ARLINGTON, Va. — The admiral in charge of procuring and sustaining the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) has praised the reliability of the Trident missile’s rocket motor, a critical factor in the credibility of the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent.

See: Navy’s next-gen attack submarine will be revolutionary, not evolutionary, admiral says.  

Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs, speaking Nov. 7 at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium in Arlington, said all of the five Trident missiles fired during tests and demonstrations in preceding 12 months “flew exactly as they were supposed to” and he noted that in one of the missiles the three rocket motors were almost 27 years old.  

“From a health perspective, our system is doing very, very well,” Wolfe said. 

“We are the only people that use the 1.1 [highly detonable] propellant,” he said. “There is no need to change that [for the next-generation Trident D5LE2 version]. We’re going to continue on producing those rocket motors because, if you look from a reliability perspective, that is the base contributor. We’re not going to change that. 

“We have seen no real degradation in our motors at all,” he said. “We have understanding of the properties of these motors if we see some type of gradual degradation. But what we are focused on is never being at that point, which is why we continue to produce the motors. We take older motors out as we can and [replace them] with newer ones.” 

The Trident SLBM is built by Lockheed Martin and deployed on Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines and will be deployed on the future Columbia-class ballistic-missile sub.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will christen its newest expeditionary fast transport (EPF), the future USNS Newport, during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony on Nov. 9 at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, the Defense Department said.  

The principal speaker will be Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Charlotte Marshall, a Newport native, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, she will christen the ship by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow. 

“This ship honors the city of Newport, Rhode Island, and serves as a reminder of the contributions the community has and continues to make to our Navy,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said. 

“Newport is a Navy town where many officers begin their careers and then return later for strategic training. It is right that a fourth ship will bear the name Newport to continue our long relationship and provide our commanders high-speed sealift mobility and agility in the fight to defend our nation.” 

The first Newport (Gunboat No. 12) was commissioned on Oct. 5, 1897. During the Spanish-American War, the gunboat received credit for assisting in the capture of nine Spanish vessels. The ship was decommissioned in 1898 but recommissioned in 1900 to serve as a training ship at the U.S. Naval Academy and at the Naval Training Station at Newport until decommissioning in Boston in 1902. 

The second Newport was commissioned on Sept. 8, 1944, decommissioned in September 1945 and loaned to the former Soviet Union under lend-lease and returned to U.S. custody at Yokosuka, Japan, in November 1949. Recommissioned in July 1950, Newport patrolled off Inchon, Korea, screening during the landings. Decommissioned at Yokosuka in April 1952, it was loaned to Japan in 1953 and commissioned as Kaede. She was then reclassified PF 293 and transferred to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force outright in August 1962. 

The third Newport was commissioned on June 7, 1969. Assigned to the Amphibious Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Newport alternated amphibious training operations along the East Coast of the United States with extended deployments to the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Newport was decommissioned in October 1992 and transferred to the government of Mexico in 2001. 

EPF class ships are designed to transport 600 short tons of military cargo 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. The ship can operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities and on/off-loading a combat-loaded Abrams main battle tank (M1A2). 

The EPF includes a flight deck for helicopter operations and an off-load ramp that will allow vehicles to quickly drive off the ship. EPF’s shallow draft (less than 15 feet) further enhances littoral operations and port access.

HOUMA, La. — Gulf Island Shipyard held a keel laying ceremony on Oct. 30 for the future USNS Navajo (T-ATS 6), the lead ship of the Navy’s new class of towing, salvage and rescue vessels. The ceremony was held at the Houma Terrebonne Civic Center in Houma, Louisiana, Naval Sea Systems Command said in an Oct. 31 release.  

A keel laying is the ceremonial recognition of the start of a ship’s construction and the joining of the ship’s modular components. The keel serves as the symbolic backbone of the ship and is said to be “truly and fairly laid” with the etching of an honoree’s initials into the keel plate. 

On hand to authenticate the keel were Jocelyn Billy, the ship’s sponsor; Jonathan Nez, president of Navajo Nation; and Seth Damon, the speaker of the 24th Navajo Nation Council. 

“We are honored to have so many members of Navajo Nation in attendance to celebrate this early milestone in the shipbuilding process,” said Mike Kosar, support ships, boats and craft program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “These ships are critical to the operations of our fleet and will soon sail with the resilience and determination of the Navajo people of which they honor.” 

The Navajo-class will provide ocean-going tug, salvage and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations. The current capabilities are provided by three T-ATF 166 and two T-ARS 50 class ships, which reach the end of their expected service lives starting in 2020. 

Navajo-class ships will be capable of towing U.S. Navy ships and will have 6,000 square feet of deck space for embarked systems. The platform will be 263 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and can carry a load of 1,796 tons. 

In addition to T-ATS 6, Gulf Island Shipyard is under contract for the detail design and construction of the future USNS Cherokee Nation (T-ATS 7) and USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek (T-ATS 8). 

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin is progressing with a second multi-year contract to upgrade electronic warfare (EW) systems on the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based early warning aircraft. 

The five-year, $50.9 million contract covers continued digital upgrading of AN/ALQ-217 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) systems for the Advanced Hawkeyes, including the remaining 75 E-2D aircraft the Navy is expected to purchase under the current program of record, Lockheed Martin officials told reporters Oct. 28, at the Association of Old Crows Symposium. 

The AN/ALQ-217 ESM is a passive sensor system that autonomously scans the environment, providing a broad situational awareness by detecting, intercepting and geolocating radio frequency signals. It also can identify weapon systems for operators, including the type, function and mode of intercepted emitters. The system architecture divides the RF operating range into three bands: low, medium and high to allow a full 360-degree acquisition in each band. Deliveries will run from 2021 through 2024. Lockheed Martin began providing analog ALQ-217 to E-2 aircraft in 1999.    

The AN/ALQ-217 “uses a lot of the same technology we have across our EW capability,” said Joseph A. Ottaviano, Lockheed Martin’s director of Electronic Warfare Systems. In addition to the second E-2D contract, awarded by the Navy on July 28, Ottaviano discussed two other Navy EW programs Lockheed Martin is working on: the Multifunction Modular Mast (MMM) subsystem of the AN/BLQ-10 electronic warfare system for Virginia, Los Angeles and Seawolf-class submarines; and Block 2 of the long-term surface warfare improvement program (SEWIP). 

SEWIP is an acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32 (V) electronic warfare system, which was developed by Raytheon in the 1970s. SEWIP enhances shipboard EW for early detection, analysis, threat warning and protection from anti-ship missiles. Block 2 will upgrade the EW system’s receiver and antenna group with modern digital technologies to meet the latest threats. Modified software will set up a single, unified interface with existing ship combat systems. 

Block 2 is in full rate production, Ottaviano said adding the new technology currently is mounted mostly on destroyers but “it is designed for every ship class” of combatants, including cruisers, aircraft carriers and landing transport docks (LPDs).  

The Multifunction Modular Mast (MMM) subsystem is part of an upgrade of the AN/BLQ-10 EW system for Navy submarines under terms of a $47 million order made in 2018. The AN/BLQ-10 provides automatic detection, classification, localization and identification of potentially hostile radar and communications signals at sea. 

The AN/BLQ-10 processes signals from the submarine’s imaging mast or periscope when the boat is at periscope depth. It provides threat warning to avoid counter-detection and collision; determines the number and location of targets for subsequent prosecution; and conducts intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to support the fleet or battle group. 

Despite some improvements in combat readiness, the U.S. military has “marginal” overall capability to meet the increasing global security challenges it faces because all four of the armed services are too small and much of their major combat systems are too old, according to the latest of the annual assessment by the Heritage Foundation. 

The Navy and the Marine Corps share that overall rating of “marginal,” with both assessed as “weak” in capacity, which translates into force size, and “marginal” in capability and readiness, even though both of the naval services have focused on improving readiness, the 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength, released by Heritage on Oct. 30, said. 

Although Army readiness is rated as “very strong” due to a major increase in the number of its brigade combat teams that are considered combat ready, it also gets an over score of “marginal” because its capacity is rated as “weak” and capability as “marginal.” The Air Force is rated as “marginal in all three of the categories and overall. 

The ratings for the four services are little changed from last year’s index and come in the face of the index’s finding of an overall threat to U.S. vital interests of “high” from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and global terrorism. Heritage rates the behavior of Russia and China as “aggressive” and their capability as “formidable.” 

Because of the overall weakness of the services, Heritage said the military “is likely capable of meeting the demands of a single major regional conflict … while also attending to various presence and engagement activities, but that it would be very hard pressed to do more and certainly would be ill equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous major regional contingencies.” 

As it has in the past, Heritage faults the four services, the Defense Department and Congress for the lack of funding and direction to substantially increased the size of the military and to modernize its equipment, which are the oldest on average since before World War II. Force size is a major criteria for Heritage in its ratings. 

 For example, it says the Navy needs a battle fleet of 400 ships, while the Navy’s current battle force is 290 ships and its long-term goal is 355. The key shortfalls Heritage cites, compared to its recommendations, are two aircraft carriers, 16 large surface combatants, 41 small surface combatants, 16 attack submarines, 13 amphibious warships and 25 combat logistics ships. It also finds naval air far short of the desired size. 

For the Marine Corps, Heritage believes it needs 36 infantry battalions, while it has only 24. Both the previous and current Marine Corps commandants have said they need to reduce the infantry to add capabilities in information warfare and cyber. 

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries announced the successful completion of acceptance trials aboard the amphibious assault ship Tripoli (LHA 7) in an Oct. 30 release. The second ship in the America class spent three days at sea in the Gulf of Mexico with the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey, performing test procedures that included a full power run of the main propulsion system. 

“The success of these trials is the culmination of the hard work and determination from our shipbuilders and leadership team. We have worked closely with our Navy partners to ensure that LHA 7 will provide unparalleled sea basing capabilities for the Navy’s amphibious ready groups and the Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Forces,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. 

Huntington Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious warships for the Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10), in 1966. Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class ships, eight Wasp-class ships and the first in a new class of ships, USS America (LHA 6). The third ship in the America class, Bougainville (LHA 8), is under construction at the shipyard and will be the 16th large-deck amphibious ship built at Ingalls. 

“The LHA team at Ingalls is truly unmatched in their dedication to making these state-of-the-art warships for the Navy,” said George S. Jones, Ingalls’ vice president of operations. “That dedication really showed during this trial. Our shipbuilders, test and trials team and our partners at Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Gulf Coast take great pride in the work they do every day and I know they are ready to finish the job strong.” 

Like the lead ship in the class, Tripoli is designed for survivability with increased aviation capacity, including an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, a significant increase in available stowage for parts and support equipment, and increased aviation fuel capacity. Like its predecessors, the ship will be able to operate as the flagship for an expeditionary strike group. 

Tripoli will be the third ship to bear the name that commemorates the capture of Derna in 1805 by a small force of Marines and about 370 soldiers from 11 other nations. The battle, memorialized in the Marines’ Hymn with the line “to the shores of Tripoli,” brought about a successful conclusion to the combined operations of the First Barbary War.

WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is back in its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, after successful completion on Oct. 30 of its post-shakedown availability/selected restricted availability, Program Executive Office (PEO) Aircraft Carriers announced. 

Completion of the availability marks a significant milestone for the Ford, the first ship in a next-generation class that will serve for 50 years as a centerpiece of U.S national defense. 

“This is a warship like none other, and the process of returning her to fleet service reflects the great technical skill, professionalism and tenacity of the government/industry team,” said Rear Adm. James Downey, program executive officer for aircraft carriers. 

A PSA is a typical period of construction availability in the early life of a ship during which the Navy and shipbuilder resolve issues that arise in initial at-sea periods and make any needed changes and upgrades. 

CVN 78’s PSA began on July 15, 2018, and included work on Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWEs), repairs to the ship’s main reduction gear, improvements to the throttle control system, upgrades to the advanced arresting gear and numerous other maintenance tasks. 

During the PSA, most discrepancies — known as “trial cards” — that had been identified during previous workups were addressed, with few remaining to address in future maintenance availabilities. As a first-of-class ship, such discrepancies are not unexpected, and the U.S. Navy is incorporating lessons learned from CVN 78 to inform design and actively improve oversight of future ships of the class. 

The program manager for USS Gerald R. Ford, Capt. Ron Rutan, acknowledged that unique challenges accompany technological advances. 

“The design and execution challenge in delivering a first-of-class warfighting platform is not only to make CVN 78 better, but also to enhance production on the next ships in the class — the future USS John F. Kennedy and future USS Enterprise,” Rutan said. 

The Gerald R. Ford class incorporates 23 new technologies with advances in propulsion, power generation, ordnance handling and aircraft launch systems. These innovations will support a 30% higher sortie generation rate, executed with a 20% reduction in crew compared to Nimitz-class carriers. The Gerald R. Ford-class carrier offers a 17% reduction — about $4 billion per ship — in life-cycle operations and support costs compared to the Nimitz class. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The future John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) marked another milestone leading up to the christening of the second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier as Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) flooded the ship’s dry dock on Oct. 29. 

The John F. Kennedy has been under construction at NNS in Newport News since 2015 and continues to prepare for its christening, which is scheduled for Dec. 7.  

The JFK’s launching occurred about three months early, according to the original schedule for the carrier. Other milestones had been reached leading up to the dry dock flooding, including laying of the ship’s keel on Aug. 22, 2015, and placement of the 588-metric-ton island superstructure on May 29. 

Capt. Todd Marzano, JFK’s commanding officer, and its crew participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 1 to officially establish the crew and designate the building where the Sailors will work during the carrier’s continued construction. 

Ensign Cheyenne Scarbrough, a John F. Kennedy crew member from San Francisco, brings a plethora of skillsets and experience to include the honor of being a double plank owner. 

“Being assigned to the future John F. Kennedy allows me another chance to start from ground zero, streamline processes and bring the ship to life,” said Scarbrough, who has served 17 years in the U.S. Navy and received her commission in March. Scarbrough has served on USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). 

While Scarbrough brings experience on both Nimitz and Ford-classes of aircraft carriers, Senior Chief Logistics Specialist David Adkins brings his experience serving on board the first USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). 

“I embarked on board USS John F. Kennedy while assigned to VFA-81 in 2004,” said Adkins, an 18-year veteran from Jacksonville, Florida. “For me being part of ship’s company now is definitely a point in my career where I have gone full circle.” 

Marzano, who served on board USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while it underwent maintenance at NNS as future John F. Kennedy’s keel was laid, emphasized his perspective in leading his crew throughout the ship’s construction.  

“CVN 79 has come a long way since I first observed initial construction in the dry dock back in 2015 following the keel laying,” Marzano said. “At that point I had no idea I’d be fortunate enough to be the ship’s first commanding officer, and I’m incredibly honored, humbled and excited to be given the opportunity to lead such an amazing team of high-quality crew members.”

YOKOSUKA, Japan — The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain completed its necessary repairs and is underway to conduct comprehensive at-sea testing, according to a U.S. Pacific Fleet release. 

The ship underwent repairs and extensive and accelerated upgrades over the last two years following an August 2017 collision with a tanker ship off the coast of Singapore that left 10 of the McCain’s crew dead and another five injured. 

During the at-sea testing, the ship and her crew will perform a series of demonstrations to evaluate the ship’s onboard systems. Among the systems that will be tested are navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems, combat systems, communications and propulsion application.  

USS John S. McCain, assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15 (DS 15) and forward-deployed to Yokosuka, completed her in-port phase of training and will continue at-sea training in the upcoming months to certify in every mission area the ship is required to perform and prepare for return to normal operations. 

“The USS John S. McCain embodies the absolute fighting spirit of her namesakes and shows the resiliency of our Sailors. She has completed her maintenance period with the most up-to-date multimission offensive and defensive capabilities, preparing her to successfully execute a multitude of high-end operations,” said Capt. Steven DeMoss, commander of DS 15. 

“This whole crew is eager to get back to sea, and that’s evident in the efforts they’ve made over the last two years to bring the ship back to fighting shape and the energy they’ve put into preparing themselves for the rigors of at-sea operations,” said Cmdr. Ryan T. Easterday, USS John S. McCain’s commanding officer.

BURNS HARBOR, Ind. — The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest littoral combat ship, USS Indianapolis, on Oct. 26 at Burns Harbor. 

“To the citizens of the great state of Indiana who have joined us here today, thank you so much for enduring the weather to show your support for the men and women of America’s military and this fantastic new addition to the fleet,” said Lisa W. Hershman, the Pentagon’s deputy chief management officer and the ceremony’s main speaker. “It is always a thrill to see a Navy ship commissioned, but it is truly a historic moment to do so on the shores of Lake Michigan.” 

As part of the ceremony, Dick Thelen, a survivor from that incident, handed the long glass telescope to Lt. Julian Turner, navigator of the first watch. 

“Now, a combat-ready ship is necessary but not sufficient for our Navy to fight and win decisively in combat,” said Adm. Christopher W. Grady, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. 

“To fight and win, you, the Hoosier Sailors of Indianapolis, must join as one and become a battle-minded crew. You must waste no time in preparing yourself to function as a team-of-teams, masterfully exercising your ship to the very extent of its limits. Only through the combination of this combat-ready ship and you, its battle-minded crew, both blue and gold, can Indianapolis carry on the proud legacy of your predecessors.” 

The Oct. 26 ceremony honored veterans of USS Indianapolis, a World War II cruiser that was torpedoed and sunk in the final days of the war after completing a secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb that later would be dropped on Hiroshima. Much of the crew of the Indianapolis who awaited rescue in the water after the sinking were lost due to exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks. 

The ship’s motto, “Legacy of War,” reflects that ships named Indianapolis have served in both world wars and the Cold War. LCS 17 is the fourth ship to bear the name of the state capital and most populous city of Indiana. 

“I feel honored to represent the ship’s namesake and the history that goes with that. Our crew has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing the USS Indianapolis,” Lt. j.g. Eric Wilkerson said. “There is a lot of Navy pride here today. The support from earlier crews being here is a strong reminder of the commitment needed to defend our nation and maritime freedoms.” 

Jill Donnelly, the ship’s sponsor, gave the first order: “Man our ship and bring her to life!” More than 8,000 people, including Indiana residents and friends and family of the crew, attended the commissioning ceremony. 

“It was all-hands effort. We work together to get the ship up and ready to go. There is a lot of teamwork and everyone really does pull their weight to accomplish the mission,” Operations Specialist 1st Class Devin Morris said. “It’s a brand-new ship so everyone has to go through all the certifications to make sure we are mission ready.” 

Littoral combat ships are outfitted with mission packages that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare or surface warfare missions. The warship’s modular mission packages can be quickly and cost-effectively updated with new weapons and weapon systems without taking the ship out of service for modifications and modernizations. 

USS Indianapolis will be homeported in Naval Station Mayport, Florida.