Navy Talks Details on LCS Mine Countermeasures Mission Package

MCM UUV in the mission bay of an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship. US Navy Photo

After several years of delays, the Navy’s mine countermeasures mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship has finally reached its initial operating capability.

Last year, the Navy tested the mission package and its systems aboard Independence-class LCS USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), leading the service to announce last week that the MCM mission package achieved the IOC milestone.

The mission package includes...

https://news.usni.org/2023/05/12/navy-talks-details-on-lcs-mine-countermeaures-mission-package

RIMPAC Testing Will Inform the Fate of Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle

Medium displacement unmanned surface vessels Seahawk, front, and Sea Hunter launch for the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem 21 (UxS IBP 21), April 20, 2021. US Navy Photo

The manned-unmanned teaming experimentation currently underway at the biennial Rim of the Pacific 2022 exercise will help the Navy decide the future of the Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle, a service official told reporters on Monday.

Speaking to reporters virtually, Rear Adm. Casey Moton, the...

Navy Taps One-Star To Drive LCS Program Improvements

Information Specialist 1st Class Matthew Stephenson mans the lines as the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS-11) gets underway on Aug. 30, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy has installed a one-star admiral to oversee a task force focused on refining the employment, maintenance and reliability of the Littoral Combat Ship program, the service announced today.

Rear Adm. Robert Nowakowski, the deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Command and Naval Education and Training Command Force...

Navy Working on Better Maintainability, Self-Sufficiency for LCS and Rest of Surface Fleet

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) training ships JS Kashima (TV 3508), left, and JS Shimayuki (TV 3513), right, sail alongside the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) during an exercise, June 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

Navy officials in Washington and on the waterfront are trying to help the Littoral Combat Ships grow more reliable and maintainable, amid a surface navy-wide effort to focus on crew-level maintenance as a means of improving...

https://news.usni.org/2021/01/20/navy-working-on-better-maintainability-self-sufficiency-for-lcs-and-rest-of-surface-fleet

Naval Surface Forces Kicks Off Follow-On LCS Study To Refine Maintenance, Reliability Issues

Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman position for recovery as the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11) participates in a multi-lateral exercise on Sept. 13, 2020. Sioux City is deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. US Navy photo.

Naval Surface Force Pacific spokeswoman Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman told USNI News...

Navy to Use Sea Hunter in Fleet Exercises as Unmanned Systems Experimentation Continues

Sea Hunter, an entirely new class of unmanned sea surface vehicle developed in partnership between the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), completed an autonomous sail from San Diego to Hawaii. US Navy photo

As the Navy experiments with its unmanned surface vehicle prototypes, the service plans to employ the Sea Hunter Medium USV in fleet exercises in the next fiscal year, the program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants said...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/30/navy-to-use-sea-hunter-in-fleet-exercises-as-unmanned-systems-experimentation-continues

Navy Pushing to Maintain 2023 USV Program of Record Timeline

A Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessel takes part in a capstone demonstration during the conclusion of Phase I of the program in September. Two existing commercial fast supply vessels were converted into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for Overlord testing, which will play a vital role in informing the Navy’s new classes of USVs. US Navy photo.

Several Navy program officials and resource sponsors today outlined how they’ll spend the next couple years giving Congress enough confidence in unmanned...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/08/navy-pushing-to-maintain-2023-usv-program-of-record-timeline

6 Companies Awarded Contracts to Start Work on Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle

A Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessel takes part in a capstone demonstration during the conclusion of Phase I of the program in September. Two existing commercial fast supply vessels were converted into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for Overlord testing, which will play a vital role in informing the Navy’s new classes of USVs. US Navy photo.

The Navy today awarded six companies contracts to take the first steps in determining what the service’s Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle will look like.

After...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/04/6-companies-awarded-contracts-to-start-work-on-large-unmanned-surface-vehicle

Program Office Maturing USVs, UUVs With Help From Industry, International Partners

A Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessel takes part in a capstone demonstration during the conclusion of Phase I of the program in September. Two existing commercial fast supply vessels were converted into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for Overlord testing, which will play a vital role in informing the Navy’s new classes of USVs. US Navy photo.

The Navy’s transition from prototype to program of record for its portfolio of unmanned surface and undersea systems is being aided by industry,...

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