Month: April 2022

Source: United States Navy

The ship’s presence in the Baltic Sea is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy’s continued commitment to collective defense of the European region and reinforces the strong bond between the United States and Lithuania.

“We are honored for the opportunity for our Sailors to experience this beautiful country and we appreciate the hospitality we have already seen from the people of Lithuania,” said Cmdr. Hunter Washburn, Gravely’s commanding officer. “Our brothers and sisters in this country have been strong supporters of NATO and we look forward to using this visit as another step towards an even stronger partnership.”

Gravely, attached to the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) carrier strike group (HSTCSG), has been deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of responsibility since late 2021. Since arrival in theater, the ship has participated in multiple passing exercises with NATO Allies and partners and has completed numerous port visits to Allied countries throughout Europe.

While in the port of Klaipėda, the ship and her crew will have the opportunity to partake in several Morale, Welfare and Recreation tours and see many historical sights and experience the rich culture of Lithuania and its citizens. The crew will have the opportunity to foster relationships with their Lithuanian counterparts during basketball and soccer games between the two navies as well as community relations events involving cleaning up a local park.

“The United States and Lithuania are celebrating a milestone 100 years of unbroken diplomatic relations in 2022,” said Cmdr. Brian Sanchez, Gravely’s executive officer. “These types of visits enhance our ties with our allies and allow our crew to experience the rich history of Lithuania.”

Gravely is building on the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Lithuania, especially in the maritime domain. Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet and commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, visited Klaipėda during exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) in June 2021. Klaipėda also kicked off BALTOPS in June 2018.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

Source: United States Navy

Since arriving to the Mediterranean Sea in December, the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG), including Truman, Fridtjof Nansen and San Jacinto, have routinely operated alongside the Italian Armed Forces.

“Prior to our visit, we sailed alongside our Italian partners at sea during multiple operations with the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (C 550) and several Italian surface ships,” said Rear Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander, Carrier Strike Group 8. “All involved demonstrated our ability to integrate seamlessly.”

Key maritime integration events have included tri-carrier operations among HSTCSG, the ITS Cavour carrier strike group and the FS Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group, as well as Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1’s combined operations with the Italian Air Force. Truman has continued supporting NATO’s defensive capabilities by participating in enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission on the Alliance’s Eastern flank.

Though bolstering US commitment to the NATO Alliance is key to Truman’s presence in the region, routine port visits provide the opportunity to reinforce our enduring connection with Italy. Capt. Gavin Duff, Truman’s commanding officer, emphasized the importance of multinational cooperation demonstrated by routine port visits.

“A significant aspect of this deployment is centered on our longstanding relationships with European Allies and Partners, to include Italy,” said Duff. “In the same way we have benefited from our training with the extraordinary professionals of the Italian Navy and Air Force, we are grateful for the opportunity to experience the culture, history and generosity of the Italian people.”

Echoing Capt. Duff’s comments on the importance of port visits to overall cultural exchanges and interpersonal relations among Allies and Partners, Cmdr. Glen Atherton, San Jacinto’s executive officer, spoke to the benefits of port visits to all involved.

“The Sailors in this strike group have been doing a phenomenal job in contributing to the NATO mission,” said Atherton. “This port visit is a great way for our crew to relax from the daily demands of being out to sea.”

Truman is the flagship of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG); additional elements of the carrier strike group include the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, commanded by Capt. Patrick Hourigan; the staff and guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28, commanded by Capt. Todd Zenner, which include: USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), USS Cole (DDG 67), USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), USS Gravely (DDG 107) and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109); the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Fridtjof-Nansen class frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310), deployed as part of the Cooperative Deployment Program; and San Jacinto, commanded by Capt. Christopher Marvin.

The strike group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to maintain and generate maritime stability and security, for the U.S., and Allied and Partner interests in Europe and Africa.

For more news from CSG 8, visit, www.facebook.com/CSG8, www.navy.mil/local.cvn75/, www.facebook.com/usnavy, www.instagram.com/uss_harrys.truman, www.navy.mil, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

Source: United States Navy

Last updated in March 2019, the revised instruction modernizes the Department of the Navy’s program acquisition and sustainment policies by incorporating advanced acquisition methods that accelerate development of emerging technologies and capabilities.  It replaces three previous instructions, providing streamlined guidance for acquisition professionals to develop Navy and Marine Corps programs through multiple acquisition pathways. 

“This updated instruction empowers our Navy and Marine Corps acquisition professionals to aggressively develop promising technologies into capabilities our warfighters need to maintain maritime dominance,” said Del Toro.  “It provides them with multiple acquisition pathways to leverage commercial innovation and emphasizes a program’s entire lifecycle from development to sustainment.” 

SNI 5000.2G supports the integrated, efficient, and successful implementation of the Defense Acquisition System (DAS), and provides policies for the implementation of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF) within the DON.  It promotes collaboration across the DON to implement modern tools and data analytics for improvement of programmatic decision making

DAS and AAF develop and field affordable, lethal and exportable capabilities.  These capabilities increase the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team’s ability to maintain maritime dominance in defense of our Nation, empower our people, and strengthen strategic partnerships.

AAF applies commercial innovation to defense acquisition to leverage new technologies, integrate data analytics, and accelerate development of capabilities for the warfighter. 

The new instruction provides acquisition professionals with guidance AAF tools, including Urgent Operational Needs, Middle Tier of Acquisition, Major Capability Acquisition, Software Pathway, Defense Business Systems, and the Defense Acquisition of Services.  It also updates the Two Pass Seven Gate Process, Systems Engineering, Test and Evaluation, Cyber Security, Data, and Sustainment.

The instruction is available here: SECNAVINST 5000 (navy.mil)

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON  –  A team of researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory recently demonstrated the feasibility of terrestrial microwave power beaming by transmitting 1.6 kilowatts of power over 1 kilometer (km) at the U.S. Army Research Field in Blossom Point, Md., the most significant power beaming demonstration in nearly 50 years.
 
Microwave power beaming is the efficient, point-to-point transfer of electrical energy across free space by a directive microwave beam. The project, Safe and COntinuous Power bEaming – Microwave (SCOPE-M), was funded by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund and led by the project principal investigator, Christopher Rodenbeck, Ph.D., Head of the Advanced Concepts Group, NRL.
 
Within 12 months, NRL established the practicality of terrestrial microwave power beaming and beamed 1 kilowatt (kW) of electrical power over a distance of 1 km using a 10 gigahertz (GHz) microwave beam. SCOPE-M demonstrated power beaming at two locations, one at the U.S. Army Research Field at Blossom Point in Maryland, and the other at The Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR) transmitter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Massachusetts.
 
“The reason for setting those targets is to push this technology farther than has been demonstrated before,” said Paul Jaffe Ph.D., Power Beaming and Space Solar Lead. “You don’t want to use too high a frequency as it can start losing power to the atmosphere,” Rodenbeck said. “10 GHz is a great choice because the component technology out there is cheap and mature. Even in heavy rainfall, loss of power is less than five percent.

”In Maryland, the team exceeded their target by 60 percent by beaming 1.6 kW just over 1 km. At the Massachusetts site, the team did not have the same peak power, but the average power was much higher thereby delivering more energy. Jaffe said these demonstrations pave the way for power beaming on Earth, in space, and from space to Earth using power densities within safety limits set by international standards bodies.
 
“As engineers, we develop systems that will not exceed those safety limits,” Jaffe said. “That means it’s safe for birds, animals, and people.”

Jaffe went on to say that during past experiments with laser power beaming using much higher power densities, the engineers were able to successfully implement interlock systems so if something approached the beam it would turn off.
 
“We did not have to do that with SCOPE-M because the power density was sufficiently low that it was intrinsically safe,” Jaffe said.
 
Brian Tierney, Ph.D., SCOPE-M electronics engineer, said the DOD is interested in wireless power beaming, particularly wireless power beaming from space, and that a similar rectenna (rectifying antenna) array as used for SCOPE-M could be used in space. A rectenna is a special type of receiving antenna for converting electromagnetic energy into direct current electricity in wireless power transmission systems.
 
“Although SCOPE-M was a terrestrial power beaming link, it was a good proof of concept for a space power beaming link,” Tierney said. “The main benefit of space to Earth power beaming for the DOD is to mitigate the reliance on the fuel supply for troops, which can be vulnerable to attack.”
 
Besides being a DOD priority, Rodenbeck stated power beaming is the ultimate green technology. Unlike other sources of clean energy, which provides intermittent and sporadic electrical power, power beamed from space to Earth can provide power continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
 
“That is something no other form of clean energy can do today,” Rodenbeck said. “From the standpoint of technology readiness level, I feel we are very close to demonstrating a system we can truly deploy and use in a DOD application.”
 
 
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
 
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
 
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil.

Source: United States Navy

The Navy’s newest berthing barge, Auxiliary Personnel Lighter (APL) 69, recently conducted Builder’s and Acceptance Trials in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Builder’s Trials consist of a series of in-port tests and demonstrations that allow the shipbuilder, VT Halter Marine, and the Navy to assess the craft’s systems to ensure installation in accordance with the original equipment manufacturer’s guidelines and that the craft design and configuration meet the contract requirements. 

Acceptance Trials consist of integrated testing to demonstrate the capability of the platform and installed systems across all mission areas to effectively meet its requirements. These tests and demonstrations are witnessed by the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) and are used to validate the quality of construction and compliance with specifications prior to delivery to the Navy. “These vessels improve quality of life for our Sailors during ship maintenance availabilities and inter-deployment training cycles,” said Capt. Eric Felder, Program Manager, U.S. Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Boats and Craft, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “We look forward to delivering more of these vessels to the Fleet to provide the necessary berthing, messing, administrative, and leisure facilities to crews while their ships are undergoing maintenance.”

APLs are 82 meter long barges that can berth up to 609 people – 72 officers and 537 enlisted personnel. Mess seating is available for 224 enlisted personnel, 28 Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) and 28 officers in 20-minute intervals, allowing food service for 1,176 personnel with three meals a day. 

APLs are used to house duty crews while ships are in maintenance availabilities, and can be towed to new bases or shipyards to support changing fleet requirements. Additionally, they offer the potential use for humanitarian missions and other temporary assignments. APLs are equipped with offices, classrooms, washrooms, laundry facilities, a medical treatment facility, a barber shop and a fitness center.

VT Halter Marine is currently in production of two additional APLs.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, sealift ships, support ships, boats, and craft.