U.S. Navy Leads Massive Anti-Mine Exercises in Persian Gulf

U.S. and 40 other allied navies gathered in Bahrain today to begin massive anti-mine exercises in the Persian Gulf. The International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX) will run through 30 May. The drills appear to be tailored to keep the shipping lanes at the Strait of Hormuz open in case of any future hostilities involving Iran.

A U.S. Navy statement released today said the IMCMEX will begin with onshore training and then move to the Gulf for maneuvers including mine-sweeping and search-and-seizure operations.

“We are very pleased to see that more than 40 nations have joined us here to take part in this opportunity to enhance international naval capability to preserve freedom of navigation in international waterways,” said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. Fifth Fleet. “If 41 nations are willing to come here and practice MCM, just imagine how effective the global mine response would be if someone actually put mines in the water.” (Xinhua, 6 May)

More than 100 divers, 35 ships and 18 unmanned submarines will take part in the drills.

Navy Littoral Combat Ship Sails For Singapore With New Camo Paint

Amidst all the budgetary gridlock, it's nice to know something still works in the federal government. The first of the Navy's controversial Littoral Combat Ships, LCS-1 Freedom, will sail for Singapore, our not-quite-ally, this Friday, March 1st -- the same day the sequestration cuts will start taking effect -- sporting a new camouflage paint job that sets its apart from traditional naval vessels.(Paint schemes and the cost of applying them to something as massive as a warship are a big deal in the Navy).

Intended to build a new class of small, agile, and innovative warships, the LCS program has come under bitter criticism that the ships are too expensive for their size and too fragile for major combat. Freedom in particular has taken flak for hull cracks, which contractor Lockheed Martin insists are all repaired and won't reoccur on redesigned follow-on ships. After years in development hell, the first LCS is finally underway on a real-world mission -- headed for the Pacific amidst rising tensions between China and its neighbors.

Boeing's liquid hydrogen Phantom Eye unmanned aircraft system has completed taxi testing

Boeing's liquid hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned aircraft system has completed taxi testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California as it progresses toward its second flight. During the testing, which occurred Feb. 6, the Phantom Eye demonstrator aircraft sitting atop its launch cart reached speeds up to 40 knots, or approximately 46 miles per hour.

The Phantom Eye team has also completed software and hardware upgrades to prepare for flying at higher altitudes.

"We upgraded the autonomous flight systems and have achieved all the required test points in preparation for the next flight," said Drew Mallow, Phantom Eye program manager.

Additionally, the team improved the aircraft’s landing system following Phantom Eye's first flight, when the landing gear dug into the Edwards lakebed and broke.

"We've drawn on Boeing’s experience to come up with a solution, using our tactical fighter aircraft landing systems as an example," said Brad Shaw, Phantom Eye chief engineer.

Phantom Eye's innovative and environmentally responsible liquid-hydrogen propulsion system will allow the aircraft to stay on station for up to four days while providing persistent monitoring over large areas at a ceiling of up to 65,000 feet, creating only water as a byproduct. The demonstrator, with its 150-foot wingspan, is capable of carrying a 450-pound payload. Its first flight, in coordination with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, was in June 2012.

Northrop GrummanTriton Unmanned Aircraft System Wing Mating to Fuselage

Northrop Grumman employees mate the fuselage with the wings of a Triton unmanned aircraft at the company’s production facility in Palmdale, California.

Based on the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton, the system provides a detailed picture of surface vessels to identify threats across vast areas of ocean and coastal areas.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is building a company-owned unmanned aircraft for use as a development and demonstration platform for at-sea surveillance under the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton programme.

All production efforts related to this system were funded internally by the company. Northrop Grumman has also built other company-owned unmanned systems such as Fire Scout, using them to demonstrate new control software and sensor payloads.

Boeing delivers 6th production P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to U.S. Navy

Boeing delivered the sixth production P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy Jan. 31, successfully completing the first group of low-rate initial production aircraft that are dramatically improving the service's maritime patrol capabilities.

The delivery is the final aircraft from a contract awarded in January 2011. Boeing is on schedule to build 24 P-8A maritime patrol aircraft as part of contracts awarded in 2011 and 2012.

"The P-8 team continues to incorporate efficiencies into our production as we ramp up deliveries in 2013," said Rick Heerdt, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager. "We've reduced flow times and costs, which ultimately benefits our U.S. Navy customer." 

The U.S. Navy plans to purchase 117 P-8As, which are based on the Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 platform. It is a versatile multi-mission aircraft that provides broad long-range maritime patrol capabilities -- anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It is replacing the U.S. Navy's P-3 fleet.

"This aircraft delivery marks the beginning of a new era of maritime patrol aircraft," said Capt. Scott Dillon, Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft program manager. "The first fleet squadron is now equipped with P-8s, and will soon deploy with a maritime patrol capability that is greatly enhanced relative to our legacy P-3 force."

The next three Poseidon aircraft are undergoing mission systems installation and checkout in Seattle, and two more are in final assembly in Renton, Wash. Boeing will deliver its seventh production P-8A to the Navy later this quarter.

As part of the LRIP contracts, Boeing is also providing maintenance training for the Navy, in addition to logistics support, spares, support equipment and tools.

Raytheon, US Navy demonstrate new dual targeting capability for JSOW C-1

The U.S. Navy successfully demonstrated the dual targeting capability of Raytheon Company's Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1. Two recent tests during the program's integrated test phase prove the weapon can engage challenging stationary targets. Previous testing in the integrated test phase demonstrated JSOW C-1's capability against moving maritime targets.

The first stationary land target test was designed to assess JSOW's capability against operationally realistic infrared and radio frequency countermeasures. An F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft launched a JSOW C-1 from approximately 29,000 feet and 17.5 nautical miles from the target. The weapon flew a preplanned route at 0.83 mach airspeed, employed 3-D waypoints, and successfully impacted a cement wall on a simulated bunker.

The second stationary land target test was designed to demonstrate JSOW's performance at night against an operationally representative bunker target. An F/A-18F Super Hornet launched the JSOW C-1 from approximately 25,000 feet. The JSOW C-1 flew the preplanned route at 0.81 mach airspeed and successfully impacted the buried bunker. Both tests occurred at the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, Calif.

"These tests demonstrate that JSOW C-1 provides the U.S. and allied warfighters with a new dual capability to engage both stationary land targets and moving ships at range," said Celeste Mohr, JSOW program director for Raytheon Missile Systems. "These tests help clear the way for the important operational test phase of the program scheduled to begin early next year."
The JSOW C-1 is designed to provide fleet forces with the capability and flexibility to engage moving maritime targets, while retaining its robust capability against stationary land targets. The weapon is a modification to the existing JSOW C, which adds a weapon datalink radio and modified seeker software to increase capability for the anti-surface warfare mission.

About the Joint Standoff Weapon  JSOW is a family of low-cost, air-to-ground weapons that employ an integrated GPS-inertial navigation system and terminal imaging infrared seeker. JSOW C-1 adds the two-way Strike Common Weapon Datalink to the combat-proven weapon, enabling a moving maritime target capability.

• JSOW C-1 is the world's first network-enabled weapon with a range of more than 100 kilometers.
• The U.S. Navy's first two JSOW C-1 free-flight tests also resulted in direct hits on their moving ship targets.
• Raytheon is using company funding to develop a powered version of the JSOW that will have the potential to engage targets at more than 250 nautical miles.

Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship

US drone found off Philippines

Drone such as these are used for air target practice

PHILIPPINE navy officials say a suspected American drone has been found floating in the ocean, prompting them to deploy a ship with ordnance experts after fishermen reported the object may have been a bomb. 
 
The three-metre orange BQM-74e drone marked "Navy" was found by a Filipino diver and fishermen off Masbate Island on Sunday and has been turned over to local navy authorities, Philippine navy officer Captain Jason Rommel Galang said, adding it was not clear why the unmanned aerial vehicle ended up off Masbate.

US Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said efforts were under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about 380 kilometres southeast of Manila. The type of drone found was not armed and not used for surveillance, she said.

Masbate is in a region where communist guerrillas have a presence. US counter-terrorism troops, who are barred from local combat, have used surveillance drones to help Filipino soldiers track down al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the country's south.

At least two US drones have been reported to have crashed and were recovered by villagers in the past on southern Mindanao island.

Harrier Operations USS Bataan (LHD-5)

3 female US Navy submariners make history

Good job !!

KINGS BAY, GA - DECEMBER 5: In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Lt. j.g. Luke Leveque, assigned to the Gold crew of the ballistic missile submarine USS Maryland (SSBN 738), pins the submarine officer warfare device on his wife, Lt. j.g. Marquette Leveque, assigned to the Gold crew of the ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742), at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay on December 5, 2012 in Kings Bay, Georgia. Leveque is one of three Sailors to become the first female unrestricted line officers to qualify in submarines.

Master Chief Rusty Staub, assigned to Submarine Group 9 Command, congratulates Lt. j.g. Amber Cowan, assigned to the Blue crew of the ballistic missile submarine USS Maine, for earning her submarine warfare officer device Dec. 5 in Bangor, Wash. Cowan and Lt. j.g. Jennifer Noonan, center, are two of three sailors to become the first female unrestricted line officers to qualify in submarines.

The Navy’s first female submariners have earned their “dolphins.”
In ceremonies on both coasts Wednesday, three female officers were pinned with their submarine warfare insignia, the gold chest device that confers their status as fully qualified submarine officers. After a rigorous process that consumed a year of training followed by a year at sea, their achievement signals that the silent service’s glass ceiling has been shattered.

“Qualifying is a huge accomplishment for any submariner, and it feels no different for me,” recipient Lt. j.g. Marquette Leveque said Wednesday, according to a Navy newsstand story. “I am thrilled to finally be a member of this elite community.”
The women are members of the cadre of 17 officers who began the sub force’s integration late last year.
Each of the three recipients has completed a strategic deterrent patrol in their year aboard ship, the Navy said.
Leveque, who’s assigned to the ballistic-missile sub Wyoming (gold crew), had her dolphins pinned at a ceremony in Kings Bay, Ga., by her husband, Lt. j.g. Luke Leveque, himself a dolphin-wearer assigned to the ballistic sub Maryland.


The other recipients, Lt. j.g. Jennifer Noonan and Lt. j.g. Amber Cowan, are crew members with the ballistic-missile sub Maine’s blue crew and received their insignia at a ceremony in Bangor, Wash., the Maine’s home port.

Dolphins, the oldest of the Navy’s warfare pins, are only conferred after a submarine officer has qualified as an officer of the deck and an engineering officer of the watch, passed a tough board and demonstrated leadership ability.
Just earning the pin is a life-changing boost, one recipient said.
“It is a monumental mark of the confidence my command and crew has in me,” said Cowan, whose dolphins were pinned on by her husband, Lt. Adam Cowan, a naval flight officer. “And earning that respect and acceptance is a feeling that I will hold with me for my entire life.”