US Navy

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Citation :: (Jan. 26, 2013) Huntington Ingalls Industries celebrated significant progress today as the 555-metric ton island was lowered onto the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The 60-foot long, 30-foot wide island was the 452nd lift of the nearly 500 total lifts needed to complete the aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy Huntington Ingalls Industries/Released)

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US Navy - Page 32 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Navy - Page 32 Star3

Citation :: US Navy Accepts Delivery of Seventh Expeditionary Fast Transport USNS Carson City (EPF 7)

The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of USNS Carson City (EPF 7) during a ceremony in Mobile, June 24. The ship, which was constructed by Austal USA, is the seventh ship of the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) class.

http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com/

Citation :: ‘He’s a crook, but he’s our crook’
Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News 12:38 a.m. EDT June 27, 2016
How Fat Leonard hurt – and helped – the US Navy

WASHINGTON The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis swung at anchor in early October 2012 in the harbor at Kota Kinabalu, on the northwest coast of Borneo along the South China Sea. Chinese island-building activities in the nearby Spratly Islands were only just beginning, but the strategic importance of the region was well established. US Navy ships operating with the Seventh Fleet occasionally visited the port, capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah, but this was the first time a warship this large had dropped the hook. It was a major jump, strategically and logistically.

But the US Navy needed help in making the port call happen – US planners were not that familiar with the myriad services and arrangements needed to support the Stennis and the more than 5,000 sailors on board. In to fill the void, as throughout the western Pacific, was Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), at the time the pre-eminent ship husbanding firm in the region.

In fact, GDMA had pushed US Navy planners to send the Stennis to Kota Kinabalu, where the company controlled most of the port services and stood to make a significant profit. And they had a friend on the staff of Seventh Fleet, Cmdr. Mike Misiewicz, deputy of fleet operations. Misiewicz, in exchange for money and favors, fed GDMA information on upcoming ship visits and in turn, had a voice in where those visits would take place.

GDMA and its chief executive Leonard Glenn Francis – widely known as Fat Leonard – are at the center of what is likely the longest-running scandal ever to hit the US Navy. The company, banned in September 2013 from doing any further business with the US, routinely overcharged the Navy by a total of more than $20 million, according to US Justice Department estimates.

Francis is in a US jail after admitting guilt in a plea bargaining agreement, 14 individuals have been charged with federal crimes, and nine, including Misiewicz, have been sentenced to prison terms. Others in or headed to prison include US Navy officers and a former Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigator.

Misiewicz plead guilty on Jan. 28 to one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery. He hadprovided Francis with classified ship schedules and other information and, in return, accepted cash, luxury travel arrangements, gifts, and the services of prostitutes. He was sentenced on April 29 to 78 months in prison, fined $100,000 and ordered to forfeit $95,000 for the scheme. It’s the longest prison term handed down so far in the ongoing scandal.

Misiewicz, who begins his sentence in August, spoke to Defense News about how Francis and GDMA operated in the region – and about their importance to US Navy operations. He described a relationship of convenience, one in which Leonard could get the Navy what it needed in an often corrupt corner of the world; one in which the Navy - including Misiewicz personally - was all too willing to "look the other way and make it all look legit."

Misiewicz was contrite but at the same time sought understanding for the exceptional value and services Leonard provided to the Navy, the longstanding trust placed in him and how that served to blind some leaders to his corrupt ways and his abilities to manipulate people to get what he wanted.

The Stennis visit, Misiewicz said, was “one of the most impacting things I did,” during his tour at Seventh Fleet. “All you really need to do is look at the geography and see it makes sense, and why we would be interested in that.”

While there are other husbanding agents in the region, there was little question GDMA would get the contract even though, Misiewicz said, it was clear the company’s prices were at a premium.

“For us to get a ship to a port, Leonard did our dirty work. That’s the best way, and most blunt way that you could describe that happening,” Misiewicz said.

“Whether it’s through the NCIS, or the embassy, with the host nation police, with the host nation government, the guy was connected and had every in and out on making things happen. And as morally upright as we are as Americans, the fact of the matter is some things over there in Asia have to be done behind closed doors.”

GDMA hired former US government employees who were familiar with Navy contracting regulations, Misiewicz said, and they became regional experts on US rules, often with a much deeper knowledge than US civilians and officers. They were also far more adept at making complex port arrangements, all at a price.

“We didn’t have enough checks and balances and oversight within our contracting realm to stop him from defrauding us, and I’m shocked that we didn’t,” Misiewicz said. “To us war fighters and operators, I just assumed that was happening.”

But GDMA had a widely known reputation as a “strategic partner” with the US, Misiewicz said, a partnership going back many years. Planners could go to GDMA for help in opening up or expanding a port or region to the US, and the Stennis visit to Kota Kinabalu was an outstanding example.

“We probably planted the seed, to think about Kota Kinabalu,” Misiewicz admitted.

Misiewicz, a US Naval Academy graduate who received a Bronze Star for service in Iraq, was awarded a Legion of Merit for his tour on the Seventh Fleet staff. The citation highlighted the Stennis visit.

“His efforts allowed United States Navy ships to access previously inaccessible ports and areas of operation, areas with strategic significance,” the citation said.

Ironically, Misiewicz noted, his federal indictment “pointed to that [visit] as one of my most criminal.”

And while US Navy ships continue to occasionally visit Kota Kinabalu, no carrier has been back since the Stennis in 2012.

With criminal and ethical investigations continuing, few are willing to speak up about GDMA’s strategic value to the US, Misiewicz observed.

“Yeah, he was a crook, but he was our crook,” Misiewicz said.

“The Navy chose Leonard Francis and GDMA because we got strategic access to places the carriers didn’t go into for years and years. And yes, it cost us money, but the strategic value of some of those things outweighed the expense.”

Once the fraud was exposed, “we had no recourse but to take action. But at the same time, there is no one that’s going to speak right now who will talk about the strategic value of Leonard Francis, although that was done years and years before the arrest.”

Misiewicz freely admits his actions were wrong, but it was the apparent strategic partnership that made it easier to reconcile providing what he claims was selected information on ship movements to GDMA, even though the information was classified.

And Misiewicz noted that while GDMA committed fraud, not everyone in the company was a crook.

“A lot of people in his company had no idea there was fraud,” said Misiewicz, who previously commanded the destroyer Mustin when it carried out a Western Pacific tour. “For a lot of us, when we deal with GDMA agents on the ground they're exceptional. They bend over backwards to take care of us.

“There are probably any number of incidents where a sailor did something really screwed up that could have been an international incident and the GDMA folks took care of it. That's another elephant in the room that will never be said -- because who's going to say that this company or Leonard did any good?”

Francis, Misiewicz said, was able to get the US Navy into ports despite corruption in those countries.

Americans, he noted, “wouldn't go behind the door and seek bribes so our ships could come in, but apparently we can have a third party like Leonard do it for us and look the other way and make it all look legit. And that's what really happened in a lot of these cases.”

“It gets back to money is important but it should not be the driving factor,” Misiewicz said. “There's something that needs to be said about the relationships and partnerships.”

The Kota Kinabalu visit, Misiewicz admitted, “was the government prosecution’s biggest hit on me. There were only a couple times in my whole tour where I had either the time or the care of weighing in on a port visit, and the whole way that this story's been told about me is I used my influence. There's no way I could have done that time and time again. The times that I did weigh in, I weighed in because strategically they were important.”

Favors for Information

Leonard and GDMA craved information on US Navy port visits so they could arrange in advance goods and services, cut out the competition, and steer the visits to ports where they had greater influence.

GDMA could also provide information on ports, even where they did not have husbanding contracts, Misiewicz said.

“They gave me a plethora of stuff and information,” he noted. “We in the Navy only have tours that are two years long, people go in and out. A lot of the lessons go with the people and when they don't do a good job with information management those lessons aren't there.

“I kept a relationship with Leonard because I could get that kind of information,” Misiewicz admitted.

“Of course Leonard would shrewdly use that relationship to his advantage, too. ‘Hey, I see you guys aren't going to Port X or Y. Why not?’ And sometimes his points were valid. He'd be counting the frequency of the port visits just like us. He would say, ‘you've gone to Singapore 10 times and Hong Kong eight times. You haven't gone to Malaysia this year.’ And so, you're right Leonard. Malaysians are important, too.”

In return, according to the Justice Department, Francis and GDMA gave Misiewicz cash, paid for luxury international air travel on at least eight occasions for he and his family, provided Misiewicz' wife with a designer handbag "and plied Misiewicz with the services of prostitutes on multiple occasions."

But Misiewicz continues to dispute prosecutors’ contentions about his motives with GDMA.

“It wasn't this corrupt, ‘I'm going to conspire with Leonard and we're going to make him more money.’ I truly didn't know he made more money at these other ports,” Misiewicz claimed. “The story [that’s been portrayed] is that I conspired because I knew he made more money at different ports so I sent ships to those ports. It never happened.”

But there is no question GDMA made money when the Stennis visited Kota Kinabalu in 2012. Misiewicz described how the visit came about.

A Carrier in Kota Kinabalu

“We had a carrierthat had a sudden change in schedule and ended up having an opportunity to do one port visit,” Misiewicz explained. “It just came up within weeks. So we thought about it and Leonard of course knew before I did. That's the other thing -- he [already] had the schedule. I would take a schedule and strip off everything except the port visits I thought would be germane to him.”

Misiewicz said he routinely communicated with Leonard and Edmond Aruffo, a former US Navy lieutenant commander working for GDMA.

“They would ask me questions about schedules that I had no idea about,” Misiewicz said, noting he wasn’t GDMA’s only source for information.

“They had the real-time intelligence. ‘Why is this port visit all screwed up or what happened to this port visit being canceled?’ So they had other ways. I think they had the actual schedules. That's come up in the evidence, that they got them from all sorts of people.

“I said Leonard, I'm worried about it. Kota Kinabalu isn't that big and a carrier would overwhelm it. My thought was we should maybe take a smaller amphibious assault ship. Or build that strategically we want to be there and maintain constant presence and show our commitment to the Malaysians, both to get surface access and [aircraft] access.”

Misiewicz suggested Kota Kinabalu at the Navy planning conference with various commands, including US Pacific Command, the Pacific Fleet, and the Japan-based Seventh Fleet, where, he said, it was common to discuss up to three possible ports to visit.

“I remember getting a lot of pushback on this one,” he remembered. “I think from the ship perspective they didn't know anything about Kota Kinabalu. They felt it would be crappy for the sailors and they'd just been put through the wringer in terms of their deployment," with the ship hurrying to deploy four months earlier than planned. "They felt that wasn't a good deal. But strategically it made a lot of sense to everybody.”

The Navy’s leadership also felt the strategic significance of the visit would be important, Misiewicz said, but the logistics people warned the visit “is going to cost a lot of money.” The ship would need a wide variety of services in an unfamiliar port -- tugs, pilots, fendering, lighters, supplies, boats, security and more. GDMA, he noted, was adept at finding loopholes to charge the most.

“Everybody knew when the decision was made that yes, this is going to cost more, but strategically this is the right thing to do. And that's the way it went,” Misiewicz said.

The carrier’s after-action report, he noted, “said wow, this was a really good port visit for our sailors. But the black cloud over it all was, this cost a whole lot of money. Was this worth more than if we had gone to Singapore as the logisticians said? Well from the money perspective absolutely. Two million dollars more. Is $2 million worth it to deter a war?”

Misiewicz remembered being astonished to see the bills from GDMA.

“You gotta put it in a strategic perspective, and I think those that made the decisions for Stennis to go into that port knew that.”

Misiewicz was confident Francis was not passing on classified information to enemies of the US.

“As much of a crook as he was he was very committed to our strategic needs,” Misiewicz said of Leonard. “There's no worry about a threat to our ships with this information. You know he's a crook. And he's all about money, so why couldn't he sell that information to somebody else? That could very well be. But in my heart it didn't happen.”

And the information GDMA would provide was sometimes better than what the Navy was getting.

“Some of that information we would have from our own intelligence, but there were times when that information was not as good as what GDMA had,” Misiewicz said.

“I cultivated a relationship with Leonard and Aruffo for very strategic regions. They allowed me to do my job better. But at the same time I corrupted myself personally by accepting things of value, so I can't deny that part of my wrongdoing.”

“It's adult Hollywood,” he said. “The temptations on all of us can get the best of us and we're not strong people and unfortunately I was a weak one.”

Investigations still active

Federal investigators continue looking for more individuals involved in illegal activities with GDMA. Since the fall of 2013, fourteen individuals have been charged, with nine admitting guilt in plea bargain deals. Dozens more are said to be under investigation, although the Department of Justice will not confirm a number. Charges and convictions in the case continue.

Francis and Aruffo have each pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Paul Simpkins, a former Navy contracting official, pleaded guilty June 23 in San Diego to accepting bribes from GDMA.

On May 27, three current of former Navy officers were charged in the GDMA case, and on June 9 a flag officer, Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, admitted to one count of lying to investigators.

Beyond that, another round of investigations is being conducted by the Navy to uncover ethical violations. Dozens of individuals have been investigated, and while many have been cleared, a number have been hit with sanctions of varying degrees. Many officers are being held over in their current assignments while the probes continue – in turn holding up even more officers who either can’t move on because their relief is under investigation, or can’t move up because the person above them is frozen in place. The situation’s scale is unlike anything ever before faced by the service.

The Navy no longer does business with GDMA, and service secretary Ray Mabus has said repeatedly the procedures and oversight of Navy contracting has been thoroughly changed.

“We now have some of the strongest counter-fraud efforts in the government, to include additional measures to assure contracting integrity, and although the vast majority of our men and women in uniform live out the Navy's core values … we will continue to hold accountable those involved in fraudulent conduct,” Mabus said June 9 in a statement following Gilbeau’s court appearance.

Investigators are clearly going back more than a decade in their search for wrongdoing. The probe into Gilbeau, for example, looked at his western Pacific service for 2003 and 2005.

Still, the investigation shows no signs of slowing down. In a statement June 9 accompanying the announcement of Gilbeau's plea bargain agreement, US Attorney Laura Duffy was adamant that the probes would continue.

"Whether the evidence leads us to a civilian, to an enlisted service member or to an admiral, as this investigation expands we will continue to hold responsible all those who lied or who corruptly betrayed their public duties for personal gain,” Duffy said.

But three years after the scandal came to light, some are beginning to question whether the investigation is dragging because prosecutors refuse to see that they have gotten about all there is to get.

“There’s no value in keeping this open ended and trying to say that there are scores and scores, or two hundred officers under investigation,” Misiewicz said. “The Navy should look into it and deal out the appropriate punishment as they see fit. But let’s get it out of the justice system, and let’s stop paralyzing our Navy and affecting strategically what we do around the world.

“The Navy has already gotten the message,” he added, pointing to his own prison sentence.

Jeffrey Addicott, a former Army legal officer who’s now a law professor in Texas, agreed that the investigation may have achieved its purpose.

“I’m glad the military is finally holding to account the people in the upper echelon. They need to go to jail,” he said. “But when you start going down and down and back in time to anybody that’s done anything untoward, it’s a little much.”

Investigations sometimes take on a life of their own, Addicott observed.

“Where you draw the line? Obviously the Department of Justice has an axe to grind on many issues.
They have discretion, and they’re motivated - - in my opinion, in some cases – by more than just the facts. They have an agenda. And their agenda is sometimes at odds with the military mission.”

Rachel VanLandingham, a law professor and retired Air Force officer who served more than a decade as a judge advocate, disagreed.

“The indictments mean they’re continuing to find evidence,” she said. “When you have conspiracies to defraud and obstruction of justice … that means there are probably systemic issues here. And systemic issues require time and patience. Especially in a culture that doesn’t necessarily like outsiders.

“You wonder if there’s a deeper level of obstruction,” VanLandingham said. “It’s going to take time. Investigators should never be rushed in my judgment.”

Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, might have sounded a hint of frustration when asked June 20 about the continuing investigation.

“We are committed to moving through this, cooperating with the Department of Justice in every way we can,” Richardson said. “But we do want to move through it.”

Misiewicz will surrender to federal authorities on Aug. 1 to begin his incarceration.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2016/06/26/navy-fat-leonard-francis-glenn-defense-marine-asia-scandal-bribery-misciewicz-ship-husbanding-aircraft-carrier-kota-kinabalu-stennis-malaysia-sabah-south-china-sea/86291424/

Citation :: US Navy Keeps Electromagnetic Cannon in Its Sights

WASHINGTON — The US Navy is quietly pushing ahead with a radical new cannon that one day could transform how wars are fought, even though some Pentagon officials have voiced concerns over its cost and viability.

Named the railgun, the weapon in question represents a paradigm shift in ballistic technology. Instead of using gunpowder and explosive charges to shoot a shell from its barrel, it employs vast amounts of electromagnetic energy to zoom a projectile along a set of copper-alloy rails.

Thanks to four small fins on its rear, the hefty round can then be guided toward a moving object — such as an enemy ship, drone or incoming ballistic missile — relying purely on the kinetic energy from its vast momentum to destroy the target.

Ultimately, scientists expect the railgun rounds to travel at speeds up to Mach 7.5, which at 5,700 mph (9,100 kph) is more than seven times the speed of sound, and cover a distance of about 100 miles (160 kilometers.)

“The railgun is revolutionary in terms of how much it can accelerate the bullet,” Tom Boucher, the railgun program manager for Office of Naval Research, told AFP at the Pentagon as he displayed six interconnected steel plates that all had been shredded by a single test round.

“Powder guns have been matured to the point where you are going to get the most out of them. Railguns are just beginning.”

The futuristic weapon has long been a darling of the Navy’s research wing, along with other game-changing technologies such as laser beams that can track a boat in choppy water and blast holes in its hull.

Yet the railgun, which so far has cost more than $500 million, may find itself becoming something of a victim of its own success — even before it is made operational.

That’s because of its special shells designed to hurtle through the skies at jaw-dropping speeds.

These rounds, called High Velocity Projectiles, can be guided in flight. They can also be fired from a conventional five-inch cannon.

Though the HVPs would travel slower than they would out of a railgun, they still outperform regular shells, making them a tempting proposition for the Navy to deploy across its fleet.

“It turns out that powder guns firing the same hyper-velocity projectiles gets you almost as much as you would get out of the electromag rail gun, and it’s something we could do much faster,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work told US lawmakers last month.

Each HVP eventually will cost about $50,000 — still considerably more expensive than a conventional shell but an order of magnitude cheaper than guided missiles such as the Tomahawk, that cost more than $1 million apiece.

Hungry for Power

Currently, it requires about 25 megawatts of energy to power a railgun. That kind of juice, and the space needed to generate or store it, rules out many vessels from hosting it, but researchers are optimistic the technology will grow more compact.

The Navy hopes to install a railgun on the USS Zumwalt, a brand new guided-missile destroyer that produces the large amounts of power needed to charge the weapon.

The railgun has also suffered from technical setbacks during its development.

The enormous forces generated by the HVP leaving the gun caused early versions to fail after only a few shots, but scientists say they are now working toward a solution that could see the barrel last for thousands of rounds.

Boucher said he is optimistic the gun will ultimately end up being operationally deployed, probably within a decade.

“We are going to be OK,” he said. “We are showing our progress, and the proof will be in what we do.”

It’s not just the Navy with its sights on the railgun. The Army would one day like to put the electric blasters on its tanks, but is currently constrained the gun’s power requirements.

Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley this week said he envisions a time in the not-so-distant future where railguns and lasers are deployed on land.

“We are looking at all those technologies,” he said.

“My professional opinion is that I think we are on the cusp of a fundamental change in the character of ground warfare.”

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/navy/2016/06/26/us-navy-keeps-electromagnetic-cannon-sights/86409372/

Citation :: Incident naval USA/Iran en janvier: huit marins américains sanctionnés

Washington, 30 juin 2016 (AFP) -

La marine des Etats-Unis va sanctionner huit de ses marins après l'interception de deux petits bateaux américains en janvier par l'Iran près de l'île Farsi, dans le Golfe, a indiqué jeudi un de ses responsables.

"Huit marins feront l'objet de sanctions" non judiciaires, a indiqué à l'AFP ce responsable de la marine américaine sous couvert de l'anonymat.

Un neuvième marin a déjà été relevé de son commandement, mais ne fera pas l'objet de sanctions supplémentaires, a-t-il ajouté.

Le 12 janvier, à quelques jours de l'entrée en vigueur attendue de l'accord historique sur le nucléaire iranien, deux petits bateaux militaires américains avaient été interceptés par les Gardes de la Révolution iraniens après que l'un d'entre eux soit tombé en panne dans les eaux territoriales de l'île Farsi, une île iranienne.

Les 10 marins avaient été détenus un peu moins de 24 heures, avant que d'intenses contacts diplomatiques entre l'Iran et les Etats-Unis n'aboutissent à leur libération.

Le rapport d'enquête publié jeudi par la marine américaine montre que les deux équipages, sous-préparés et sous-entraînés, ne savaient pas qu'ils se trouvaient dans les eaux iraniennes au moment de leur arrestation.

Le rapport pointe une série de négligences et de fautes de commandement.

Les responsables hiérarchiques des deux petites unités "avaient confié à leurs subordonnés des tâches inappropriées outrepassant leurs capacités et leurs limites", souligne le rapport.

Le rapport dénonce également le comportement de l'Iran, estimant que la réaction des Gardiens de la Révolution avait été disproportionnée.

Les Gardes de la Révolution ont "outrepassé" les pouvoirs reconnus des Etats côtiers en "saisissant" les bateaux américains, indique le rapport de la marine.

Le secrétaire à la Défense Ashton Carter avait qualifié récemment le comportement de l'Iran de "scandaleux, non professionnel et non conforme aux lois internationales".

Les médias iraniens -- et certains médias américains -- avaient diffusé des images humiliantes pour les marins américains, les montrant à genoux sur les bateaux, les mains sur la tête.

Les deux petits bateaux de 18 mètres, légèrement armés, étaient en transit entre Koweit et Bahrein.

http://www.marine-oceans.com/actualites-afp/13107-incident-naval-usairan-en-janvier-huit-marins-americains-sanctionnes

Citation :: Thursday, 30 June 2016

US Navy awarded Fincantieri Marine Group design studies for LCU and T-ATS(X)
Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG)) was awarded two contracts by the US Naval Sea Systems Command, for Design Studies & Analyses Services in support of the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) and the new class of Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship T-ATS(X).

http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2016-06-30T00:51:00-07:00&max-results=10

Citation :: Ingalls, NASSCO Each A Winner in New Ship Contracts
Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News 2:08 a.m. EDT July 1, 2016

WASHINGTON The long-anticipated award of two new major US Navy shipbuilding contracts turned out as expected Thursday, with long-time amphibious shipbuilder Ingalls Shipbuilding getting a new assault ship and veteran support ship builder NASSCO set to build the first six of a new class of fleet oilers.

Altogether, the total potential value of the deals is around $6.3 billion.

The assault ship, designated LHA 8, will be built at the Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which has produced all previous assault ships for the Navy. The initial $272.5 million fixed-price-incentive firm target contract is for the planning, advanced engineering, and procurement of long lead time material for the ship, with full funding to follow.

A detail design and construction contract for LHA 8 is expected to be awarded next year. The total value of the order to Ingalls will be $3.134 billion when all options are exercised.

The ship will return to the traditional well-deck configuration of earlier assault ships, unlike the most recent America and Tripoli, designed to concentrate on aviation support.

The General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego was awarded a fixed-price incentive firm target contract for a block buy to design and build six fleet oilers to a new design, the T-AO 205 John Lewis class -- previously known as the T-AO(X) program.

The award is for $640.2 million in fiscal 2016 money for detail design and construction of the first ship, with the other five scheduled at one per year from 2018 to 2022. The total potential value of the six-ship NASSCO awards comes to $3.157 billion.

The Navy projects a total of 17 ships in the class. Bidding for the next group of oilers is expected to be open to all qualified shipyards.

While final design details have yet to be approved, the new oilers will have double hulls, a feature required on all commercial tankers but lacking in most of the fleet’s existing oilers.

As directed by the Navy, both companies bid on both programs. While a number of other shipbuilders expressed interest in building the fleet oilers, the Navy felt that only NASSCO and Ingalls were qualified to build the assault ship.

Additionally, both shipyards on June 30 received options for contract design support on LX(R), a new amphibious ship program to replace the fleet’s LSD landing ship docks. The Navy plans to buy 11 of the ships, the first in 2020 with one per year from 2022 through 2031. Some in Congress are considering ordering the first ship in an earlier year.

Ingalls already has produced a proposed LX(R) design, based on the modified-LPD 17 design used for LPD 28.

NASSCO also is working on a LX(R) design, and first displayed it at the US Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space exposition in May.

Engineering and design work on the fleet oiler will be immediately, NASSCO president Fred Harris said in a statement.

The shipyard, the only major construction yard on the west coast performing work for the Navy, also continues to build commercially-operated Jones Act ships to trade between US ports. NASSCO completed a 14-ship T-AKE dry ammunition and cargo ship program in 2012 and is under contract to build two more ESB expeditionary sea base ships, having already delivered three.

NASSCO has never built a big-deck amphibious ship, although from 1966 to 1972 the yard built 17 Newport-class landing ship tank ships of about 8,700 tons each.

NASSCO is one of three major shipyards owned by General Dynamics. Bath Iron Works in Maine produces destroyers, while Electric Boat in Rhode Island and Connecticut builds nuclear-powered submarines.

Ingalls has delivered all 14 assault ships ordered by the US Navy and is working on another, the Tripoli, due to be launched in summer 2017.

Ingalls, along with its now-defunct partner Avondale Shipbuilding in New Orleans, leads all shipyards in building more different kinds of ships for the US Navy and Coast Guard. In addition to assault ships, the Ingalls yard is building DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and LPD 17 San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks, along with Legend-class National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard.

Huntington Ingalls also operates Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, which specializes in building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2016/07/01/ingalls-nassco-national-steel-and-shipbuilding-amphibious-assault-ship-fleet-oiler-taox-lewis-lha8-navy-ship-construction-shipbuilding/86587282/

Citation :: Air Force F-35s Touch Down in England After First Transatlantic Flight
Valerie Insinna, Defense News 9:47 p.m. EDT June 30, 2016

RAF FAIRFORD, England— Lockheed Martin and the U.S. military collectively breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as three F-35As landed in England after the Air Force’s first transatlantic flight with the A-variant, two years after an engine fire prevented the aircraft from making its international debut at Farnborough Air Show.

The aircraft touched down at Royal Air Force Fairford at about 8:00 p.m., about a week before the aircraft’s first U.K. appearance at Royal International Air Tattoo.

The other joint strike fighters slated to make an appearance during RIAT — three F-35Bs, including one jet meant for the U.K.’s Royal Air Force — made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean the day before.

“We have a huge F-35 contingent here. All have been working together for the last six to seven months to make sure that this event is a success, which we have all expectations that it will be,” said Maj. Will Andreotta, F-35A Lightning II heritage flight team commander and an F-35 pilot.

Three F-35As from Luke Air Force Base’s 51st Fighter Wing took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia at about 8:00 a.m., meeting with KC-10 and KC-135 tankers over the Atlantic Ocean to be refueled. The planes flew over Greenland, south of Iceland and West Scotland before entering the United Kingdom. A fourth spare F-35 returned to the United States midway.

Each of the three remaining jets was refueled seven times during the almost eight-hour-long flight, refilling its tank via the KC-135 three times and via the KC-10 four times, which will likely become the standard in order to ensure jets always have enough gas to land even if the plane malfunctions, Andreotta said.

“We had zero issues with refueling today, and all the times I’ve refueled I’ve had zero issues,” he said.

Refueling an F-35 is pretty much the same experience as other Air Force fighters, Senior Airman Erik Henry, a KC-10 boom operator, told Defense News during the transatlantic flight.

First the boom is lowered, maneuvered around the canopy and inserted into the receptacle behind the cockpit. For the F-35, special care must be taken to avoid scratching the aircraft’s low observable skin, or risk damaging the aircraft’s stealth capabilities.

“You don’t want to scratch the skin of the aircraft,” he said. “So you have to be very, very careful.”

The F-35As will perform a “heritage flight” at RIAT along with F-22s and the P-51 Warbird before departing England on July 13. The Air Force is permitted to fly the joint strike fighter as a single ship if the Warbird drops out before the demonstration due to a scheduling conflict, Andreotta said. However, because the aircraft has not formally been fielded — initial operational capability could happen as early as August — the service opted to fly the F-35 with legacy aircraft.

“Obviously there are discussions going on right now about where we want to take the F-35 in airshows next year. Those decisions are still being made,” he said.

The F-35B will conduct a flyby at Farnborough Air Show just days later.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/farnborough/2016/06/30/air-force-f-35-england-first-transatlantic-flight-riat-farnborough/86580962/

Citation :: Boeing awarded Increment 3 contract for Poseidon MPA

Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
01 July 2016

The US Navy (USN) has awarded Boeing a USD71.6 million contact pertaining to the development, integration, and test of Increment 3 capabilities aboard its P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).

The contract, awarded on 30 June, is specifically related to the Increment 3 capabilities of the Link 16 datalink; the Harpoon II+ anti-shipping missile; integrated broadcast system receiver and filtering; high frequency radio system improvements; targeting improvement; and narrowband satellite communications (SATCOM).

Work is expected to be complete by the end of February 2019.

Increment 3 is the latest in a series of spiral upgrades that are being rolled out onto the P-8A for the USN and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

http://www.janes.com/article/61932/boeing-awarded-increment-3-contract-for-poseidon-mpa

Citation :: Huntington Ingalls Industries Awarded Contract Design Work For LX(R) Class Of Amphibious Ships

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been selected to perform the majority of the contract design work for the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warfare ship replacement, known as LX(R). The Department of Defense made the announcement Thursday at the same time Ingalls was awarded a contract to build the next large-deck amphibious assault warship, LHA 8.

http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com/

Citation :: L’US Navy renouvelle sa flotte de pétroliers ravitailleurs

Publié le 07/07/2016 14:36

Les pétroliers de la classe John Lewis remplaceront les actuels pétroliers ravitailleurs de la classe Kaiser. Ici, le « Leroy Grumman » ravitaille
la frégate « Underwood » en juillet 2008. (Photo : US Navy)

Pas de grande marine océanique sans flotte logistique. L’US Navy va renouveler sa flotte de pétroliers ravitailleurs. Elle vient de passer commande de six navires d’un nouveau type, la classe John Lewis, au groupe General Dynamics.

http://www.lemarin.fr/secteurs-activites/defense/25835-lus-navy-renouvelle-sa-flotte-de-petroliers-ravitailleurs

Citation :: Pentagon Finds Navy Mismanaged Arresting Gear Program
Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News 6:50 a.m. EDT July 11, 2016

WASHINGTON — Even as the finishing touches are being put on the US Navy’s new aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, its new-technology aircraft landing system has emerged as the most worrisome element of several new technologies that are key to the first-of-class, $13 billion ship’s design.

The new Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) has yet to be tested with a live aircraft, and the Ford is expected to begin sea trials this fall with the system installed but not fully proven. The Navy is concerned enough to have reviewed the implications of returning to its tried-and-true Mark 7 landing system for the Enterprise, the third ship in the class.

Two sets of AAGs have been procured. One is installed on the Ford, while the other is for the John F. Kennedy, the second ship in the class, which is already under construction.

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is particularly concerned about the new system and is calling for a Nunn-McCurdy breach to be applied to the AAG, which is a component of the larger carrier program. The SASC, in its markup for the 2017 defense policy bill, cites a cost growth of 186 percent for program acquisition unit cost over the original baseline estimate.

Now, the Department of Defense’s Inspector General (DoD IG) in effect underscores the SASC concerns, reporting that the Navy has not effectively managed the program and has not proven the capability or safety of the system. Developmental testing originally scheduled to end in 2009 will continue through 2018, DoD IG observed, and, it noted in its July 5 report, “reliability of the system is uncertain.”

DoD IG questioned the future of the AAG and recommends the Navy “perform cost-benefit analyses to determine whether the AAG is an affordable solution for Navy aircraft carriers before deciding to go forward with the system on future aircraft carriers.”

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2016/07/11/pentagon-inspector-general-navy-aircraft-carrier-general-atomics-advanced-arresting-gear-aag-shipbuilding-ford-kennedy-enterprise/86932922/

Citation :: Raytheon readies SPY-6(V) radar for trials

Geoff Fein, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's International Defence Review
11 July 2016

The US Navy's (USN's) latest radar, the Raytheon SPY-6(V), has been installed and powered up at a test site in Hawaii. The radar is set to undergo 12 months of testing that will culminate in system validation by mid-2017.

The initial activation of a SPY-6(V) occurred in early July for electromagnetic (EM) hazards testing. The new system, formerly designated the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), is set to commence satellite tracking before September, Tad Dickenson, AMDR programme director for Raytheon, told IHS Jane's on 7 July.

"We will begin satellite tracking [with] calibration satellites. It will be one of our key milestones.

Citation :: F-35C to Conduct Sea Trials Next Month Aboard USS George Washington
Valerie Insinna, Defense News 5:42 a.m. EDT July 13, 2016

FARNBOROUGH, England — The Navy’s F-35C will head back to the seas next month for the third round of developmental tests aboard the USS George Washington (CVN 73), the F-35 program executive officer said Saturday.

During an interview at the Royal International Air Tattoo, F-35 PEO Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told Defense News the sea trials would take place off the East Coast of the United States.

"They're going to open up the full envelope of the airplane to land and take off from the carrier. Which means things like heavyweight, asymmetric stores, heavy cross winds, high seas,” he said. "Plus we'll do a lot of reliability, maintainability and maintenance administrations to make sure we get that right."

At the same time, student pilots will conduct carrier qualifications onboard the ship, he said.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/farnborough/2016/07/13/f-35c-conduct-sea-trials-uss-george-washington-farnborough/87021258/

Citation :: Le chef de la marine américaine se rendra en Chine, malgré les tensions

Washington, 14 juil 2016 (AFP) -

Le chef de la marine américaine sera à partir de dimanche en Chine pour rencontrer notamment son homologue chinois, dans un contexte de tensions exacerbées par les conflits territoriaux en mer de Chine, selon un communiqué de l'US Navy jeudi.

L'amiral John Richardson sera en Chine du dimanche 17 au mercredi 20 juillet et rencontrera notamment son homologue chinois Wu Shengli. Il se rendra à Pékin et dans le port de Qingdao, pour visiter une école de sous-mariniers et le porte-avions chinois Liaoning.

Furieuse après le jugement d'une cour internationale invalidant ses prétentions territoriales dans cette zone stratégique pour le commerce mondial, la Chine a promis une réponse "déterminée" en cas de "provocation" dans cette zone.

Les Etats-Unis, opposés à tout passage de la force de la Chine face à ses voisins, maintiennent en permanence des navires militaires dans la région.

Ils ont mené depuis l'automne dernier trois opérations de "liberté de navigation", approchant des navires de guerre à moins de 12 milles nautiques d'îlots artificiellement agrandis par Pékin en mer de Chine méridionale, pour bien montrer qu'ils ne reconnaissent pas ses prétentions territoriales.

Ils se sont plaints à plusieurs reprises que des avions chinois se soient approchés de manière "dangereuse" d'avions américains dans la région.

Mais malgré la montée des tensions, les marins américains et chinois ont veillé ces derniers temps à maintenir de nombreuses relations de militaire à militaire.

Les marins veulent limiter au maximum les risques de malentendus dans les situations tendues.

La Chine a été invitée à participer à l'exercice maritime Rimpac, organisé par les Américains en ce moment entre Hawaï et la Californie.

http://www.marine-oceans.com/actualites-afp/13189-le-chef-de-la-marine-americaine-se-rendra-en-chine-malgre-les-tensions

Citation :: US Navy Stretches Submarine Fleet in Latest Fleet Plan
Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News 11:58 a.m. EDT July 16, 2016

WASHINGTON — The US Navy is stretching the lives of some of its submarines, if only by a year or two.

In the latest version of the 30-year fleet shipbuilding plan, submitted to Congress July 9, the Navy juggled the schedule for ships it plans to dispose of in the next five years. The number of ships planned for inactivation in 2017 dropped from 10 to six, and four submarines gained a modest lease on life.

But overall, the service plans to inactivate a dozen Los Angeles-class attack submarines from 2017 through 2021, reflecting a general decline in the undersea fleet. From today’s 52-ship level, the attack boat fleet drops to 48 boats in 2022 and hits a low of 41 hulls in 2029, afterwards steadily rising to 51 subs in 2046. Those levels are consistent with what the service forecast a year ago.

In the latest iteration of the inactivation plan, two submarines previously scheduled to leave service in 2017 have been extended – the Jacksonville to 2018, and the Bremerton to 2019. Two submarines planned to leave the fleet in 2019 have also been stretched out – the Louisville to 2020, and the Providence to 2021.

Three submarines are leaving the fleet this year -- the City of Corpus Christi, Albuquerque, and Houston.

Three more are still scheduled to leave active service in 2017 – the Dallas and Buffalo will, like the other submarines, eventually be dismantled, while the San Francisco will be modified and converted to become a Moored Training Ship at the Navy’s nuclear power training school in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

According to the latest plan, three submarines – the Olympia, Louisville and Helena – will inactivate in 2020, while three more – Providence, Olympia and San Juan – will go in 2021. The San Juan will be the first of an improved Los Angeles-class variant to leave the fleet.

The Navy frequently adjusts inactivation dates based on a variety of factors, including operational need and budgetary constraints and, in the case of nuclear-powered ships, the amount of fuel remaining in the reactors. The four submarines being extended give back about six years of operating time, allowing for the possibility that at least one additional deployment could be gained from each extension.

Another ship that was to have left the fleet in 2017, the Afloat Forward Staging Base Ponce, has been extended to 2018. The Ponce has proven useful operating with the Fifth Fleet from Bahrain but, having been in service since 1971, is wearing out. She will be replaced by new ESB Expeditionary Sea Base ships.

Still on the inactivation list for 2020 are the cruisers Bunker Hill and Mobile Bay, which will become the first Ticonderoga-class cruisers equipped with vertical launch systems to decommission. Their inactivation will reduce the number of cruisers in service from 22 to 20, although those numbers are offset by an increasing number of Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, along with new Flight III destroyers equipped with the Air Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).

Both the Bunker Hill and Mobile Bay were upgraded by the first cruiser modernization program applied to 11 ships. The first pair of the remaining eleven, Cowpens and Gettysburg, began their upgrades in 2016. The Navy plans to replace the first 11 ships with the second group in the air defense commander role to protect deployed aircraft carriers.

The 2017 shipbuilding budget, which includes the Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) into 2021, was submitted to Congress in February, and the latest 30-year plan reflects those numbers, along with the Navy’s admission that the shipbuilding plan provides fewer ships than needed. The plan continues with the goal of a 308-ship fleet, even as the Navy is re-evaluating the Force Structure Assessment (FSA) that determined that goal.

Along with a new fleet architecture study, a revised FSA is expected to be reflected in the fiscal 2018 budget to be submitted in early 2017. Service officials have stated they expect the 308-ship number to go up in the new assessment – and they continue to advocate the need for greater funding levels to maintain the fleet, which sits today at 276 ships.

“The shipbuilding plan described in this report achieves the shipbuilding plan objective of 308 battle force ships from FY2021 through FY2028,” the Navy said in the report, “albeit not with the FSA required mix of ships. The rate of large and small surface combatant and [submarine] retirements beyond FY2028 exceeds the ability of the Navy to finance a build rate that sustains the 308-ship force structure.”

The Navy expects its Battle Force Inventory to total 287 ships in 2017, rising to a peak of 313 in 2025. After that, the fleet shrinks again, dropping below 300 in 2031 and holding in the 290s through 2046, the extent of the latest 30-year plan.

As a result of the inactivations, the Navy will see a rise in the number of ships it needs to dispose of. Three disposal methods are generally used with ships no longer required or at the end of their service lives: foreign military sale (FMS); sinking in a target or weapons exercise (SINKEX); or dismantlement, also referred to as scrapping or recycling. Ships can also be donated or transferred for use as museums or memorials.

No FMS candidates are listed in the latest fleet plan, a reflection of the lack of suitable types of ships. The US does not transfer nuclear-powered ships, and with the decommissioning in 2015 of the last of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates no new ships have appeared on the FMS list.

But the number of ships that will need to be scrapped jumped from 18 in 2016 to 25 in 2017, boosted by several FMS frigates no one wanted. Two aircraft carriers, the Independence and Kitty Hawk, remain on the recycling list, joined by the former display ship Barry, a decommissioned destroyer that was open to visitors at the Washington Navy Yard for 31 years prior to closing in the fall of 2015.

The SINKEX fleet grew from five ships last year to seven ships available in 2017, including four frigates, the landing ship tank Racine and two attack cargo ships.

The Navy plans to retire a total of 28 battle force ships from 2017 through 2021.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2016/07/16/navy-submarines-fleet-budget-plan/87115784/

Citation :: Navy teams up with Coast Guard to build polar icebreaker
Meghann Myers, Navy Times 7:49 p.m. EDT July 14, 2016

It would take the Coast Guard more than a decade to build a new polar icebreaker. To try to cut that time in half, it's joining forces with the Navy's well-oiled acquisition machine.

The two services are standing up a joint program office after months of prodding by a California congressman who has called for the Coast Guard to put an icebreaker in the water as soon as possible, whether newly built or leased from another country.

"What I got out of this and the last hearing too — the Coast Guard doesn’t get it," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told Navy Times on Wednesday, following a hearing of the House Transportation Committee's Coast Guard and maritime transportation subcommittee. "This is going to take massive pushes and changes, even more from Congress. It’s going to take the Navy kind of taking this over."

NAVY TIMES
Coast Guard operations strained by tight budget, top officer warns

Hunter, who chairs the subcommittee, envisions bolstering the United States' arctic presence via a new U.S.-built icebreaker acquired through a Navy program and leasing icebreakers from other countries in the meantime. However, the service is adamant that there isn't an icebreaker for rent in the world that would be up to the Coast Guard's military specifications.

The subcommittee and the vice commandant of the Coast Guard have gone back and forth in recent hearings over what the U.S. needs to have a minimum icebreaking capability in the Arctic versus what the Coast Guard needs from a ship in general.

"The Coast Guard operates Coast Guard vessels," Adm. Charles Michel said in a hearing Tuesday, where he spoke alongside Navy acquisition and shipbuilding experts. "This is not a pick-up game for the Coast Guard."

http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/2016/07/14/navy-teams-up-coast-guard-build-polar-icebreaker/87078818/

Citation :: Djibouti: Ambouli Airport Supports Flight Operations amid Juba Crisis
(Source: US Navy; issued July 16, 2016)
DJIBOUTI, Africa --- Although last week's escalation of attacks in South Sudan caused immediate cancellations of all flights in Juba, Ambouli International Airport stepped up to the challenge, providing superior support for both commercial and military operational flights to their airfield.

Fighting broke out in South Sudan on July 7 between government and opposition forces. The increased concern over the security situation led to Juba International Airport closing its airfield July 9 to incoming and outgoing flights. Coordination between both U.S. military and Djiboutian airport leadership in the Horn of Africa assisted in the joint effort of ensuring safe transport during the influx of activity to Ambouli.

Air Operations Officer, U.S. Navy Lt. Matthew Daniels, said Ambouli's director of the airport assured priority handling and support of increased mission events.

"Coordination on several short-fused request has proven to be positive to flight operations with the Djiboutian leadership in regards to the current needs of the airfield," Daniels said. "Both Djiboutian and U.S. [Navy] air-traffic controllers have truly shown professionalism and readiness to combat any situation."

In a previous interview, Daniels said the three tenants of air traffic control are to execute the mission by providing 'safe, orderly, and expeditious' flow of traffic. U.S. and Djiboutian Air-Traffic Controllers (ATC) have shown an immeasurable response and control of flight operations without missing a beat.

Djiboutian ATC Field Officer Mohammad Mousse has been one of the driving forces to ensure military operations can take place on the airfield. The impact has led to several successful missions in the past week. During the increased operations tempo, massive coordination between Djiboutian and Navy ATCs and KBR employees has been crucial.

Camp Lemonnier Airfield Manager, Christopher Williams, said the mutual relationship and understanding of military operations was key in the recent and continued success of airfield readiness.

"We've established a great working relationship with the Djiboutian airport leadership," Williams said. "That rapport is apparent in the smooth coordination, timely reaction and operational response to real world events."

Air Traffic Control Chief Francis Beaudoin said there is a mutual respect that has grown between the team that has been helpful.

"The relationship we have allows us to get the mission done. When events pop up, we can mutually help one another bridge the gap," Beaudoin said.

The recent high visible activities at Ambouli represents the superior capability the air traffic controllers have in supporting missions day or night. The airport is a full functioning military airfield that has caught the attention of higher echelon leadership throughout the region.

Flight operations onto the airfield are coordinated through the Djiboutian Air Tower. Safety of military personnel, aircraft and cargo is the priority for all operations from Ambouli.

The airfield has undergone massive improvements in the past year. These improvements include the runway and navigation systems. The joint training has proven to be beneficial during crucial events.

"We've seen unwavering flexibility and a driven initiative by all to safely execute this mission," Williams said. "It's apparent that there is a mutual understanding of the importance and complexity of the Juba operation."

Camp Lemonnier provides, operates, and sustains superior service in support of combat readiness along with security of ships and aircraft detachments and personnel for regional and combat command requirements, enabling operations for the Horn of Africa while fostering positive U.S.-African nation relations. Camp Lemonnier enables the forward operations and responsiveness of U.S. and allied forces in support of Navy Region, Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia's mission to provide services to the fleet, fighter, and family.

-ends-

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/175618/us-navy-details-role-of-djibouti-base.html

Citation :: LCS Tests ‘Exceptionally Well’ in Shock Trials
Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News 6:38 p.m. EDT July 19, 2016

WASHINGTON — A ten-thousand-pound explosive charge set off close to the littoral combat ship (LCS) Jackson caused minimal shipboard damage, the US Navy said today, and the ship is back at Mayport, Florida, for more detailed examination.

“The ship performed exceptionally well, sustaining minimal damage and returned to port under her own power,” the Navy said in a statement.

The July 16 test was the third and last Full Scale Shock Trial (FSST) to be performed on the Jackson, which had been outfitted with around 260 sensors and gauges to measure the effects of the explosion on the ship and many pieces of on-board equipment.

Earlier tests were carried out June 10 and June 22. A 10,000-pound charge was used in each of those tests as well, with the charge being moved closer to the ship with each test.

The Jackson is an all-aluminum trimaran, the first Independence-class variant and the first LCS to undergo FSSTs. The Milwaukee, of the steel-hulled Freedom class, is being prepared for another series of FSSTs to begin in August and continue into September.

Unofficially, the Jackson has been reported to have performed better than expected during the trials, in many cases meeting or exceeding modeling predictions done prior to the Florida tests.

While the Navy routinely performs FSSTs on all its combat ship designs, the timing of these tests came earlier than scheduled, driven by complaints about LCS survivability from Michael Gilmore, director of the Pentagon’s Office of Test and Evaluation. Gilmore had been expected to be aboard the Jackson for the last test, but his office confirmed he did not attend.

But the Jackson’s crew and dozens of technical representatives and observers from interested commands and offices — including DOT&E — were aboard.

The July 16 explosion was large enough for the US Geological Survey (USGS) to have reported a 3.7 magnitude earthquake about 168 kilometers east northeast of Daytona Beach Shores, Florida — an area confirmed by the Navy to be within the region where the Jackson test took place. The report set off a flurry of media reports about a possible connection with the LCS tests.

The Navy did not confirm the connection but, in its statement, noted “there were reports of increased seismic activity around the time of the test.”

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2016/07/19/lcs-navy-explosive-tests-jackson/87311792/

Citation :: USS Coronado (LCS 4) Launches Harpoon Anti-ship Missile for the 1st Time

USS Coronado (LCS 4), an Independence-class littoral combat ship, launched a Harpoon Block 1C anti-ship missile during RIMPAC 2016, the world's largest international maritime exercise current taking place off Hawai.

This launch marks the first time that the Boeing Harpoon anti-ship missile is launched from a Littoral Combat Ship.

The launch took place as part of a SINKEX (sinking exercise) in which the decommissioned Perry-class Frigate USS Crommelin (FFG 37) was used as a target and sunk. According to the US Navy, RIMPAC units, including the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Calgary (FF 335), Royal New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Te Kaha (F77), littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4), and various aircraft from the U.S. and Australia gained proficiency in targeting and live firing at the surface target.

The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, originally developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense). More than 600 ships, 180 submarines, 12 different types of aircraft and land-based launch vehicles carry Harpoon missiles. Boeing has delivered more than 7,300 Harpoon and Harpoon Block II missiles to the U.S. Navy and more than 30 international military customers since the inaugural Harpoon contract was awarded by Naval Air Systems Command on June 21, 1971.

The Block 1C missile variant is designated RGM-84D in its surface launched variant. Block 1 uses a terminal attack mode that includes a pop-up to approximately 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) before diving on the target; Block 1B omits the terminal pop-up; and Block 1C provides a selectable terminal attack mode.

Harpoon is being tested aboard USS Coronado as part of Distributed Lethality. The distributed lethality concept was introduced (and is being advocated) by Vice Admiral Thomas Rowden, the Commander of the U.S. Navy's surface forces. It can be summarized by fitting more weapons on more vessels in order to "deceive the enemy, target the enemy, and destroy the enemy". Kongsberg's NSM anti-ship missile is set to be tested with a Freedom-class LCS as well.

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4223

Citation :: US Navy EA-18G Growlers joined USAF B-1 Bombers for Electronic Attack Training

This summer, U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers joined B-1 bombers in the skies around Ellsworth Air Force Base for electronic attack training in June, and now again July 11 through 22, 2016. This marked the first time the Navy’s Electronic Attack Squadron 129, stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, traveled to Ellsworth to conduct training in its local airspace.

http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com/

Citation :: Navy’s $12.9 Billion Carrier Isn’t Ready for Warfare, Memo Says (excerpt)
(Source: Bloomberg News; published July 20, 2016)
By Anthony Capaccio
The U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier isn’t ready for warfare. The $12.9 billion USS Gerald R. Ford -- the most expensive warship ever built -- may struggle to launch and recover aircraft, mount a defense and move munitions, according to the Pentagon’s top weapons tester. On-board systems for those tasks have poor or unknown reliability issues, according to a June 28 memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

“These four systems affect major areas of flight operations,” Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, wrote Pentagon and Navy weapons buyers Frank Kendall and Sean Stackley. “Unless these issues are resolved, which would likely require redesigning” of the aircraft launch and recovery systems “they will significantly limit the CVN-78’s ability to conduct combat operations,” Gilmore wrote, using a technical name for the carrier.
More Delays

The reliability woes mean that delivery of the Ford -- the first of three carriers ordered up in a $42 billion program -- will probably slip further behind schedule. The Navy announced last week that the ship, originally due by September 2014, wouldn’t be delivered before November this year because of continuing unspecified testing issues.

The service has operated 10 carriers since the retirement of the USS Enterprise in 2012. Extended deployments of the remaining ships have placed stress on crews and meant added strain meeting global commitments from the battle against Islamic State to ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, home to $5 trillion in annual trade.

A prolonged delay could also hamper the military if a new conflict arises.

“Based on current reliability estimates, the CVN-78 is unlikely to conduct high-intensity flight operations” such as a requirement for four days of 24-hour surge operations “at the outset of a war,” Gilmore wrote.

As delivery of the Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. vessel approaches, “my concerns about the reliability of these systems remain and the risk to the ship’s ability to succeed in combat grows as these reliability issues remain unresolved,” Gilmore said.
‘Unacceptable’ Delays

Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the Navy’s announcement of additional delays last week “unacceptable,” adding that it was a “case study in why our acquisition system must be reformed.”

A Navy spokeswoman, Lieutenant Kara Yingling, said the Navy was aware of the report but referred additional comment to Kendall’s office. Kendall spokesman Mark Wright said in an e-mail "we don’t feel it is appropriate to release our response to this internal memo.” (end of excerpt)

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/175719/us-navy%E2%80%99s-%2413bn-carrier-not-ready-for-war.html

Citation :: In port visit, New Zealand and U.S. seek to bolster military ties
David Larter, Navy Times 5:07 p.m. EDT July 22, 2016

After a 30-year impasse, the U.S. Navy is returning to the land of orcs and wizards this fall.

Vice President Joe Biden, alongside New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, announced Thursday that the U.S. has accepted New Zealand’s invitation to send a ship to the Southeast Pacific ally to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy in November.

New Zealand, which served as the backdrop for Peter Jackson’s epic "Lord of the Rings" movies, has prohibited nuclear-powered ships and ships carrying nuclear weapons since the mid-1980s. The U.S. policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons created an impasse that has meant no U.S. warships have visited one of the world's most beautiful and remote nations since.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/2016/07/22/port-visit-new-zealand-and-us-seek-bolster-military-ties/87450022/

Citation :: Future Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) Completes Acceptance Trial

The future USS Detroit (LCS 7) successfully concluded its acceptance trial July 15 after completing a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations for the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).

http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com/

Citation :: 6 fois plus cher que le Charles de Gaulle, ce porte-avions est toujours en rade

 24/07/2016 à 14h14

Ce porte-avions a déjà coûté 12,9 milliards de dollars à l'armée américaine et son entrée en service est sans cesse repoussée. - United States Navy

Avec un coût total estimé à 12,9 milliards de dollars, le premier porte-avions du programme Gerald R. Ford est de loin le bâtiment le plus cher jamais commandé par l'armée américaine. Sans cesse repoussé, ce porte-avions de 100.000 tonnes n'est pas près de prendre la mer.

Un immense bâtiment de 332 mètres de long, de 100.000 tonnes (400 fois la statue de la Liberté) qui vogue sur les océans à la vitesse de 60 km/h avec à son bord 4.660 marins et une flotte de 75 chasseurs dernier cri. Cette photo que vous pouvez voir ci-dessous existe mais elle est en image de synthèse. Car pour le moment ce porte-avions américain CVN-78 du programme USS Gerald R. Ford est bloqué à quai. Baptisé au Champagne en novembre 2013 pour une entrée en fonction prévue en 2014, la date est depuis sans cesse repoussée.

Et alors qu'il devait finalement être livré en septembre de cette année, il semblerait que les délais ne seront une nouvelle fois pas tenus. Selon un mémo de l'armée américaine que s'est procuré Bloomberg, le bâtiment de guerre n'est toujours pas en état de marche. Ses systèmes d'armement ainsi que ceux en charge du lancement et de la récupération des avions ne fonctionneraient toujours pas. "Sur la base des estimations de fiabilité actuelles, il est peu probable que le CVN-78 soit capable de mener des opérations de vol à haute intensité, comme par exemple une opération de d'extrême intensité pendant 4 jours comme c'est le cas au début d'un conflit", écrit Michael Gilmore, le directeur des évaluations au département de la Défense américaine dans le mémo cité par Bloomberg.

Une situation qui commence à agacer en haut lieu. Selon le sénateur et ex-candidat à la présidentielle John McCain, le porte-avions est bourré de défauts. "Cette situation est inacceptable, expliquait-il dans une note en juin dernier. Le train de blocage avancé ne peut pas récupérer les avions, les ascenseurs pour les armes avancés ne peuvent pas soulever des munitions, le radar bi-bande n'est pas capable d'intégrer deux bandes radar. Même si tout se passe selon le plan de la Navy, le CVN-78 sera livré avec plusieurs systèmes non opérationnel." Le porte-avions dispose notamment d'un lanceur d'avions électromagnétique alors que jusqu'à présent les porte-avions utilisaient de la vapeur d'eau sous pression pour propulser les jets.

Et si l'élu américain s'agace c'est que le programme est le plus coûteux de l'histoire de la marine américaine. Dévoilé en 2007, le programme qui porte le nom de l'ancien président Gerald Ford porte sur 4 porte-avions pour un coût total estimé 42,5 milliards de dollars américains par le Département de la Défense des États-Unis. Rien que le premier bâtiment coûte 12,9 milliards de dollars (11,7 milliards d'euros), soit 18% de plus que prévu 4 ans plus tôt. A titre de comparaison, la construction du porte-avions français Charles de Gaulle qui a aussi connu quelques problèmes aura coûté aux alentours de 20 milliards de francs (environ 3 milliards d'euros), soit l'équivalent de 2,2 milliards de dollars. Le porte-avion américain coûte donc 6 fois plus cher que le fleuron de la flotte française.

Et ce porte-avions n'est pas le seul déboire de l'armée américaine. Car le programme USS Gerald Ford n'est pas, loin de là, le programme le plus cher du Département de la Défense. Ce "titre" revient au F-35, le programme militaire le plus cher de l'histoire. Selon les estimations du Pentagone le développement et la production de cet avion de chasse auraient déjà coûté 400 milliards de dollars au contribuable américain, soit 10 fois plus que celui des porte-avions. Et sur l'ensemble de sa durée de vie estimée à 50 ans, le F-35 pourrait même coûter 1.500 milliards de dollars, soit l'équivalent du PIB de la Corée du Sud! Chaque avion coûte 159 millions de dollars selon la Cour des comptes américaine contre 81 millions initialement prévu en 2001. Là encore les retards s'accumulent (on en est à 6 ans) et les technologies de plus en plus complexes peinent à être fiables. A ce rythme là, ça ne vaudra bientôt plus le coût de faire la guerre...

Par Frédéric Bianchi

http://bfmbusiness.bfmtv.com/entreprise/ce-porte-avions-qui-a-coute-6-fois-plus-cher-que-le-charles-de-gaulle-ne-marche-toujours-pas-1009423.html

Citation :: Navy Tests Latest Aegis Weapon System Interoperability with Spanish Navy
(Source: U.S Navy; issued July 22, 2016)
ATLANTIC OCEAN --- The U.S. Navy conducted a series of cooperative air defense test exercises with the Spanish navy that culminated in live missile firing events using the latest Aegis Weapon System baseline July 20-21.

The event was not only the first interoperability test of the latest Aegis Baseline 9.C1 with a foreign ship, but also the first combined Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial with that country's navy since 2007. Guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) and Spanish frigate Cristobol Colon (F 105) participated in the testing.

In addition to live missile firing events, Tactical Data Link interoperability exercises were held July 12-14.

"While our combat systems suites are slightly different, the way we operate and execute missions are quite similar," said Cmdr. Tom Myers, commanding officer of Arleigh Burke. "My crew and I are grateful for the opportunity to deepen our operational relationship with our Spanish allies and enhance interoperability initiatives between our two navies. The professionalism and proficiency of the Cristobol Coln crew was top notch and it was an honor to work with them."

During the events, both ships combined with E-2 Hawkeye aircraft, shared a common tactical picture using the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar and Tactical Data Links. Arleigh Burke also demonstrated Aegis Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) and Area Defense (AD) detect-to-engage performance against a variety of subsonic anti-ship cruise missile targets.

"The complex, multi-participant interoperability testing between DDG 51, F 105, land based test sites, E-2C and E-2D aircraft as well as challenging IAMD and AD test scenarios demonstrate the impressive capability of the Aegis Combat System that is delivered to the hands of our Sailors," said Capt. Todd Boehm, major program manager for Aegis Fleet Readiness.

Spanish Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jaime Muñoz-Delgado and Minister of Defense Pedro Morenes were aboard Cristobal Colon during the live fire events.

"These international relationships form the backbone of a vibrant, interoperable naval power network," said Rear Adm. Jon Hill, program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems. "As we expand our combat capabilities, our allies look to us for leading edge technologies and battlespace advantage -- and this enhances our distributed lethality network."

The interoperability tests occurred two weeks after Arleigh Burke celebrated its 25th anniversary of service to the fleet as the Navy's oldest guided-missile destroyer.

The exercises between Arleigh Burke and Cristobol Colon come less than one year after the fourth and final Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer arrived in Rota, Spain as part of the forward-deployed Naval Force.

In September 2015, USS Carney (DDG 64) joined USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), USS Ross (DDG 71), and USS Porter (DDG 78) to maximize the ships' operational flexibility for missions in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

The Aegis Weapon System is a centralized, automated, command-and-control weapons control system that was designed as a total weapon system from detection to engagement. The heart of the system is the AN/SPY-1 radar, which is an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-function phased-array radar. This high-powered radar is able to perform search, track, and missile guidance functions simultaneously with a track capacity of more than 100 targets.

Aegis Baseline 9 development efforts established the Aegis Common Source Library, which enables software reuse and commonality across all modern Aegis Combat System configurations. Specifically, the Aegis Common Source Library allows for the use of common tactical software across four different Aegis configurations, including air defense cruisers, IAMD destroyers, new construction IAMD destroyers, and Aegis Ashore.

PEO IWS is an affiliated Program Executive Office of the Naval Sea Systems Command. IWS is responsible for spearheading surface ship and submarine combat technologies and systems, and for implementing Navy enterprise solutions across ship platforms.

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