Month: April 2024

Source: United States Navy

What began five years ago as a small initiative on base grew this year into a large Joint Base Charleston (JBC) command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) cavalcade of scientists, engineers and warfighters marshalling disparate systems and technologies across miles and miles of terrain.

“This year, we initiated technical links with the U.S. Coast Guard as well as air assets of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force to better integrate and advance joint force collaboration,” said Ashlee Landreth, who leads NIWC Atlantic’s Expeditionary Warfare (ExW) department, which executed the two-week experimentation. “But at its core, SoSNIE is a technology-based naval integration event that provides our teams a flexible sandbox environment in which to experiment and advance both existing and novel capabilities for the warfighter.”

Integrating systems and coordinating with the joint force are objectives set out by Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Lisa Franchetti in her list of priorities called “America’s Warfighting Navy.” In the document released in January, the CNO said leveraging wargaming and experimentation could help integrate conventional capability with hybrid, unmanned and disruptive technologies.

“We recognize that we will never fight alone,” Franchetti stated. “We will advance naval integration with the Marine Corps, and synchronize and align our warfighting efforts with the joint force.”

Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus visited NIWC Atlantic headquarters on March 21 as well as SoSNIE’s command post on the Small Autonomous Unmanned Systems Research (SAUSR) Range to learn more about the experimentation.

“Our Sailors and Marines are doing amazing things every day to defend our nation,” Rothenhaus said. “They deserve the very best and most advanced capabilities in the world, including access to leading C4ISR technologies. Experimental events like SoSNIE encourage dynamic scientific research and collaboration between the military services that ultimately close kill chains by equipping leaders with decision advantage.”

During this year’s expansive event, more than 200 NIWC Atlantic engineers, scientists and technical managers collaborated on nearly 50 C4ISR systems, analyzing data exchanges across local airspace to evaluate the proficiency of end-to-end targeting, fires and communications.

In addition to Rothenahus, Timothy Gramp, U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) deputy to the commander for systems engineering, acquisition and logistics, traveled to Charleston this year and received briefings from ExW department leaders on various simulations while touring the SAUSR Range.

The ExW department is lead systems integrator for many C4ISR systems fielded by MCSC, the organization responsible for overseeing every technology placed into the hands of Marines. While Marine Corps program offices and other entities support SoSNIE, NIWC Atlantic’s Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) program has been the chief sponsor of the annual experimentation since its inception.

Capt. Nicole Nigro, NIWC Atlantic commanding officer, understanding how much work went into trailblazing a path to cross-service collaboration this year, thanked the entire team for their efforts during a visit to the remote pinewoods of the SAUSR Range.

“The work you did here will really impact the warfighter, because you view everything through a warfighting lens,” Nigro said. “Each seemingly insignificant challenge that you overcame to get to interoperability was a game-changer. Your efforts translate to better survivability and greater warfighter advantage down the road, for both the naval and joint force.”

For realistic connectivity throughout the experiment, Marines from the Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group in Quantico, Virginia, were on hand to provide Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) access via a recently fielded capability called Tactical Entry Point (TEP). Developed by the ExW department’s Enterprise Infrastructure Modernization team, TEP enables Marines secure and direct access to MCEN enterprise services at the tactical edge.

One major addition to this year’s experiment was the integration of Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS), a weapons system that detects and neutralizes low-altitude unmanned or manned vehicles via turret-launched Stinger missiles, heavy guns and multi-functional electronic warfare.

SoSNIE organizers also made important connections with external commands across South Carolina and the region to not only simulate joint force operations but also better enhance the capabilities ExW department already delivers to the Navy, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command.

As a result, communications testing and evaluation occurred with a U.S. Army AH-64E Apache v6 attack helicopter from McEntire Joint National Guard Base, an F-16C Fighting Falcon from the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base and a C-17 Globemaster from the 315th Airlift Wing at JBC.

In addition, Marines from 10th Marine Regiment traveled to NIWC Atlantic to provide Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System integration support.

Strong collaboration also occurred with units that operate unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs), an important technology focus area of the joint force.

As a part of that push, Marines from Camp Lejeune traveled to Charleston to operate unmanned aircraft that included the hand-launched RQ-20 Puma.

“Our mission here was to launch our unmanned systems, establish a feed and disseminate that data to various networks,” explained Cpl. Fabian Barajas, a UAV operator assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.

The South Carolina Army National Guard also supported SoSNIE with unmanned RQ-11 Ravens operated by members of 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, and the McCrady Training Center.

Throughout the event, UAVs swarmed high above the SAUSR Range and provided participants huddled in tents with real-time data, as did NIWC Atlantic’s tethered aerostat overhead.

Miles down the Cooper River and away from JBC, UAVs in the choppy Charleston Harbor supported SoSNIE as well via NIWC Atlantic capabilities on Sullivan’s Island, where engineers tested communications back to the SAUSR Range.

It was five years ago that Carel Peacock, chief engineer of ExW department’s intelligence division, helped launch SoSNIE under the leadership of Toby Straight, who leads the division’s support for Marine Corps and Special Operations Command sponsors.

The original idea was to create an agile and real-world environment for engineers to work side by side — under existing programs of record — to tackle interoperability issues, find efficiencies and experiment with other technologies, all while aligning mission threads to U.S. national defense and joint maritime strategies.

To build on its successes and take the divisional event to the next level, Landreth tapped Matt Lane and Jason Brooks to turn the SoSNIE concept into a department-wide signature event, also challenging them to grow collaboration outside of the command.

Closing out this year’s event, NIWC Atlantic Executive Director Peter C. Reddy reflected on the scale of SoSNIE 2024 and the many moving parts that made the unique experiment a success.

“This is the value of a warfare center,” he said. “Only in this type of setting can our dedicated subject matter experts, with the feedback from the warfighting program offices they support, produce this kind of synergy that ensures our Navy and Marine Corps remain the world’s preeminent fighting force. For this, I am very proud of the work these teams have accomplished here on behalf of the warfighter.”

About NIWC Atlantic
As a part of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information

Source: United States Navy

Led by Associate Research Professors Dr. Wenschel Lan, principal investigator, and Dr. Giovanni Minelli, co-principal investigator, from NPS’ Space Systems Academic Group (SSAG), the Mola CubeSat mission which launched into space aboard NROL-123 includes two payload experiments built by NPS – a terahertz imaging camera (TIC) and an LED on-orbit payload (LOOP) – and a radio transmitter built by New Zealand’s Defense Science and Technology unit.

NPS Department of Physics Associate Professor Fabio Alves, along with Associate Professor Drago Grbovic and Professor Emeritus Gamani Karunasiri, have been leading the effort to advance the TIC and the technology behind it. Since 2018, an NPS campus collaboration between the Sensor Research Lab and the Small Satellite Lab has allowed faculty and students to develop a series of flight payloads to demonstrate this cutting-edge technology.

The LOOP, built by Ph.D. candidate U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Dillon Pierce, is the first step towards an optical tracking and communications capability. The long-term effort seeks to advance NPS research into free-space optical communications for CubeSats and small satellites, using highly directional optical lasers to increase speed and security of low-earth orbit (LEO) communications while avoiding congested radio frequencies. The initial experiment with LOOP is to visually observe the ultra-bright LEDs on the satellite. Plans are to eventually track LOOP with a 70-centimeter optical terminal telescope based atop the roof of NPS’ Spanagel Hall.

“The NPS mission is to educate our warrior-scholars, and Mola will certainly continue to achieve that objective,” said Lan. “Over the past few years, we have integrated this research into Space Systems coursework so that students can work with real spaceflight hardware as part of their regular curriculum in addition to thesis research. We’ve also had a great experience working with our Five Eyes partners, and it has given us a chance to collaborate with our colleagues on campus as well.” 

Mola’s payloads are directly supported by NPS’ Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) network, a Department of Defense-sponsored effort that began in 2011 at NPS. Over the years the SSAG has developed partnerships with nine other tracking facilities, leading to a community-based, U.S. government sponsored ground station network for small satellites, or SmallSats. These include three other DOD service universities, civilian institutions, industry partners, and governmental agencies across the country, working within a distributed operations network that share tracking responsibilities via parallel ground stations. 

The MC3 project contributes to an important collaborative relationship of the Five Eyes (FVEY), an intelligence alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence, and the MC3 network plans to eventually collaborate with the FVEY International SmallSat Command and Control Network (ISC2N).

By chance, Minelli and SSAG Faculty Associate for Research Alex Savattone were in Auckland, New Zealand for the NROL-123 launch. 

“We’re in Auckland for a face-to-face meeting to support the FVEY program. Mola’s launch was fortuitous for us as one of Mola’s main objectives is to demonstrate communications with the FVEY ground stations,” said Minelli.

The first few hours after Mola was launched were intense and exciting, as the team looked to establish communications with the satellite. And it worked out very well. 

“The team, led by Dr. Wenschel Lan and Dr. Gio Minelli, had acquisition of data from the CubeSat on the first pass after deployment,” said Dr. Jim Newman, SSAG chair. 

It may sound simple – but it isn’t, with many procedural steps that had to be completed once the Electron rocket deploys its payloads in low earth orbit (LEO).

“When the spacecraft is ejected, it will power itself up,” explained Minelli before the launch. “It will turn on its GPS receiver to determine its position. Its star tracker will take pictures of the stars, determining the satellite’s orientation based on a preloaded star map. If the battery levels are sufficient, the satellite will then turn on its reaction wheels and attempt to stabilize itself, with its solar panels facing the sun.”

Emotions during the launch and deployment of Mola were somewhat tense, as both students’ and researchers’ years of hard work had been building up to that moment, when the satellite passed over NPS, ready to try to communicate about 90 minutes after launch. 

“It’s been a long road – we originally wrote the white paper describing this concept in 2019. Eventually we got funded, navigated the pandemic, and built it,” said Minelli. “We’re a very small team and there is a lot of us put into a mission like this. Every team member and student contributed significantly, otherwise this wouldn’t work.”

Hands-on, experiential student learning has been a core priority of SSAG since its establishment in 1982. This latest launch builds on NPS’ first foray into launching satellites into space. Back in the 1990s, long-time SSAG Chair Dr. Rudy Panholzer led the design, development, build, and launch of PANSAT, or Petite Amateur Navy Satellite. The program supported more than 50 master’s degrees and educated many others. 

PANSAT was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-95 in 1998, the same flight that included former Project Mercury astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, and it performed beyond all expectations. With a battery life and on-board systems estimated to operate for about 36 months, PANSAT remained in communications with NPS ground stations for almost eight years! 

The SSAG team has launched payloads on the Space Shuttle, several CubeSats, small satellites, and innovative CubeSat deployment technologies. And Mola and future projects are now poised to continue building on this important flight history. 

According to Lan, this history has in the past and will in the future support naval-relevant learning – developing affordable space assets that are not only learning opportunities for students, but will also demonstrate scalable technologies for naval and defense operations in space. 

“One of our goals for the SSAG is to have satellites that the students can operate for learning spacecraft operations,” Lan said. “We’ve had so many students contribute to Mola already, and the next few cohorts will continue to reap the benefits.”

Naval capabilities in the maritime domain depend increasingly upon effective knowledge and skills, such as those taught at NPS, to deploy and operate systems in the space domain. 

“NPS provides the kind of hands-on learning experience with direct mission application that our Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, benefited from himself when he was an NPS Space Systems student, and we intend to continue to offer our students such opportunities in the future,” said Newman.

Source: United States Navy

The F414 engine is used in several U.S. military aircraft including the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler.

“These engines are critical in ensuring our aviators are able to accomplish their missions,” said Navy Capt. Andy Henwood, director of NAVSUP WSS aviation operations.

In October 2018, the Secretary of Defense established the readiness goal of having 80 percent of the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets Mission Capable. This increased the minimum engine requirement by several hundred engines overnight. The newly increased minimum engine requirement meant engine readiness goals were not being met.

This challenge has taken several years to solve, and a huge effort on the part of many different team members. Team members had to work with contractors and Navy organizations to rapidly increase the number of ready for issue engines. That meant meetings to explain the new mission requirements and looking for ways to increase the velocity of engine output, said Marine Corps Maj. A.J. Dobson, NAVSUP WSS engines Integrated Weapon System Team director.

“This challenge required us to bring in all the stakeholders to deliberately address the current barriers,” said Dobson “We held multiple standing meetings per week, went on dozens of visits to vendors and sub-vendors… all to build relationships and fix the problem.”

“This was an example of the entire team embracing the red and refusing to settle for status quo,” said Henwood. “We continued to pressurize the system and compress timelines to ensure we returned the fleet to the required level of readiness.”

Henwood is proud of the team and acknowledges that—while this was a finish line of sorts—the effort needs to be continued to maintain the newly achieved readiness.

“This shows what can be accomplished and the power of the team,” he said. “When you start communicating, there’s power. What looks like an insurmountable goal—one that we thought would take years to accomplish—we were able to complete.”

The effort was a collaboration between vendors, NAVAIR, and Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE). 

NAVSUP WSS is one of 11 commands under Commander, NAVSUP. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor and family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars.

Source: United States Navy

MR. CHUCK KRUGH:  Good morning, everybody.  Welcome to Bath Iron Works.  It’s a privilege today for us to have the CNO Admiral Gilday and Senator Collins and Senator King.  They’re here to see our operation and see what’s happening inside of Bath Iron Works.  So, without any further ado, Admiral.

ADMIRAL MICHAEL M. GILDAY:  Good morning.  Thanks for joining us this morning.  I can’t tell you how great it is to be back in Maine.  As you walk around the shipyard this morning, we began at the training unit here they actually bring in the newest members of the team and they train them.  And their motto is to train the best – or, develop the best shipbuilders in the world, that deliver the best-built ships in the world.  Seven destroyers in construction right now here at BIW.  And these ships are soon to join many other destroyers in our Navy, and your Navy, that are around the world on point doing the nation’s business.

I couldn’t be more proud, the Navy couldn’t be more proud, of the work that’s done here, particularly by the skilled workers that deliver these ships.  We were just in one of the buildings where they’re putting together the latest Flight III DDGs.  So these are the latest and greatest destroyers in the world.  And they’re already 30-60% ahead of schedule in the different modules of those ships that they’re building.  So that I attribute to pride, commitment, they’re hungry for the work, and they sure are delivering.  So, again, it’s humbling to be here around this team.  It’s great to be back in Maine.  Thank you.

SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine):  First, let me say that we are absolutely delighted to have the CNO back in the great state of Maine.  I know that the CNO has been very impressed with what he saw today, as are we.  But you can’t come to Bath Iron Works without being impressed with the skills and dedication and patriotism of the men and women who built the best ships in the world.  “Bath-built is best-built,” has long been the shipyard’s motto.  And today, we saw why.  The shipyard has made great progress in the last year in improving its scheduled performance and reducing the number of hours that is needed for the very complex work that it does. 

The fact is, to have a strong Navy requires a partnership, a partnership with the Navy, the shipyards, and the Congress.  We need more ships.  Right now, the U.S. has fewer than 300 ships.  In just two years, China will exceed 400 ships.  The fact is, bigger fleets win.  And that’s why, as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and as the ranking Republican of its Defense Subcommittee, I’m going to work with my colleagues, both the rest of the delegation, the CNO, and with all those who are committed to building an even stronger, bigger Navy.  And we know that any ship that is built here at BIW will contribute mightily to that task.  Thank you.

Senator King.

SENATOR ANGUS KING (I-Maine):  Early on when I was in the Senate, I visited one of our intelligence centers.  And one whole wall was a huge interactive map of the world, a whole side of the building.  And on that map was every U.S. government asset.  But what struck me was, everywhere on that map were DDGs, were destroyers.  They were in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific, in the North Atlantic, in the South Atlantic.  This is the workhorse of the Navy.  And these ships are some of the most important that we build.

Now, one question is, why are we building these ships?  Are they to fight wars?  And the answer is, no.  They are being built to deter war.  The whole idea of our national defense policy is deterrence.  That any prospective adversary knows the power of a ship like this, and that if they act adversely to our interests they are going to feel the might of this amazing ship.  The ship that’s behind us, by the way, is named for Senator Carl Levin, who was the chair of the Senate Armed Services when I entered the Senate.  And my very first trip abroad was with him.  The two of us went to the Middle East. 

He was an inspiring, thoughtful – I think Senator Collins will agree – a senator’s senator.  And was so knowledgeable.  And the fact that this ship is named for him is entirely appropriate.  So we’re delighted to have Admiral Gilday with us here today.  And I guess the final thing I want to say is that having walked through this facility numerous times, this is – this is – I’m not kidding.  This is one of the most complex products made in the United States, or indeed anywhere in the world.  If you go through these construction facilities, what you see are hundreds of miles of lights, and wires, and the computer control.  It is an amazing technological feat. 

And it’s all being done by the men and women of BIW.  It’s all being done by the men and women from Maine who are building with skill, and with dedication, and, as the Admiral said, with pride.  And that’s what separates this yard from many others across the world.  This is a great asset to the state of Maine.  And we’re welcome – we welcome the admiral back here anytime he wants to come, because you cannot be in this facility and not be impressed by the skill and dedication of the workforce and the quality of the product that’s being produced. 

Thanks very much for being here on this soft Maine day.

MODERATOR:  We have time for a couple questions.

Q:  Admiral, how many ships does the Navy need in total, if it were up to you?  Senator Collins mentioned the number is now at 296. 

SEN. KING:  I’m going to listen to this.  I want to hear this answer.

Q:  So what’s your number?

ADM. GILDAY:  So the law is 355.  And we probably have to go north of that, to be honest with you.  I will say that there’s one common denominator between the Sailors of the U.S. Navy and the shipbuilders here at BIW.  That is pride.  And we’re both hiring.  And we’re hungry for talent.  So if you’re young people tuning into the news tonight, if you’re an educator in one of our schools nearby, or if you’re a parent and you really want to give your son or your daughter a great future, BIW and the United States Navy are two really, really good options.  Thanks for allowing me to make that shameless plug.

Q:  (Inaudible) – the timing’s gotten better?  I mean, just a couple years ago there was a six-month and nine-month backlog.  Obviously, we had the pandemic, we had the strike.  What’s changed in the last couple of years, since the admiral was here last?

MR. CHUCK KRUGH:  I think we’re re-finding our pride as well as a company and getting leaders out and getting them involved with the – with the employees.  Back to basics, you know, and leaders needing to lead.  You know, it’s all elementary stuff, but it gets everybody involved, right?  And we got the best workforce, bar none, in the nation.  And these guys, what they do every day, is amazing.  And if we had time, I’d show you how we do it.  I mean, you go look at what the welders do, what the pipefitters do, what all the folks do here.  It’s absolutely amazing.  And I think it’s just letting them feel the pride of building an awesome ship for our Navy.  And that ship helps protect not only our country, but each one of our families as well.

Q:  Where is this destroyer headed?  Is it going to go to work?

ADM. GILDAY:  She is.  In two months, the Carl – the USS Carl Levin will be commissioned in Baltimore, Maryland.  She’ll then sail south through the Panama Canal out to the Pacific.  She’ll be home ported in Hawaii.  And so not long after that she’ll find herself in the western Pacific doing the nation’s business.  It won’t be long.

Q:  How many destroyers does the Navy plan to buy in the next fiscal year?

ADM. GILDAY:  So in the next fiscal year we’re buying two.  So we’re at a two a year cadence.  And I think that there’s a potential for that to increase.  We’d like to that be three a year.  Congress has given us the authorities for a multiyear procurement contract that allows us to do a bundled buy.  That gains efficiencies in terms of price and gives shipbuilders like Bath a really clear set of headlights in terms of the demand signal for this kind of work.  So we’re very bullish on destroyers, as has been stated here in spades this morning.  And I see the – I think the future is very, very bright for this line of ship.  So right now Bath, BIW, is solely focused on DDGs.  And as both senators said, they’re the greyhounds of the fleet and the workhorse of the Navy.

Q:  Is one of those three coming from BIW?  Is one of those three a year meant to come from BIW?

ADM. GILDAY:  So those – BIW is going to compete really strong, trust me.  So those decisions will be made, but I think BIW stands in a spot to be competitive for these contracts.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.