Sea Air Space 2013 Event Summary
Navy League Sea Air Space Exposition 2013 8-10 Apr 2013
The Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition brings the U.S. defense industrial base, private-sector U.S. companies and key military decision makers together for an annual innovative, educational, professional and maritime based event.
Sea-Air-Space is now the largest maritime exposition in the U.S. and continues as an invaluable extension of the Navy League’s mission of maritime policy education and sea service support. The Sea-Air-Space Exposition will continue to support the mission of the Navy League and lead the way as “THE” Exposition to attend each year to display the most current information and technology relevant to maritime policy.
Sea Air Space 2013 Event Summary
Day 1 Summary Articles Apr 8 2013
Service Chiefs: Budget Cuts Create Crisis, Opportunity
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
Leaders of the three naval services on April 8 acknowledged the need to make serious changes to cope with the expected sharp drop in future funding, but the chief of naval operations (CNO) and the Marine Corps commandant ruled out abandoning the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter or taking retirement benefits from those currently serving.
The CNO, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Marine Gen. James Amos and Vice Adm. John Currier, the Coast Guard vice commandant, agreed that the budget cuts created a crisis, but also presented an opportunity to make long-overdue changes in the way their services function.
In the opening panel of the Navy League's 2013 Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Md., the three leaders focused particularly on the need to change the cumbersome and slow process of acquiring major new weapons and equipment. Greenert and Amos proposed giving the service chiefs greater control over the acquisition process so they could better balance requirements with available funds.
"Too many people are touching acquisition who don't have any responsibility" for operating the systems being developed, Greenert said.
Amos said the process is "broken, it's constipated and we need to fix it." He noted that acquisition executives told him it would take 13 years to develop and field the proposed amphibious combat vehicle to replace the cancelled expeditionary fighting vehicle.
Currier said the acquisition process was developed during the Civil War and had accumulated multiple layers of procedures, and it "would take a lot of courage" to change it to permit a better balance of risk and requirement. "We may not come out with everything we want, but we can get most of what we want."
Requirements Drive Coast Guard Innovation Efforts
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The U.S. Coast Guard innovation team is trying to work better with program and platform managers to find out new requirements they may need, the service's innovation program manager said.
While delivering a floor address April 8 at Sea-Air-Space, Cmdr. Tyson Weinert said he does not set the tone, or influence direction, on innovation projects, but rather listens to ideas and requirements people want to have on a given project.
"I want to talk with the managers and find out the buzz on what they want created, and then I will push that with industry and the Coast Guard. I think that great things can come of this," he said.
Calling his current way of doing business more passive than active, Weinert said he does recognize the limitations some proposals may have in this current budget climate, but that does not mean he will push aside more expensive ideas. "Right now, perhaps, there is the perception that a cheap solution is a good solution," he said.
FACE Will Boost Speed, Affordability of Aviation Software Upgrades
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
The fleet would receive new and upgraded aviation software systems more quickly and affordably, under a plan now under way, managers of the Air Combat Electronics Program at Naval Air Systems Command said during an April 8 presentation at the expo.
Once fully implemented, the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) would improve portability of avionics systems throughout the Defense Department, they said. Life-cycle costs, buying power, software development, time of delivery to the field would benefit as well, the managers said.
The program "develops, integrates, and delivers avionics solutions that meet customer requirements, enable interoperability, and maximize affordability," the Air Combat Electronics Program office stated in its the presentation.
Super Hornet: The Capability Slope 'Still Going up'
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Navy's F/A-18 program manager says the Super Hornet strike fighter's capabilities are still increasing, even as its affordability remains intact.
Capt. Frank Morley, the Navy's F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager, speaking to reporters at the show, said, "The slope's still going up," in reference to the expansion of the Super Hornet's combat capability and situational awareness. "Evolutionary development [of the Super Hornet] has been key for the Navy."
CNO: Navy Going 'Differently Than Planned' Into 2014
By DAISY R. KHALIFA, Special Correspondent
In his keynote address at the Sea Services Luncheon on April 8, Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert said that in light of a $4 billion budget shortfall and with requisite investments that have to be taken care of, the U.S. Navy, nonetheless, has a "way ahead," and will spend "the precious money we have" - roughly $44 billion - to cover expenses and key operating costs, like training and maintenance, while also preparing for the 2014 deployment.
"Now we've got some operating money. We've got a way ahead. We've got some pretty good items and investments, and we feel much better," Greenert told the luncheon audience. "We're doing some shore readiness and some support items that are very important that we have to get done, but we're not doing all of them. We can get reimbursements done, pay the must-pay bills, and get the fiscal year [2013] distribution management on its way."
As to spending beyond that, Greenert explained that in looking at the 2014 deployment, they will need to reconsider the global force management plan.
"We have to sit down and talk about the 2014 deployment and say, 'we're going into [2014] differently than we originally planned. Is this the global force management plan we want to carry out?'" said Greenert before several hundred industry and military representatives at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
Northrop Upgrading AN/AQS-24 Mine-Hunting System
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
Northrop Grumman is taking its operationally proven AN/AQS-24A helicopter-towed mine-hunting system to new levels, selling it to a trusted ally, refreshing its electronics and developing a compatibility with unmanned surface vehicles, a senior company official said April 8.
Interest in the mine-hunting system is being stimulated by some of the things going on in the world, as some nations look to sea mines as a relatively cheap way of denying access to technologically more sophisticated navies, said Tom Jones, vice president for undersea systems at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems.
Iran, for example, has threatened to mine the economically vital Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf in its disputes with the United States and allied nations.
As a result, the AN/AQS-24 is going through a number of upgrades and modernizations to provide higher performance, Jones told reporters at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition.
The AN/AQS-24 combines in a towed torpedo-like vessel a side-scan sonar for broad area detection of possible bottom mines with a laser line scanner that provides precise electro-optical classification and identification of the suspicious object. That enables the mine countermeasures operators to complete the detection and positive identification processes in a single mission, without having to bring a second sensor to confirm the type of object, Jones said.
Navy Striving To Fix Problems in Systems Development Before Fielding
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
The U.S. Navy is working across all Systems Commands to develop better ways to identify problems with systems still in development before they are sent to the fleet, the deputy director of Integration & Interoperability (I&I) at Naval Air Systems Command said April 8.
"Maturing systems as integrated solutions across a system of systems is really what we're talking about today," Capt. Bob Dishman told a briefing at Sea-Air-Space.
The current model for developing platforms or systems follows a segmented "kill chain'" model - find, fix, track, target, engage and assess, he said. The acquisition process and programs mature independently, so figuring out how to integrate a new aircraft or technology is left to the fleet when the finished product arrives. Any warfighting gaps discovered once fielded have be be dealt with on an ad hoc basis. The platforms arrive already matured "and the fleet is left to be the battlespace integrator, a role we don't want to put our fleet in," said Dishman, previously the program director for the Navy's MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system.
Northrop Grumman Offers Modernized C-2 Carrier Delivery Aircraft
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
Northrop Grumman plans to offer to the Navy a modernized version of its C-2A Greyhound carrier-onboard-delivery (COD) aircraft to meet future requirements for the COD capability. The offered design will include features of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye radar warning aircraft being delivered to the fleet.
Steve Squires, director of C-2 programs for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, speaking to reporters at the show April 8, said the plan to replace the C-2A's wings, engines, digital cockpit avionics, and empennage with those of the E-2D will enable the Navy to recapitalize its COD fleet at the lowest cost.
The C-2A has been flying for 50 years, produced in two production runs, the last of which built 39 aircraft in the 1980s. Thirty-five of those are in service today and four are in storage. The C-2A carries 26 passengers or 10,000 pounds of cargo or a combination thereof out to a range of 1,300 nautical miles. A typical two-plane detachment on a six-month deployment carries 5,000 passengers, flies 1,000 hours, and carries more than one million pounds of cargo. A typical cargo load is 5,000-6,000 pounds.
200 Stealthy, Long-Endurance Wave Gliders Operating at Sea Today
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
They're silent and invisible to radar and infrared sensors, but what might be most appealing about Wave Glider robots for the Navy these days is that they're cheap.
These wave-powered, surfboard-shaped robots cost a few thousand dollars a day to operate, compared to $150,000 to several million dollars a day for a typical ship, said Bill Vass, the chief executive officer of Liquid Robotics, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company that invented the Wave Glider.
The stealthy, long-endurance robots are useful for Navy missions that range from monitoring ship traffic to detecting submarines and hunting for mines, Vass told Seapower. Recently, the Navy experimented with Wave Gliders serving as surveillance platforms that were also able to communicate with satellites, ships, airborne drones and undersea sensors.
Perhaps their greatest strength is endurance. One Wave Glider traveled 9,400 miles from San Francisco to Australia, spending 400 days at sea. By contrast, the endurance of most Navy robots, airborne and undersea, is measured in hours.
There are about 200 Wave Gliders operating at sea today, Vass said. Most are used by the oil and gas industry, where they explore for undersea deposits or help with rig maintenance and rig security. Others conduct water quality research, oceanographic surveys, weather monitoring and keep watch over marine sanctuaries. They're good for performing "long, boring and dangerous" chores - such as hurricane monitoring - that would be prohibitively expensive or too hazardous to perform with a manned ship, Vass said.
Rear Adm. Darrah to Industry: 'Fit Your Solutions to Our Architecture'
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
The way aircraft systems are acquired, tested and delivered to the fleet is going to change, according to a senior commander at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
"It's time to stop talking about platforms, and start talking about weapon on target," Rear Adm. Mark W. Darrah, the commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center aircraft division, told an audience at Sea-Air-Space.
Falling in line with a top-down directive to improve efficiency that emanates from the senior-most leadership in the Defense Department and the Navy, Darrah told the group that NAVAIR would require anyone with whom it does business to focus on moving new technologies into existing architecture. When gaps in capability are identified, they will be filled quickly with available technology, he said.
New equipment will be "hardened," Darrah said, "adaptable anywhere in the world in an environment where enemies aren't going to be able to take advantage of them."
In the past, and still largely in effect, the Navy has found itself adapting its existing architecture to solutions provided by industry, Darrah said. "It should be the other way around. The architecture stays the same, and you fit your solutions to our architecture," he said.
Official: UISS Could Take on Many Roles
By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent
The U.S. Navy envisions that the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) in development could take on a multitude of roles and help pick up the slack as aging H-53s retire, Capt. Duane Ashton, program manager for unmanned maritime systems, said during a presentation.
The Navy released a draft request for proposals (RFP) in December for UISS, and hopes to release a formal RFP in "the near future," Ashton said. The Navy envisions UISS as a 40-foot unmanned boat that will provide Littoral Combat Ships with "a stand-off, long endurance, semi-autonomous minesweeping capability to counter acoustic and/or magnetic influence mine threats in the littoral environment," according to a Navy fact sheet.
Although the primary mission of the vessel will be to sweep maritime areas for mines, the captain said he could see many more uses once the asset proves itself.
"Getting out of the gate, the first thing is to make sure we get that sweep mission right," he said. "The next piece is working with the Office of Naval Research ... looking at what would be those next steps."
One of those steps could be toward a detect-to-engage capability. In order to achieve that, the program would need to look at launch and recovery, refueling and a host of other aspects of the unmanned system.
Modularity Is Key Part of LCS Mission Module Flexibility
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
"It's been a very good year for the [Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)] mission package program in general," Rear Adm. (sel.) John W. Ailes, program manager for Mission Module Integration, told an overflow briefing at the show.
Ailes outlined the progress of the various packages - mine countermeasures (MCM), surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare at the Naval Sea Systems Command pavilion, and noted that modularity was proving to be a critical element as the packages move through testing aboard LCS 1, Freedom, and LCS 2, Independence.
"The key part that we've seen over and over again, because of the modularity, you can drop capability in," he said. "The three different teams that developed our three different mission packages all together standing on the same infrastructure, that's a very powerful concept because it demonstrates just how open [the systems are.]"
The MCM package is "by far the most technically complex," of the modules, Ailes said, "in part because the mission itself is the most challenging. It's very much a question of discrimination, figuring out what on the bottom is a mine, going back, reacquiring it and the neutralizing it."
Navy to Test Solid-State Laser on Ponce
By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent
The Navy plans to field and test a solid-state laser prototype system on the service's newest afloat forward-staging base early next year, two officials said.
The former amphibious ship Ponce (LPD 15), which had been transformed last year into an interim afloat forward-staging base and redesignated AFSB-1, will host a laser that the Office of Naval Research has used to shoot down drone targets and perform non-lethal operations.
Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, said the Navy wanted to get the prototype onto an operational Navy ship. However, it won't go in the flight deck area of the ship, but rather be integrated into the combat system, the power grid and the cooling grid on the Ponce.
Rear Adm. Thomas Eccles, chief engineer and deputy commander for naval systems engineering at Naval Sea Systems Command, said during the presentation that the version on Ponce will look similar to prototypes tested in the past.
The upcoming tests will help prove out the capability, Eccles said. "We'll have an improved laser system," he said. "It will be a longer-range engagement, I expect."
USCG Builds International Capability through FMS
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The Coast Guard has averaged $105 million in annual foreign military sales (FMS) since the program's inception in 1997, and the service's chief of international acquisition said he is not trying to dramatically increase that number.
"We don't have a set goal we try to reach on a given year," Tod Reinert said April 8.
The service has delivered 405 vessels worldwide and it expected to deliver 59 assets to 13 countries this fiscal year. Over the past four years, the Coast Guard's average annual international sales have increased from $13 million to more than $138 million.
Most of the assets are delivered to countries in the Caribbean, Africa and Middle East, and recently there has been a lot of requests for small boats, Reinert said. "We are engaged in building international military capability," he said.
NAVSUP Commander: 'Logistics Is a Team Sport'
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
Awareness of the need to improve logistics at installations and in the supply chain is obviously more acute in the current economic climate. Even if there were no such thing as sequestration, however, the sea services' chiefs of logistics and supply believe the time has come anyway for improvements in efficiency.
During an April 8 panel discussion, senior Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leaders and representatives from industry agreed they must work closely to implement these necessary changes in culture.
"Logistics is a team sport," said Rear Adm. Mark F. Heinrich, commander of Naval Supply Systems Command and chief of Supply Corps. "Resiliency in the supply chain comes from collaboration and teamwork."
"Industry and defense are inseparable," said retired Navy Rear Adm. Garry E. Hall, now an accounts manager with Siemens USA. "Challenges can only be solved with collaboration."
Navy-Marine Corps Team Focuses on Traditional Missions
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
As they draw down from 11 years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy and Marine Corps are working on multiple fronts to devise new ways they can train and operate together to meet future challenges while in an era of fiscal austerity, three senior naval leaders said April 8.
A primary focus will be on maintaining and increasing the traditional missions of Navy-Marine Corps forces forward deployed, working with international partners and being prepared to respond to whatever emerges, the panel of officers told an audience at the expo.
There will be a lot of crises out there. We'll sail to those crises because we're already there," Adm. William Gortney, commander Fleet Forces Command, said.
Rear Adm. Michael Smith, director of the Strategy and Policy Division on the Navy Staff, cited a long list of studies and program already under way to determine what the naval forces will need to do and how they will be organized and equipped to meet the uncertain future.
The efforts include revising the National Maritime Strategy for the 21st Century, first adopted by the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leadership in 2007; creation of a Naval Board consisting of several three-star officers from the Navy and the Corps; and expanding the Air-Sea Battle Concept, started by the Navy and Air Force, to include the Marine Corps and Army.
Although the future has "significant challenges - the fiscal environment not the least of them," it also offers opportunities, Smith said. And the naval services have been there before, he added, noting the time between the world wars that saw development of amphibious and carrier warfare capabilities.
Navy Moving Ahead With Two Carrier-Based Unmanned Aircraft Projects
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
The next step for testing the U.S. Navy's planned carrier-based unmanned strike aircraft has been approved by the chief of naval operations, the head of the Navy's unmanned aircraft office announced April 8.
Rear Adm. Mathias Winter told a briefing that the capability development document (CDD) was signed by Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert earlier in the day. The signed CDD means "a formal Navy requirement" exists for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system, said Winter, head of the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons.
"The acquisition strategy document to go forward for our Milestone A is with the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition technology and logistics and we anticipate approval of that within the next three to four weeks," Winter said. The UCLASS project could then begin a technology development phase with the command and control and carrier-development segments, he said, adding that the government will be the lead systems integrator of the program. He noted there were 22 systems of record already connected with just those two segments of the UCLASS program.
Winter said the Navy would launch an air vehicle competition with a request for proposals in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, with a contract award anticipated at the end of fiscal 2014.
Finding Ways To Cut USMC Fuel Consumption in the Field
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
Marines in Afghanistan "are exponentially more lethal today" than they were a decade ago, thanks to far superior communications capability and advanced sensors, said Col. Bob Charette. But these new capabilities come at substantial cost - the logistics of fossil fuel.
In 2001, the Marines had 4,000 generators in the field; today they have 13,000, said Charette, director of the Corps' Expeditionary Energy Office. Generators need fuel, and fuel means convoys, and - in Afghanistan - convoys mean casualties.
There are more than 8,000 Marine Corps laptops in Afghanistan, and they consume a megawatt of power - enough to power an Afghan town, Charette said during a briefing April 8.
In the summer, trying to air condition tents can consume 60 percent of a base's fuel, while power-hungry radars require 60 kilowatt generators all their own. Marines in Afghanistan consume 200,000 gallons of fuel a day.
Charette's job is to find ways the Marines can keep the technology that improves their combat effectiveness, but reduce their dependence on fossil fuel. His goal is to cut fossil fuel consumption in the field in half by 2025.
Since the Expeditionary Energy Office was created in 2009, there have been encouraging developments with solar panels and hybrid energy systems, and innovative approaches to cooling and heating.
Among the most promising is a hybrid power system that uses solar panels and batteries as well as a standard generator to cut fossil fuel consumption. It reduced fuel use by half during tests at an experimental forward operating base in California.
Next Batch of DDG 51s Set to Move Forward
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
With the four Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyers already under contract in various stages of construction, Capt. Mark Vandroff, program manager for the DDG 51 program, now must wait on the machinations of the Pentagon contracting process before awarding contracts for a new batch of ships.
"I'm hoping to have more ships under contract in the near future," Vandroff said a briefing at the Naval Sea Systems Command pavilion. "We are looking forward to that now that we have the legislative authority."
A request for proposal was issued last year for a nine- to 10-ship multiyear procurement from fiscal 2013 to 2017, he said. Bids were received in July, but authority from Congress was needed to move forward under the National Defense Authorization Act and the Defense Appropriations Act.
The continuing resolution signed into law last month to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year includes the authority to set things in motion, but the ball first must go back to the Pentagon's court, Vandroff said. Contracts in excess of $500 million require the secretary of defense to notify Congress 30 days before they are awarded. And now the program manager is waiting for that notification to be sent. "It is proceeding at pace," said Vandroff, who would not speculate on when the might the notification might be sent.
Meantime, work is forging ahead on DDGs 113-116 at both Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascaguola, Miss., which are being built as part of the DDG 51 restart program that followed the truncation of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program. Officials from both companies offered brief updates on their respective programs, with HII's Bob Merchant noting, "It's a real pleasure to be back in the DDG 51 business."
V-22 Ospreys To Be Support Aircraft for Presidential Helo Fleet
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
The first V-22 Osprey has been delivered to the Marine Corps helicopter squadron that supplies helicopters for the president, the V-22 program manager for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said April 8.
But the tiltrotor aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter, but also fly as fast as an airplane, won't be ferrying President Barack Obama as Marine 1, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Greg Masiello. Instead, the 12 Ospreys to be assigned to Marine Squadron HMX-1 at Quantico, Va., will act in a supporting role, flying White House staff and other VIPs. To that end, the V-22s in HMX-1 will not sport the white roof of the presidential fleet. Instead they will be all green, Masiello said.
There are 208 Ospreys currently operating around the world - 31 with U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command and 177 at Marine Corps bases and stations in North Carolina, California, Hawaii, Japan and Okinawa. There are plans for a Marine Corps V-22 squadron to be assigned to Europe to serve as a contingency unit for both Africa Command and European Command, but Masiello declined to go into details, saying that information should come from the two regional combatant commands.
Unmanned Systems Emblematic of Warfighting Principles
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
The Navy's unmanned systems programs are emblematic of the principles laid out by the chief of naval operations (CNO), the director of the Navy's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Capabilities Division said during a briefing.
Rear Adm. DeWolfe "Chip" Miller said the Navy's unmanned systems are being rapidly developed and fielded to the fleet, operating on the front lines and providing information that troops on the ground and at sea can use, all central to the "warfighting first, operating forward and being ready" tenets of CNO Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert.
"In Air Systems, in calendar year 2012, 99.1 percent our flight hours were combat or combat support," Miller said. "Unlike manned aircraft, that are back doing turn-around training, that sort of stuff, our unmanned aircraft are forward. In the undersea domain, the exact same is true."
Miller said unmanned systems provide the advantages of persistence, being able to operate far forward without the logistics trail of manned aircraft and their ability to complement manned systems. As an example, he cited the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle that will work in concert with the P-8A Poseidon to provide persistent maritime surveillance over large areas.
International Maritime Panel Stresses Partnerships, Opportunities
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
The importance of continuing to build relationships in the international arena and enhancing the opportunities for partnerships to improve capabilities were highlighted during the first International Maritime Panel Discussion April 8.
Vice Adm. William E. Landay III, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency; and Rear Adm. Douglas J. Venlet, director of International Engagement, spoke of the many similar challenges the U.S. Navy and its allies face in trying to maintain partnerships in an ever-changing security environment and as defense budget belts tighten across the globe.
As security cooperation requirements evolve, Landay, more capabilities and more engagement are necessary, adding that "competitors will be very aggressive" to fill any voids.
Landay touted improvements in the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, the nation's primary tool for international military cooperation, as a means of addressing these evolving requirements. The three main areas of improvement, he said, have been making the process faster, driving out cost and increasing the program's visibility and transparency. "More improvements are in the works," he promised.
Venlet highlighted the strength of the relatively small Foreign Area Officer corps, noting, "We don't kick in the door; we open the door from the inside." He said partnerships and engagement were key to security cooperation because "we cannot surge trust, trust can only be built on the ground." And security cooperation itself was vital, he said, "because no one nation can truly do it alone."
Day 2 Summary Articles Apr 9 2013
Asia-Pacific Shift Important for Partnerships, Poses Challenges
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The rebalancing of military assets to the Asia-Pacific will be one of the nation's greatest security challenges, military leaders said during a panel discussion - "Engaging in Asia: Operating on Two Fronts" - that opened the second day of the Navy League's 2013 Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Md.
"The prosperity and security of the U.S. is linked to the region," Rear Adm. Michael Smith, Navy director, Strategy and Policy Division, said April 9. Joining him on the panel were Rear Adm. William Lee, Coast Guard deputy for Operations Policy and Capabilities, and Maj. Gen. (sel.) Michael Rocco, Marine Corps assistant deputy commandant for Plans, Polices and Operations.
The Obama administration announced earlier this year that the Asia-Pacific pivot would take place after military forces have spent more than a decade fighting two lengthy and deadly ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The policy change was met with widespread support from lawmakers and military officials.
Navy leaders have said they want to have 60 percent of the fleet in the region by 2020.
In preparation for that, they will be looking at the makeup of the fleet and the development of advanced systems for areas such as ballistic missile defense, space, cyber and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. "We want to take our newest systems and deploy them to the Asia-Pacific first," Smith said.
Sikorsky CH-53K Staying Under Weight Goal
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The new heavy-lift helicopter being developed by Sikorsky for the Marine Corps as a replacement for the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter is so far coming under its goal weight restrictions.
Marine Col. Robert Pridgen, the Navy's H-53 program manager, told reporters at the expo that the estimated weight of the CH-53K will be 84,302 pounds, compared with the goal of 99,110 pounds and the requirement threshold of 110,122 pounds.
The CH-53K, being developed at Sikorsky's West Palm Beach facility in Florida, is built with a composite material fuselage and rotor blades. The helicopter will be equipped with new GE 38 engines, each producing 7,500 horsepower. The fuselage cargo bay will feature a width 12 inches wider than that of the CH-53E, allowing the standard Air Force pallet to fit inside without having to repackage the cargo on smaller pallets.
The ground test vehicle was rolled out in October and the static test vehicle is currently in stress testing. The first four engineering development test aircraft are being built, and approval has been obtained to proceed with four service development test aircraft (SDTA).
The first flight of the CH-53K is expected in late 2014. Delivery of the first SDTA is planned for early 2016, the same year a Milestone C decision is expected. Initial operational capability of the CH-53K is planned for 2019.
Navy League Maritime Policy Authors Discuss Sea Service Priorities
By DAISY R. KHALIFA, Special Correspondent
Members of the Navy League's Maritime Policy and Resolutions Committee on April 9 highlighted key themes and pressing challenges across the sea services set forth in the organization's recently released 2013-14 Maritime Policy statement.
Navy League National President Philip Dunmire introduced retired Navy Vice Adm. Phillip Balisle, chairman of the committee. Balisle explained the policy was crafted based on background briefings from the leadership of the sea services and analyses and recommendations of committee members in light of the Navy League's mission of educating members of Congress about the roles and the requirements of the sea services.
Retired Navy Rear Adm. Robert Sutton said a key area of concern deals with the number of ships in the Navy. The policy recommends an investment in shipbuilding, and supports a 306-ship Navy as the goal that must be achieved with an Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) account of not less than $20 billion. "In the shipbuilding industry itself, once you lose it, you can't reconstitute it unless you're going to put about a decade of work into it," Sutton said.
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen John Galinetti focused on the Marine Corps and its return its amphibious roots. He said the strategic plan supported by Gen. John Amos, Marine Corps commandant, syncs with the national military strategy envisioned by President Barack Obama as it relates to "shifting and pivoting" to the Asia-Pacific region. The Navy League, he said, supports funding to maintain end strength of 182,100 active-duty Marines, enabling the Corps to support the full mission spectrum.
James Offutt, a retired Navy aviator and Navy League national president-elect, underscored the valuable service provided by the Coast Guard, "our nation's fourth military agency," and highlighted its historic maritime roots. Offutt outlined the program of record, which calls for eight National Security Cutters, with four of those vessels at sea at any one time in the Bering Strait, the Far East, the Caribbean and off South Africa, he said.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Albert Herberger, former maritime administrator, provided priorities concerning the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine and the Marine Transportation system. "The Merchant Marine, working with the U.S. commercial fleet, has revolutionized the way sealift has been handled in recent years, and this is the ability to have commercial enterprise going on all the time that can immediately convert when the U.S. Defense Department calls, and they can use the intermodal systems that are in place," he said.
Retired Navy Rear Adm. William Wyatt discussed the industrial base and shipbuilding, and emphasized maritime policy themes concerning the size of the fleet, investing in shipbuilding facilities and programs, and better training for the workforce.
"Everything we buy is more expensive, higher than the national inflation rate, which is very tough with low throughputs and high technology being pushed all the time," he said. "We're trying to outpace the threat, and that drives modernization both in construction and maintenance. It's hard to find a program that is ongoing that is not exceeding its planned budgets, and exceeding its schedule."
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Brent Bennitt discussed the Maritime Policy's commitment to ensuring the well-being of service men and women. The policy supports proactive recruiting and retention, and, likewise, stands by authorized end-strength for active-duty personnel of 321,000 for the Navy; 42,000 for the Coast Guard; and 182,100 for Marines.
Balisle offered the audience three takeaways - the United States must accede to the Law of the Sea Treaty, the SSBN9X) ballistic missile submarine replacement program should be funded outside the SCN account and fleet maintenance accounts must be maintained if the Navy is to extend the life current assets and take care of those now entering the fleet.
Navy Strives to Keep High-Quality, Motivated Workforce
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
While recruiting and retention of high-quality people has never been better, the Navy must work to keep them, deploy them to the right places, and take care of their families, the service's personnel chief believes.
"We need smart, motivated people," Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk, the deputy chief of naval operations for Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education, said during an April 9 presentation.
Given the historically high scores recruits are delivering on entrance exams and the battery of tests they take, the Navy is meeting its needs, Van Buskirk said. Keeping them in uniform will require convincing them that their work is relevant, he said. After the steady downturn in personnel of recent years, Van Buskirk said the Navy now intends "to stabilize the workforce."
The service still faces a gap of about 7,000 Sailors at sea presently, Van Buskirk said, with the number changing constantly due, in large part, to changes in mission sets and the nature of operations. As such, the task of creating a better balance between sea and shore billets is high on his priority list.
HII Executives Say Work Is Steady, Yards Hiring
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The message was clear from the two presidents of the nation's largest shipbuilder - it is hiring and confident the work will continue into the future. "We are not having problems attracting folks," Irwin F. Edenzon, corporate vice president of HII and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said April 9 during a briefing.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains U.S. Navy ships and submarines and Coast Guard ships at its Newport News, Va., and Pascagoula, Miss., shipyards.
Edenzon's Pascagoula shipyard has 14,300 employees, and he said they intend to hire 2,400 more by the end of this year. Acknowledging that industry demand is up but supply is down, he said the shipyard has experienced an influx of work over the past year. "We are getting more selective in hiring people," he said.
As budgets in Washington continue to receive congressional scrutiny, Edenzon said there is certainly nervousness in the shipbuilding business about long-term stability, and HII has to prepare for multiple budget outcomes in the next three years.
APKWS Being Fielded for Marine Corps Helos
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
Precision attack weapons for combat aircraft, which have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a shot, are now being fielded for Marine Corps helicopters at what, for Pentagon standards, is low cost and should be available in the near future for Navy helos and for multi-service fixed-wing aircraft, Navy and industry briefers said April 9.
The low-budget munitions, called the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS), is produced by adding a laser-seeking control unit to the 2.75-inch unguided rockets, one of the military's most common airborne weapons, said Capt. Brian "Zulu" Corey, program manager for naval forward firing weapons at Naval Air Systems Command.
"This weapon is so simple it's hard to communicate" to people, Corey said. The precision conversion of the Vietnam-vintage "dumb" rockets is being performed by BAE Systems in a relatively short time and with surprising success. Although BAE cites a 90 percent combat reliability in its publications, Corey said, "We don't know of a single failure" in operational testing.
Composite Hangar, Deckhouse Only Change for Third DDG 1000
By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent
Despite initial plans to use composite materials instead of steel on the third DDG 1000, the Navy does not plan on making any further changes to the final ship in the class, the program manager said April 9.
The Navy plans to build a composite hangar and deckhouse on DDG 1000 instead of steel, as was used on the first two ships in the class, but that is "the only difference we have planned for the third ship," said Capt. Jim Downey, DDG 1000 program manager.
"Why did we look at that at this point with only three ships?" Downey said. "We're always constantly focused on cost."
The program expects a significant amount of commonality between the DDG 1000 program and other ships. The program is in fact building some products for other programs, such as a radar to be used on the new CVN-78 class of aircraft carriers, Downey said.
The ship also has commonality with the combat system on the LPD 17 amphibious transport dock, as well as some commonality in the navigation systems. Further, the DDG 1000 has power similarities with the DDG 51 destroyer, the captain said.
Navy Will Seek More Savings on CVN-80, PM Says
By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent
The Navy will continue its effort to drive out costs when it begins work on the CVN 80, as the service hopes to implement some cost-saving measures that won't be in time for CVN 79, the program manager said April 9.
Capt. Doug Oglesby, CVN 79 program manager (PM), told expo attendees that the Navy is always asking "how can we do things differently," and the service will continue to look for opportunities to squeeze some savings out of CVN 80.
"Some of the things that we want to do with CVN 79 to drive out costs, it's just not the right time to do that with 79," Oglesby said. "We're going to further drive out costs, [and] we'll continue to work to identify things we can do differently, more efficiently, with 79 and 80."
However, a block buy of the two carriers isn't in the cards for the program as CVN 80 hasn't officially been authorized, even though such a buy would result in some "efficiencies gained" for the program, he said. "I think, in terms of a block buy like with [some Nimitz-class carriers], I think that might be a better opportunity for the future," he said.
Lockheed Martin Formulates UCLASS Design
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has released some details of its design for an unmanned carrier-based surveillance and strike aircraft ahead of the Navy's request for proposals for the project.
The company's proposal for the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System (UCLASS) would be a flying wing design that would reuse many existing technologies and subsystems as a way to control risk and costs, Bob Ruszkowski, director of UCLASS program development for Lockheed Martin, told Seapower April 9.
The Navy intends to deploy a UCLASS on its aircraft carriers in the 2020 timeframe as a persistent surveillance and strike platform with aerial refueling capability.
The Lockheed Martin UCLASS will incorporate some of the technologies of the company's F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, including survivability features like skin coatings and selected mission systems, Ruszkowski said.
The design features a single engine and a 66-foot wingspan, with folding wings, that will allow two UCLASS aircraft to be positioned simultaneously on the two bow catapults of the aircraft carrier. The length of the aircraft will be half the length of an F/A-18. Mission systems will include an electro-optical sensor, with growth capability to allow installation of a radar, an electronic surveillance measures system and an electronic attack capability. Two weapons bays will be incorporated in the wings, each able to enclose a 1,000-pound-class weapon. External pylons can be fitted for additional weapons.
2013 a 'Year of Transition' for the P-8A Poseidon
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Navy's new P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will complete several important milestones this year as it transitions from its initial development to operational deployment. "I'd characterize 2013 as a year of [program] transition," Rick Heerdt, Boeing's vice president and P-8A program manager, told reporters April 9.
The P-8A completed its initial operational test and evaluation in March, and full-rate production is scheduled to begin this year. The first operational P-8A squadron, Patrol Squadron 16 (VP-16), based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., will take the aircraft on its first deployment in December as it achieves initial operational capability.
Full-scale fatigue life testing began in February. The fatigue-life airframe will be tested for the equivalent of two lifetimes and will conclude in 2015. Static and live-fire testing was completed in 2012.
The last of six Low-Rate Production 1 (LRIP-1) P-8As was delivered in January and the first of six LPIP-2 aircraft was delivered in March, with another to follow in April.
Heerdt said that Boeing expects to deliver 10 Poseidons in 2013: seven P-8As for the U.S. Navy and three P-8Is for the Indian Navy.
Coast Guard Makes Slow Progress on UAS Capability
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
Noting that the 21st century will be the era of unmanned aviation, the U.S. Coast Guard is forging ahead, albeit slowly, with its effort to obtain an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to improve the service's maritime domain awareness capabilities, Cmdr. Albert Antaran told a briefing audience.
"We're on the right path," Antaran, the aviation domain lead with the service's Office of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Office, said during his presentation at the Coast Guard Pavilion on the expo floor.
Given the current budget environment, the focus going forward will be on a smaller, less-expensive UAS, based on a platform such as the ScanEagle or RQ-21 Integrator unmanned aerial vehicle, as opposed to a larger system like the RQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, he said.
At present, the Coast Guard is concerned more about the system's payload capabilities than the platform that will carry it, although the service is looking for a platform that is capable of operating from a National Security Cutter, has long-endurance and is man-portable, among other attributes.
Navy Oceanographer: Time to Share Weather, Climate Data
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
The Arctic ice is melting, sea levels are rising, storms are getting worse. What does it all mean for the U.S. Navy? What does it mean for homeowners along North Carolina's Outer Banks?
Nobody knows for sure, but a lot of people in a lot of U.S. government agencies know a little something, and Rear Adm. Jon White says it is time to start sharing their knowledge in order to produce substantially better long-term weather and climate forecasts.
White, who is oceanographer of the Navy, is promoting the Earth System Prediction Capability as a way for multiple agencies to share weather and climate data and create forecasts that can look decades into the future.
A lot of agencies - the departments of Defense, Commerce, Energy and NASA, for example - spend millions of dollars annually collecting and analyzing weather data, White said during an April 9 briefing. "But we need to focus on a single operational model" for turning the data into more useful long-range weather and climate predictions.
Using Simulators, Computers to Train the Facebook Generation
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
Naval training that uses simulators and intelligent tutoring computer systems not only saves money but helps turn out Sailors who are better practiced at doing their job, the commander of Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division said April 9. "It's very expensive to do training in an operational mode," Capt. Steven Nakagawa said, adding that in the current era of fiscal constraint "doing things cheaper is very, very important."
But new technology like intelligent tutoring also turns out people "who are not just regurgitators of book knowledge, but critical thinkers who can solve problems that are new," he said.
Intelligent tutoring can provide customized instruction and immediate feedback. Like a tutor standing beside a student it can "harvest how you learn best and do all that stuff a human mentor would do," Nakagawa said.
Paxton: Marines at the Crossroads Once Again
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
Marine Gen. John M. Paxton Jr. began his talk before an April 9 luncheon audience with a history reference. On the same date in 1945, the sea services were fighting World War II's bloodiest campaign in Okinawa. In 1953, he said, Marines had recently finished major operations at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir in Korea.
After those campaigns, Paxton said, the Marine Corps underwent significant strength reductions - similar to those under consideration today amid the budget crunch. Events later proved that the reductions went too far too quickly, he said. "We have seen this before," Paxton said. "The Marines have made a habit of institutional paranoia."
The Marine Corps and its fellow sea services are at such a crossroads again, Paxton said.
"We may not know where we want to go. We don't know what threats are out there. The point is, we have to make a decision," Paxton said.
Besides continuing instability in the Middle East and looming threats in the Pacific, Paxton alluded to wild-card issues such as the space and cyber arenas, and the connection between the proliferation of weapons and drug trafficking. These and other hazards are out there and could flare at any time, he said.
Navy Moving Toward a Single MH-60S Helicopter Configuration
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Navy's armament and mine countermeasures (MCM) additions to the basic MH-60S helicopter are blurring the original Block distinctions, and the service is moving toward a single configuration capable of both missions, in addition to the vertical replenishment mission.
Capt. Jim Glass, the Navy's H-60 program manager, told reporters April 9 at the Navy League's 2013 Sea-Air-Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md., that the Navy is expanding the weapons capability of the Sikorsky-built MH-60S Seahawk to include unguided and laser-guided rockets, as well as the M197 20mm cannon, to augment the Hellfire missile capability. The weapons are intended to give the MH-60S a significant capability against fast attack craft.
The MH-60S originally was planned to be built in three configurations: the Block I vertical replenishment version, the Block II mine countermeasures version, and the Block III armed helicopter. Now the armament and MCM systems will be carried by the same version.
Enterprise Approach to Aviation Valuable to USMC
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
Faced with the challenge of keeping some aging legacy aircraft flying while bringing in a new generation of airplanes, the Navy and Marine Corps are relying on the Naval Aviation Enterprise system to get the most effective use of their funds and facilities, a senior Marine Corps civilian official said April 9.
The challenge is particularly great for the Marines, who have been forced to maintain their F/A-18 Hornets and AV-8B Harriers in service longer than expected due to the delays in the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program, said Russ Howard, assistant deputy commandant for Aviation, who focuses on sustainment.
The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) was formed by the Naval Air System Command to bring together its experts and assets to effectively produce future readiness at the lowest cost. Howard, who came to NAE after a lengthy career in Air Force acquisition, said "the enterprise approach to aviation is incredibly valuable."
That is important to the Marines, whose air assets are in high demand around the world and are "a force in transition" with new systems, such as the MV-22 and the UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters replacing decades-old choppers. The Corps also has the problem of a shrinking force and "uncertain fiscal environment," Howard said.
USCG PROTECT Model Boosts Security in High-Risk Patrol Areas
By DAISY R. KHALIFA, Special Correspondent
A U.S. Coast Guard research and development expert gave a brief presentation on the agency's new Port Resilience Operational/Tactical Enforcement to Combat Terrorism (PROTECT) Model April 9.
Lt. Derek Storolis, modeling and simulation domain lead for the Coast Guard's Office of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, part of the agency's acquisition directorate, said the Coast Guard developed PROTECT as a new surveillance model that will be incorporated in its Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS) mission.
The PROTECT model supports the PWCS mission through its use in areas where targets, such as liquefied natural gas shipments, are more at risk, Storolis said. He said the program answers the need for developing a methodology for "randomizing" patrol schedules that the Coast Guard does for PWCS.
Navy Cuts One Year off Virginia Attack Submarine Delivery Time
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The team building the Navy's Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) has reduced the time from construction start to delivery to the Navy by a year over that of the lead boat of the class.
Capt. Dave Goggins, the Navy's H-60 program manager, told an audience April 9 that the most recent delivery, Mississippi, was built in 63 months, a 27 percent reduction in delivery time. "We're delivering ahead of schedule at higher quality," Goggins said.
He said the Navy is on track to reducing the time from delivery to fleet service to 12 months, making the time from construction start to fleet service to six years.
The Navy has nine Virginia-class SSNs in the fleet, and they have completed a total of five full-length deployments, with a sixth deployment now underway by USS New Mexico. Ten SSNs are under construction.
Time for a Long-Term Arctic Strategy
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy are working on developing a long-term strategy for a bigger military presence in the Arctic, service officials said April 9 during a roundtable discussion.
One million tourists are expected to travel Arctic waters this year. The region also has 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil, a fact not lost on Shell Oil Inc., which started drilling two exploratory wells last year and will continue this summer.
The Coast Guard has been at the forefront of driving the Arctic discussion, with its commandant, Adm. Robert Papp, Jr., saying earlier this year during his State of the Coast Guard Address that a strategy for the region is one of the service's top priorities. The first Arctic strategy will be delivered this spring, and another Arctic mission will take place this summer as the service continues to examine what resources are needed and what will work in the icy region.
The Navy, meanwhile, has been quietly patrolling the region, and acknowledging that a full-time presence will be needed in the next few decades, said Rear Adm. Jonathan White, Navy oceanographer, navigator of the Navy, director of space and maritime domain awareness.
Bell Boeing Proposes Its V-22 Osprey for the Carrier Delivery Role
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Bell Boeing team that builds the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft for the Marine Corps and the Air Force Special Operations Command is offering the aircraft as a replacement for the Navy's Northrop Grumman-built C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft.
Brian Roby, field marketing representative for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in San Diego, told Seapower in an April 9 interview at the 2013 Sea-Air-Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md., said the Osprey offers a lot of advantages and a new way of operating compared with the fixed-wing C-2A, which has been in service for 50 years.
The Navy is exploring is options for recapitalizing its COD capability. The V-22 can land and takeoff vertically from a ship and also can make rolling takeoffs. It does not require arresting gear and, Roby said, provides much more flexibility and less disruption to flight operations on the aircraft carrier's flight deck. The V-22 can land on a carrier deck with negative 5 knots of wind. The V-22 can fold its rotor blades and wing in 90 seconds to allow for quick exit of a landing area. The Marine Corps has been using its Ospreys to in a similar role for logistics for its amphibious assault ships.
Shipboard Flights Begin for Marine Corps' Integrator UAV
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
The Marines have moved a step closer to having a spy drone that can be launched from an amphibious assault ship, fly 60 miles away and gather intelligence for 15 hours or more before returning to the ship.
Called the "Integrator," the new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intended to scout ahead of Marines as they prepare to go ashore, and monitor them during ship-to-shore maneuvers, said Ryan Hartman, a vice president at UAV maker Insitu Inc.
Hartman announced the Integrator's first launch from a ship, the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde, at the expo April 9. However, the launch and recover occurred in February.
The Integrator is a big brother to the Navy's familiar ScanEagle also made by Insitu. A half-dozen ships operate ScanEagles, including at least two ships in the Persian Gulf that use them for surveillance. Iran claimed to have captured one in December after it entered Iranian air space.
Expeditionary Forces Will Be Key to Asia-Pacific Rebalancing
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent
As the Marine Corps looks forward to ending more than a decade of land war in Iraq and Afghanistan, "we're coming back to the future as we re-emphasize expeditionary" and amphibious operations, Lt. Gen. Richard Mills said April 9.
Forward-deployed Navy and Marine expeditionary forces will be even more important with the strategic rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region with its vast ocean areas, maritime choke points and many key allies, said Mills, the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
That will require the naval team to be able to project power, which would include the ability "to conduct forcible entry at the place and time of our choosing," he said.
But amphibious operations require three key elements: capable and survivable amphibious ships, a trained and flexible landing force and the element that links them, ship-to-shore connecters, Mills added.
"We need a portfolio of landing craft" with different capabilities to give the amphibious commander the ability to put the landing force ashore where needed, he said.
Mills and Maj. Gen. Timothy Hanifen, director of Expeditionary Warfare, said the Navy has provided very capable amphibious ships, citing the growing fleet of San Antonio-class LPD 17s and the large-deck LHA and LHD amphibious assault ships. But, they said, the fleet is well short of the 38 gators that doctrine says are needed or even the 33 that has been set as the resource-limited acceptable level.
Ohio Replacement Program Coping With Sequester Cuts
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
The mandatory budget cuts imposed by sequestration have not stopped the Navy's program to build a series of ballistic missile submarines to replace the aging Ohio class, the program manager told an April 9 briefing.
"We are managing our way through that," said Capt. Bill Brougham, adding that "as we saw what was coming, we came up with options of what we could do to mitigate the potential cuts."
Later, he told reporters that the percentage of cuts "was less than what we were initially prepared for," adding "we're in better shape but we had to rejigger."
Brougham said the first replacement submarine was still on track to start construction in 2021, as stated in the fiscal 2013 budget request, with a three-year testing program and deployment anticipated in 2031. In the fiscal 2012 budget, the first Ohio replacement boat was slated to be procured in fiscal 2019, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Aggressive Defenses Need To Counter Cyber Threats
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
Cyber threats need to be treated more like diseases, said Rear Adm. Robert Day.
Just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps a sharp eye on public health and spots bird flu when it pops up in China, the United States must be vigilant for cyber threats, spot them early and attack them aggressively, said Day, the Coast Guard's deputy cyber chief.
Cyber dependence is growing, cyber attacks are increasing, but the United States' ability to keep up with the threat is lagging, according to Day and a panel of military and civilian cyber experts April 9.
Chinese cyber schemers use the Internet and social media to manipulate the stock prices of U.S. companies, said Jeffrey Johnson, the head of information technology risk and assurance at the consulting firm Ernst & Young.
Hackers have shown that it is possible to break into U.S. military networks with ease.
"The classified networks appear to be as challenged as the unclassified," said Lou Von Thaer of General Dynamics.
The hackers have been able to generate phantom targets, hijack fire control systems, corrupt supply chains and alter intelligence. U.S. commanders "should have no confidence" in their networks if they are confronted by a capable cyber adversary, Von Thaer warned.
Counter-piracy Mission Off Somalia Remains Problematic
By JOHN M. DOYLE, Special Correspondent
While the costs of piracy off the Horn of Africa is a national security issue, the problem does not have a simple military or naval solution, the former commander of a multinational anti-piracy task force told an audience April 9.
Retired Navy Rear Adm. Terence E. "Terry" McKnight said pirate attacks on ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden have driven $7 billion in additional transportation, military patrol and inboard security costs for commercial maritime interests and governments.
McKnight, the first commander of the multinational counter-piracy operation, Combined Task Force 151, in 2009, said one aspect of the piracy problem is the difficulty of catching pirates in the act on the 1.1 million square miles of the Gulf of Aden, where most attacks occurred. He called the detention of the few suspects his five-ship task force did apprehend essentially a "catch and release" program. "We did not have the evidence to bring them to trial," he said.
Another problem, McKnight said, is the lack of legal jurisdiction over pirate prosecution. Initially, suspects were taken to Kenya for trial, but that East African nation soon said its courts and jails were being overwhelmed by the number of pirates detained.
Gortney: Pulling Together the Elements of Readiness
By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief
"I really only have one real mission, and that is readiness," Adm. William "Bill" Gortney said April 9. That's one issue, the head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command said, that has been missing during most of the panel and roundtable discussions held thus far at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition. "We need to understand what goes into readiness, and who is the advocate of readiness."
Delivering the keynote address at the Sea-Air-Space Banquet, Gortney said it's important to first understand the environment in which our forces operate. "What is the environment over the next 10 years that the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard are going to be faced with? We're out of Iraq, we're coming out of Afghanistan after 12 years of combat. What's next?"
He noted that the new national strategy is about refocusing on the Pacific. "Is anyone surprised we're focusing on the Pacific? Have we ever stopped focusing on the Pacific in the United States Navy? Of course not. We have the preponderance of our forces in the Pacific. We have the preponderance of our forward deployed forces in the Pacific. What I think is important about refocusing on the Pacific, quite frankly, is right here in this town.
... It's the intellectual shift on the Pacific, which is more important that the physical shift."
But there are some hurdles to shifting more U.S. forces to the Pacific. One, he said, is that we're still in a war, and another is the instability in parts of the world. "And that's where it comes to Arab Spring. ... It's a debate, sometimes violently, over haves and have nots in those countries," Gortney said. "And from it springs instability and crisis. So what does that mean for us over the next 10 years? We're going to be on the front line as those crises break out because we're going to sail to those crises because we're already going to be forward, we're already going to be there, because that's what we do in the Navy and Marine Corps, is we are forward 365 days out of the year."
Day 3 Summary Articles Apr 10 2013
Services Emphasize Readiness, But Fiscal Challenges Loom Large
By OTTO KRIESHER, Special Correspondent
Senior Navy and Marine Corps officers said the naval services would focus on maintaining ready and capable forces forward deployed and prepared to respond to an uncertain world, but admitted they faced significant challenges due to the impact of sequestration on their current funding and the reduced amounts requested in the fiscal 2014 budget released April 10.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos's "absolute bottom line is to maintain a ready Marine Corps that, in concert with the U.S. Navy, remains ready to deploy to meet the needs of the nation," said Gen. John Paxton, the assistant commandant.
Vice Adm. Allen Myers, the deputy chief of naval operations for Integration of Capabilities and Requirements, put a similar emphasis on providing ready forces due to deploy this year, but said the ability to surge forces in response to a crisis would be reduced because current funding is forcing cuts in training and maintenance.
Joining them April 10 for the last panel discussion at the Navy League's 2013 Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Md., was Vice Adm. John P. Currier, vice commandant of the Coast Guard, who said his service had different operational requirements than the other sea services because it must function continually without the deployment cycle.
Currier said the Coast Guard's emphasis within a tight budget was "balance," maintaining its current operations while recapitalizing its badly aged cutter fleet. They also had to find ways to cover the emerging obligations in the Arctic as the ice caps recede, he said.
Official: Budget Realities Crimp Navy Weapons Plans
By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent
The Navy is doing its best to balance the weapon needs of the fleet with the realities of today's budget environment, which sometimes means deferring capabilities until the money becomes available, a service official said April 10.
The shrinking budget and the reality of sequestration is forcing the fleet to take a hard look about what it needs and what it can do without, and that's no different when it comes to weapons, said Jimmy Smith, acting executive director for the program executive office for integrated weapons systems.
"We turned our efforts to fleet sustainment and making sure that the fleet out there has everything they need today," Smith said. "And then we've looked at areas of our programs that we can either defer, delay, do things so that the fleet is taken care of."
The Navy will have to continue doing that until the Pentagon figures out a way to loosen the purse strings, he added.
"If the budget comes back around, then we'll work that and make sure that we bring those capabilities back," he said, "but we're trying to make sure that the fleet has everything in their hull today, with all they need."
Lawmakers Show Strong Support for Navy Shipbuilding
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The impacts of sequestration loom large and the effects are not yet truly understood, the assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition said April 9.
Despite the budget constraints, however, the Navy will remain committed to programs such as the Littoral Combat Ship, F/A-18 Hornet, F-22 Raptor and F-35 joint strike fighter, Sean Stackley told an audience at the Sea-Air-Space Congressional Breakfast at National Harbor, Md. But these programs, and others, were built based on need and tolerated risks. Going forward, "the demand for affordability will be unrelenting," he said.
Saying each of the Navy's weapons programs are under assessment, Stackley added that it is essential the service not lose sight of their singular, compelling need of having a presence, and being able to project power, anywhere in the world.
SECNAV: More Budget Cuts a Certainty
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
Over the next six months, the Navy will have to cut $4.3 billion from its operations and maintenance budget and $6 billion from investment accounts this year, Secretary Ray Mabus said April 10. After that, the service can start worrying about more cuts coming in 2014.
The cuts now under way come from what remains of the 2013 spending plan and are imposed by the across-the-board cuts known as "sequestration."
Precisely what else lies ahead is unclear, but none of the signs are good. "Going forward into 2014, we face a while lot of unknowns," Mabus said. "But one thing is known - the department will face more budget cuts," he said in a luncheon address.
The Navy confronts several alternatives, all onerous. First, Mabus said, is the Budget Control Act of 2011, which will cut $487 billion from defense spending over the next decade. On top of that comes sequestration, which cuts another $500 billion from defense spending over the same time period. Then there's the 2014 defense budget - a version proposed by President Barack Obama April 10 would cut $115 more over 10 years. A Senate version would cut $200 billion, Mabus said.
A House version would eliminate the sequestration cuts, but the defense budget would still decline.
Mabus, who works for Obama, pitched his boss's alternative as the most attractive. Although it cuts an additional $115 billion, most of the cuts are concentrated toward the end of the decade and would give the Navy an opportunity to plan more sensible cuts, he said.
Sequestration, by contrast, cuts $50 billion a year "in equal amounts every year with precious little strategy," he said.
USCG Officers Offer Future Operations, Investment Perspectives
By DAISY R. KHALIFA, Special Correspondent
Coast Guard flag officers discussed future operations and investment plans for the service during in a roundtable session April 10. Three senior Coast Guard representatives looked at agency investments and discussed a range of top priorities going forward.
From a capabilities and operational policy perspective, Rear Adm. Scott Buschman, executive assistant to the deputy commandant for Operations, said demand for Coast Guard services continues to rise in regions around the world whe the service has responsibility for maintaining the safety and security in the vast U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ). He said examples such as ever-busier trade zones and greater access in the Arctic give rise to more activity in terms of human presence and commercial activity.
"There certainly hasn't been a reduction in demand of Coast Guard services," Buschman said. "We're seeing an increase in demand for Coast Guard platforms and assets in the transit zone and in the Arctic."
Need for Nuclear Deterrence 'Has Never Been Greater'
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
As work moves forward on the replacement for Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines, the new platform must move forward on time, at cost and be capable of performing its nuclear-deterrence mission through 2080, senior submarine service officers and an industry representative said during an April 10 roundtable discussion.
Ballistic-missile submarines provide the most survivable leg of the nuclear-deterrent triad that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombers, panelists noted. As such, the boats are critical to providing the nation and the world, they said.
"In the future, with the new START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty], 70 percent of our nuclear deterrent will be on submarines," said Rear Adm. Barry L. Bruner, the director of the Undersea Warfare Division. "Now, it's at 55 percent."
The Ohio-class replacement's success hinges upon collaboration among the Navy and its industry partners to ensure the new subs are affordable, well-planned to meet the needs of warfighters and innovative, said Rear Adm. David C. Johnson, the program executive officer for submarines.
F-35 'Progress Going Well, Not Perfect'
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The commander of the Naval Air Systems Command said the team developing the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter is "now in the meat of this program."
Speaking April 10 to an audience at a roundtable panel, "Joint Strike Fighter: The Next Generation," Vice Adm. David A. Dunaway, said, "We have a fairly mature vehicle, fairly mature subsystems, and this is where we integrate them.
"Fusion is the secret sauce of the weapon," he said, noting that a "fused track" will go a long way to making the F-35 successful.
Rear Adm. Randolph L. Mahr, deputy program executive officer, F-35 Lightning II Program, said, "We're going to bring [the F-35] across the finish line in the next four years."
Mahr said the F-35 team will deliver to the Marine Corps the ability to reach initial operational capability for the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant in 2015. He said the Systems Development and Demonstration portion of the program will be completed in fall 2017, and that Operational Test will be completed in 2018.
Active, Layered Approach Needed for Information Dominance
By NICK ADDE, Special Correspondent
Potential and real adversaries are making continuous inroads to disrupt cyber and anti-access, area-denial capabilities, William E. Leigher, the director of Warfare Integration for Information Dominance, told an April 10 audience at the show.
To counter the threats, Leigher outlined the Navy's plan to create a matrix of assured command and control, battle-space awareness and coordination of weapons elements - all geared to "seize the initiative" and "disrupt the adversary's kill chain," he said.
Success will involve incorporation of information gleaned from the command-control-communications network, tactical data links, cloud technology and satellites. "The Navy is the ultimate wireless customer," Leigher said.
Essentially, information dominance would involve collecting data, creating an environmental model based on it and forwarding it to the battlefield. Commanders, in turn, will have to assess the data quickly and make decisions accordingly, Leigher said.
The plan also would involve "how we integrate robotic and manned platforms," he said.
Sen. Levin Presents Civilian Service Award to DeBobes
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., outgoing chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made a special trip to the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Congressional Breakfast on April 10 to present an award to retired Navy Capt. Rick DeBobes, who recently retired as the committee's staff director.
In front of an audience that included industry executives, congressional staffers, military leaders and guest speakers Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, and Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman and Connecticut Democrat Rep. Joe Courtney, co-chairs of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, Levin presented DeBobes with the Navy League's Richard M. Thompson Award for Outstanding Civilian Leadership.
DeBobes was honored for his long and distinguished service in support of the sea services and the nation. He began is extraordinary 50-year career with 26 years in the Navy. After retiring from the Navy, DeBobes joined the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he played a major role in crafting and guiding key legislation through the committee, including the Wounded Warrior Act and 24 National Defense Authorization Acts.
"Recognizing the far-reaching need for recapitalization, he has worked tirelessly with Committee leadership to preserve military readiness and rebuild the armed services through personnel policies and improvements to platforms and equipment," the award citation says.
He spent his last 10 years on the committee as Staff Director, where he was in charge of overseeing the production of the National Defense Authorization Act every year.
Coast Guard Looking for Advanced Vessel Stopping and Boarding Options
By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Associate Editor
The U.S. Coast Guard is looking at safer ways to stop a vessel, the service's non-lethal weapons central action officer said April 10. "Unless we have to, we don't want to use lethal force to affect the end game," Lt. Cmdr. Ty Nagie said.
Two of the primary options the service has to use excessive force is firing a shot or machine gun at a vessel. Nagie said part of the problem with this is figuring out what to do with disabled vessel. "Do you tow it? Do you sink it? Does it have to be used during an investigation?" he asked.
The service is trying to find ways it can disable a vessel's electronic system or mechanically be able to stop a vessel and still allow it to move afterward. Finding a non-lethal solution to this problem has plagued the Coast Guard for years.
Another issue the service is working on involves boarding teams and how armed they should be. Currently, they don't carry lethal weapons, and Nagie said they are not looking to have a dramatic pyrotechnic effect, but he wants to pursue a flash-bang kind of option. "We don't have it now, but we want too," he said.
Navy: Energy Weapons Ready for Ships
By WILLIAM MATTHEWS, Special Correspondent
After decades of research and development, senior Navy officials say energy weapons finally are ready for use aboard ships.
Lasers will go to sea first - starting next year - and electromagnetic railguns may not be too far behind, along with high-powered microwave weapons that are designed to deter and even disable adversaries, but not to kill them.
"We do believe they are feasible, both railguns and lasers," said Robin White, the Navy's director for surface ship design and systems engineering. Even smaller ships, such as the Littoral Combat Ship, can be made to accommodate energy weapons, she said during an April 10. Larger ships, such as the electric-drive DDG 1000 destroyer, are tailor-made for them.
The Navy announced earlier during the exposition that it would deploy a laser aboard the former USS Ponce in 2014. The Ponce now operates as an interim afloat forward-staging base in an area that includes the Persian Gulf.
NACRA Helping Rotary-Wing Community Keep Pace
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
The director of the Naval Aviation Center for Rotorcraft Advancement (NACRA) offered an overview of the relatively new and somewhat obscure agency geared toward testing and advancing rotary-wing technology during a briefing April 10.
Created in 2008 as a concept for a rotary-wing research, development, acquisition, test and evaluation center, NACRA was stood up in response to the realization that the rotary-wing community was not "keeping pace with our fixed-wing and unmanned brethren," said Tim Gowan.
With a small, but diverse staff that includes pilots, flight-test engineers and maintainers, Gowan said NACRA focuses on technology development, sustainment support, knowledge management and technology demonstration to support Navy and Marine Corps programs, among others, "and make the most of limited resources."
The goal, he said, is to help speed advancements to the fleet, improve affordability and bolster integration and interoperability.
Navy Secretary Presents Navy, Marine Corps Safety Awards
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus joined Navy League National President Philip L. Dunmire in presenting individual and unit Safety Awards during the Secretary of the Navy Luncheon April 10.
The Adm. Vern Clark Unit Safety Award was presented to the USS George Washington, and was accepted on behalf of the aircraft carrier crew by Capt. Carlos Sardiello. The Adm. Vern Clark Individual Safety Award was given to Lt. j.g. Luke J. Dragovich.
The Gen. James L. Jones Unit Safety Award was presented to Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., and was accepted by Raymond Aguilar and Col. Michael Scalise. Staff Sgt. William E. Stengele received the Gen. James L. Jones Individual Safety Award.
These awards recognize activities or individuals each year for innovative actions, examples or suggestions that have reduced fatalities and/or mishaps among Sailors, Marines or civilians within the Department of the Navy.
LCU Replacement Analysis to Begin
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
The Navy's plan to recapitalize its fleet of utility landing craft (LCUs) has begun with the initial ground work for a formal Analysis of Alternatives (AOA).
Capt. Chris Mercer, program manager for amphibious warfare at the Naval Sea Systems Command, told an audience April 10 that the Navy has issued an Initial Capabilities Document and guidance for the AOA for the replacement, named Surface Connector X , SC(X).
The SC(X) will replace the Navy's 32 LCUs that are used to transport vehicles such as tanks and other armored vehicles from the well decks of amphibious warfare ships to shore. Mercer said the average age of the LCUs is 43 years.
Mercer also said the Navy has delivered 42 of 72 planned service-life extensions (SLEPs )of the Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs). Currently the Navy operates 81 operational LCACS and two development LCACs of 91 built.
The SLEP of the LCACs is designed to sustain the capability of the connector craft until its replacement, the LCAC 100 class assumes its role. The LCAC 100, formerly named the Ship-to-Shore Connector, is in the detailed design process and will be built by Textron Marine & Land Systems, the builder of the older LCAC. The first LCAC 100 is scheduled for delivery in 2017.
Maritime Panel Touts Strength of U.S.-flag Sealift Resources
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
A panel of maritime industry executives outlined the strengths and challenges facing the U.S.-flag shipping fleet during a roundtable discussion April 10 at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition in National Harbor, Md., and were urged to get the word out about the work the industry does to serve the transportation needs of the U.S. military.
"Industry needs to talk more about what they do," said retired Vice Adm. Albert J. Herberger, a former Maritime Administrator, chairman of the Navy League's National Advisory Council and a member of the Navy League Maritime Policy & Resolutions Committee. "You have to keep repeating it."
For about 90 minutes, the panelists, who represented shipping companies and the maritime trade unions, did just that.
The benefits of U.S.-flag sealift capability and the Maritime Security Program (MSP) - established in 1996 to provide a fleet of active, commercially viable, militarily useful, privately owned vessels to meet national defense and other security requirements - speak for themselves, said Kevin Speers, senior director of marketing with Maersk Line Limited.
Immediate expansion of sealift capabilities, the availability of trained and certified U.S. mariners, guaranteed access to the global intermodal systems and cost-effectiveness all help to "keep national control of sealift resources," he said.
MSP sealift costs 8.3 percent of the Department of Defense would need to spend to maintain the capability of its own, he said.
Calling the MSP "a critical national security issue," Klaus Luhta, director of government relations for the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, noted that "as a nation we would be in a precarious spot if we had to ship our military cargo by carriers of other flags who might not have our interests in mind."
Enterprise Resource Planning: A Success Story
By DAISY R. KHALIFA, Special Correspondent
Capt. Kurt Wendelken, assistant commander in Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), provided an update on Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) April 10, while also giving some background as to how the program was implemented. Part of NAVSUP's enterprise logistics engineering group, Wendelken spoke to an audience of industry and military representatives.
Introduced as a pilot program to the Navy in 1999, ERP is an integrated system that links different work enterprises that would normally be done with independent systems, such as supply chains, and human resources, said Wendelken. ERP uses a specific software to integrate different systems. "It takes different processes, it links them together and it gives managers an enterprise view of their respective business," said Wendelken.
Wendelken said the pilot program involved four Navy commands and working groups, whereby each one of the pilots used a small part of the business to explore whether they could apply ERP software to that segment of the business. Within about four years, the Navy decided to converge the pilot programs together to make a single Navy system called Navy ERP, Wendelken said. In 2007, Navy ERP went live across the Navy organization, and has since been rolled out across Systems Command (SYSCOM).
"We are now fully deployed," he said. "For the first time, all the SYSCOMS are transacting their financial management in a single system. They are able to use that system to see different things."
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