Category: Defence

Source: United States Navy

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 10, 2024 – Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro addressed a gathering of small business leaders during San Francisco Fleet Week, emphasizing the vital role they play in supporting the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps today.

The event, titled “Breaking Barriers: A Department of the Navy & SBA Partnership for Small Business Success,” was held at the San Francisco SBA Business Office and brought together representatives from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, regional APEX Accelerators, the National Defense Industrial Association, and other key stakeholders.

Secretary Del Toro highlighted the Department of the Navy’s commitment to small business partnerships, noting that contracts worth $526 million have been awarded to small businesses located within 50 miles of San Francisco. He cited examples of successful collaborations, such as a $2.89 million contract with Atomic, a Pleasanton-based small business, for the development of advanced tactical atomic clocks, and a $451,000 contract with Arize AI, a Berkeley-based small business, for AI machine learning technology to enhance underwater threat detection.

“From my vantage point as Secretary of the Navy, a healthy, diverse industrial base made up of companies of all sizes—founded by American entrepreneurs from all walks of life—is absolutely crucial to the success of our Navy and our Marine Corps,” said Secretary Del Toro.

The Secretary underscored the importance of small businesses in providing critical capabilities and services to support Sailors, Marines, and civilians stationed around the globe. He emphasized the need for innovation and technological advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, and unmanned systems to maintain the Navy’s maritime dominance.

“We—along with our international partners and allies—are facing challenges across the globe,” said the Secretary. “Addressing these threats requires a whole-of-nation commitment to ensuring we have a strong Navy and Marine Corps that can defend our interests on a global scale.”

The Secretary’s remarks were followed by a small business roundtable discussion, where he engaged with entrepreneurs and industry leaders to discuss opportunities for collaboration and address the unique needs of small businesses in the defense sector. He encouraged businesses to connect with the Department of the Navy’s Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) for guidance and support in navigating the federal procurement process.

In the evening, Secretary Del Toro attended the “Honor Our Fallen” concert at the Herbst Theater in the San Francisco War Memorial Building. The concert, hosted by The Center for Humanitarian Assistance, featured a performance by the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Marine Division Band and honored the fallen service men and women of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. A private reception followed to thank attending Gold Star families.

About the U.S. Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs:

The U.S. Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs maximizes opportunities for small businesses in Navy contracts, ensuring they are integrated into the Navy’s acquisition process.

(https://www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness)

Source: United States Navy

VENICE, Italy – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti met Admiral Danish Fleet Rear Adm. Henrik Ryberg for a formal bilateral engagement during the 14th Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium in Venice, Italy, today.

During the meeting the leaders expressed their shared commitment to maritime security in the High North, Baltic Sea, Red Sea, and Atlantic region. They discussed future opportunities to strengthen their naval partnership and increase interoperability with an emphasis on anti-submarine warfare.

Franchetti thanked Ryberg for the Royal Danish Navy’s support to recent U.S. Navy submarine and destroyer visits to ports within the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as Royal Danish Navy participation in multilateral exercises, including Steadfast Defender.   

The CNO also discussed her recently-released strategic guidance: the Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy, specifically stressing capability development for long-term advantage and the integrated warfighting ecosystem. The leaders noted the importance exchange opportunities to train together in the future.

The U.S. and Denmark are founding members of NATO, and the alliance between the two nations is critical to the security and stability in Europe and across the globe.

Source: United States Navy

VENICE, Italy – Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, attended the 14th Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium (TRSS) in Venice, Italy, Oct. 8-10, 2024.

This year’s TRSS brought together Heads of Navy and Coast Guard from 67 countries with experts and professionals from around the world to discuss critical maritime issues and foster collaboration. The symposium, themed “A Spotlight on the Depths: the Underwater as a New Frontier for Humankind,” aimed to address the growing importance of the underwater through panel discussions, presentations, and interactive sessions that allowed participants to explore innovative approaches and strategies for maritime cooperation.

“It is great to be here among friends who are united by our shared values, our shared commitment, and our shared stake in the continued stability, security, and prosperity of the entire global maritime commons, especially in the undersea domain,” said Franchetti.  “We’ve all scanned the horizon and see the forces that are threatening to make the world more unstable and more dangerous. And we’ve witnessed the vulnerabilities of our critical undersea infrastructure, like gas pipelines, fiber optic cables, which are so critical to our economies, our shared security, our prosperity, and our peoples’ way of everyday life.”

During the symposium, Franchetti participated in a panel titled “Safeguarding the Underwater: New Solutions and Technologies for new Challenges,” where she discussed how U.S. Navy is leveraging modern technology, like robotic autonomous systems, underwater command and control networks, and sensing and detection systems; is integrating these systems into the fleet and adopting the new technology, getting the innovation into the hands of Sailors as quickly as possible; and building relationships and having conversations with Allies and partners.

“Integrating robotic and autonomous systems into the daily business of our operations is a critical part of my recently released Navigation Plan for America’s War Fighting Navy,” said Franchetti.  “It’s one of my seven Project 33 targets, areas where I will invest my personal time and my resources, where I’m going to put my thumb on the scale to raise the baseline level of readiness of the American Navy in the fastest time possible.”

She went on to say, “we are continuing to closely collaborate with you, all of our allies and partners, and your respective innovation bases to advance our capabilities in the undersea domain.  And I see us doing this together as part of a broader warfighting ecosystem.  It’s another component in my Navigation Plan, which is fundamental to my vision of how we will deter and, if necessary, fight and win future wars.”

While at the symposium Franchetti also held bilateral engagement with her counterparts from Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden; and conducted over 40 meaningful discussions with TRSS Head of Navy participants about the importance of increasing interoperability with Allies and partners.

Franchetti also conducted her second trilateral meeting with her Australian and United Kingdom counterparts as part of the AUKUS partnership. Their first meeting occurred earlier this summer at HMAS Stirling in Perth, Australia.

“In three years of  the AUKUS agreement we have made significant progress in integrating the exceptional undersea capabilities of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States,” said Franchetti. “Our navies will continue to build on our relationships, strengths, and interchangeability to provide security and stability, and maintain the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe.

The CNO wrapped up her time at TRSS with a multilateral meeting with Heads of Navy from the Group of Seven (G7: U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) and a meeting with the chiefs of carrier strike group navies.

Source: United States Navy

KEFLAVIK, Iceland – Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8 operated alongside 17 NATO ally and partner nations during Exercise Northern Challenge 2024, Sept. 26-Oct. 9, 2024. Northern Challenge demonstrates the United States’ commitment to NATO allies and partners by integrating efforts to plan and execute complex EOD detection, neutralization, and exploitation capabilities within a multinational framework.

Northern Challenge is an annual, joint-funded multinational exercise hosted by the Icelandic Coast Guard aimed at preparing NATO allies and partners for international deployments to clear the way for lethal, resilient forces to operate in contested environments and disrupt our adversaries in conflict.

EODMU 8, assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 68, trained alongside tactical units from U.S. Marine Corps’ 8th Engineer Support Battalion and U.S. Army’s 702nd and 720th Ordinance Companies . Additional participating NATO allies and partners included Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

Northern Challenge 2024 included roughly 330 participants, 500+ improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 380 land tasks, and 120 maritime tasks. Throughout the exercise, two teams from EODMU 8 completed 50 training serials and provided four exercise control members who assessed and mentored other nations’ teams. During the exercise, EOD technicians responded to simulated IEDs threats of increasing complexity over a two-week period.

“At Northern Challenge 2024, we’re working with our NATO allies and partners learning different tools for the toolbox and increasing our lethality on the battlefield,” said Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Jake Ferguson, platoon 8-2-2 Leading Chief Petty Officer, EODMU 8. “We’ve had some awesome training put on by our Icelandic and British partners; we’ve done a lot of both maritime and land-based IED serials that we’ve been able to defeat. We’re also turning in evidence, working with the exploitation cell to develop counter-IED tactics and reporting procedures.”

In addition to conducting complex training scenarios, EOD technicians from across participating countries collaborated within a multinational exploitation center to enhance interoperability at the operational level. These cells ensured that EOD teams were organized to effectively counter IED threats while ensuring the intelligence analysis and information sharing is in accordance with NATO standards and procedures.

The exploitation cell was comprised of the Technical Exploitation Coordination Cell (TECC) and the Combined Exploitation Laboratory (CEL). The TECC and CEL fuse capacities and capabilities across a joint interagency multinational structure. This multinational effort provided high-level analysis of collected exploitable material (CEM), refining fidelity of the operating area and providing critical information to the operator on the ground or in the water.

CEM in the lab consisted of a full scope of exploitation methods such as triage, x-ray, chemical analysis, biometrics, forensics, electronics engineering exploitation, and document and media exploitation.

The end state of the analysis is to inform the command, provide enhanced operator threat assessment on the battlefield, and ultimately deny the adversary anonymity.

U.S. Navy EOD technicians from Expeditionary Exploitation Unit One (EXU-1) led the CEL in coordination with personnel from U.S. Army Force Europe (USAREUR) and other allies and partners. Their mission throughout the exercise was to assist in processing and analyzing exploitable material collected from simulated explosive threats, analyze and consolidate the findings, then brief the overall threat environment and an assessment of next 24-48 hours, providing a tactical picture for stronger decision-making on the ground and better situational awareness.

Lt. Ryan DuTot, an EOD officer assigned to EXU-1, served as the exercise’s Combined Exploitation Laboratory office in charge.

“Northern Challenge 2024 is not just about defusing bombs; it’s about harnessing cutting-edge technology to outsmart adversaries and strengthen global security alliances,” said DuTot. “The integration of technical exploitation into this exercise ensures we don’t just neutralize threats, but also gain critical intelligence from them. Any time we are working with partner nations in an environment like this, it’s a force multiplier that provides long-term strategic benefits.”

Operating in a range of environments and exchanging knowledge with regional NATO allies and partners enhances every participating unit’s readiness and relationships with international and interagency counterparts.

“Exercises like Northern Challenge provide an excellent opportunity to rehearse our IED defeat tactics in austere environments,” said Cmdr. John Kennedy, commander, EOD Mobile Unit 8. “The unique value of Northern Challenge is the exploitation piece. For our operational platoons, the drills didn’t end at ‘defeating the device’; they concluded after ‘exploiting the device’ so we could gain an appreciation of how the device works, and who employed it.”

Northern Challenge provided practical training to operators across the joint force, with the integration of the exploitation cell to enhance the intelligence picture driving the threat assessment. As a result, the United States military is better prepared to deploy EOD forces throughout the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility in support of the collective defense of NATO allies.

“We’ve worked with the Canadians, Swedes, Icelanders, Polish, Lithuanians, and others; these guys are so good at their craft. Everybody here is a warrior, and they all volunteered to do the same job. Exchanging tactics, techniques, and procedures with them is making every single one of us better so that the enemy doesn’t get a leg up on us,” said Ferguson.
U.S. military participation in Northern Challenge 2024 demonstrates that U.S. and NATO joint forces are ready and postured with combat-credible capability to assure, deter, and defend in an increasingly complex security environment.

CTF 68 is a part of the U.S. 6th Fleet and commands all Naval Expeditionary Combat Forces, in U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility. Navy Expeditionary Combat Forces bridge the gap from sea to shore and provides expeditionary capabilities in remote, complex and austere environments.

EODGRU 2 and EODMU 8 operate as part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and provide skilled, capable, and combat-ready deployable Navy EOD and Navy Diver forces around the globe to support a range of operations.

For the full collection of photos and news about Northern Challenge 2024 and U.S. Navy EOD, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/USNFE-6FPA and https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/EODG-2.

Source: United States Navy

POINT MUGU, Calif. – The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division team delivered a crucial mission data file ahead of schedule, significantly accelerating the normal production timeline to support Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

The NAWCWD team provided a comprehensive mission data file, essential for F-35 Lightning II operations. This file offers intelligence updates and design enhancements that enable pilots to identify and counter threats in specific operational environments. The update incorporated more than 100 intelligence changes and multiple design improvements, significantly enhancing the aircraft’s survivability and lethality.

Under normal circumstances, this production process would require a much longer timeline. However, when the Abraham Lincoln and VMFA-314 were ordered from the U.S. 7th Fleet to U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, the NAWCWD team acted quickly. In collaboration with Air Force partners, they expedited the process and completed the task in record time. This ensured the squadron’s readiness in theater.

“Our team cut days off our timeline to release the data in support of theater priorities,” said Cmdr. Alexander Sandroni, commanding officer of the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base. “The scope and thoroughness of the update, combined with our accelerated timeline, highlighted the importance of open communication and adapting dynamically to the needs of our customers.”

Through close collaboration across multiple disciplines — intelligence experts, engineers, testers, and data analysts — the team overcame technical challenges and compressed the production timeline by half. Their coordinated efforts were critical to enabling Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations and ensuring the mission data file’s timely delivery in support of joint operations in theater.

Rear Adm. Keith A. Hash, commander of NAWCWD, praised the team’s quick response and focus on the mission — getting capabilities to the warfighter when they need them.

“We rely on our dedicated, engaged, mission-focused team to deliver critical and relevant capabilities that provide our fighters a decisive advantage,” Hash said. “Pulling together, finding a way to accelerate this delivery, and seeing it through to the end is just one example of how this team continues to give our nation’s defenders the very best today, tomorrow, and into the future.”

The team also overcame several technical challenges, ensuring rigorous testing and validation of the MDF. Their commitment to delivering high-quality, operationally-ready solutions contributed to the F-35’s enhanced capabilities and operational readiness.

“The dedication, technical expertise, and commitment of our team were evident every step of the way,” Sandroni added. “They showed how much we can accomplish when we come together with a shared mission.”

The timely delivery underscores NAWCWD’s essential role in providing innovative solutions and fleet support, enabling the Navy to stay ahead in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive global environment.