MONTREAL — CAE has been awarded a subcontract by Lockheed Martin to supply the CAE Magnetic Anomaly Detection-Extended Role (MAD-XR) system for United States Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, CAE said in a Nov. 18 release. 

CAE MAD-XR is a highly sensitive magnetometer designed to sense changes in the earth’s magnetic field and is used as a sensor to detect submarines.  Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems is the lead systems integrator for the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R “Romeo” helicopter, the Navy’s primary anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopter.  

Under terms of a Phase 1 contract from the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin has responsibility to integrate the CAE MAD-XR into the MH-60R helicopter. CAE will provide the MAD-XR system and support Lockheed Martin with non-recurring engineering and integration services.  Initially, a total of six MH-60R helicopters will be integrated with the CAE MAD-XR during Phase 1.  

“Over the past several years we have conducted several trials with the U.S. Navy to confirm the capabilities of the MAD-XR system on the MH-60R helicopter,” said Thomas M. Kane, director, Naval Helicopter Programs, Lockheed Martin.  “Adding this to the MH-60R’s sensor suite will further advance the capabilities of the world’s most advanced anti-submarine warfare helicopter.” 

The CAE MAD-XR is significantly more compact than previous MAD systems with reduced size, weight, and power requirements.  This allows the CAE MAD-XR to be extended to smaller platforms such as unmanned aerial systems, helicopters and small fixed-wing aircraft. 

“The integration of our MAD-XR system on the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R helicopter is testament to its powerful magnetic detection abilities,” said Daniel Gelston, group president, Defence & Security, CAE.  “The MAD-XR system can provide defense forces with enhanced capabilities for operational missions such as submarine detection and search and rescue.” 

ASHAWAY, R.I. — L3Harris Technologies, an aerospace and defense technology company, plans to expand in Ashaway, Rhode Island, by investing $1.5 million in its operations, the company said in a Nov. 24 release. The company will add more than 40 positions and increase its manufacturing space to 92,000 square feet. 

The L3Harris facility develops and manufactures technology the U.S. Navy uses in submarines for surveillance and detection. The expansion will support the Navy’s recent contract award of $31 million for L3Harris to build next-generation towed sonar systems for submarines. The facility expansion will be equipped with state-of-the-art sonar array manufacturing and environmental test equipment to enhance the product’s overall performance. 

“The Ashaway facility expansion represents a long-standing commitment to meeting the Navy’s current and future needs and creating job opportunities in Rhode Island,” said Scott Tilden, vice president and general manager, Maritime Sensors, L3Harris. “This facility has an exceptional record of designing, developing, and manufacturing undersea sensors, which is one of the exciting reasons we continue to invest and expand operations in the state.” 

L3Harris’ Ashaway location has provided undersea sensor systems since 1991, including the TB-29C and TB-34A towed array sonars. Other support to the Navy includes providing integrated solutions for ship monitoring, ship defense sensors, submarine electronics and acoustic sensors for unmanned vehicles. 

NORFOLK, Virginia — BAE Systems has received a $197.4 million contract from the U.S. Navy to drydock and perform maintenance and modernization work aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), the company said in a Nov. 24 release. This is the second time in four years the company has performed significant work onboard the Wasp to sustain its warfighting capability.  

Under the new contract, BAE Systems’ Norfolk shipyard will begin working aboard the 843-foot-long USS Wasp in February 2021, performing hull, tank and mechanical work. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $237.7 million. 

During the company’s last maintenance availability aboard the Wasp, from December 2016 to May 2017, BAE Systems added modifications to support Joint Strike Fighter operations onboard.  

“BAE Systems is very familiar with USS Wasp, performing substantial upgrade work onboard before its forward deployment to Japan three years ago,” said Mark Whitney, deputy general manager of BAE Systems Ship Repair and general manager of Norfolk Ship Repair. “Our team of skilled tradespeople and subcontractors look forward to executing another long sustainment period on Wasp, to ensure the ship retains its sharp warfighting capability.” 

The USS Wasp is the lead ship of a class of U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships. It is the 10th Navy vessel to bear the name since 1775. 

To prepare for drydocking the Wasp, BAE Systems sent its largest floating drydock in Norfolk to a Baltimore, Maryland, shipyard for five months of lifecycle maintenance. The drydock, called “Titan,” returned to Norfolk earlier this month. The lifecycle maintenance work performed on Titan drydock will enable the yard to service the largest Navy ships in the port of Norfolk for another 20 to 25 years. Titan is capable of lifting up to 52,500 long tons. The USS Wasp displaces about 40,500 long tons. 

PETER THE GREAT BAY – On Nov. 24 (local time) USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a release. This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging Russia’s excessive maritime claims. 

In 1984, the U.S.S.R declared a system of straight baselines along its coasts, including a straight baseline enclosing Peter the Great Bay as claimed internal waters. This 106-nautical mile (nm) closing line is inconsistent with the rules of international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention to enclose the waters of a bay. By drawing this closing line, the U.S.S.R. attempted to claim more internal waters – and territorial sea farther from shore – than it is entitled to claim under international law. Russia has continued the U.S.S.R. claim. By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are not Russia’s territorial sea and that the United States does not acquiesce in Russia’s claim that Peter the Great is a “historic bay” under international law. 

U.S. forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis, as they have for more than a century. They routinely operate in close coordination with like-minded allies and partners who share our commitment to uphold a free and open international order that promotes security and prosperity. All of our operations are designed to be conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows – regardless of the location of excessive maritime claims and regardless of current events. 

The international law of the sea as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention provides for certain rights and freedoms and other lawful uses of the sea to all nations. The United States upholds these rights and freedoms as a matter of principle to preserve the freedom of the seas that is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity. As long as some countries continue to assert maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and that purport to restrict unlawfully the rights and freedoms enjoyed by all States, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all. 

The Russian Federation’s statement about this mission is false. USS John S. McCain was not “expelled” from any nation’s territory. McCain conducted this FONOP in accordance with international law and continued to conduct normal operations in international waters. The operation reflects our commitment to uphold freedom of navigation and lawful uses of the sea as a principle, and the United States will never bow in intimidation or be coerced into accepting illegitimate maritime claims, such as those made by the Russian Federation. 

SAN DIEGO — Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. a provider of high-performance, jet-powered unmanned aerial systems, announced Nov. 19 that it has delivered the 100th production BQM-177A Subsonic Aerial Target (SSAT), nearing completion of its third and final Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract. 

“I am proud to accept delivery of this 100^th aircraft on behalf of the U.S. Navy, said Capt. Molly Boron, program manager, Aerial Targets Program (PMA-208). “The government-industry team of PMA-208 and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems (KUAS) has worked hard to deliver this capable target on time and on budget. 2020 has been a successful year despite COVID-19 challenges. We are completing LRIP III deliveries, have awarded the $29.2M Full-Rate Production (FRP) Lot 1 contract on 29 September for 35 more BQM-177A SSATs, and are currently activating the operational site at Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii.  

“The combined PMA-208 and KUAS team is positioned to successfully achieve Full Operational Capability this fiscal year,” Brown said. “We are delivering targets and support equipment to Atlantic Target & Marine Operations at Dam Neck, Virginia, in anticipation of their transition to the BQM-177A this winter. We will complete the transition of this capability when the PMRF Detachment Far East site in Okinawa, Japan, is activated with a ship-launch capability. The delivery of the 100^th target signifies a well-performing production line but also represents an incredible amount of teamwork enabling relevant anti-ship cruise missile training and combat system testing for the Fleet.” 

Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “The delivery of this 100th aircraft represents the very hard work of many dedicated Navy and KUAS engineering, production, program, logistics, financial, and supply chain professionals. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Navy customers as we activate additional sites and operationalize this capability around the world. The KUAS team remains committed to the mission of providing the most capable systems and realistic training possible to the warfighters.” 

PLANO, Texas — Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) AIRWorks has selected Martin UAV to participate in the Mi2 Technology Demonstration live event at the Yuma Proving Grounds between Nov. 30 and Dec. 18, 2020, Martin UAV said in a Nov. 24 release. 

The Tech Demo is the second phase of the Mi2 Challenge intended to accelerate the identification and evaluation of next generation unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) capable of operating in austere deployed environments without ancillary support systems. 

Of 13 submissions sent, only two were selected to move forward to the technology demonstration phase. During the live event, Martin UAV will have an opportunity to showcase the V-BAT, a state-of-the art, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS. 

“Martin UAV’s opportunity to participate in the challenge and demonstrate the technologically advanced V-BAT is a direct reflection of our vision to change mission requirements and capability offerings as the Navy currently knows them,” says Heath Niemi, vice president of Global Sales and a retired U.S. Army colonel. “If successful, the V-BAT will be the first tail sitting, fixed-wing UAS ever deployed by the U.S. Navy that supports vertical takeoff with a single engine ducted fan, which transitions to straight and level flight, hovers and stares, contains interchangeable payloads, and has an open architecture. It would not just be a new aircraft for the Navy – it would be an entirely new way of operating.” 

Martin UAV Owner and Chief Executive Ruben Martin said, “With an extensive military background, the Martin UAV team reacts instantly to the warfighter in order to get them the best VTOL UAS, the V-BAT, to better accomplish their mission.” 

The V-BAT is currently deployed in various areas of operation around the world in support of the U.S. Department of Defense, such as the U.S. Army’s Future Tactical UAS program, U.S. Southern Command/Joint Inter-Agency Task Force South, the U.S. Marine Corps with an expeditionary unit, and the U.S. Coast Guard. 

NORFOLK, Va. – The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD 21) arrived at Naval Station Norfolk, Nov. 22, 2020 concluding the ship’s homeport shift from Mayport, Florida to Virginia, The U.S. Second Fleet said in a release. 

The arrival of New York is part of a series of planned homeport shifts set to occur over the next few years, which will consolidate Mayport-based amphibious ships in the Hampton Roads area in exchange for increasing the number of guided-missile destroyers in the Mayport area. This plan will support extended maintenance availabilities at local shipyards in both fleet concentration areas and, personnel changes from the planned homeport shifts are assessed to have a negligible economic impact to either community. 
 
“On behalf of the New York’s crew, I would like to personally thank the community of Naval Station Mayport and the city of Jacksonville for hosting us these past seven years,” said Capt. Pete Kennedy, New York’s commanding officer. “It has been an honor and a pleasure for our sailors and marines to call Mayport home. We are, however, looking forward to our new home in Norfolk where the New York will continue to carry out our powerful legacy of the World Trade Center attacks by playing a crucial role in the security and prosperity of our nation.” 
 
New York’s commanding officer thanked the crew’s family and friends for their support and gave a “Bravo Zulu” to the ship’s crew of nearly 400 Sailors and Marines for their hard work. 

“The Sailors and Marines onboard New York deserve the utmost praise for their unrelenting commitment to keeping our ship operational and battle-ready,” said Kennedy. “I am incredibly proud and honored to serve alongside some of the most dedicated men and women of this country. I would also like to thank our families and friends that have never failed to support us during these uncertain times of multiple deployments and a global pandemic. It is because of the love and care of our families and friends, the sailors and marines of the New York are the best this country has to offer.” 
 
New York is one of three amphibious transport dock ships named in honor of the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The ship’s bow stem was cast using 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center. The Navy named the eighth and ninth ships of the class Arlington and Somerset, in honor of the victims of the attacks on the Pentagon and United Flight 93, respectively. The ship maintains a close tie with its namesake, and most recently visited New York City in May 2019. 
 
Several memorials to its namesake can be found throughout the ship including uniforms from the first responders of the 9/11 attacks, the original name plate from the previous ship to bear its name, and memorabilia from various Broadway musicals and New York City sports teams. These serve the crew as daily reminders of the ship’s deep, patriotic heritage. 
 
New York most recently deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BAT ARG), returning to Mayport in July 2020. During the deployment, BAT ARG, Amphibious Squadron 8 and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted exercises and operations in the U.S. 2nd, 6th and 5th Fleet areas of operations. Highlights of the ship’s employment included working with partners from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to coordinate multiple complex training evolutions on the uninhabited Karan and Kurayn islands in the Arabian Gulf and serving as the sea base for Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters during a dynamic live-fire exercise in Bize, Albania. 
 
The ship was commissioned on Nov. 7, 2009 in New York City and its initial homeport was Naval Station Norfolk, until it moved to Naval Station Mayport on Dec. 6, 2013. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has ordered two more Surface-to-Surface Missile Modules (SSMMs) for integration into the Surface Warfare Mission Package of the littoral combat ships, bringing to four the number of SSMMs on order. 

The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. a 10.7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for two additional SSMM systems for delivery by November 2022, a Nov. 20 Defense Department contract announcement said. 

The SSMM is a modular weapons system that fires Lockheed Martin-built AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles from launchers built by Teledyne Brown Engineering. Each launcher houses a total of 24 missiles. A prototype launcher has demonstrated the capability to defend against multiple swarming Fast Attack Craft/Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FAC/FIAC). During one test, a volley of six missiles were launched in rapid succession from an LCS, successfully destroying a swarm of six high-speed targets. 

More than 100 missiles have been fired to date with a greater than 90% successful engagement rate.  

The SSMM achieved Initial Operational Capability on the Freedom-variant LCS in February 2019 and was deployed on USS Detroit in November 2019. 

Northrop Grumman is under contract to build four SSMM systems so far. The Navy has a requirement for 12 SSMM systems. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Despite mitigating actions that have prevented any widespread outbreaks since March, the novel coronavirus COVID-19, continues to vex the U.S. sea services, with the destroyer USS Michael Murphy the latest vessel to report personnel testing positive for the disease.

Navy officials confirmed that an outbreak was reported on the  Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer in the Pacific Fleet Nov. 4. Under Defense Department policy, officials do not reveal specific COVID-19 numbers on individual ships or bases. However, no Sailors from the Michael Murphy were admitted to the hospital, according to a Navy spokesperson.

“Personnel who tested positive for COVID-19 were placed in isolation. Out of an abundance of caution, all close contacts and non-essential crew members are undergoing a two-week self-isolation period in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines,” Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, a spokesperson for Naval Surface Forces Pacific, said in a statement to Seapower Nov. 20.

She said most of the crew that had been in self isolation “will be coming out over the weekend and will be back to work next week.”

The ship, currently in its basic phase training cycle, was cleaned in accordance with strict protocols, Schwegman said. She declined to discuss future operations of the ship due to operational security requirements.

The test positive cases on the Michael Murphy were the latest small outbreak on Navy vessels, most of them dockside, including the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, where “a small number of Sailors” tested positive for the novel coronavirus in October. None of those outbreaks have come close to the ordeal of the Roosevelt, the first U.S. warship to battle a COVID-19 outbreak at sea in March. The carrier  was sidelined in Guam for months as scores of Sailors became ill and more than a thousand tested positive. The ensuing controversy over how the incident was handled cost the ship’s captain and the acting Secretary of the Navy their jobs.

The latest figures released by the Navy on Nov. 18 showed 14,947 uniformed personnel have tested positive for COVID-19. Of that number, 12,715 have recovered. Only 11 cases currently require hospitalization, and only Sailor, from the Roosevelt, has died since the pandemic began last winter.

A multidisciplinary team of U.S. Navy Medicine personnel published a comprehensive analysis of the Roosevelt’s COVID-19 outbreak in the New England Journal of Medicine on Nov. 11. The paper provided an epidemiological description of the outbreak that includes all 4,779 crew members.  

Over the course of the outbreak, 1,271 sailors (27% of the crew) tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More than 1,000 infections were identified within five weeks after the first laboratory-confirmed infection. An additional 60 crew members had suspected Covid-19.

The paper’s authors found that COVID spread quickly among the predominately young crew (mean age 27). Transmission was facilitated by close-quarters conditions and by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infected crew members. Nearly half of those who tested positive for the virus never had symptoms. Additionally, a history of using a medication to control high blood pressure (an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor), respiratory disease and obese body mass index were associated with an increased risk of infection, according to the paper.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The official in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in charge of coordinating interoperability of the combat systems between the Navy’s ships, submarines, aircraft and their sensors said the service needs to “resist the urge to drive up complexity.”   

Kelly McCool, acting director, Digital Warfare Office (DWO), in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, speaking Nov. 19 in the Virtual Combat Systems Symposium sponsored by the American Society of Naval Engineers, was addressing the Navy’s Fully Integrated Combat Force concept. 

“We’re not focused on a single integrated combat system on a single platform. We need a force that’s fully integrated and distributed,” McCool said.  

“The first challenge I see is that we don’t write requirements to buy a fully integrated force,” she said. “We write requirements and develop systems [with] interoperability as a second thought, as an after-thought, as a fall-out. We’re learning some of those lessons with our unmanned systems where we did not pay enough attention to the networking, and now we’re doing the corrective actions to make sure the network can support our unmanned systems.  

“We’re going to fight on the network, so we have got to value and resource and set requirements that are associated with the networks and the data that is needed to make the timely decisions and the tools that are needed to make those timely decisions,” she said. 

She said that with the surface, subsurface, aviation and expeditionary resource sponsors, the information warfare/intelligence sponsor, and all of their stakeholders “there’s the potential to drive up the complexity.”  

McCool said “the second challenge we all are faced with here is we really need to resist the urge to drive up the complexity in this problem so that we are not faced with another ForceNet or some effort that just becomes too complex, [with] too many stakeholders. In my experience, when you have a lot of stakeholders, we sometimes don’t make those hard decisions about what is the most important. We add everybody’s voice in and then you have some competing requirements. This drives complexity. It drives to the frustration that the acquisition timelines become long.” 

McCool, who spent most of her career so far on the acquisition side but now works on the resourcing side, said that she has strong interest in wanting to make sure we approach the requirements in a way that allows us to grow and evolve with the technology, and not be so complex and so prescriptive that we lock ourselves in too early and force some major acquisition development program. That said, there definitely is this space a need for the government to set some parameters.”  

She said that she was “really doubling down on the networks, getting the requirements right for our Naval Tactical Grid, getting the requirements right for the data, the decision support tools and the architectures we’re going to need across the board and doing that in parallel with the Integrated Combat System development so that we’re loosely coupled but we’re not creating this development upon development that becomes a snowball that’s unachievable. 

“So, there’s some black art there and we’re going to have to work through that,” she added.