Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat, Aug 24
The military exercise includes an amphibious and airborne landing by Russian and Chinese troops.
This week, Russia and China have begun a naval exercise – dubbed Joint Sea II- in international territorial waters in the Sea of Japan and off the coast of Russia’s Primorsky territory – approximately 250 miles away from Japan. The exercise for the first time includes a joint Sino-Russian amphibious assault drill.
The war games, which are scheduled to conclude on August 28, include 22 vessels, 20 aircraft, 40 armored vehicles and 500 marines, according to RT.
“During the active phase of the maritime maneuvers to last till August 27, the sailors work out the issues of join anti-sabotage, anti-submarine, anti-vessel and anti-aircraft defense. Besides that there’ll be gunnery drills with different types of surface, underwater and aerial targets,” Roman Martov, Russia’s Eastern Military District spokesman, told TASS.
The naval exercise – themed “Joint maritime transportation protection and joint landing missions” – will conclude with an amphibious and airborne landing of Russian and Chinese troops at the Cape Klerk firing range in the southern Primorye Territory. “It’s [the] first time ever such an operation is to be held on the Russian soil,” Martov added. It is also the first time that People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) units are participating in military drills in the Sea of Japan.
As I reported earlier, in May 2015, China and Russia held a much smaller naval drill code-named Joint Sea 2015 that involved nine ships from both countries in the Mediterranean Sea. The navies conducted live-fire drills, underway replenishment and escort operations.
The naval maneuvers “showed that Russian and Chinese seamen can effectively fulfill tasks in such a difficult region as the Mediterranean Sea,” according to the Russian Navy’s Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Aleksandr Fedotenkov.
“Unlike many other war games staged in the Asia-Pacific region, the Joint Sea series focus on emergency response under multiple circumstances, instead of simulating an offensive against a third party,” according to a Xinhua commentary. “As for the far-fetched idea of an emerging China-Russia military alliance, it seems that only the most insensible ones could buy,” the commentary noted.
The naval drill currently taking place aims to bolster equipment interoperability between the two navies, and despite Chinese and Russian claims to the contrary, it is also meant to send a clear political signal to the United States and its allies in the region that Sino-Russian military ties are deepening. Beijing and Moscow have held regular joint naval drills since 2011.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Russia may sell submarines to Morocco -- with Saudi help
Sergei Balmasov, Russia Beyond The Headlines
21 August 2015
According to the American newspaper World Tribune, Moscow and Rabat may sign an agreement on the supply of the Russian Amur-1650 diesel-electric 4th-generation Project 677E submarine to Morocco.
This may happen during Moroccan King Mohammed VI's visit to Russia at the end of 2015.
Arms race with Algeria
One of the reasons for Morocco's determination to modernize its navy is the arms race with main regional rival Algeria, which already has two Varshavyanka Project 636 submarines, two Paltus Project 877 submarines and by 2017 is supposed to receive two more Varshavyankas. Morocco needs a capable underwater force in order to be able to compete with Algeria.
Compared to other non-nuclear submarines, the Amur-1650 is distinguished by its low sound emission and equipment that allows it to detect insignificant sounds emitted by other vessels.
This gives it a serious advantage over the submarines belonging to the Algerian navy.
"This contract can become the beginning of serious cooperation between Moscow and Rabat at the expense of Algiers, which, however, is responsible for this situation, having noticeably reduced the intensity of its ties with Russia,” said Lieutenant Commander Mohammed Larbi from the Algerian navy.
Another significant aspect to the possible Russian-Morocco deal is the drastic deterioration of Algerian-Saudi relations, brought about by Algeria's refusal to support the Saudi operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Riyadh has even openly accused Algeria of supporting international terrorism.
And now Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to take revenge on Algeria through Russia. In the event the Amur contract is signed, most likely it will be paid for by the Saudis, as has happened before.
However, the period for realizing the contract may be postponed, since China, India and Venezuela have also shown interest in acquiring the submarine.
21 August 2015
According to the American newspaper World Tribune, Moscow and Rabat may sign an agreement on the supply of the Russian Amur-1650 diesel-electric 4th-generation Project 677E submarine to Morocco.
This may happen during Moroccan King Mohammed VI's visit to Russia at the end of 2015.
Arms race with Algeria
One of the reasons for Morocco's determination to modernize its navy is the arms race with main regional rival Algeria, which already has two Varshavyanka Project 636 submarines, two Paltus Project 877 submarines and by 2017 is supposed to receive two more Varshavyankas. Morocco needs a capable underwater force in order to be able to compete with Algeria.
Compared to other non-nuclear submarines, the Amur-1650 is distinguished by its low sound emission and equipment that allows it to detect insignificant sounds emitted by other vessels.
This gives it a serious advantage over the submarines belonging to the Algerian navy.
"This contract can become the beginning of serious cooperation between Moscow and Rabat at the expense of Algiers, which, however, is responsible for this situation, having noticeably reduced the intensity of its ties with Russia,” said Lieutenant Commander Mohammed Larbi from the Algerian navy.
Another significant aspect to the possible Russian-Morocco deal is the drastic deterioration of Algerian-Saudi relations, brought about by Algeria's refusal to support the Saudi operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Riyadh has even openly accused Algeria of supporting international terrorism.
And now Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to take revenge on Algeria through Russia. In the event the Amur contract is signed, most likely it will be paid for by the Saudis, as has happened before.
However, the period for realizing the contract may be postponed, since China, India and Venezuela have also shown interest in acquiring the submarine.
BAE kicks off major nuclear submarine yard upgrade in UK
Andrew Chuter, Defense News
21 August 2015
An eight-year redevelopment scheme enabling BAE Systems nuclear submarine facility to build a new generation of nuclear missile boats for the Royal Navy has got underway in northwest England.
The rebuilding program at the Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, nuclear submarine yard has started with the construction of a £23 million ($36.1 million) logistics facility, BAE announced Aug 20.
Subject to parliamentary approval, the Conservative government is expected to decide next year to give the final go ahead to the Successor program aimed at replacing the four Trident missile equipped, Vanguard-class submarines, which have provided Britain's nuclear deterrent capability since 1995.
The government is committed to build four Successor submarines, with steel for the first boat being cut at the BAE yard in 2016 and an inservice date of 2028.
To equip the yard for construction of the largest submarines it has ever built, between £300 and £400 million is being spent expanding and upgrading the yard.
In its 2014 update to Parliament on progress in the future nuclear deterrent, the overnment outlined its part in financing the facilities upgrade program.
The report said the Ministry of Defence had brought forward, or reprofiled, £261 million of funding into the current assessment phase offering better value for money investing in facilities at the yard. The reprofiling also allowed for long lead item ordering.
"The MoD is able to re-pay the company for the cost of the facilities as building work progresses, rather than recovering the costs across the build programme as a whole. This approach is expected to reduce the cost by some £42 million from that originally planned," said the report.
BAE said the work will include a "mixture of new build projects and the refurbishment of existing facilities in what is the most significant redevelopment of the site since the 1980s."
The company wouldn't provide details of the redevelopment but previous reports list a new quayside, extension of the Devonshire Dock Hall building, two new pressure hull unit facilities and refurbishing the main fabrication facility as being among the projects alongside the new logistics center.
At nearly 300 meters long and over 50 meters high, the Devonshire Dock Hall where BAE assembles the submarines is already one of the largest buildings in northern England. .
Allan Day, the director of the redevelopment program at BAE Submarines, said "the infrastructure this redevelopment will provide, together with our highly skilled workforce, will be critical in delivering these submarines to the Royal Navy."
The improvement to facilities in support of the Successor program is not limited to BAE.
Nuclear propulsion unit supplier Rolls-Royce is updating and refurbishing it's aging factory at Raynesway, Derby, to build the new PWR3 power plant.
BAE is already building Astute-class attack submarines at its Barrow-in-Furness yard as well as designing the new Trident missile boats and pushing ahead with the infrastructure work.
Just days before the announcement that work had begun on the logistics facility, BAE revealed that HMS Artful, the third of the expected seven boat Astute class of nuclear attack submarines, had left the Barrow-in-Furness yard for the start of sea trials.
The submarine subsequently arrived at the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde in Scotland on Aug 18 from where it will conduct the trials ahead of what is scheduled to be its commissioning later this year.
In a mirror of the submarine yard update, BAE is also involved in a major £100 million update of its two surface warship yards on the Clyde at Govan and Scotstoun.
The two yards are being modernized as part of a shipbuilding plan that will see up to 13 Type 26 frigates built for the Royal Navy over the next few years.
The Sunday Times reported earlier this month that the government declined a request from the company to help fund it's favored option of closing Govan and investing £200 million in a more extensive upgrade of the Scotstoun yard.
BAE declined to comment on the report in time for publication but said in a statement.
"Following a thorough assessment of options, a number of factors led to the decision to retain and invest in both of our sites in Glasgow....... We are working closely with the Ministry of Defence and trade unions to determine the best design for the facilities," the company said.
During a briefing earlier this summer BAE executives said the reasons the company went for incremental improvements of the two yards rather than build a single super yard included the cost of investment and the detrimental impact the one yard approach would have on the early stages of the Type 26 construction program.
The cost of the Scotstoun option was also higher than originally estimated they said.
Government money is involved in the £100 million two yard approach.
The company is targeting the first quarter of next year to award a contract to a construction to get the update work underway.
BAE is four months into a £859 million Type 26 demonstration phase contract and is continuing negotiations with the Ministry of Defence for an initial manufacturing deal covering the first three frigates expected to be signed around the start of April next year.
The company recently placed a number of production contracts with key suppliers like Rolls-Royce, Rohde & Schwarz and David Brown Gear Systems for the first three warships.
21 August 2015
An eight-year redevelopment scheme enabling BAE Systems nuclear submarine facility to build a new generation of nuclear missile boats for the Royal Navy has got underway in northwest England.
The rebuilding program at the Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, nuclear submarine yard has started with the construction of a £23 million ($36.1 million) logistics facility, BAE announced Aug 20.
Subject to parliamentary approval, the Conservative government is expected to decide next year to give the final go ahead to the Successor program aimed at replacing the four Trident missile equipped, Vanguard-class submarines, which have provided Britain's nuclear deterrent capability since 1995.
The government is committed to build four Successor submarines, with steel for the first boat being cut at the BAE yard in 2016 and an inservice date of 2028.
To equip the yard for construction of the largest submarines it has ever built, between £300 and £400 million is being spent expanding and upgrading the yard.
In its 2014 update to Parliament on progress in the future nuclear deterrent, the overnment outlined its part in financing the facilities upgrade program.
The report said the Ministry of Defence had brought forward, or reprofiled, £261 million of funding into the current assessment phase offering better value for money investing in facilities at the yard. The reprofiling also allowed for long lead item ordering.
"The MoD is able to re-pay the company for the cost of the facilities as building work progresses, rather than recovering the costs across the build programme as a whole. This approach is expected to reduce the cost by some £42 million from that originally planned," said the report.
BAE said the work will include a "mixture of new build projects and the refurbishment of existing facilities in what is the most significant redevelopment of the site since the 1980s."
The company wouldn't provide details of the redevelopment but previous reports list a new quayside, extension of the Devonshire Dock Hall building, two new pressure hull unit facilities and refurbishing the main fabrication facility as being among the projects alongside the new logistics center.
At nearly 300 meters long and over 50 meters high, the Devonshire Dock Hall where BAE assembles the submarines is already one of the largest buildings in northern England. .
Allan Day, the director of the redevelopment program at BAE Submarines, said "the infrastructure this redevelopment will provide, together with our highly skilled workforce, will be critical in delivering these submarines to the Royal Navy."
The improvement to facilities in support of the Successor program is not limited to BAE.
Nuclear propulsion unit supplier Rolls-Royce is updating and refurbishing it's aging factory at Raynesway, Derby, to build the new PWR3 power plant.
BAE is already building Astute-class attack submarines at its Barrow-in-Furness yard as well as designing the new Trident missile boats and pushing ahead with the infrastructure work.
Just days before the announcement that work had begun on the logistics facility, BAE revealed that HMS Artful, the third of the expected seven boat Astute class of nuclear attack submarines, had left the Barrow-in-Furness yard for the start of sea trials.
The submarine subsequently arrived at the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde in Scotland on Aug 18 from where it will conduct the trials ahead of what is scheduled to be its commissioning later this year.
In a mirror of the submarine yard update, BAE is also involved in a major £100 million update of its two surface warship yards on the Clyde at Govan and Scotstoun.
The two yards are being modernized as part of a shipbuilding plan that will see up to 13 Type 26 frigates built for the Royal Navy over the next few years.
The Sunday Times reported earlier this month that the government declined a request from the company to help fund it's favored option of closing Govan and investing £200 million in a more extensive upgrade of the Scotstoun yard.
BAE declined to comment on the report in time for publication but said in a statement.
"Following a thorough assessment of options, a number of factors led to the decision to retain and invest in both of our sites in Glasgow....... We are working closely with the Ministry of Defence and trade unions to determine the best design for the facilities," the company said.
During a briefing earlier this summer BAE executives said the reasons the company went for incremental improvements of the two yards rather than build a single super yard included the cost of investment and the detrimental impact the one yard approach would have on the early stages of the Type 26 construction program.
The cost of the Scotstoun option was also higher than originally estimated they said.
Government money is involved in the £100 million two yard approach.
The company is targeting the first quarter of next year to award a contract to a construction to get the update work underway.
BAE is four months into a £859 million Type 26 demonstration phase contract and is continuing negotiations with the Ministry of Defence for an initial manufacturing deal covering the first three frigates expected to be signed around the start of April next year.
The company recently placed a number of production contracts with key suppliers like Rolls-Royce, Rohde & Schwarz and David Brown Gear Systems for the first three warships.
Philippines to reopen Subic Bay navy base amid South China Sea tensions
Want China Times (Taiwan)
22 August 2015
Philippine defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin said recently that the Philippines is planning to build air and naval bases in Subic Bay that could be used by American forces to counter a potential Chinese threat in the South China Sea.
Subic Bay, about 80 kilometers northwest of Manila, hosted Washington's largest naval base outside the U.S. mainland until it was closed down in 1992, after the Philippines terminated an agreement with the United States at the end of the Cold War.
The shutdown ended nearly a century-long U.S. military presence in the country and the facility was converted into an economic zone, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.
Subic Bay is now the location of an industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
But the Philippine government has been planning to build new military facilities in recent years amid rising tensions
caused by China's development of artificial islands in the South China Sea.
The Philippines signed an expanded defense cooperation agreement with the United States last year to temporarily allow U.S. forces on to Philippine bases, including at Subic Bay, but the pact is in limbo after left-wing groups questioned its constitutionality in the Supreme Court.
Gazmin said the government would proceed with its strategy of constructing the bases even if the court eventually decides against access for U.S. troops.
The Philippines plans to build an air base capable of accommodating 200 air force personnel and to open it to civilian airplanes.
In addition, two of the 15 ports in Subic Bay will be used by the Philippine Navy and the navy will also set up a military facility in the zone.
Building air bases in Subic Bay will allow it to save at least 50% of the cost of building air bases in other areas, according to an Associated Press report.
The Philippines has scrambled to modernize its military, one of Asia's weakest. It has bought 12 new South Korean fighter jets, with the first two to be delivered later this year and stationed at Subic, Gazmin said.
China has on numerous occasions reaffirmed its sovereignty over the South China Sea, while blasting the Philippines for adopting an expansionist policy in the sea area and urging Washington not to intervene in the area, given that it is not a concerned party.
22 August 2015
Philippine defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin said recently that the Philippines is planning to build air and naval bases in Subic Bay that could be used by American forces to counter a potential Chinese threat in the South China Sea.
Subic Bay, about 80 kilometers northwest of Manila, hosted Washington's largest naval base outside the U.S. mainland until it was closed down in 1992, after the Philippines terminated an agreement with the United States at the end of the Cold War.
The shutdown ended nearly a century-long U.S. military presence in the country and the facility was converted into an economic zone, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.
Subic Bay is now the location of an industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
But the Philippine government has been planning to build new military facilities in recent years amid rising tensions
caused by China's development of artificial islands in the South China Sea.
The Philippines signed an expanded defense cooperation agreement with the United States last year to temporarily allow U.S. forces on to Philippine bases, including at Subic Bay, but the pact is in limbo after left-wing groups questioned its constitutionality in the Supreme Court.
Gazmin said the government would proceed with its strategy of constructing the bases even if the court eventually decides against access for U.S. troops.
The Philippines plans to build an air base capable of accommodating 200 air force personnel and to open it to civilian airplanes.
In addition, two of the 15 ports in Subic Bay will be used by the Philippine Navy and the navy will also set up a military facility in the zone.
Building air bases in Subic Bay will allow it to save at least 50% of the cost of building air bases in other areas, according to an Associated Press report.
The Philippines has scrambled to modernize its military, one of Asia's weakest. It has bought 12 new South Korean fighter jets, with the first two to be delivered later this year and stationed at Subic, Gazmin said.
China has on numerous occasions reaffirmed its sovereignty over the South China Sea, while blasting the Philippines for adopting an expansionist policy in the sea area and urging Washington not to intervene in the area, given that it is not a concerned party.
1st enlisted women picked for U.S. submarines start training
Staff, Associated Press
23 August 2015
The first four of 38 enlisted women picked to serve on Navy submarines are starting their training at Basic Enlisted Submarine School at Groton today.
The Day of New London reports (http://bit.ly/1PJxsDn) the women are part of a class of 79 new students. They are in the Submarine Electronics Communications Field.
Capt. David Roberts, commanding officer to the Submarine Learning Center, tells the Day that the Groton barracks have been updated to meet the Navy's privacy standards and senior enlisted female sailors also are arriving at the sub school to serve as mentors for the younger women.
After sub school, they will continue training for their specific rating specialties.
The Navy began recruiting women in January for submarine service. The first group chosen was announced in June and will begin serving on submarines next year.
23 August 2015
The first four of 38 enlisted women picked to serve on Navy submarines are starting their training at Basic Enlisted Submarine School at Groton today.
The Day of New London reports (http://bit.ly/1PJxsDn) the women are part of a class of 79 new students. They are in the Submarine Electronics Communications Field.
Capt. David Roberts, commanding officer to the Submarine Learning Center, tells the Day that the Groton barracks have been updated to meet the Navy's privacy standards and senior enlisted female sailors also are arriving at the sub school to serve as mentors for the younger women.
After sub school, they will continue training for their specific rating specialties.
The Navy began recruiting women in January for submarine service. The first group chosen was announced in June and will begin serving on submarines next year.
Q&A with U.S. Adm. Jon Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations
Vago Muradian, Defense News
24 August 2015
WASHINGTON – Adm. Jon Greenert retires in September as the US chief of naval operations, having begun his tenure a month after the Budget Control Act of 2011 sharply cut DoD funding and derailed programs, training and maintenance – cuts that continue to impact the force. Despite budget challenges, Greenert pushed innovation, advocated for key efforts like new ballistic missile subs, changed Navy culture and opened opportunities for women.
DoD continues to grapple with an uncertain budget future. Congress is expected to go around spending caps by increasing DoD wartime supplemental spending, a move President Obama has said he would veto. If that happens,
Congress would likely fund DoD with restrictive continuing resolutions – which, for example, limit the services’ ability to start any new work without specific waivers. Analysts predict CRs could end up lasting through next year’s presidential elections.
Q. What impact would a full-year CR have on the Navy?
A. We’re still living with the Budget Control Act. That’s the law of the land. We’ve had a two-year hiatus from it with the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, but that’s what you look forward to, so we have to understand that, if there’s no change, we’re at budget control- like numbers. We’re assuming that we’ll be under continuing resolution for at least the first quarter of this next fiscal year.
We’ve looked at our programs and said “where do we have new starts, where do we have new projects” and from the Navy perspective we’re okay for the first quarter. Now, the level of fiscal year ’15 driven into ’16, that’s not what’s really the issue so much as what we need in ’16.
What did you assume that you would get in ’16 to make yourself an effective service? We assumed more funding than at a ’15 level.
We can deal with that for a quarter – we will work with the Hill in that regard. But if we go into the second quarter and third quarter and we’re deferring important projects – shipbuilding and aircraft building – all of the procurement programs are affected by that. Then you get into the possibility of breaching multiple years, and you can just understand that cascading effect.
We have to understand the consequences. For us it’s about midway through the second quarter. So we would have to kind of gird our loins and decide, okay, how do we deal with this, how do we deal with the shipbuilders.
Unfortunately, we have been here before when we dealt with sequestration.
Q. Secretary Carter wants innovation and you’ve made pushing new capabilities to the fleet, such as new laser technology, a priority. How do you see innovation and the offset strategy?
A. I put it in three categories.
First, the one at which most people look, is the technology aspect. You mentioned one, the laser. The railgun is another, and there are cyber areas and electromagneticspectrum manipulation that are classified and I can’t go there, but that’s the high tech.
There’s another one, which we call the re-purposing. That would be taking something you have today and using it differently.
Taking a missile or a torpedo and you plug in a new warhead, a new seeker, and it suddenly becomes a better weapon, a different weapon that you can now put in a different location, and you can employ it differently. It’s taking a tanker and asking somebody to take the centerpiece out of it and put ballast in there, and you have a mobile landing platform. Then you ask can you put a helicopter deck on, and they say ‘I can do it.’ And then lastly, asking our people. Take junior officers. I have this CRIC, (CNO’s Rapid Innovation Cell). I’ll give you a little bit of money. What do you guys see out there, what would you do if you wanted to do something differently; we’ve gotten great return on that. It’s technology, repurposing and unleashing the innovation of our kids.
Q. China and Russia are arming rapidly and destabilizing their regions. What is the biggest overall threat? What is the biggest naval threat? And is the Navy on the right track to address them?
A. We had a senior-leader council a few weeks ago. We sat down with the secretary of defense and we talked about threats. We kind of came to an agreement that we have a condition, we kind of refer to it today, dealing with counterterrorism, and it’s really about the IS, ISIL and al-Qaida threat. That is out there today in various shapes and forms. It keeps morphing.
Then we have Russia’s emergence. China – I don’t openly and routinely call them a threat, but they sure could be a threat. To me they’re opportunity right now, which could turn into a threat if we blow this and don’t do it right.
We have North Korea and we have Iran. Those tend to be if you will – some are higher end, Russia, China. Then you’ve got kind of the medium weight, middle weight. Those are the threats that we’re dealing with for the Navy.
How do I posture the force around the world, day in and day out to be where it matters when it matters to respond to that, and how quickly can I respond with the right capability of the current measure. That is probably one of my bigger challenges today, to get that back where it needs to be, the response force. That’s the recovery from sequestration, that’s the readiness recovery. It’s the distribution of forces and setting a force posture.
Q. You mentioned China. What progress has happened with China in terms of improving dialogue?
A. About a year and a half ago we got together and signed a document called a Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea. What we said [is] when we encounter each other’s ships at sea here is the protocol we will use. We’ll talk in English, we’ll use the following documents ... We need to apply this to the air. We also said we ought to talk to our coast guards about this, but that’s a future project. So we laid that in and everybody agreed to train our people and get after that. I would say the last numbers I’ve gotten from Admiral Harris and Admiral Swift, three out of four encounters with the Chinese go just according to [that] code.
Something I should mention: a lot of times people talk about interactions with Chinese ships, and they’re auxiliary ships or their amphibious ships. Those are Army ships. They’re not Navy ships. It’s PLA, not PLAN. My point here would be that we have to continue to spread this [cooperation] and show how it can be effective. It has been effective. It has worked. It’s not the answer to it all, it just helps prevent miscalculation, [but] I believe we need to continue to work in this.
Q. Sen. John McCain wants to change acquisition authorities, moving power from the Pentagon acquisition chief toward the services. Where do you come down in that debate?
A. One of the things I know Sen. McCain wants to get clear is, at any given time who is accountable for the performance of this program? Who is accountable for the decision, the funding put in, the schedule it is on, and the
requirements ? Right now that is not very well laid out. There are different people who make changes in programs, in requirements, the schedule and cost. To me as a service chief, that needs to get clarified. I think that’s kind of drifted in the acquisition process that we have out there today.
We’re not following [Goldwater-Nichols] like it should be written, so I would like to cosign any change to any program because I’m the customer. I’m responsible to my sailors to deliver an effective program. I’d also like to understand if we’re going to change the cost and the schedule because once again, I got the end state. I have to make sure that this thing integrates right, and if somebody’s going to change the requirements, I need to cosign that.
We’ve got to get clear, and this is ultimately what Sen. McCain said.
Q. What are the options to execute the Ohio Replacement Program?
A. We haven’t decided the strategy to fund the Ohio Replacement. In other words, we’ve looked at things like, if we understood what the funding will be, we might be able to work on a multi-year. You say, ‘a multi-year for something like that?’ Well, yeah. We can probably get 12 for the price of 11.
That’s how multi-years work. The vendor can plan. The vendor can buy in quantity.
But we’ve got to come to grips in the Department of Defense how are we going to address the strategic modernization programs – Ohio replacement followed by the [Air Force’s new bomber]. By the way the nuclear command and control needs to be upgraded. The missile is right behind that. I think we need to take a broader approach to all of that.
Q. The Navy has been torn internally about whether the UCLASS should be primarily an unmanned surveillance or strike system. What do you think it fundamentally needs to be?
A. It was originally designed to go ship to shore. We got the task and requirement from Secretary Gates. The first comeback was give me a Reaper from an aircraft carrier, because we needed the sovereignty at sea to go ashore.
As we started working I said, ‘we could put a decent payload on this thing, a kinetic payload,’ [and also] sensors, because we got smarter about the different sensors. They got lighter. They got smaller. Weapons got a little lighter and still lethal.
If there’s a lot of payload, it won’t go as far. It won’t be nearly as persistent. If you lighten the payload [then you] say, ‘I don’t know if I have enough kinetics to go deep.’ It’s that balance. We in the Navy felt comfortable that we reached the right balance. It was validated by the JROC a number of times, and we said ‘here you go. Let’s ask for a request for proposal and see what industry can give us.’ The Deputy Secretary of Defense said, ‘I want to see how this fits into the broad portfolio of unmanned before we proceed forward.’ That’s what we’re undergoing right now. At the end of this budget cycle we’ll show you where it fits in the whole portfolio.
24 August 2015
WASHINGTON – Adm. Jon Greenert retires in September as the US chief of naval operations, having begun his tenure a month after the Budget Control Act of 2011 sharply cut DoD funding and derailed programs, training and maintenance – cuts that continue to impact the force. Despite budget challenges, Greenert pushed innovation, advocated for key efforts like new ballistic missile subs, changed Navy culture and opened opportunities for women.
DoD continues to grapple with an uncertain budget future. Congress is expected to go around spending caps by increasing DoD wartime supplemental spending, a move President Obama has said he would veto. If that happens,
Congress would likely fund DoD with restrictive continuing resolutions – which, for example, limit the services’ ability to start any new work without specific waivers. Analysts predict CRs could end up lasting through next year’s presidential elections.
Q. What impact would a full-year CR have on the Navy?
A. We’re still living with the Budget Control Act. That’s the law of the land. We’ve had a two-year hiatus from it with the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, but that’s what you look forward to, so we have to understand that, if there’s no change, we’re at budget control- like numbers. We’re assuming that we’ll be under continuing resolution for at least the first quarter of this next fiscal year.
We’ve looked at our programs and said “where do we have new starts, where do we have new projects” and from the Navy perspective we’re okay for the first quarter. Now, the level of fiscal year ’15 driven into ’16, that’s not what’s really the issue so much as what we need in ’16.
What did you assume that you would get in ’16 to make yourself an effective service? We assumed more funding than at a ’15 level.
We can deal with that for a quarter – we will work with the Hill in that regard. But if we go into the second quarter and third quarter and we’re deferring important projects – shipbuilding and aircraft building – all of the procurement programs are affected by that. Then you get into the possibility of breaching multiple years, and you can just understand that cascading effect.
We have to understand the consequences. For us it’s about midway through the second quarter. So we would have to kind of gird our loins and decide, okay, how do we deal with this, how do we deal with the shipbuilders.
Unfortunately, we have been here before when we dealt with sequestration.
Q. Secretary Carter wants innovation and you’ve made pushing new capabilities to the fleet, such as new laser technology, a priority. How do you see innovation and the offset strategy?
A. I put it in three categories.
First, the one at which most people look, is the technology aspect. You mentioned one, the laser. The railgun is another, and there are cyber areas and electromagneticspectrum manipulation that are classified and I can’t go there, but that’s the high tech.
There’s another one, which we call the re-purposing. That would be taking something you have today and using it differently.
Taking a missile or a torpedo and you plug in a new warhead, a new seeker, and it suddenly becomes a better weapon, a different weapon that you can now put in a different location, and you can employ it differently. It’s taking a tanker and asking somebody to take the centerpiece out of it and put ballast in there, and you have a mobile landing platform. Then you ask can you put a helicopter deck on, and they say ‘I can do it.’ And then lastly, asking our people. Take junior officers. I have this CRIC, (CNO’s Rapid Innovation Cell). I’ll give you a little bit of money. What do you guys see out there, what would you do if you wanted to do something differently; we’ve gotten great return on that. It’s technology, repurposing and unleashing the innovation of our kids.
Q. China and Russia are arming rapidly and destabilizing their regions. What is the biggest overall threat? What is the biggest naval threat? And is the Navy on the right track to address them?
A. We had a senior-leader council a few weeks ago. We sat down with the secretary of defense and we talked about threats. We kind of came to an agreement that we have a condition, we kind of refer to it today, dealing with counterterrorism, and it’s really about the IS, ISIL and al-Qaida threat. That is out there today in various shapes and forms. It keeps morphing.
Then we have Russia’s emergence. China – I don’t openly and routinely call them a threat, but they sure could be a threat. To me they’re opportunity right now, which could turn into a threat if we blow this and don’t do it right.
We have North Korea and we have Iran. Those tend to be if you will – some are higher end, Russia, China. Then you’ve got kind of the medium weight, middle weight. Those are the threats that we’re dealing with for the Navy.
How do I posture the force around the world, day in and day out to be where it matters when it matters to respond to that, and how quickly can I respond with the right capability of the current measure. That is probably one of my bigger challenges today, to get that back where it needs to be, the response force. That’s the recovery from sequestration, that’s the readiness recovery. It’s the distribution of forces and setting a force posture.
Q. You mentioned China. What progress has happened with China in terms of improving dialogue?
A. About a year and a half ago we got together and signed a document called a Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea. What we said [is] when we encounter each other’s ships at sea here is the protocol we will use. We’ll talk in English, we’ll use the following documents ... We need to apply this to the air. We also said we ought to talk to our coast guards about this, but that’s a future project. So we laid that in and everybody agreed to train our people and get after that. I would say the last numbers I’ve gotten from Admiral Harris and Admiral Swift, three out of four encounters with the Chinese go just according to [that] code.
Something I should mention: a lot of times people talk about interactions with Chinese ships, and they’re auxiliary ships or their amphibious ships. Those are Army ships. They’re not Navy ships. It’s PLA, not PLAN. My point here would be that we have to continue to spread this [cooperation] and show how it can be effective. It has been effective. It has worked. It’s not the answer to it all, it just helps prevent miscalculation, [but] I believe we need to continue to work in this.
Q. Sen. John McCain wants to change acquisition authorities, moving power from the Pentagon acquisition chief toward the services. Where do you come down in that debate?
A. One of the things I know Sen. McCain wants to get clear is, at any given time who is accountable for the performance of this program? Who is accountable for the decision, the funding put in, the schedule it is on, and the
requirements ? Right now that is not very well laid out. There are different people who make changes in programs, in requirements, the schedule and cost. To me as a service chief, that needs to get clarified. I think that’s kind of drifted in the acquisition process that we have out there today.
We’re not following [Goldwater-Nichols] like it should be written, so I would like to cosign any change to any program because I’m the customer. I’m responsible to my sailors to deliver an effective program. I’d also like to understand if we’re going to change the cost and the schedule because once again, I got the end state. I have to make sure that this thing integrates right, and if somebody’s going to change the requirements, I need to cosign that.
We’ve got to get clear, and this is ultimately what Sen. McCain said.
Q. What are the options to execute the Ohio Replacement Program?
A. We haven’t decided the strategy to fund the Ohio Replacement. In other words, we’ve looked at things like, if we understood what the funding will be, we might be able to work on a multi-year. You say, ‘a multi-year for something like that?’ Well, yeah. We can probably get 12 for the price of 11.
That’s how multi-years work. The vendor can plan. The vendor can buy in quantity.
But we’ve got to come to grips in the Department of Defense how are we going to address the strategic modernization programs – Ohio replacement followed by the [Air Force’s new bomber]. By the way the nuclear command and control needs to be upgraded. The missile is right behind that. I think we need to take a broader approach to all of that.
Q. The Navy has been torn internally about whether the UCLASS should be primarily an unmanned surveillance or strike system. What do you think it fundamentally needs to be?
A. It was originally designed to go ship to shore. We got the task and requirement from Secretary Gates. The first comeback was give me a Reaper from an aircraft carrier, because we needed the sovereignty at sea to go ashore.
As we started working I said, ‘we could put a decent payload on this thing, a kinetic payload,’ [and also] sensors, because we got smarter about the different sensors. They got lighter. They got smaller. Weapons got a little lighter and still lethal.
If there’s a lot of payload, it won’t go as far. It won’t be nearly as persistent. If you lighten the payload [then you] say, ‘I don’t know if I have enough kinetics to go deep.’ It’s that balance. We in the Navy felt comfortable that we reached the right balance. It was validated by the JROC a number of times, and we said ‘here you go. Let’s ask for a request for proposal and see what industry can give us.’ The Deputy Secretary of Defense said, ‘I want to see how this fits into the broad portfolio of unmanned before we proceed forward.’ That’s what we’re undergoing right now. At the end of this budget cycle we’ll show you where it fits in the whole portfolio.
Attack sub USS Columbus returns from Southern Command deployment
Submarine Force Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
21 August 2015
PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII - The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Columbus (SSN 762) recently returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following a unique deployment to the south.
Columbus returned Aug. 11 to the submarine piers lined with family and friends bidding a warm aloha welcome as she returned from a deployment to the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) 4th Fleet area of responsibility.
The crowd cheered and waved signs, banners, and leis as the submarine came into view in the harbor.
Columbus completed two safe and efficient transits of the Panama Canal and made the first-ever Los Angeles-class submarine visit to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the submarine's commanding officer, Cmdr. Albert Alarcon. He said the crew was outstanding and productive throughout the deployment.
"I'm very proud of my shipmates," said Alarcon. "It has been a pleasure to watch each of my Sailors grow personally and professionally as they continuously postured the Columbus team to reach a higher level of performance."
Columbus' executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Mewett from Plano, Texas, said the crew was outstanding, maintaining a 96 percent operations tempo over the deployment and successfully completing both national and theater commander tasking.
According to Mewett, submarines bring unmatched covert combat power to the theater commander and are ready to execute a broad set of missions, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; anti-surface warfare; anti-submarine warfare; strike warfare and naval special warfare operations.
"Most Pacific Fleet submarines have extensive experience operating in the Western Pacific," said Mewett, noting that Pacific Submarine Force units have not frequented SOUTHCOM to nearly the same levels. "We had more to learn and familiarize ourselves as we operated in an unfamiliar area. Also, we deployed for just three months rather than the typical six months of a Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment."
In addition to gaining the experience of operating at sea, the deployment afforded Sailors the opportunity to work on qualifications.
Over the course of the deployment, 19 enlisted Sailors and one officer on the crew became submarine qualified and are now able to wear their respective submarine warfare insignia, also known as "dolphins."
Twenty-two Sailors also qualified on new supervisory watch station positions.
"Our junior crewmembers performed well, aggressively pursuing submarine and watch station qualifications and taking advantage of the opportunity to gain operational experience," said Mewett.
Many Columbus Sailors had favorite moments during the deployment. Some were genuine favorites while others were funny memories.
"Preparing the charts for the first submarine visit to Guantanamo Bay in 21 years," said Electronics Technician 2nd Class Reese Hand of Dallas, Texas.
Electronics Technician 3rd Class Brandon Heglie from Post Falls, Idaho, said his favorite experience was seeing various crewmembers earn their dolphins.
"Smoking a cigar on the bridge with Oahu in sight on the last day of deployment," was Philadelphia native Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Kurtis Bradley's favorite moment.
USS Columbus is the 51st Los Angeles-class submarine and the 12th improved version of the class, which includes a vertical launch system for
Tomahawk cruise missiles and an improved hull design for under-ice operations. In September 1994, the ship conducted an inter-fleet transfer to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force.
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