Month: October 2022

Source: United States Navy

Sioux City Blue Crew, along with the “Sea Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, Detachment 2, deployed on Apr. 25, 2022, becoming the first LCS to operate in the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf.

The deployment provided an opportunity for Sioux City to gain experience in both operational fleets. The ship’s size, speed, and agility allowed it to perform maritime security operations, theater security cooperation engagements, and freedom of navigation patrols – keeping critical maritime commerce routes open, deterring conflict and coercion, and strengthening partnerships with other countries.

“I could not be more proud of this ship and her crew,” said Cmdr. Scott Whitworth, the commanding officer of Sioux City Blue Crew. “They made it look easy and every day we embraced our ships motto, ‘Forging a New Frontier’.”

Sioux City participated in various at-sea evolutions and operated alongside U.S. and allied units on multiple occasions, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), two Egyptian Navy ships, the Italian Navy Cassiopea-class MM Patrol Boat “Vega” (P404) and a German Navy patrol aircraft (P3C).

The ship conducted a preventive maintenance availability (PMAV) at Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece in May, successfully accomplishing the proof-of-concept for Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center’s (FDRMC) ability to conduct maintenance on the LCS class in Europe.

Following this PMAV, Sioux City entered the 5th Fleet area of operations and transited the Suez Canal to provide regional maritime security and partner capacity building in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden in support of the recently established Combined Task Force (CTF) 153. CTF 153 is one of four multinational task forces organized under the Combined Maritime Forces, the largest international naval partnership in the world, consisting of 34 nations.

“Sioux City’s arrival was not only historic, but essential to regional maritime security given its immediate integration with our new multinational naval task force,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.

The ship then transited the Strait of Hormuz alongside coastal patrol ship USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) and four U.S. Coast Guard cutters before arriving at Naval Support Activity Bahrain for another PMAV opportunity, June 25, before continuing operations in the region.

After 39 days underway in 5th Fleet, the ship returned to the Mediterranean Sea, eventually heading up north for a final PMAV period in Fredericia, Denmark, the first LCS PMAV in the Baltic Sea region, Aug. 24, 2022. The ship and her crew bolstered relations with a key NATO ally while accomplishing repairs to keep the ship mission-ready.

“Sioux City’s historic deployment to Europe, Africa and the Middle East is a tangible demonstration of the U.S. Navy’s commitment to our allies and partners and our ability to operate around the globe,” said Rear Adm. Oliver “Ollie” Lewis, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa’s (NAVEUR-NAVAF) Director of Maritime Operations. “Sioux City was a force multiplier to NAVEUR-NAVAF and Sixth Fleet and paved the way for future LCS operations in theater.”

Along with their embarked air detachment, Sioux City conducted over 350 hours of search and rescue (SAR) capable flight operations as well as numerous Visit Board Search and Seizure operations while deployed. Throughout the deployment, Sioux City traveled approximately 27,000 nautical miles and visited 16 ports.

While underway, eight Sailors earned their enlisted surface warfare specialist qualification, 30 Sailors earned their enlisted air warfare specialist qualification, and 11 Sailors requalified. Two Sailors were also advanced to the next paygrade, while two more were meritoriously advanced.

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats and is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.

Source: United States Navy

Participating ships and units include Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49); Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62); the Ticonderoga-class guided missile destroyer USS Princeton (CG 59); the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Kansas City (LCS 22); the fast response Coast Guard cutter USCGC Terrell Horne (WPC 1131); the Blue Angels; the Navy parachute team, the Leap Frogs; Navy Band Southwest; 1st Marine Division Band; I Marine Expeditionary Force; 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing; 1st Marine Logistics Group; Combat Logistics Battalion 11; 1st Medical Battalion; U.S. Coast Guard District 11; Navy Talent Acquisition Group Golden Gate; Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One; Naval Postgraduate School Monterey; Expeditionary Strike Group Three; and Navy Region Southwest.

San Francisco Fleet Week offers the public an opportunity to take a tour of the ships and interact with service members as they showcase their ships’, units’, and services’ capabilities. It also gives the public a chance to gain a better understanding of how the sea services support the national defense of the United States and protect freedom of the seas.
Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard forces and assets also participate in a robust disaster response exercise, an annual event joint training event that adds a serious, practical objective to San Francisco Fleet Week. The exercise is designed to train military forces and local, county, state and federal government agencies to work together to respond to natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes, wildfires and industrial accidents.

Service members will have an opportunity to interact with the local community, while participating in a number of community relations projects and entertainment events throughout the week.
The Fleet will arrive in San Francisco Sunday-Monday, Oct. 2-3. The public will have opportunities to tour the ships and meet service members.
The schedule for ship tours is as follows and is subject to change:

Wednesday, October 5
Pier 30/32, Pier 35
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday, October 6
Pier 30/32, Pier 35
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Friday, October 7
No tours however the ships can be seen in the San Francisco Fleet Week Parade of Ships 10:30am-11:30 p.m. from Marina Green, Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and the Embarcadero.

Saturday, October 8
Piers 30/32, 35
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Sunday, October 9
Pier 30/32, 35
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Monday, October 10
Pier 30/32, 35
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

The public is encouraged to attend tours and interact with service members.
Prohibited items aboard include the following:
– Food or drinks, including ice chests and coolers
– Camera tripods
– Skateboards, bicycles, hover boards
– Gang-related clothing
– Unmanned aerial systems
– Weapons, including knives, firearms and club weapons,
– Defensive chemicals or sprays, including mace and pepper spray;
– Spray cans of any type, fireworks, flammable liquids or other explosives
– Illegal drugs and drugs considered illegal at the federal level, including marijuana, and/or drug-related paraphernalia
– Electronic cigarettes
– Large bags, including backpacks and large camera bags (small camera bags and small handbags may be permitted, but will be subject to search)

Source: United States Navy

An F-35B Lightning II fifth generation strike fighter conducted compatibility and envelope expansion testing with the U.S. Air Force’s newest tanker aircraft, the KC-46A Pegasus, in October 2021. The test not only proved that the systems worked together, but that they worked at the limits of each aircraft’s flight envelopes.
 
The F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) team used data from previous tests on similar tankers to streamline their approach. This allowed them to start testing further into the envelope limits of both the F-35 and the KC-46A. Typically, testing is done incrementally starting with a clean aircraft, one that has no extra weight in its configuration, and then moving step-by-step to the maximum load the aircraft will carry. Since data was available for many of those configurations, the ITF immediately went to the highest weight and furthest edge of the respective aircraft’s aerial refueling envelope to begin testing. Leveraging the near identical flying qualities in the aerial refueling envelopes of the F-35B short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) and F-35C carrier variants allowed the team to clear both for KC-46 operations without requiring a repeat of every single point. This approach drastically cut the time and money required to complete the evaluation and push clearance to both the F-35B and F-35C fleets. In total, only five flights were required, with the last occurring in early November 2021. The team released the full flight clearance in January 2022.
 
This type of streamlined approach to flight test is one of the many benefits of joint programs like the F-35. Although demonstrated on what is typically considered a simple mission set in modern aerial warfare, the attitude and professionalism exhibited by both the KC-46 and F-35 test teams demonstrated that despite the challenges and often long timelines inherent to the acquisition process, a properly motivated team can clear those hurdles and deliver a solid product and capability to the warfighter in a timely manner.

Source: United States Navy

Recently, VX-23 conducted flights of the Tactical Combat Training System Increment II (TCTS II) in support of Advanced Naval Technology Experiment (ANTX) 2021, Large Force Exercise (LFE) 2021, and ANTX 2022; and the Secure LVC Advanced Training Environment (SLATE) system.

TCTS II is the Navy and Air Force’s next generation secure, LVC-enabling, air combat maneuvering instrumentation system that connects live aircraft LVC entities on the Navy Continuous Training Environment (NCTE). ANTX21 and LFE21 marked TCTS II’s first carriage on board a fleet aircraft and demonstrated the TCTS II’s connection of live aircraft to the NCTE, allowing those aircraft to receive constructive radar warning receiver threats generated from the NCTE. Participants included four live aircraft, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Manned Flight Simulator emulating a virtual F/A-18F, and the USS Bainbridge (DDG 96). During the event, the live and virtual aircraft performed simulated air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons employments while receiving synthetic radar warning indications and real-time kill notifications from successful weapons engagements. In June 2022, ANTX22 built upon the ANTX21 event with link inject-to-live, fleet simulators at the Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic and Airborne Command & Control and Logistics Wing, constructive threats from the Naval Aviation Distributed Training Center, and two live aircraft.

Earlier this year, VX-23 also conducted flight testing of SLATE. The Navy has used the system to identify and demonstrate technical specifications and standards needed to meet LVC requirements. SLATE connects airborne pods with other aircraft, virtual simulator and constructive entities, and injects them and their simulated weapon employments onto cockpit displays. The SLATE pod’s onboard LVC processor enables synthetic air and ground threats to appear as dynamic, realistic tracks to virtual and live aircraft sensors. Constructive entities can engage all scenario participants with representative weapon fly-outs modeled by the SLATE weapons server, and successful engagements result in a real-time kill notification for the targeted aircraft. VX-23 conducted eight flight events demonstrating SLATE’s technical maturation and refining core-enabling technologies to accelerate advanced LVC training capability to the fleet.

LVC capabilities have shown their effectiveness in expanding the scale and complexity of training options, the importance of which increases as the threat of potential near-peer conflict grows. Leveraging the work and lessons learned from the SLATE advanced technology demonstration accelerates TCTS II’s continued development and fielding of these critical LVC capabilities to the fleet.