NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. government has approved a sale of 18 CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters to Israel, and the program hopes to get them to Israel by the mid-2020s, according to an official.

The U.S. State Department cleared the $3.4 billion sale just a few days ago. Col. Jack Perrin, program manager for H-53 helicopters (PMA-261), said Tuesday during the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland, that while it depends on the eventual contract with Israel, “I believe it’ll be the 2025-26 timeframe before they actually get delivered to Israel.

“But again the schedule is in flux until we get on contract,” Perrin added. “We are actively working with Israel on defining that and getting us all to an agreeable place.”

The helicopters will replace some of Israel’s fleet of CH-53D Yasur aircraft, some of which are up to 50 years old. The contract covers 12 CH-53Ks with an option for six more.

Bill Falk, manager of the CH-53K helicopter program at Sikorsky, said he was “very excited” that Israel had selected the CH-53K.

Asked whether the country could buy more, Perrin said the buy was limited to 18, but Israel can always request more.

“If they would like more, we’d have to go back and talk to Congress about allowing them to purchase more,” Perrin said.

Some lawmakers have bristled at the sale of arms to Israel after the country’s bombardment of Gaza and settlements in the West Bank. Multiple Democrats tried unsuccessfully to block an arms sale to Israel back in May that included Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which may have been used in strikes on targets in Gaza in May that resulted in the deaths of around 200 Palestinians over the course of a week, according to reports.

Israel’s fleet of CH-53Ds are used for long-range heavy assault and insertion of special operations teams, among other missions.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Navy has wrapped up initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) for the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) and expects the platform to be ready for fielding by the end of this summer, according to an official.

Capt. Godfrey Weekes, program manager for Littoral Combat Ship mission modules (PMS-420), said Tuesday at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland, that initial operational capability (IOC) for the platform is the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, which ends Sept. 30, 2021.

The UISS platform is designed for the LCS’s mine countermeasures mission package (MCM). It “consists of a mine countermeasures unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and a towed minesweeping payload for influence sweeping of magnetic, acoustic and magnetic/acoustic combination mine types,” according to a Navy statement.

The UISS’s Minehunt USV is currently in contractor verification testing. Low-rate initial production of that platform should begin sometime in late fiscal 2022, Weekes said.

The MCM mission package itself is scheduled to achieve IOC in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

IBM is leveraging hybrid cloud computing and AI — what it calls augmented intelligence — to create new technology systems, such as its Mayflower unmanned surface vehicle, capable of making its own decisions while far from port.

Ray Spicer, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who is now vice president of defense and intelligence at IBM, says “hybrid cloud and AI is where the company is really focused these days, very heavily.”

Rather than concentrating data into one large cloud, IBM is able to work with various types of clouds, whether they are personal or public, small or massive.

“Having all those clouds being able to uplink together is the way to go,” Spicer said.

A hybrid cloud scenario allows the company to “containerize” apps that can pluck the data they need from a cloud where it resides, which “allows you to move the workloads to the data” rather than the other way around.

An example is the computing system Watson, which famously won on “Jeopardy!” in 2011. It has only gotten smarter since then and has been broken into component segments aimed at different markets, from financial operations to customer service to health care.

This sort of flexibility contributed to Mayflower, which leveraged technology from other industries. For example, software aimed at enabling rapid fraud detection can also be used to help Mayflower make rapid decisions on the high seas.

This sort of AI is helpful for things like collision regulations, or colregs, the rules of the sea, Spicer said. Sailors forget them from time to time and have to be retrained, but “you teach AI one time, and it doesn’t forget.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — With a third and final Explosive Event of a Full Ship Shock Trial (FSST) to go, and after an analysis and repairs if needed, the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), will be ready for operational tasking by 2022, according to a Program Executive Office – Carriers official.

Upon completion of the last Explosive Event later this summer, Ford will enter a planned incremental availability for six months of modernization, maintenance and repairs prior to its operational use.

The Ford, the first of a new super carrier class, currently cannot accommodate the Navy’s carrier-based F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter without upgrades. The Navy plans to complete the upgrades for the F-35C before the carrier is scheduled to operate with the aircraft.

Last year, the Navy announced F-35C modifications to the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second Ford-class carrier, under a contract employing a single-phase acquisition strategy, instead of the originally planned two-phase strategy.

The Navy previously planned to build CVN 79 in two phases, putting the ship’s combat systems in “at the last minute to avoid obsolescence,” said Kevin Cormier, deputy program manager, PEO Aircraft Carriers told an exposition floor briefing at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, Aug. 3. 

After considering the combat systems’ delivery schedule, however, “the Navy made a decision that it was more prudent” to deliver a whole ship in 2024, Cormier said. “Right now, we are on track for 2024 delivery with the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) and new Joint Strike Fighter models.”

Cormier said the next Ford-class carrier, CVN 80, is about 10% complete with keel laying expected in February 2022. CVN 80, slated to be the future USS Enterprise, is part of a two-ship one buy Cormier said saved taxpayers $4 billion. The next Ford carrier, CVN 81, is “tracking for a 2032 delivery,” he said.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Intense and extended efforts by the command of naval aviation’s Fleet Readiness Centers have cut the time to get F/A-18 Hornet fighters out of maintenance and back to the flight line by half.

Those efforts are now are being used to do the same with other Navy aircraft, and to reduce the cost of those updates and maintenance, officials at the command said Aug. 3.

The series of reforms to accelerate the turn-around of aircraft were driven by the chronic shortfall of tactical planes, particularly fighter jets, a decade ago. The program also stemmed from the revised National Defense Strategy, which turned the military’s focus to the return of great power competition due to rising threats from China and Russia, Rear Adm. Joseph Hornbuckle, Fleet Readiness Centers commander, told a Navy League Sea-Air-Space 2021 briefing.

The initial effort was focused on the F/A-18, the key to the carrier air wings’ strike capabilities. By applying industry best practices, largely copied from the airlines, FRCs were able to cut the typical 120 to 150 day average turnaround time in half, said Roy Harris, the command’s executive director.

The command established an operations center that looked at all elements of FRC’s operations and prioritized allocation of resources, Harris said. A key element of the reforms was setting targets for the centers to meet important milestones in the repair and maintenance process and pushing the centers to meet those goals, Hornbuckle said.

One of its early achievements was meeting the chief of naval operations’ goal of putting 341 mission-capable Hornets on the flight line. The effort then turned to the EF-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft and now is extending to other Navy aircraft, including E-2C Hawkeyes and H-60 helicopters.

The reform efforts now are focusing not only on producing “mission-capable aircraft quicker, but also at the lowest possible cost,” Hornbuckle said. 

FRC operates nine readiness centers and 25 other tenant sites and employs nearly 22,000 individuals, Navy, civilians and contractors, Hornbuckle said. It annually works on 300 aircraft and 150,000 aviation components.

As with most naval systems, a major problem for FRC is fighting corrosion, which “can eat our lunch,” Harris said. They are working to collect data on the problem to find the most effective and efficient solutions.

National Harbor, Md. — The mission systems on the first MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a signals intelligence capability functioned well on the first test flight, a Navy official said.

The first MQ-4C equipped with Integrated Functional Capability-Four (IFC-4) made its first flight on July 29, mainly to test the aerodynamic characteristics of the new configuration. The test team, while evaluating such aspects as stability and control, also checked out the performance of the mission systems and sensors. The IFC Triton featured more antennas than the baseline IFC version.

“The sensors and systems are performing better than expected,” said Capt. Dan Mackin, the Navy’s Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems program manager, speaking Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

The IFC-4 hardware and software configuration introduces a signals intelligence capability to the Triton. It will enable the Triton to become an integral part of the Navy’s Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (MISR&T) transition plan. As such, it will eventually replace the Navy’s EP-3E Orion electronic reconnaissance aircraft beginning in the fall of 2023 when the first full orbit is established. The IFC-4 upgrade also includes the Minotaur mission system now used on the EP-3E.

Mackin said the Navy expects to introduce artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities during later upgrades. Other upgrades planned for 2025 include Wideband Tactical Targeting Network Technology, enhanced radar identification modes, protected satellite communications. M-Code and counter-electronic attack.

Upgrades planned for 2027-2028 include enhancements to enable the Triton to perform without access to the GPS and satellite communications. These include command from afloat units, more robust navigation and communications, increased power, among others.

Mackin said that when the IFC-4 configuration joins the fleet, the mission control centers will be modified with special compartmented intelligence facilities for protection of intelligence and its sources and methods.  

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is partnered with the U.S. Navy on the Triton program and has accelerated its acquisition of three MQ-4Cs to keep the production line going during the U.S. gap in production, said Doug Shaffer, Northrop Grumman’s’ Triton program manager.

Mackin said the RAAF Tritons will be in the IFC-4 configuration and will be identical to those of the U.S. Navy.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A top Navy air warfare official said Aug. 3 the service opposes the addition of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the budget — which Congress wants to do this year as it done in many previous budgets — because the new buys would take the aircraft deep into the 2050s, when it would be no longer viable.

As they have done for years, lawmakers are once again seeking to add more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the Department of Defense’s budget to help close a gap in strike fighter capability. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said Aug. 2 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2021 the Navy is opposed to this move, and the next day Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, director of the air warfare division (N98), said Gilday opposes it because the Navy doesn’t want fourth-generation fighters that many years into the future.

He pointed out that the last Super Hornet to be bought under this proposal would last 30 years, which “takes us out to 2055. There isn’t a lot of analysis out there that supports fourth-generation viability” that far into the future, Loiselle said.

Instead, the Navy is focused on continuing F-35 buys and managing the service lives for current Super Hornets, he said.

Additionally, Loiselle addressed what he described as incorrect interpretations that the Navy is reducing its F-35 program of record by decreasing the number of F-35s in an air wing to 14.

“Some interpreted that as a reduction in the program of record,” he said. “That is not the case. There has been no change to the program of record for the F-35.”

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Aug. 2 that it is making significant progress in the compartment and systems construction of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).

Newport News Shipbuilding division recently eclipsed the 20% mark on compartment completion, turning over to the ship’s crew more than 500 of the total 2,615 spaces. It also has installed more than 8 million feet of cable — or more than 1,500 miles — of the approximately 10.5 million feet of cable on Kennedy.

The most recently completed spaces include berthing, machinery and electrical. This allows Sailors assigned to the pre-commissioning unit to continue training on the ship while final outfitting and testing progresses.

“We are pleased with the progress being made on Kennedy,” said Lucas Hicks, vice president of the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) aircraft carrier programs. “We are in the very early stages of systems testing and look forward to successfully executing our work on equipment, systems and compartments that brings us closer to delivering the ship to the fleet.”

Kennedy is more than 80% complete overall and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2024.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy is implementing a six-phase process to improve and standardize the development of autonomous unmanned systems, according to an official.

Pete Small, program manager for unmanned maritime systems (PMS 406) said Monday at Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor, Maryland, that this process “represents the future of autonomous capability.”

“From day one, we know these platforms need to be upgradeable and interoperable,” Small said, noting that the Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab (RAIL) was key to achieving that.

To accomplish this, the program starts with a “software factory” approach, where software is rapidly developed, tested, and certified for autonomous capabilities.

The second phase is “DevSecOps,” which are a set of automated software tools, services, and standards that allow programs to develop and deploy applications securely.

The third phase is peer groups, who identify autonomy gaps, requirements, and performance metrics.

The fourth phase is Common Control, which standardizes vehicle planning and control across platforms. That is followed by Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture, which standardizes autonomy interfaces.

The sixth phase involves making data available to support artificial intelligence and autonomy development.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — All hopes of prevailing in the next conflict, if and when it arises, hinge on seizing the advantage in information warfare, the Navy’s chief officer of that domain said Aug. 2 audience at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland. 

“Technologies that exist today are all about fusing together information faster,” said Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare. “Our data, our information, the use of artificial intelligence, robotics — the nation that harnesses that the best is going to have the advantage should we go to conflict. And I’m one of those guys who says we’re in conflict right now.”

Trussler then turned the floor over to Rear Adm. Gene Price, Vice Commander of Naval Information Forces, who described the roughly 11-year-old command as a place under which data from a host of communities is amalgamated.

“Information warfare is a combination of oceanography, meteorology, intelligence, electronic warfare, cryptology, cyber warfare, IT [information technology] — all these things — come together,” Price said. 

By integrating all of these disciplines as one, Price said, the Navy creates awareness, assured command and controlled integrated fires in the battlespace. 

“This is the heart and soul of what information warfare is all about – pushing [data] out to whoever needs it, whenever they need it, wherever it is,” Price said. “Our job is to make sure that the right weapon is in the right place at the right time.” 

Price cited AI/ML — artificial intelligence and machine learning — as a critical area that warrants attention. 

“It’s a data problem, a platform problem, a management problem,” Price said. 

Work on transferring data to AI/ML is ongoing, Price said. He also discussed continuing efforts in the field of LVC — live, virtual, constructive training. He noted that the aviation community has been involved in LVC for years, and that it should be incorporated more widely through all areas of training. The security benefits are tangible, he said. 

“If we go out and practice, we tip our hand to what we want to do,” Price said. “It’s readily apparent to information warfare that we have to have a way to train for the high-end fight in a way that the rates could do their thing without tipping off too much.” 

The capability is being managed mainly at the acquisition level, Price said, where a cross functional team with information forces is developing the command requirements and content necessary to make sure information is readily available in a controlled but usable environment.