MARINETTE,
Wis. — The Lockheed Martin-led shipbuilding team launched Littoral Combat Ship 21,
the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, into the Menominee River at the
Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipyard on June 15.

Ship sponsor
Jodi J. Greene, deputy U.S. Navy undersecretary for policy, christened LCS 21
just prior to launch, according to a Lockheed press release. “LCS 21 is going
to bring the name ‘Minneapolis-Saint Paul’ all around the globe,” said Greene, who
is native of the Twin Cities.

“LCS is the
second largest ship class in the U.S. Navy, and Lockheed Martin is proud to
deliver capability and added force projection with each additional hull,” said
Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of small combatants and ship systems
for Lockheed.

Littoral
combat ships are designed to complete close-to-shore missions and are a growing
part of the Navy’s fleet. With 40 percent of its hull easily reconfigurable, an
LCS can be modified to integrate capabilities such as over-the-horizon
missiles, advanced electronic warfare systems and decoys and, in the future,
vertical launching systems or laser weapon systems.

An LCS is fast,
as it is capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots. The ships are lethal as well,
as all are equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, which
is capable of firing 220 rounds per minute.

Lockheed
Martin is in full-rate production and has delivered eight LCS to the U.S. Navy.
There are eight others in various stages of production and testing. This year,
Lockheed and Fincantieri Marinette Marine will begin construction on two ships,
deliver two ships, complete sea trials for two ships and see three ships
commissioned (LCS 13, 15 and 17).

TODENDORF, Germany — German, Norwegian, Danish and U.S. Navy Sailors from the Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) exercise Mine Warfare Task Group came together to clear three World War II-era air-laid mines in the Baltic Sea on June 14, the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center said in a release.

During complex mine warfare training to increase combined
force integration and maritime capability among 11 nations, the task group
identified three historical mines on the sea floor. The team detonated the
mines after receiving approval from German authorities to increase safety and
reduce risk to mariners operating in German territorial waters.

“This is an excellent example of the valuable training we
gain from exercises like BALTOPS,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Scott Robertson,
commander of the BALTOPS 2019 Mine Warfare Task Group and commander of Naval
Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center.

“Working together with our professional partners from
Denmark and Norway to clear these undetonated, historical mines provides
hands-on training and increases safety to mariners in the region by clearing
hazardous material from the Baltic Sea. There is a good chance we will find
more of these mines as the exercise continues, and it’s reassuring to know our
international task group has the training and expertise necessary to safely
dispose of them,” Robertson emphasized.

A team of mine warfare professionals aboard the Norwegian
Alta-class MS HMNoS Otra (M351) detected and classified two mines, which were
reacquired and identified by a team of Danish divers. Members of a Norwegian
dive team discovered the third mine in another Mine Warfare Task Group’s
training area off the coast of the Bundeswehr Military Training Area in
Todendorf, Germany.

“German authorities willingly support the reduction of
threat to navigation and shipping,” said Bundeswehr Personnel Exchange Program
Officer Fregattenkapitaen Stefan Oeggl, who is assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Mine
Countermeasures Division 31 and serves as a liaison for the Mine Warfare Task Group
and Germany.

“Even after 75 years, explosives like these are dangerous,
and we are happy to have the mines cleared as part of the exercise.”

Each of the cleared mines were World War II-era British
air-laid, bottom mines (A Mk I–VI), each roughly 1,000 pounds.

“This has been a tremendous opportunity to continue to work
with partner and allied forces that we frequently engage with throughout the
region,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jeff Demarco, commanding officer of Explosive
Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 8 based in Rota, Spain, which serves as the
Undersea Mine Countermeasures Commander within the BALTOPS Mine Warfare Task
Group.

“Working with the Norwegian, Danish and Belgium clearance
diving and AUV teams during training exercises is critical to our ability to maintain
sea control in a complex theater.”

Nations participating in the BALTOPS 2019 Mine Warfare Task
Group include Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the
Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

Nations participating in BALTOPS 2019 include Belgium,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom
and the United States.

BALTOPS is an opportunity to promote partnerships, presence,
and professionalism through an unambiguous display of strength in the Baltic
region.

Sporting spectacles such as the Pro Bowl and Boston Marathon
draw big crowds. Now they are also drawing swarms of U.S. Navy recruiters.

Recruiters have always gravitated to where the potential
applicants may be, to talk about Navy opportunities. Navy Recruiting Command
initiated “swarming” in December 2018, to bring extra recruiters and resources
together for high-profile events.

“This concept will give us the ability to support bigger
events with heightened visibility while bolstering prospecting, increasing Navy
awareness and closing leads,” said Rear Adm. Brendan McLane, commander of Navy
Recruiting Command.

“We focus on big events and bring in our top recruiters from
around the country to take advantage of the increased attention which those events
have. We ran a pilot right before Christmas in Miami for two back-to-back Miami
Heat NBA games,” McLane said.

The Miami swarm included 55 recruiting personnel who visited
12 high schools, three community outreach events and attended two Miami Heat-Houston
Rockets basketball games Dec. 17-22.

“It was very successful, and we followed that with the Pro
Bowl in January, which also coincided with a military expo focused on high
school kids in Orlando. We did the Mobile Navy Week in Alabama at the end of
February. And then in March, we were at the Minnesota Ice Hockey State
Championship in Minneapolis and the Boston Marathon in April,” McLane said. “We
bring in our best instructors from the Recruiting Academy, and the recruiters of
the year from the other districts, as a way of recognizing them, and we swarm.
We visit the high schools in much larger groups than we usually do.”

McLane said groups of recruiters visit a number of high
schools to make presentations in the classrooms, particularly about STEM
subjects, to drive recruitment for the nuclear field and other advanced career
fields. “We also invest in local media about 14 days before the event.”

According to Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class
Hilary A. Martin, assigned to Navy Recruiting District, Raleigh, and a
participant in the Miami swarm, the Navy can offer young people an education,
health care and travel, a chance to serve their country and a career.  “I’m a communications electrician, and I work
with some of the most advanced systems and equipment, which not only is
exciting but helps prepare me for other jobs when I eventually get out of the
Navy.”

The swarm includes one of CNRC’s two virtual reality trucks,
which offers young people the chance to put on a 360-degree virtual reality
headset with amazing graphics and become immersed in a tactical scenario. “You
get a dog tag that has your info on it and then you become a special boat
driver who has to go into a hot extraction point to get the SEALs out, and
drive them back down the river,” McLane said. “After your mission, you get your
debrief, and you can see if you performed as well as your friends.”

“The centennial generation have grown up with the internet
and technology, so we appeal to them with things like virtual reality goggles
where they get to see a 360-degree view on a carrier flight deck and more,”
said Capt. Matthew Boren, Navy Recruiting Command’s chief marketing officer.
“They want to see it, and we have the virtual reality truck where they can go
on a virtual mission to extract a SEAL team. We are a technical Navy with some
of the most high-tech combat systems in the world, so we need really
well-trained and smart operators that have the skills to run those systems.”

“All these things combined drive the number of contacts up,
which leads to higher numbers of interviews, which leads to greater numbers of contracts,”
McLane said.  “That leads to recruits
graduating and going on to [initial job training] “A” schools so they can fill;
vital billets in the fleet.”

McLane said the plan is ensure that there are an equal
number of swarms in both the east and west recruiting regions.  “You can count on swarming events occurring
every month throughout the nation.”

Edward Lundquist traveled to Navy Recruiting Command’s headquarters in Millington, Tennessee, to report this story.

NASHUA, N.H.
— BAE Systems has been awarded contracts by Boeing Co. to supply the Vehicle
Management Control System (VMCS) and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) System
for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial vehicle, BAE said in a release.

“BAE
Systems leads the industry in high-integrity fly-by-wire and mission-critical
IFF technologies,” said Corin Beck, director of military aircraft systems at
BAE Systems. “Our relationship with Boeing started more than four decades ago and
has resulted in aircraft that have some of the most advanced avionics and
reduced size transponders in the world.”

The VMCS
will control all flight surfaces and perform overall vehicle management duties
for the MQ-25. The IFF product ensures operation in contested environments by
reliably identifying both coalition and enemy vehicles.

The MQ-25 will be the U.S. Navy’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft and is designed to provide a much-needed refueling capability. The contract supports Boeing’s engineering and manufacturing development program to provide four MQ-25 aircraft to the Navy for Initial Operational Capability by 2024.

“The MQ-25 program is vital because it will help the U.S. Navy extend the range of the carrier air wing, and Boeing and our industry team is all-in on delivering this capability,” said Dave Bujold, Boeing’s MQ-25 program director. “The work we’re doing is also foundational for the future of Boeing — where we’re building autonomous systems from seabed to space.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Central Command has published a
timeline of the June 13 attacks on two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

The two motor tankers, the Norway-flagged M/TAltair and the Japan-flagged M/T Kokuka Courageous, were
apparently damaged by limpet mines placed on their hulls. Ships and P-8
aircraft of the U.S. 5th Fleet responded to the incidents to render assistance
and to investigate who launched the attacks.

Secretary of State Michael
Pompeo later blamed Iran for the attacks, according to a June 13 report in
Politico. “These attacks are a threat to international peace and security,
a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable escalation
of tension by Iran,” he is quoted as saying by the Politico report.

Pompeo said his assessment
was based “on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to
execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping and the fact
that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to
act with such a high degree of sophistication,” Politico reported.

The incidents followed covert attacks on May
12 on four tankers in the waters of the United Arab Emirates, apparently also
with limpet mines.

The following is a timeline of the June 13 attacks
provided by Capt. Bill Urban of U.S. Central Command public affairs:

• U.S. Naval forces in the region received two separate distress
  calls at 6:12 a.m. local time from the Altair and a second one at 7 a.m. from Kokuka
  Courageous.
• Both vessels were in international waters in the Gulf of Oman about
  10 nautical miles apart at the time of the distress calls. USS Bainbridge was about
  40 nautical miles away from Altair at the time of the attack and immediately
  began closing the distance.
• At 8:09 a.m., a U.S. aircraft observed an Iranian Islamic
  Revolutionary Guard Corps Hendijan-class patrol boat and multiple IRGC fast attack
  craft/fast inshore attack craft (FAC/FIAC) in the vicinity of Altair.
• At 9:12 a.m., a U.S. aircraft observed the FAC/FIAC pull a raft
  from the Altair from the water.
• At 9:26 a.m., the Iranians requested that the motor vessel Hyundai
  Dubai, which had rescued the sailors from the Altair, turn the crew over to the
  Iranian FIACs. The Hyundai Dubai complied with the request and transferred the
  crew of the Altair to the Iranian FIACs.
• At 11:05 a.m. local time, USS Bainbridge approached the Dutch tug
  Coastal Ace, which had rescued the crew of 21 sailors from the Kokuka
  Courageous who had abandoned their ship after discovering a probable unexploded
  limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion.
• While the Iranian Hendijan patrol boat appeared to attempt to get
  to the tug Coastal Ace before Bainbridge, the mariners were rescued by Bainbridge
  at the request of the master of the Kokuka Courageous. The rescued sailors are
  currently aboard Bainbridge.
• At 4:10 p.m., an IRGC Gashti-class patrol boat approached the Kokuka
  Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine
  from the Kokuka Courageous.

“The U.S. and our partners in the region will
take all necessary measures to defend ourselves and our interests,” Urban said.
“Today’s attacks are a clear threat to international freedom of navigation and
freedom of commerce. The U.S. and the international community stand ready to
defend our interests, including the freedom of navigation. The United States
has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we
will defend our interests.”

GULF OF OMAN (NNS) — The Arleigh Burke-class
guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) responded to a distress call
from the M/V Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman the morning of June 13.

The Bainbridge received a call from the
Kokuka Courageous crew advising that their ship was in distress approximately
30 nautical miles from Bainbridge’s location.

“This is what we’re out here for,” said Cmdr.
M. Kathryn Devine, commanding officer of Bainbridge. “Our mission is to ensure
maritime safety and to answer the call for aid when we can.”

All 21 crew members of the Kokuka Courageous
had evacuated to a tug boat and were transferred to the Bainbridge. One of the
Kokuka Courageous sailors suffered burns on his hands and was treated
immediately by the Bainbridge medical team.

Once safely aboard Bainbridge, the Kokuka
Courageous crew received medical check-ups, showers and clean clothes along
with food and any other attention they required.

“I’m very proud of my crew and their quick
response to the situation,” said Devine. “They’ve done an incredible job of
making sure the crew of the tanker was safely brought aboard and taken care
of.”

Bainbridge is underway as part of Abraham
Lincoln Carrier Strike Group’s (ABECSG) deployment in support of maritime
security cooperation efforts in U.S. 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet areas of
operations.

With Abraham Lincoln as the flagship,
deploying strike group assets include staffs, ships and aircraft of Carrier
Strike Group 12 (CSG 12), Destroyer Squadron 2 (DESRON 2), USS Leyte Gulf (CG
55) and Carrier Air Wing 7 (CVW 7).

PATUXENT
RIVER, Md. — The U.S. Navy’s presidential helicopter program awarded a $542
million contract to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, on June 10 to build
six VH-92A aircraft, spares and support equipment, the Program Executive Office
for Assault and Special Missions announced in a release.

“The team
has efficiently leveraged a proven platform with cutting-edge government
mission systems for rapid agile development of the next helicopters to fly presidential
missions,” said James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research,
development and acquisition. “I am proud of the combined government and
contractor team who has worked so hard to transition this program into initial
production and did so at over $1 billion less than the program’s cost
baseline.”

“The presidential
lift mission is a no-fail mission for the Marine Corps,” said Lt. Gen Steven
Rudder, the deputy commandant for Marine Corps aviation. “We deliver helicopters
and MV-22 transportation across the globe to support the requirements of the presidency.
The authorization to move forward with procurement of the VH-92A will allow the
Marine Corps to deliver the next generation of presidential helicopter
support.”

The VH-92A
aircraft will increase performance and payload over the current presidential
helicopters, VH-3D and VH-60N, that have been serving more than 40 years. The
VH-92A will provide enhanced crew coordination systems and communications
capabilities plus improve availability and maintainability.

Government testing will
continue to validate system performance and prepare for initial operational test
and evaluation planned for mid-2020 and initial operational capability (IOC) in
late 2020.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded to Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics Co. a contract to continue development of Block 4 capabilities for
the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $1.8 billion “cost-plus-incentive-fee,
cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for continued design
maturation and development of Block 4 capabilities in support of the F-35
Lightning II Phase 2.3 Pre-Modernization for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps
and non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants,” according to a Defense
Department announcement.

Details of the Block 4 capabilities have not been released by the
F-35 Joint Program Office, but they are mainly incremental software and sensor
upgrades intended to add to the aircraft’s agility, lethality and situational
awareness to enable the aircraft to keep ahead of the threats anticipated in
the future.

The
House Armed Services Committee chairman downplayed the partisan differences
over the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization but said the “biggest
threat” to adequate defense funding was the failure to reach agreement on
lifting punishing spending caps.

Although
the chairman’s mark he released would ban funding for low-yield nuclear warheads
for a submarine-launched ballistic missile and defense money to build U.S.-Mexico
border barriers and provide $17 billion less in total defense spending, which
the Republicans oppose, “the overwhelming majority of this bill, that is
incredibly important, is not controversial,” said the chairman, Rep. Adam Smith
(D-Washington).

Addressing
a Defense Writers’ Group breakfast June 10, Smith cited a 3.1 percent military
pay raise, funds to continue improving readiness, efforts to fix deteriorating family
housing, funding for 11 Navy battle fleet ships, including three attack
submarines, and “countless other projects, all of which we agree on,” that are in
the Democrats’ proposal. “The amount of stuff that we disagree on is about 2% of
the bill.”

But
in response to a Seapower question about the impact on defense funding if
Congress and the administration cannot agree on lifting caps enacted with the
Budget Control Act of 2011, which would cut nearly $90 billion from the base
defense budget, Smith said: “You have correctly identified the biggest threat
we face.” Senate Republicans were expected to plead for a deal to lift the caps
during a White House meeting on June 10.

The
committee will take up the NDAA on June 12, and the debate is likely to go well
into the night as Republicans have attacked provisions that came out the
subcommittee process as an unusual breach of HASC’s tradition of
bipartisanship.

Smith
defended the proposed total defense funding of $733 billion as the number
initially recommended by the Pentagon and said the $750 billion requested later
by the Trump administration “would encourage inefficiencies.” Committee
Republicans, however, insisted $750 billion was necessary to meet the 3% to 5%
real growth recommended by last year’s Strategic Capabilities Commission.

Although
Smith repeated his long-held view that the military wants to spend too much on
nuclear arms, he noted the Democrats would fully fund the new B-21 strategic
bomber and the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine to replace the aged
Ohio class and would increase overall spending on strategic programs. Smith and
some arms-control advocates argue that the new W-76.2 lower-yield warhead for
the submarine-launched Trident D-5 missile would reduce the strategic load of
the Ohio boats and increase instability.

Other
controversial issues in the proposed NDAA are a ban on use of defense funds to
build President Trump’s border wall, would require that any use of troops for
border security not affect combat readiness and would be paid for by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security. It also would restrict the administration’s
ability to reprogram defense funds to use for border security, which the
president did this year.

Although
the proposal would increase the purchase of F-35s for the Air Force, it would
fence some of the funding for the Lightning II pending analysis of ways to
improve the parts supply line for the fighter. Similarly, funding to buy more
of the Marine Corps’ CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters would be curtailed until the
U.S. Navy submits reports on how it will fix technical problems hampering the
program.

There
also will be debate on the nature of a future command to manage space programs,
with the Democrats resisting the president’s demand for a separate service,
which Smith called too expensive and bureaucratic. But Smith said he believes
the Air Force has done a poor job managing space.

CHERBOURG, France — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 132, in honor of Coast Guard Capt. Quentin Walsh, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his service during World War II, the secretary’s public affairs office announced in a June 6 release.

“Capt.
Walsh was a hero whose efforts during World War II continue to inspire, and his
leadership in securing the French port of Cherbourg had a profound effect on
the success of the amphibious operations associated with Operation Overlord,”
Spencer said.

“For over
two centuries, the Navy and Marine Corps team and the Coast Guard have sailed
side by side, in peacetime and war, fair weather or foul. I am honored the
future USS Quentin Walsh will carry Capt. Walsh’s legacy of strength and
service throughout the world, and I am proud that for decades to come, this
ship will remind friends and adversaries alike of the proud history of our
services and the skill and professionalism of all those who stand the watch
today.”

Spencer
made the announcement alongside Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the U.S.
Coast Guard, in a ceremony aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle in
Cherbourg, France.

“We
are grateful to the U.S. Navy and Sec. Spencer for honoring one of our Coast
Guard heroes, Capt. Quentin Walsh,” Schultz said. “Naming a future
Navy destroyer after Capt. Walsh, the first Arleigh Burke-class ship to be
named after a Coast Guard legend, highlights not only his courageous actions
but the bravery of all U.S. service members involved in the D-Day Invasion of
Normandy.

“The
U.S. Navy and Coast Guard legacies are interwoven as reflected in the heroic
actions of Capt. Walsh and the Navy Sailors under his command during the
liberation of Cherbourg,” the commandant continued. “We will remain
always ready to stand with our brothers and sisters in the U.S. Navy and Marine
Corps.”

During
World War II, while serving on the staff of the commander, U.S. Naval Forces,
Europe, then Cmdr. Walsh was given command of a 53-man special task force
assigned to capture the vital port of Cherbourg. Despite heavy casualties, his
small force seized the port facilities and took control of the harbor the day
after they entered the city.

After he
discovered that the remaining German garrison at Fort du Homet held 52 U.S.
Army paratroopers as prisoners, Walsh, under a flag of truce, exaggerated the
strength of the forces under his command and persuaded the commanding officer
of the remnants of the German garrison to surrender. These actions earned him
the Navy Cross and, all told, he accepted the surrender of over 700 German
soldiers. Walsh died May 18, 2000.