmental scientists has been impressive.” 

FSSTs are complex evolutions, conducted during a precise operating schedule in compliance with exacting environmental mitigation requirements, respecting known migration patterns of marine life and protected species. Ford’s shock trials required exacting coordination across multiple Navy/Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) organizations and experienced FSST teams. 

Prior to each shot, the FSST team notified mariners to avoid the test area, and implemented extensive protocols to ensure the safety of military and civilian personnel participating in the operation. A team of more than a dozen scientists, biologists, and observers were assigned to Ford, nearby support vessels, and observation aircraft. Observers used high-powered lenses to detect marine life at great distances, through ocean waves and white caps. 

During the sequence of events leading up to each shot, crews operated in a heightened state of watchful readiness in anticipation of the ultimate go/no-go decision, which had to be made between 4:00 and 8:00 a.m. on the day of the scheduled blast. 

Ford’s commanding officer, Capt. Paul Lanzilotta, was the tactical commander that ordered the go/no-go decision, based on the interplay of several crucial variables, such as ship and crew readiness, weather, and sea state, as well as pre-set environmental mitigation measures, designed to protect any marine life spotted within the test area. 

“Safety was always the driving consideration throughout the shock trials,” recalled Lanzilotta. “So, once we were ready and in position, pausing the countdown to the shot could really test our focus and persistence.” 

“In spite of months of detailed preparation, you can’t always count on the weather,” he said. “But the crew hung in there and showed the great tenacity and professionalism reflective of their pride in our Warship.” 

“So many pieces had to fall into place to execute Ford’s FSSTs within the testing window,” Lanzilotta said. “Success required equal measures of technical expertise, trust, and courage — traits you’ll find in great supply on Warship 78 and throughout the entire Ford Shock Trial Team. These shots have only strengthened my confidence in the durability of this ship, and the excellence of the crew who came out here to own it, and absolutely crushed it.” 

The U.S. Navy has conducted FSSTs over several decades, most recently for the Littoral Combat Ships USS Jackson (LCS 6) and USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) in 2016; as well as on the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) in 2008, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) in 1990, and the guided missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) in 1987. The last aircraft carrier to execute FSST was USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in 1987. 

The Navy conducted the Gerald R. Ford shock trial testing in accordance with Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Instruction 9072.2, and as mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016. The first two shots of the FSST sequence occurred on June 18 and July 16. 

USS Gerald R. Ford is the newest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy. The ship closed out a successful 18-month Post Delivery Test & Trials period in April, during which the crew completed all required testing, accomplished planned improvements and maintenance ahead of schedule, and learned valuable lessons to increase the reliability of Ford-Class systems. At the same time, the ship also served as the sole East Coast platform for conducting carrier qualifications. 

The Gerald R. Ford-class represents the first major design investment in aircraft carriers since the 1960s. CVN 78 is engineered to support new technologies and a modern air wing essential to deterring and defeating near-peer adversaries in a complex maritime environment. 

MELBOURNE, Fla. — The U.S. Navy has awarded L3Harris Technologies a $393 million contract to install increments II and III of the Undersea Warfare Training Range (USWTR), the company said in an Aug. 5 release. 

The award follows nearly 10 years of execution by L3Harris on Increment I and will replace and upgrade the remaining underwater training range sites. 

USWTR Increment I included installing the ocean sensor and shore electronics subsystems instrumenting the approximately 500-square-nautical-mile area near Jacksonville, Florida. Under Increments II and III, L3Harris will upgrade and replace the previously installed systems at the U.S. Navy’s three other range locations near Hawaii, Bahamas and Southern California. 

The USWTRs enable ships, submarines and aircraft to track targets on the surface and subsurface for anti-submarine warfare training. The ranges each include more than 600 miles of undersea cables, several hundred sophisticated acoustic sensors, as well as shore-based control, display and processing facilities. 

“I’m proud of our team for delivering Increment I two years early so we could accelerate this award to support the sailors and provide them with early access to the best undersea range technology available to maintain operational readiness,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, chief executive officer, L3Harris. “For six decades in partnership with both our U.S. and international navy customers, L3Harris has successfully developed, manufactured, installed and supported undersea training range technology. Our capabilities ensure that sailors train in an environment that is as close to their mission environment as possible, giving them a competitive advantage.”  

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Nantucket (LCS 27), during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, Aug. 7, in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Defense Department announced in an Aug. 6 release. 

The principal speaker will be Rep. Mike Gallagher, U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 8th District. In a time-honored Navy tradition, the ship’s sponsor, Polly Spencer, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow. 

“The future USS Nantucket will be the third U.S. Navy ship commissioned to honor the maritime history and spirit of Nantucket,” said Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker. “I have no doubt the Sailors of USS Nantucket (LCS 27) will carry on the proud legacy from generations past in preserving sea lanes, countering instability, and maintaining our maritime superiority.” 

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence. 

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom-variant and the Independence-variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom-variant team is led by Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls). 

The first Nantucket, a Passaic-class coastal monitor, commissioned on Feb. 26, 1863. Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Nantucket participated in the attack on Confederate forts in Charleston Harbor on April 7, 1863. Struck 51 times during the valiant yet unsuccessful assault on the vital Southern port, the single-turreted monitor was repaired at Port Royal and returned to Charleston to support Army operations on Morris Island. The second Nantucket, a wooden light ship built in 1907 for the Lighthouse Service, was transferred to the Navy by executive order on April 11, 1917. During World War I, the ship continued its duties of warning vessels away from Nantucket Shoals and aided in guarding nearby waters against U-boats. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — GE, which provides gas turbine engines to naval ships around the world, is looking to provide engines for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDG(X)), a company official said. 

“We’re in a good position,” said George Awiszus, director, Military Marketing and Business Development for GE Marine, noting the success of his company’s family of marine engines, which company marketing materials point to a 99% reliability and 98% availability of its LM2500 engines. 

Awiszus noted during an Aug. 4 interview with Seapower that the U.S. Navy is looking to making its next-generation destroyer a “full electric ship.”  

He said the current Arleigh Burke-class DDG ‘is maxed out” in terms of electrical power and that more power will be needed for the sensors, weapons and propulsion that likely will be installed in the DDG(X). 

Awiszus praised the Navy’s efforts to get industry, including shipyards and naval architects, involved early in the concept design process. 

GE will be providing LM2500+G4 engines for the new Constellation-class frigate. LM2500 engines already are in use on the Fincantieri FREMM frigate that is the basis for the Constellation class. The Constellation’s engines will feature the Composite Enclosure that provides better noise attenuation, a 5,500-pound weight reduction, costs 50% less than the steel enclosure and keeps the engine room cooler. GE will have delivered 24 engines with the Composite Enclosure by year’s end. 

GE improves its marine engine designs over time as lessons are learned, new materials are provided, and processes are refined. The company now offers electric starting capability as an option along with hydraulic or pneumatic starting methods. 

GE has delivered 1,365 LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine engines to navies worldwide and 2,585 used for industrial purposes.