MOBILE, Ala. —Austal USA, in Mobile, Ala., hosted future USS Santa Barbara ship sponsor and keel authenticator, Mrs. Lolita Zinke, Oct. 27 at a keel laying ceremony for the 16th Indpendence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Mrs. Zinke welded her initials into the ship’s keel plate officially authenticating that the keel of the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) “has been truly and fairly laid.”  

Lolita Zinke is a native of Santa Barbara. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lolita graduated from California Western School of Law.  

Lolita married Ryan Zinke and began a second career as a Navy spouse and additionally served as a civilian employee on the Flag Officer staff of Adm. Jeremy Boorda at the commander in Chief, U. S. Naval Forces Europe in London, United Kingdom. Her husband is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who served in the Navy for 23 years; a former United States Representative from Montana; and the 52nd Secretary of the Interior.    

Lolita was the Freshman President of the Congressional Club from 2015 to 2016, a congressional spouses club dedicated to furthering bipartisan relationships and charitable activities. She has served as a member of President Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council; the President’s Veteran’s Administration Landing Team; and the Veteran’s Administration’s committee on Veteran Families, Caregivers, and Survivors. 

LCS 32 will be the third U.S. Navy ship to be named after Santa Barbara. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has placed an order with Lockheed Martin for four MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters for the government of Greece. 

The Naval Air Systems Command, through the Foreign Military Sales Program, awarded a $194 million contract modification to Lockheed Martin for the helicopters and three airborne low-frequency sonar systems to be used by the helicopters, according to an Oct. 26 Defense Department contract announcement. 

The MH-60R is the U.S. Navy’s maritime strike and anti-submarine helicopter. The helicopter type also has been exported to the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Danish Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Navy. Greece would be the fifth operator and has stated an intent to procure seven. Other nations intent on procuring MH-60Rs are the Republic of Korea and India, which have announced plans for 12 and 24 helicopters, respectively.  

Work on the contract modification is expected to be completed in February 2025.   

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The U.S. Navy awarded a contract to Vertex Aerospace, LLC (Vertex) on Oct. 20, 2020, for the Contractor Logistics and Maintenance Support (CLS) in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) program for $70.4 million for the base year, with six options for a total contract value of $465.2 million, the Naval Air Systems Command said in an Oct. 23 release. 

Three proposals were submitted for the contract. The task order contract for CLS was awarded on a best-value tradeoff basis with a base and six options. CLS availability is scheduled to begin in calendar year 2021 and continue through calendar year 2027. 

The procurement of this CLS includes logistics, maintenance and supply for both the TH-73A and the TH-57. The resultant task order award will provide services and materials necessary to provide aircraft maintenance and logistics aircraft support for both the TH-73A and the TH-57 platforms, to include: the repair of airframe and aircraft subsystems, including engines; maintenance/repair and logistics support of support equipment (as required); and maintaining records and reporting for aircraft and associated systems. 

Using a combination of best industry and Navy practices, AHTS will ensure Chief of Naval Air Training efficiently produces rotary wing aviators who are prepared for advanced rotary wing and intermediate tilt-rotor training and who will meet the challenges faced in the fleet through 2050. 

“The new Leonardo TH-73A helicopters are the cornerstone of AHTS, which is the planned replacement to address the capability and capacity gaps of the current aging TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter training platform,” said Capt. Holly Shoger, Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office (PMA-273) program manager. “This contract ensures the Navy can successfully maintain the TH-57 helicopters until the TH-73A is operational in the fleet. Vertex will ensure the Navy has capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.”  

EVENDALE, OHIO (October 26, 2020) – GE Marine recently hosted a virtual meeting that drew more than 60 attendees from the United States Navy, Bath Iron Works, Huntington Ingalls and other strategic partners, to celebrate the teams involved in the Module Modernization Program (MMP). The event also lauded those individuals who participated in the manufacturing and assembly of this first new module for the Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128).

This four-year collaborative U.S. Navy program resulted in the design, development, qualification and manufacture of a new lightweight composite module design for GE’s LM2500 marine gas turbine. GE currently has orders for 52 new composite enclosures for U.S. and international navy applications.

“This new module design provides significant weight reduction, improved sensors, along with reduced noise transmission and thermal heat rejection,” said Lee Fuglestad, U.S. Navy Technical Director of the AEGIS Destroyer Program Office (PEO Ships PMS 400). Fuglestad was the sponsor and leader of the MMP. “The lightweight enclosure is especially important since the U.S. Navy has more than 370 GE LM2500 engines in service as the backbone of the DDG fleet, logging over 6 million operating hours.”

“The MMP team is an excellent model of how the U.S. Navy and industry can partner on state-of-the-art fleet improvements. With delivery of DDG Flight III destroyers planned through 2028, GE’s LM2500 gas turbines will power these U.S Navy surface combatants until the 2070s,” Fuglestad concluded.

In addition to representatives from GE Marine, attendees included the U.S. Navy; Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, the lead design services shipyard; Huntington Ingalls, Pascagoula, Mississippi, construction lead on DDG 128; RL Industries, Fairfield, Ohio, composite fiber enclosure development and production; and Leonardo DRS Power Technology, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, gas turbine package integration.

According to Tony Mathis, Vice President, GE Military Systems, “GE appreciates the U.S. Navy’s leadership that brought the MMP team together. During this time of COVID, we are especially grateful for the opportunity to say thank you to our employees and our great partners that developed and produced this game-changing product.”

The virtual meeting included a summation by the U.S. Navy and GE team members of the improvements to the LM2500 including the composite module and components that yielded a 6,000-pound weight savings. In fact, GE recently delivered the first lightweight LM2500 composite module to Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, for the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32). The future USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), expected to be delivered in 2024, is under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard.

MMP improvements include fewer shock mounts for weight reduction all while leveraging the experience and loadings from previous LM2500 shock tests with running units. The lightweight composite module wall temperatures are 25 F to 50 F degrees cooler so there is less heat rejected into the engine room.

USS AMERICA–The first-in-class amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) participated in advanced combined operations with Japan this week in the western Pacific Ocean, the ship’s public affairs office said in an Oct. 25 release. 

America conducted integrated air defense operations on Oct. 20 with F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the Japan Air Defense Command. The advanced training operations were designed to increase the tactical proficiency, lethality, and interoperability of the amphibious forces of the America Expeditionary Strike Group and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in the maritime domain. 

“The U.S.-Japan alliance has been the cornerstone of stability and security in the Indo-Pacific for more than sixty years,” said Capt. Luke Frost, America’s commanding officer. “We have no more capable partner in the world than the Japan Self Defense Force. Every opportunity we have to continue to train and exercise together improves our interoperability and strengthens our joint integrated capabilities.” 

Our alliance will continue to play that role in the future. Operations included advanced tactics, techniques, and procedures to exercise command and control in employing the F-35A Lightning II in air defense and sea control. 

“These are the most advanced capabilities to ever sail or fly. America is a fifth-generation amphibious assault platform, built from the keel up to optimize the most advanced capability of the fifth-generation F-35 platform. We are forward-deployed to integrate exactly these advanced capabilities with Japan, recognizing the importance of our alliance and working together to maintain regional peace and stability,” said Frost. 

“The training proved to be a very significant opportunity for us,” said Col. Shinichi Nomura, flight group commander, 3rd Wing, Japan Air Self-Defense Force. “Training with assets of other services is essential to improve interoperability and joint operations capability.” 

USS America and the Japan Self Defense Forces operate routinely together in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen a shared commitment to regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

“I am assured that our participation not only contributed to improving tactical skills but also confirming the robust Japan-U.S. alliance and commitment to the Indo-Pacific region,” said Nomura. “We will continue moving forward and further strengthen the Japan-US alliance and partnership.” 

America, the flagship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is forward-deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to support stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region. 

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Navy has identified the two-person aircrew killed in a crash Friday in Foley, Alabama, as U.S. Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross, 30 years old, from Wixom, Michigan, and U.S. Coast Guard Ens. Morgan Garrett, 24 years old, from Weddington, North Carolina, commander, Naval Air Forces, said in an Oct. 25 release. 

A U.S. Navy T-6B Texan II trainer aircraft crashed in a residential area of Foley at approximately 5 p.m. CDT Oct. 23. No civilians were injured as a result of the crash. 

Local and Navy emergency personnel responded to the scene to secure the area and ensure the safety of the local community. The Navy is working with local authorities to investigate the incident. 

Ross, an instructor pilot, and Garrett, a student aviator, took off from Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Florida, on a routine training flight.  

CORONADO, Calif. — Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) released its force-shaping blueprint for the next 10 years as its leadership looks to mold the military’s maritime EOD force into one that best supports the U.S., its allies and partner nations to compete and win in an era of great power competition, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One Public Affairs said in a release. 

The force’s first major strategic mission update since 1997, the plan was developed to meet the challenges of a changing national security environment and position Navy EOD to best serve its clear, secure, build and protect role within the Navy Expeditionary Combat Force (NECF), said Rear Adm. Joseph DiGuardo, commander of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC). 

“The NECF clears the explosive, security, and physical hazards emplaced by our adversaries; secures battlespace for the naval force; builds the critical infrastructure, domain awareness, and logistic capacity to rearm, resupply, and refuel the fleet; protects the critical assets the Navy and the nation need to achieve victory and reinforce blue-water lethality,” said DiGuardo, who oversees the NECF, which is comprised of Navy EOD, the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force, the Naval Construction Force, and diving and salvage units. 

“As part of the NECF, our EOD forces play a pivotal role clearing the explosive hazards in any environment to protect the fleet and Joint Force — from the simplest impediment to the most complex weapon of mass destruction — and build an understanding of our adversary capabilities by exploiting those hazards. Navy EOD is the key to our nation being undeterred by explosive threats,” said DiGuardo. 

“The strategic plan ensures Navy EOD supports the NECF by eliminating explosive threats so the fleet, Navy and nation can fight and win whenever, wherever and however it chooses,” said Capt. Oscar Rojas, commodore of the Coronado, California-based EOD Group (EODGRU) 1. 

Rojas said this will be accomplished through the strategic plans’ five core objectives: develop the Navy EOD force to win against near-peer competitors and empowered non-state actors; expand Navy EOD’s advantage against competitors’ undersea threats; capitalize on Navy EOD’s ability to counter WMDs; grow Navy EOD’s expertise in its ability to counter, neutralize and understand next-generation weapons systems; and enhance the EOD capabilities of allies and partner nations. 

“Our strategic plan was designed to guide us in creating a force that can deter adversaries and win in a complex security environment,” said Capt. Rick Hayes, commodore of EODGRU-2, which operates out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. “That is why we dedicated an objective to specifically focus on developing and caring for our Sailors. Our people are our most important asset—they are our weapons system.” 

The plan lays out how Navy EOD will grow its ability to recruit and retain the best talent, develop strong leaders of character, and use its force resiliency program, STRIKE, to improve the physical and mental care Navy EOD personnel receive throughout their careers. 

“Navy EOD’s unique mission requires us to be fit in mind, body and spirit. We want our current and future operators to have access to the best facilities with the most qualified staff, so they are ready to deploy when called upon,” said Hayes, adding STRIKE’s holistic approach includes giving EOD operators access to athletic trainers, physical therapists and mental health professionals. 

The force’s 1,800 operators can also expect an increased emphasis on building their knowledge and capabilities in areas critical to succeeding in a GPC environment, according to the plan. 

This includes Navy EOD enhancing its expeditionary undersea capabilities by working in cyberspace. The force will pursue using unmanned maritime systems (UMS) to access adversary communication networks to disrupt, delay or destroy weapons systems. 

EOD operators will see initiatives expanding exploitation training — the understanding of a weapons systems’ assembly, capabilities and weaknesses — throughout their careers along with educational opportunities to develop their expertise to counter WMDs (CWMD). They will also work with leaders in industry, research and development, and academia to stay at forefront of unmanned systems, explosives detection, and forensic science. 

Additionally, the plan calls for Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (ExMCM) companies to be a testbed for these new systems and software. 

“The operators using emerging UMS technology are the closest to the challenges. Our strategic plan will empower them to provide us feedback from the tactical level during the capability development process to help accelerate solutions to the ever-evolving threats,” said Rojas. 

ExMCM companies provide military commanders a flexible, scalable and rapidly-deployable capability that ships and aircraft do not offer. They are capable of operating in theater from a variety of craft within days of tasking. 

“ExMCM will be instrumental in bolstering the capabilities of our allies and partner nations as we look to better interoperate with them and define shared responsibilities during GPC in the maritime environment,” said Rojas. 

The 10-year plan has ExMCM companies working with allies and partner nations to expand initiatives, such as subject matter expert exchanges and multinational exercises designed to deter peer and near-peer adversaries. 

All the objectives put forward in the 2030 plan are essential to delivering a lethal, resilient and sustainable Navy EOD force that can be called upon during contingency and crisis operations, said Hayes. 

“Realizing this vision will be impossible without the support of everyone in the Navy EOD community. By leveraging their creativity, discipline and leadership, we will develop a force for 2030 that continues to protect the security and future of the American people,” said Hayes. 

WASHINGTON — Following Tuesday’s Atlantic Future Forum remarks, U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday conducted a bilateral strategic dialogue via video teleconference with the U.K. First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff Adm. Tony Radakin, Oct. 21, the CNO’s public affairs officer said in a release. 

The leaders discussed the two navies’ alliance and areas for continued collaboration and cooperation around the globe. Additionally, the two leaders signed a Statement of Intent for Future Integrated Warfighting that will set a cooperative vision for inter- changeability between the two navies, synchronize pioneering capabilities, strengthen operating concepts, and focus our collective efforts to Deliver Combined Seapower, together. 

“We have a long tradition of sailing together from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific. No doubt, our storied past has strengthened our friendship today, and will do so far into the future,” said Gilday. “After months of hard work on both sides of the Atlantic, we are pleased to sign this statement of intent that will set a cooperative vision for interchangeability. By organizing our cooperation together on carrier strike, underwater superiority, Navy-Marine integration as well as future warfighting efforts like unmanned and AI, we will remain on the leading edge of great power competition.” 

Radakin echoed similar sentiments. 

“In an increasingly contested world, alliances and partnerships such as that between the U.K. and the U.S. are vital,” said Radakin. “We have already proven how closely we can work together, from developing our carrier strike capability to jointly demonstrating freedom of navigation around the world. Now, as we move towards every greater interchangeability, I am excited by the opportunities to strengthen and deepen our partnership today and in the years to come.” 

The U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy regularly operate together around the world. Most recently, USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) took part in the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group exercise and Joint Warrior 20-2 (JW202). The two navies also conducted training in the Barents Sea in early September. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper announced Oct. 21 that the president has made the following nominations: 

Rear Adm. (lower half) Richard D. Heinz for appointment to the rank of rear admiral.  Heinz is currently serving as director, logistics, J4, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. 

Capt. Kevin P. Lenox for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).  Lenox is currently serving as branch head, Joint Intelligence Operations Center, J3, U.S. Central Command, Tampa, Florida.  

Capt. Wesley R. McCall for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).  McCall is currently serving as executive assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — No new cases of COVID-19 have been reported aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, where “a small number of Sailors” tested positive  for the novel coronavirus a week ago, a Navy spokesperson said Oct. 21.

The Roosevelt, the first U.S. warship to battle a COVID-19 outbreak at sea in March, was conducting routine training off the coast of California Oct. 15 when the Sailors self-reported after experiencing symptoms. They received immediate medical treatment and were transported off the ship by helicopter to Naval Air Station North Island for isolation, said Cmdr. Zach Harrell, spokesperson for Commander, Naval Air Forces. The Roosevelt, training completed, returned to its homeport at San Diego on Oct. 20.

“All members of the crew who were in close contact with the Sailors who tested positive have tested negative for COVID-19 and were placed in quarantine in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Navy guidance. The number of Sailors that were placed in quarantine amounts to less than one percent of the crew,” Harrell said in an emailed statement. In a brief phone call, Harrell told Seapower that “there haven’t been any changes to the numbers [of cases] from what was reported last week.” Defense Department policy bars disclosing exact numbers of COVID-19 cases on any ship or installation.  Only cumulative numbers for each service are shared by the Pentagon.

The latest figures released by the Navy on Oct. 21 showed 11,508 uniformed personnel have tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Of that number, 10,503 have recovered. Only 10 cases currently require hospitalization, and one Sailor has died since the pandemic began last winter. That is in comparison to more than eight million cumulative cases for the United States and over 200,000 deaths. Unlike many civilian leaders, Navy and Pentagon officials leaders have instituted strict requirements to halt the spread of COVID-19, including frequent testing, mandatory face coverings where social distancing is not possible and quarantining crews before they go to sea or report to new posts.

The Roosevelt became a flashpoint in the early days of the pandemic when scores of crew members became infected beginning in late March, 15 days after the carrier made a port visit to Da Nang, Vietnam. Stopping at Guam for a scheduled visit on March 27, the ship’s commander Capt. Brett Crozier began disembarking crew as the number of Sailors testing positive for the virus continued to rise, eventually topping 1,000 cases. Finding suitable accommodations for thousands of crewmembers was a slow process, prompting Crozier to write a March 30 letter to top Navy officers pleading for faster intervention from his superiors

Crozier was relieved of command April 2 by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly after his letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, sparking an outcry and worldwide media attention over the captain’s actions and the fate of the carrier’s crew. Modly resigned days later after his handling of the crisis, including  Crozier’s firing, touched of a political firestorm. A Navy investigation later upheld Crozier’s removal.