ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy has reduced the number of F/A-18C Hornet strike fighters it
is modernizing to the F/A-18C+ configuration from 25 to 19, only enough to field
one squadron for the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Michael Land, a spokesman
for the Naval Air Systems Command.

As an upgrade
to the F/A-18C, the F/A-18C+ is equipped with an upgraded APG-73 radar, Link
16, color cockpit displays, a moving-map display, ALE-47 infrared
countermeasures, the Naval Aircrew Common Ejection Seat and the Joint
Helmet-Mounted Cueing System. The service life of the airframes is being
extended from 6,000 flight hours to 8,000 hours.

Originally
the C+ program was to include 30 aircraft, enough to field two squadrons. The
number later was reduced to 25.

The aircraft
are being upgraded by Boeing at its facility at Cecil Field in Jacksonville,
Florida.

As of early May, three of the C+ versions had been completed. Two had been delivered to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 (VMFA-115), one of which had been lost in a mishap. The third has been delivered to reserve squadron VMFA-112 at Naval Air Station Fort Worth in Texas in May. That squadron is scheduled to receive most of the C+ Hornets.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract for 34 ScanEagle unmanned aerial
vehicles for four partner nations adjacent to the South China Sea.

The Naval Air
Systems Command awarded a $47.9 million contract on May 31 to Boeing’s Insitu
in Bingen, Washington, for the UAVs as well as “spare payloads, spare and
repair parts, support equipment, tools, training, technical services and field
service representatives,” according to a Defense Department announcement.

The UAVs will
be built for the governments of Malaysia (12 UAVs), Indonesia (8), the
Philippines (8) and Vietnam (6).

The ScanEagle
is a small Group 2 UAV that can be launched from a pneumatic rail launcher
ashore or from ship and recovered by a line that intercepts a hook on the wing
of the UAV. It can carry sensor payloads such as electro-optical imaging,
infrared imaging and millimeter wave radar. The UAV can stay aloft for 18
hours.

Deliveries are expected to
be completed by March 2022.

LONDON — HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s future
flagship, will deploy in late summer for the eastern seaboard of the United States,
including a port visit in the Washington, D.C., area, where she will host the
Atlantic Future Forum, the U.K. Ministry of Defence announced.

The aircraft carrier, United Kingdom’s largest and
most advanced warship ever built, will make the transatlantic journey for the
second consecutive year to train alongside the U.K.’s closest ally. She will
also make several port calls while deployed before returning home before Christmas.

While in the Washington area she will host the Atlantic Future Forum, which aims at bringing the U.S. and U.K. defense industry and military together to address the changing nature of warfare and shared threats both allies face at home and abroad.

“HMS Queen Elizabeth represents the best of British innovation and is a true embodiment of our international ambition,” said British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

“The fact that this important ship will have visited
the U.S. twice within her short service thus far is testament to our enduring
transatlantic defense relationship. In the week that we commemorate the 75th anniversary
of the D-Day landings, it is only right that we continue to look at how we can
deepen our global partnerships to promote peace and deter future conflict.”

The deployment, known as WESTLANT 19, will see Queen Elizabeth and her crew conduct deck and warfare trials with U.K. F-35 jets from 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron based in the United States and 617 Squadron based at RAF Marham as well rotary wing training with Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

While stateside, she will also welcome U.S. Marine Corps vertical-lift F-35s on deck.

HMS Queen Elizabeth remains set to be deployed on global operations from 2021 and when Prince of Wales joins her in the fleet in the near future, the United Kingdom will have one carrier available at very high readiness at all times.

Britain’s prime minister also announced June 4 that
the Royal Navy will ready the HMS Queen Elizabeth to join allies in forming
part of NATO’s major “readiness initiative” when she becomes operational.

“I’m pleased to announce that NATO will soon be able
to call on the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and F-35 fighter
jets to help tackle threats around the world,” Prime Minister Theresa May said.

NATO’s “readiness initiative” aims to improve the
readiness of the alliance’s forces to deploy and move within Europe and across
the Atlantic to safeguard international security. Britain will look to make its
aircraft carrier a key part of those plans as the country continues to play a
leading role in the alliance which has been the cornerstone of its defense for
70 years.

“Be it projecting influence for peace, standing ready
to fight, or delivering vital aid around the world, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her
sister ship HMS Prince of Wales will fly the flag of a Global Britain,”
Mordaunt said. “Nothing symbolizes the leading role that we play in NATO more
than our nation’s future flagship being ready to respond to any challenge that
the Alliance may face.”

At the Defence Ministers’ meeting in June, allies
committed, by 2020, to having 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 naval
combat vessels ready to use within 30 days. This was reinforced by allied heads
of state and government at the NATO summit in July.

SAN DIEGO
— Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has changed its name to Naval
Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWARSYSCOM), reinforcing its commitment
to outpacing adversaries in information warfare, the command said in a release.

Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced the name change at the
Information Warfare Senior Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C., on June 3.
The change is effective immediately.

“We have
been on a steady drumbeat since the issuance of the Design for Maintaining
Maritime Superiority to further normalize information warfare into the way we
do operations and warfighting in the Navy,” Richardson said. “Today, we will
take an important step in that direction as we rename the Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. This new name
more accurately describes the full totality of the mission, supporting naval
warfare — from seabed to space.”

The intent
of the name change is to recognize the power that information warfare brings to
the fight. The change aligns the command name with the command mission to
identify, develop, deliver and sustain information warfare capabilities and
services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions.

“In this era of ‘Great Power Competition,’ information is a fundamental element of warfare, an essential component of the Navy’s strategy, and a warfare area that transcends the traditional domains of air, sea, land and space,” said NAVWARSYSCOM’s commander, Rear Adm. Christian Becker. “This name change underscores the importance of information warfare in providing our fleet with an unfair advantage in today’s complex and increasingly competitive security environment.”

In
addition to more accurately reflecting the focus and core capabilities of the
command, the name change will bring renewed clarity of mission and purpose for
the warfighter, stakeholders across the fleet, industry partners, the broader
information warfare community and the Naval Research and Development
Establishment, according to the release.

“We have
been at the center of incorporating advanced information warfare technologies
that enable new operational concepts for decades,” NAVWARSYSCOM Executive
Director Patrick Sullivan said. “Information warfare has been and will continue
to be our central focus, and now our name accurately reflects this focus.”

In
February 2019, NAVWARSYCOM’s two Echelon III commands, formerly “systems
centers” in Charleston, South Carolina and San Diego changed their names to Naval
Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic and NIWC Pacific, respectively.
While this move reflects clarity of mission and purpose, it also aligns the
centers’ naming architecture with Naval Air Systems Command’s air warfare
centers and Naval Sea Systems Command’s surface and undersea warfare centers.

The change
to NAVWARSYSCOM is the second name change in the command’s history. In May 1966,
the Department of the Navy established the Naval Electronic Systems Command.
The command was one of five systems commands placed under the Naval Material
Command. In May 1985, the Department of the Navy disestablished the Naval
Material Command, and the Naval Electronic Systems Command became Space and
Naval Warfare Systems Command, an Echelon II command under the CNO.

NAVWARSYSCOM consists of
more than 11,000 active duty military and civil service professionals around
the world and close to the fleet to keep NAVWARSYSCOM at the forefront of research,
engineering and acquisition to provide and sustain information warfare
capabilities to the fleet.

BREMERTON, Wash. — The Los
Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) arrived on May 28 at
Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington, to start the inactivation and
decommissioning process, commander, Submarine Group 9 said in a release.

Under the command of Cmdr.
Jason Deichler, a Pittsburgh native, the submarine departed Naval Submarine
Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, and made its first arctic transit for
its final homeport change.

“We are the first second
flight 688 to complete an arctic transit from Groton to Bremerton for an
inactivation,” Deichler said. “It was an amazing transit, one that it unique to
submarines. There aren’t too many people in the history of the world, let alone
the submarine force, let alone the Navy, that have done that transit under the
ice.”

Pittsburgh completed its
most recent deployment Feb. 25, 2019. During the deployment, the boat and her
crew steamed more than 39,000 nautical miles and conducted three foreign port
visits.

“All I heard from the crew
during the transit was ‘this is the last,’” Deichler said. “This is the last
meal; this is the last time we are going to eat Pittsburgh steak on Pittsburgh;
this is the last turn; this is the last shut down. So, the pride that they have
in the ship is amazing, the best I have ever seen on any ship I have ever
served.”

The submarine’s ability to
support a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
ship warfare, strike warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, made Pittsburgh
one of the most capable submarines in the world.

“It is a bittersweet
feeling to be the last operational commanding officer of Pittsburgh,” Deichler
said. “I am a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so the boat has a special
meaning to me. It is bittersweet to see Pittsburgh come for a final mooring
here in Bremerton, but I know it will help the Navy in her future mission as we
bring more Virginia-class submarines out online and we get our technology
upgraded.”

During the inactivation
process, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility will
defuel the submarine, with the hull retained in safe storage until decommissioning.

“The 35 years of USS
Pittsburgh has been an amazing 35 years,” Deichler said. “We have been involved
in two Tomahawk strike exercises and a multitude of missions vital to national
security. What I really hope that the public remembers of our ship and our crew
is the hard working men and women that helped build the submarine, utilizing
materials from Pittsburgh, companies from Pittsburgh, and the support I got
from the citizens of Pittsburgh; and then the crew itself, as they supported
the ship and conducted operations over these 35 years.”

Commissioned Nov. 23, 1985,
Pittsburgh is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the city of
Pittsburgh. The boat’s mission is to seek out and destroy enemy ships and
submarines and to protect U.S. national interests. At 360-feet-long and 6,900
tons, Pittsburgh can be armed with sophisticated Mk48 advanced-capability
torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

NORFOLK,
Va. — The U.S. 2nd Fleet declared the command has achieved initial operational
capability (IOC) May 29, less than one year after being established by senior
military leaders, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs said in a May 29 release.

Vice Adm.
Andrew “Woody” Lewis, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, made the announcement onboard
Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, the waterfront homeport of many 2nd Fleet
maritime assets.

“The North
Atlantic has some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and with the opening
of waterways in the Arctic, this traffic will only grow,” Lewis said. “This is
a fact acknowledged by both our allies and competitors, and as such, it is
critically important U.S. 2nd Fleet reinvigorates the way our forces are
employed in this influential theater.”

In
achieving IOC, the command has reached the capability to command and control
forces assigned, as is expected of a numbered fleet, utilizing the functions
and processes of the Maritime Operations Center and Maritime Headquarters.

“The North Atlantic has some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and with the opening of waterways in the Arctic, this traffic will only grow,” Lewis said. “This is a fact acknowledged by both our allies and competitors, and as such, it is critically important U.S. 2nd Fleet reinvigorates the way our forces are employed in this influential theater.”

Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis

By
focusing on the high-end training and employment of assigned assets, the new
2nd Fleet will be postured to support the employment of forces, whether that is
on the Western side of the Atlantic, the Eastern side of the Atlantic, or up
into the Arctic.

A few days
after achieving IOC, the new fleet will lead Exercise Baltic Operations
(BALTOPS), marking the first time the fleet will operate in the European
theater, and leveraging increased lethality, interoperability and integrated
warfighting capability with allies and partners in the region.

“BALTOPS
2019 is our collective opportunity to promote peace and security through
cooperation, collaboration, interoperability, and an unambiguous display of
strength in the Baltic region,” Lewis said. “As an alliance, increasing our
capabilities across all-domains as well as building a command-wide network will
give us the ability to deter aggression and project stability.”

U.S. 2nd
Fleet exercises operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships,
aircraft and landing forces on the East Coast and the North Atlantic.
Additionally, it plans and conducts maritime, joint and combined operations as
well as trains and recommends certification of combat ready naval forces for
maritime employment and operations around the globe.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has allocated
funds for long-lead components for the next production lot of the MQ-4C Triton
high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, including one for Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF), according to a May 30 Defense Department contract
announcement.

The Naval Air Systems Command has awarded
to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. a not-to-exceed $65 million advance
acquisition contract toward the Lot 5 low-rate initial production of three
Tritons, two for the U.S. Navy and one for the RAAF. The contract also provides
for three ground stations, two for the U.S. Navy and one for the RAAF.

As of last month, Northrop Grumman had
delivered three production MQ-4Cs to the U.S. Navy.

The Australian government has identified a
requirement for seven Tritons for the maritime surveillance role. Two have been
ordered to date.

The U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19,
the first Triton squadron, is on track to deploy the Triton for an Early
Operational Capability deployment to Guam later this year. It will take two
MQ-4Cs to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam to support the U.S. 7th Fleet.

Rear Adm. Brian Corey, program executive
officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, speaking May 6 at the Navy
League’s Sea-Air-Space expo in National Harbor, Maryland, said the two Tritons
making the first deployment will be in the aircraft’s baseline configuration.

The baseline configuration, Integrated
Functional Capability 3 (IFC 3) includes the Northrop Grumman AN/ZPY-3
Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) maritime radar, Raytheon MTS-B electro-optical/infrared
sensor turret, Automatic Identification System receiver and an electronic
support measures system.

Corey said the current priority of the
Triton program is to “put forward the IFC 4 [Integrated Functional Capability
4] capability [in the Triton] to do much of the EP-3E mission.”

The MQ-4C is scheduled to replace the EP-3E
electronic reconnaissance aircraft when the UAV’s IFC 4 multi-intelligence
capability is installed and certified for operations.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Digital technology marked the exact location where Huntington Ingalls Industries landed the island onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) during a ceremony May 29 at the company’s shipbuilding division, the company said in a release. The event coincided with the birthday of the carrier’s namesake, President John F. Kennedy.

“Landing
the island is a key milestone in preparing the ship for launch in the fall,”
said Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding. “Reaching this
milestone on schedule demonstrates the significant lessons learned we are
applying to this ship’s construction as well as the strides we’ve made to use
new technologies to gain efficiencies.”

The 588-ton island, which will serve as the command-and-control center for flight deck operations, is one of the last steel structures, known as a superlift, to be placed onto the ship, signifying that the Kennedy is a step closer to being launched.

The
ship is being built in sections with more outfitted equipment — valves, pipe,
electrical panels, mounting studs, lighting, ventilation and other components —
than any other aircraft carrier built at Newport News. The use of new
technologies, including digital work instructions that provide shipbuilders
digital 3D data versus traditional paper drawings, has increased efficiency and
productivity.

With the island, the Kennedy is more than 90% structurally complete. The island stands 72 feet above the flight deck and is 56 feet long and 33 feet wide.

In
keeping with the Navy tradition, Capt. Todd Marzano, the ship’s commanding
officer, placed his aviator wings underneath the island during the ceremony.
This custom, known as mast-stepping, recognizes an ancient maritime custom of
placing a coin at the base of a mast of a ship under construction to bring good
fortune.

“It’s an absolute honor and privilege to be selected as the first commanding officer of the new aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, and I’m truly humbled to be joining such an impressive team of highly talented shipbuilders who have worked so hard to make this historic event possible,” Marzano said.

“Landing the island on the flight deck is a significant construction milestone, bringing John F. Kennedy one very important step closer to being commissioned into the fleet, where its value to our nation cannot be overstated.”

Caroline
Kennedy, President Kennedy’s daughter, serves as the ship’s sponsor. She could
not participate in the May 29 event but shared a 1964 silver Kennedy half
dollar that Marzano placed under the island house.

“The
island landing is an important milestone in the life of this ship,” Caroline Kennedy
wrote in a letter. “I know how proud my father would be of the ship that will
bear his name and the patriotism and dedication of all who sail in her.”

Boykin
placed a Newport News Shipbuilding president’s coin, which was designed to
recognize dedication, service and leadership — three qualities that the ship
and its crew will demonstrate when they set sail in our nation’s defense, she
explained.

The
other ceremony participants — James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for
research, development and acquisition; Rear Adm. Roy J. Kelley, commander,
Naval Air Force Atlantic; and Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, program executive officer
for aircraft carriers — also placed coins.

A
time capsule containing all the items placed under the island will be welded
into the ship at a later time.

The Kennedy is scheduled to move from the dry dock to an outfitting berth in the fourth quarter of 2019, three months ahead of schedule. The ship’s christening is planned for later this year.

More than 4,500 shipbuilders and 2,000 suppliers from across the country are supporting the construction of the new aircraft carrier.

The nation’s top military officer validated the
intelligence that raised concerns of possible Iranian attacks on U.S. forces in
the Persian Gulf region and said the deployment of troops to the U.S.-Mexico
border was legal and an appropriate mission to “fill gaps” in the Department of
Homeland Security’s capabilities.

In a detailed survey of global and domestic
national security issues May 29, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said U.S. and South Korean forces are still “ready
to go to war tonight,” despite reductions in large-scale military exercises,
and he defined the rising tensions with China in the South China Sea as a “rule
of law” issue that must be addressed by other than military means.

With his four-year term as Joint Chiefs chairman
nearing an end, Dunford advised his successors to ensure that whatever future
funding the military receives emphasizes “capability” rather than just
“capacity” or numbers.

Taking questions at the Brookings Institute,
Dunford repeated the view he expressed at his Senate confirmation hearings in
2015 that Russia is the “existential” threat to the United States, but said he
has worked hard to maintain a dialogue with his Russian counterpart to reduce
the chances that President Vladimir Putin’s belligerent actions would lead to
conflict.

Asked about the controversy over the alleged
threats from Iran that led to dispatching the Abraham Lincoln carrier battle
group and B-52 bombers to the Central Command region, Dunford said U.S. intelligence
had detected Iranian actions and statements that created the appearance of a
possible “campaign” against U.S. forces and allies, rather than the persistent
hints of “a single action.” The intelligence also indicated that Tehran
questioned U.S. willingness to hold Iran responsible for any third-party
attacks on Americans in the region.

He said the initial reinforcements were part of
an effort to “address that gap in perception” and to let Iran know that if
anything happened “it would be attributed to them.” The later decision to send
about 1,000 additional troops and extend the deployment of a Patriot air and
missile defense battery was to enhance force protection of U.S. personnel in
the region.

On the politically controversial border issue,
Dunford did not address the use of defense funds to build a border wall and
said his focus was to ensure that the troops sent to the U.S.-Mexico border
were properly equipped and trained and were performing legitimate military
functions. He acknowledged that the work at the border might reduce combat
readiness but said that was no different than when troops are sent on
humanitarian relief missions and is addressed by rotating units to minimize any
erosion of capability.

Dunford disputed the claims that the reduction
in large military exercises in South Korea because of President Donald Trump’s
courtship of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un had reduced the coalition’s
combat readiness.

He said the field exercises had been reoriented
to focus on ensuring the infantry battalions and Air Force squadrons were
combat ready, while table-top drills kept commanders sharp. He said U.S. Army
Gen. Robert Abrams, the joint forces commander in Korea, knows that if he
became “uncomfortable” about his readiness all he had to do was tell him.

On the disputes over China’s creation of
militarized artificial island in the South China Sea, Dunford said he does not
view that as an issue of “a pile of rocks,” but as violations of “the rule of
law” and the need to hold the violators accountable. He stressed, however, that
did not mean by military action, but the use of “other tools” such as
diplomatic and economic efforts.

Looking at the overall condition of the military
since he became chairman, Dunford said the increased defense budgets the last
three years have helped fill depleted munitions stocks, improve the condition
of aircraft and ground equipment and the combat readiness of the troops. But,
he added, the U.S. technological “competitive advantage” over potential
adversaries has eroded due to the earlier budget cuts and spending by Russia
and China.

A detailed analysis by the Joint Chiefs showed
the need for future defense budget increases of 3% to 5% a year to meet the
services’ drive to increase force levels. To those who will come after him,
Dunford said, “if you are going to grow capacity, make sure it has
capabilities. I wouldn’t grow the force more than can be sustained.”

NORFOLK,
Va. — Military Sealift Command’s last champion class T-5 petroleum tanker, USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT 1125), completed its final underway mission for the
U.S. Navy by sailing down the Elisabeth River to downtown Norfolk, Virginia, in
support of National Maritime Day on May 23.

Christened
April 19, 1986, Gianella’s primary role has been to perform point-to-point
delivery of petroleum products to Department of Defense storage and
distribution facilities worldwide.

“USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella is the last and longest serving U.S. government-owned
champion class T-5 tanker,” said Matthew Sweeney, Military Sealift Command
tanker project officer. “As the longest serving T-5 tanker she moved more
petroleum for the U.S. military than any other vessel in U.S. military
history.”

Gianella “was
the last of five T-5 tankers built,” said Capt. Robert J. Mills III, USNS
Lawrence H. Gianella’s ship master since 1998. “The Gianella is a liaison
between commercial petroleum terminals and Department of Defense fuel
facilities around the world.”

The other
T-5 tankers in the U.S. Navy’s inventory were the MV Gus. W. Darnell
(ATO-1121), USNS Paul Buck (T-AOT 1122), USNS Richard G. Matthiesen (T-AOT
1124) and the USNS Samuel L. Cobb (T-AOT 1123).

“Military
Sealift Command operated its T-5 tankers in each of its five area commands, MSC
Atlantic, MSC Pacific, MCS Central, MSC Far East and MSC Europe and Africa,” Mills
added.

USNS Gianella
is the last noncombat logistics force petroleum tanker in MSC service capable
of providing underway replenishment-at-sea services with combatants using the
modular fuel distribution system (MFDS), according to Sweeney.

“Fuel is
the lifeblood of the U.S. Navy’s combatant fleet,” Mills said. “USNS Lawrence
H. Gianella is able to restock MSC’s fleet oilers and Navy combatant ships
while at sea using its two refueling stations. We would pull into port and
bring fuel to our fleet oilers so that they could remain at sea.”

Over the
course of USNS Lawrence H. Gianella’s service, the ship has provided direct
support to the warfighters in multiple wars.

“During
the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, USNS Gianella supported U.S. fleet and convoy
operations in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf by providing fuel consolidation
(CONSOL) support to MSC fleet oilers,” Sweeney said. “The ship also provided
CONSOL and petroleum logistics support for Operation Desert Shield, Operation
Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.”

As an ice-class
oil tanker USNS Lawrence H. Gianella has performed numerous Arctic and
Antarctic resupply missions since the mid-1980s.