NASHUA, New Hampshire — BAE Systems has been awarded a $36.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy to develop and demonstrate a next-generation, dual band fiber-optic towed decoy (FOTD) to protect aircraft and pilots from advanced threats, the company said in a release. 

BAE Systems’ FOTDs are radio-frequency countermeasure systems that provide robust self-protection capabilities for any aircraft, including fighters, bombers and transports. The company’s dual band decoy development work is intended to expand the capabilities of its combat-proven AN/ALE-55 FOTD. 

“Our towed decoys enable pilots to execute missions in highly contested airspace,” said Tom McCarthy, dual band decoy program director at BAE Systems. “ALE-55 FOTD is a reliable, high-powered jamming system with years of mission success on the F/A-18E/F [Super Hornet] and extensive flight-testing on a variety of aircraft. Under this new Dual Band Decoy contract, our focus will be building upon the ALE-55’s proven performance in order to defeat the threats of tomorrow.” 

The primary role of the decoy is to protect the warfighter by luring threat missiles away from the aircraft. The decoy also combines techniques that disrupt adversaries’ radar, preventing missile launch from occurring. Much like the ALE-55 FOTD, the dual band decoy will interface with onboard electronic warfare equipment, but it can also operate independently, enhancing its effectiveness against current and future threats.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford got underway Oct. 25 for sea trials from Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division following a 15-month pierside maintenance period. 

“I am proud of the crew’s efforts to get USS Gerald R. Ford back out to sea,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said. “The Navy has diligently tackled issues associated with this first-in-class ship and will continue to do so. All are eager to demonstrate Ford’s capacity to deliver combat power. There is more work to do, but this is a great milestone.” 

Prior to getting underway, the Ford conducted a multiday, pierside “fast cruise,” where the crew worked through simulated at-sea operating scenarios. Gerald R. Ford then departed NNS and headed into the Atlantic Ocean for sea trials, putting into practice lessons learned from the fast cruise and starting a critical phase of underway testing. 

While at sea off the Virginia coast, the crew, in cooperation with NNS engineers and shipyard employees, will run through a comprehensive sequence of evolutions to test and validate systems maintained or modified during the extended maintenance period, known as a post-shakedown availability (PSA).  

The PSA included combat systems installations, throttle control system improvements, propulsion train component repairs and corrections to discrepancies identified during prior testing and completion of 304 berthing spaces. The Huntington Ingalls NNS team also completed construction of four advanced weapon elevators (AWE), upgraded advanced arresting gear (AAG) water twisters and fully outfitted all galley spaces.  

“After a challenging post-shakedown availability at Newport News Shipbuilding, the crew is excited to turn their hardhats in and get Warship 78 back out to sea,” said Capt. J.J. Cummings, Ford’s commanding officer. 

“I am extremely proud of our Sailors and the remarkable work ethic they have demonstrated over the last 15 months. It is their energy, enthusiasm and grit that has gotten our ship to this point, and it will be their motivation and resiliency that will fuel our success during post-delivery test and trial.” 

Sea trials are the culminating event prior the Ford returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. The carrier will then enter a post-delivery test and trials period to certify fuel systems, conduct aircraft compatibility testing, certify the flight deck and test the combat systems installed aboard the ship. 

As a first-in-class ship, the Navy is actively incorporating lessons learned from the Ford to improve the design and construction processes of future ships in the class. 

WASHINGTON — The secretary of the U.S. Navy said the sea service is looking ahead to determine what the follow-on aircraft carrier design will look like, even as work continues to get the new USS Gerald R. Ford out to regular operations at sea. 

“With the [recent] two-carrier buy, what will the next carrier look like? We’re having discussions on that as we speak, and we will see what happens,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said, speaking Oct. 23 at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “I think we actually whiteboard this thing. What will it look like in 10 to 15 years? Is it a floating platform for electrically charged unmanned aircraft? I don’t know.”  

Spencer said the Navy is looking at the “lightning carrier” concept, deploying 20 F-35B Lightning II strike fighters on an amphibious assault ship. Recently the USS America operated in the eastern Pacific Ocean with 13 F-35Bs of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, the Corps’ most recently equipped F-35B squadron. Earlier this year, USS Wasp operated for a short period with 10 F-35Bs of VMFA-121 on board.  

“My cost performance there is tremendous,” Spencer said. “Does it have the same punch? No, it doesn’t. But it has a very interesting sting to it.” 

Such lightning carriers would lack airborne early warning aircraft unless the Navy developed a capability for these smaller decks. The sea service is developing an aerial refueling tanker capability to be installed in the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to refuel the F-35Bs. 

During the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan operated as a “Harrier carrier,” equipped with two full squadrons of AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft, which the F-35B is replacing, rather than the usual six aircraft. 

The concept might get a serious workout in a couple of years.   

“In 2021, you will see a Marine Corps F-35B squadron on the Queen Elizabeth, which we are very excited about,” Spencer said, speaking of the plan to operate a Marine Corps F-35B squadron alongside a British F-35B squadron on the new Royal Navy aircraft carrier.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will commission its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Indianapolis, during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony on Oct. 26 in Burns Harbor, Indiana, the Defense Department said in a release. 

The future USS Indianapolis, designated LCS 17, honors Indiana’s state capital and largest city. It will be the fourth ship to bear the name. 

Lisa W. Hershman will deliver the commissioning ceremony’s principal address. Jill Donnelly, wife of former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, is the ship’s sponsor. She will continue the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!” 

“This Freedom-variant littoral combat ship will continue the proud legacy created by ships previously bearing the name Indianapolis,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said. “The crew will carry on the tradition of service to confront the many challenges of today’s complex world. To the men and women who will ring in the first watch, you carry with you the fighting spirit of incredible bravery and sense of duty that is inherently recognized with the name Indianapolis.” 

The most recent Indianapolis was a Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine, which was commissioned in 1980 and served through the end of the Cold War before being decommissioned in 1998. The first Indianapolis was a steamer built for the U.S. Shipping Board (USSB) and commissioned directly into the Navy in 1918. After two runs to Europe, the ship was returned to the USSB following World War I. 

It is the second Indianapolis, a Portland-class heavy cruiser, that is perhaps the best known of the three. Commissioned in 1931, its service ended when the ship was sunk by a Japanese torpedo minutes after midnight on July 30, 1945. Only 317 of the ship’s 1,196 Sailors survived after five days afloat in the Pacific. 

But it was the ship’s impressive war record that first brought it to the attention of Navy leaders and Americans. The ship saw action in the Aleutians, the Gilbert Islands, Saipan, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In addition to frequently serving as the flagship of the U.S. 5th Fleet, the ship earned 10 battle stars for World War II service. Before it was sunk, Indianapolis successfully completed the top-secret mission to deliver components of the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” to Tinian that ushered in the end of WWII with the use of the bomb at Hiroshima. 

The future USS Indianapolis, a Freedom-variant LCS, is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments as well as open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. 

LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare (SUW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and mine countermeasures (MCM) missions in the littoral region. 

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 (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

WASHINGTON — The secretary of the Navy said that the U.S. Air Force, not the Navy, will manage the program for the next generation of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). 

The MUOS, built by Lockheed Martin, is a communications satellite equipped with a wideband code division multiple-access payload that enables a 10-fold increase in capability over the previous UHF Follow-On satellite. 

The MUOS provides secure channels for voice and data at high speeds with streaming capability. The five-satellite system includes an in-orbit spare. Four are operational. The fifth — the spare — was launched in 2016 and turned over to Navy control in October 2017. General Dynamics has built MUOS ground stations in Hawaii, Virginia and Australia. In August 2018, the system was approved for expanded use by U.S. Strategic Command.  

The MUOS is unusual in that it is a Navy-developed and owned space satellite system. The Air Force is the primary operator of defense space satellites for the armed services. 

Spencer, speaking Oct. 23 to an audience at the Bookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, replying to a question about the Navy Department’s involvement in space, said the Navy should subscribe to space services rather than purchase more satellite systems itself. 

“My fundamental position, and I believe the CNO [chief of naval operations] and commandant [of the Marine Corps] agree with me, is we’ve moved to a thought process where I just want the service and/or the resource provided to me,” Spencer said.  

“I just signed a memorandum of agreement with the Air Force,” Spencer said. “They will take over MUOS Next Generation. If that’s your expertise, I want you on it and [the Navy Department] will just buy the service from it.”

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy’s C-40 fleet has undergone some major changes in the last few months — adding two airplanes, one squadron and completing its current planned aircraft procurements, according to a Naval Air Systems Command release. 

The Tactical Airlift Program Office (PMA-207) took delivery of the Navy’s 16th aircraft in June and 17th aircraft on Sept. 26. The Navy’s latest C-40A will be assigned to U.S. Naval Reserve Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 57. 

These last two deliveries have allowed the C-40 fleet to realign and expand its horizons. 

“The C-40 plays an important role in the Navy Unique Fleet Essential Airlift (NUFEA) fleet,” said Capt. Steve Nassau, PMA-207’s program manager. “These extremely flexible logistics support aircraft are an integral part of every type of maritime mission, from humanitarian assistance to long-range, high priority deliveries.” 

The sixth Navy C-40 squadron was established in September. VR-51, nicknamed the Windjammers and deploying from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, received two C-40 aircraft from the fleet. The squadron will be fully operational in October, following receipt of its “safe for flight” certification. 

“The … certification is an entire program overview in which the government ensures that all contractor, aircrew and government operating procedures are in place and functioning correctly,” said Darwin Lazo, PMA-207’s medium-lift deputy assistant program manager for logistics. “It is the final certification for a new squadron.” 

VR-51 will soon begin entering the VR deployment rotation. 

“There is always a C-40 deployed to U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Pacific Command to meet mission requirements,” said Donna Elliott, PMA-207’s medium-lift IPTL. 

Over the past year, the C-40 fleet logged 24,374 hours of flight time, completed 1,555 missions, transported 95,746 passengers and 20 million tons of cargo. In doing so, the aircraft has maintained a 90% readiness rate and has played a vital role in providing military transport not available with contract or commercial carriers. The C-40, a commercial derivative of the Boeing 737-700C, is the mainstay of the Navy’s medium-lift capability.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will christen the Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Miguel Keith during a 10 a.m. PDT ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 19, at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, according to the Defense Department. 

The ship is named in honor of Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith and is the first ship to bear the name. 

Retired Marine Gen. Walter E. Boomer, the 24th assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Keith’s mother, Eliadora Delores Keith, who serves as the ship’s sponsor, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to formally christen the ship. 

“USNS Miguel Keith honors the dedicated and heroic service of a fellow Marine,” Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer said. “This dedication will live on in the ship and her crew as they deploy around the world bringing additional capability to our fleet. This christening cannot be achieved without the dedication demonstrated by the men and women who worked tirelessly to build this ship.” 

Keith was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1951. He left North High School in Omaha, Nebraska, in December 1968 and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Omaha on Jan. 21, 1969. He was discharged and enlisted in the regular Marine Corps on May 1, 1969. 

In 1969, Keith served as a machine gunner with Combined Action Platoon 132, III Marine Amphibious Force in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. He was promoted to the rank of lance corporal on April 1, 1970. 

He was severely wounded on the morning of May 8, 1970, when his platoon came under a heavy-ground attack. Despite being injured in the attack and open to hostile fire, he continued to engage the enemy with heavy machine gun fire. 

Keith’s efforts resulted in him killing three attackers and dispersing two remaining adversaries. Despite receiving further serious injuries caused by an enemy grenade, he continued to advance upon an estimated 25 enemy soldiers, killing four and dispersing the rest. 

Keith was mortally wounded, but his performance in the face of overwhelming odds contributed, in no small measure, to the success of his platoon defeating a numerically superior enemy force. 

ESB class ships are flexible, modular platform optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions, including special operations forces and airborne mine countermeasures support operations, in addition to humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions. 

Built by General Dynamics NASSCO, the Montford Point-class is comprised of five ships across two variants: expeditionary transfer dock and expeditionary sea base. USNS Montford Point, USNS John Glenn, USS Lewis B. Puller and USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams have been delivered to the fleet. Miguel Keith is the third platform of the ESB variant and is scheduled to deliver later this year. 

The platform has an aviation hangar and flight deck that include four operating spots capable of landing MV-22 and MH-53E equivalent helicopters and accommodations, workspaces and ordnance storage for an embarked force. The platform will also provide enhanced command and control, communications, computers and intelligence capabilities to support embarked force mission planning and execution. The reconfigurable mission deck area can store embarked force equipment including mine sleds and rigid hull inflatable boats.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 134, in honor of U.S. Navy Hospitalman John E. Kilmer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War, the secretary’s Public Affairs office said in an Oct. 16 release 

“Hospitalman Kilmer was a hero whose efforts during the Korean War continue to inspire,” Spencer said. “His dedication to his teammates represents everything good about our integrated Naval force.” 

A medical field technician with the Fleet Marine Force, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on June 18, 1953. He was killed Aug. 13, 1952, as a result of enemy action while caring for the wounded during the attack on Bunker Hill. He shielded another man from enemy fire with his body and was mortally wounded. 

From Kilmer’s Medal of Honor citation, “With his company engaged in defending a vitally important hill position well forward of the main line of resistance during an assault by large concentrations of hostile troops, Kilmer repeatedly braved intense enemy mortar, artillery and sniper fire to move from one position to another, administering aide to the wounded and expediting their evacuation.” 

Kilmer was born in Highland Park, Illinois, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947 as an Apprentice Seaman in Houston. Kilmer was serving with a Marine rifle company in the First Marine Division at the time of his death. He had previously served aboard USS Repose (AH 16) and at multiple locations in California. 

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The future USS John E. Kilmer (DDG 134) will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. 

USS John E. Kilmer will be constructed at Bath Iron Works, a division of General Dynamics in Bath, Maine. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and be capable of operating in excess of 30 knots. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s last active-duty patrol squadron to operate the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft has returned from deployment and soon will begin transition to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon.  

Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40) completed its return to Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Washington, on Oct. 10 from its deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet and U.S. 5th Fleet areas of operations. 

VP-40 is the last of the existing 12 VP fleet squadrons to operate the P-3C. It will join those squadrons in flying the P-8A as it begins its transition with the fleet replacement squadron, VP-30 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. 

VP-40 had the distinction of retiring the Navy’s last flying boats, the SP-5B Marlins, in 1967 following a deployment to the Philippines and South Vietnam. 

Although it is no longer in the regular fleet deployment cycles, the P-3 will continue for several more years to be operated by several units, including two reserve VP squadrons, VP-62 and VP-69, as well as VP-30, Special Projects Patrol Squadron Two, Scientific Development Squadron One, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30. 

The EP-3E electronic reconnaissance version will continue to deploy from NAS Whidbey Island with detachments of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One until the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle is deployed in sufficient numbers with signals intelligence capability.       

SAN DIEGO — The Navy’s next-generation narrowband satellite communications system completed a critical test and evaluation phase and was assessed as operationally effective, operational suitable and cyber survivable, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command Public Affairs said in an Oct. 16 release. The successful completion of this testing demonstrates the system’s full operational capability and its readiness for forces to transition it into unrestricted operations. 

Known as the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), it is a Navy-led effort that provides essential narrowband satellite communications for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other U.S. government organizations. The recent required completion of Multiservice Operational Test and Evaluation to evaluate measures of effectiveness, suitability and performance in an operationally representative environment means it is now ready for full operational use. Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, the Navy’s operational test agency, led the multi-month effort that included participants from the Army and Marine Corps.  

“This is the last critical milestone before turning MUOS over for full operations, and I am very proud of the entire team that contributed to this outstanding achievement.” 

Capt. Chris DeSena, program manager, Navy Communications Satellite Program Office

“Sailors and Marines can already use MUOS in situations like humanitarian response, disaster assistance and training,” said John Pope, who leads the Navy’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Space Systems (PEO C4I and Space Systems). “Now, these same advanced communications capabilities will be available in the tactical warfare environment. The advantages MUOS provides will help the warfighter compete, deter and win on the battlefield.” 

The MUOS program falls into the program portfolio of the Navy Communications Satellite Program Office at PEO C4I and Space Systems.  

Each of the five satellites in the MUOS constellation carries two payloads. The legacy communications payload was designed to maintain DoD legacy narrowband communications during the transition to the advanced MUOS Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) capability. The MUOS WCDMA payload interfaces with the MUOS ground system through the MUOS WCDMA waveform that is integrated into end-user radios, adapting commercial cellular technology. This capability allows warfighters to communicate beyond line of sight more securely and reliably than ever before, with 10 times the capacity and significantly improved quality of service compared to the legacy narrowband constellation.  

While the legacy capability continues to support unrestricted operations, the WCDMA capability will dramatically increase effectiveness, information security and global reach for missions across the spectrum of operations.  

The WCDMA payloads were approved by U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) for Early Combatant Command Use in July 2016, paving the way for testing, training, exercises and concept of operations development across the services. In July 2018, USSTRATCOM expanded WCDMA use to include all noncombat operations. 

MUOS provides global connectivity to terminals, platforms, tactical operators and operations centers to support global voice and data communications requirements. Operators today with MUOS WCDMA radios are able to transmit simultaneous voice, video and mission data on an Internet Protocol-based system that connects to military networks. 

“This is the last critical milestone before turning MUOS over for full operations, and I am very proud of the entire team that contributed to this outstanding achievement,” said Capt. Chris DeSena, program manager, Navy Communications Satellite Program Office. “The capability MUOS brings to the warfighter is revolutionary in terms of narrowband communications, and I look forward to seeing the potential of MUOS fully realized.”