During the 80-minute flight in restricted airspace, the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, controlled by ground-based Navy and Northrop Grumman personnel, reached 20,000 feet altitude.

“This flight represents a significant milestone for the Triton team,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, who leads the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons at Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. “The work they have done and will continue to do is critical to the future of naval aviation, particularly to our maritime patrol and reconnaissance community.”

The MQ-4C Triton provides the fleet with a game-changing persistent maritime and littoral ISR data collection and dissemination capability, said Winter. It will be a key component of the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force family of systems.

As an adjunct to the manned P-8A Poseidon, the MQ-4C Triton will be a major part of the military’s surveillance strategy for the Asia and Pacific regions. The Triton will fly missions for 24 hours at altitudes greater than 10 miles, allowing the system to monitor 2,000 nautical miles of ocean and littoral areas at a time.

The P-8A Poseidon is the Navy’s new multi-mission maritime aircraft being built to replace the P-3C Orion long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

“When operational, the MQ-4C will complement our manned P-8 because it can fly for long periods, transmit its information in real-time to units in the air and on ground, as well as use less resources than previous surveillance aircraft,” said Rear Adm. Sean Buck, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group commander, who also witnessed today’s flight. “Triton will bring an unprecedented ISR capability to the warfighter.”

The MQ-4C Triton UAS will be based at five locations around the globe. Triton operators will disseminate data in real-time to fleet units to support surface warfare, intelligence operations, strike warfare and search and rescue

“Our goal is to mature the Triton UAS before supporting the Navy’s maritime ISR mission,” said Capt. Jim Hoke, program manager for the Persistent Maritime UAS office (PMA-262), which oversees the Triton program. “The data we collect the next few years is essential to certify the system for operational use.”

Flight tests will continue in California for the next several months before the team transitions the aircraft to Patuxent River in the fall.

With MS C approval, the RQ-21A program, managed by the Navy and Marine Corps STUAS program office (PMA-263) here at NAS Patuxent River, enters the production and deployment phase of the acquisition timeline, according to the PMA-263 Program Manager Col. Jim Rector.

“This milestone allows us to provide our warfighter with a unique capability – an organic UAS capable of operations from both land and sea,” said Rector. “The RQ-21A will provide persistent maritime and land-based tactical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition data collection and dissemination capabilities.”

The Navy awarded Insitu, Inc., an Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for STUAS in July 2010. Since then, the government/industry team has executed land-based developmental tests (DT), operational tests at China Lake, Calif. in December 2012 and conducted the first sea-based DT from USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) in February.

Concurrently, Marines are flying an Early Operational Capability (EOC) system at Twenty Nine Palms, Calif. for pre-deployment preparation. Lessons learned from EOC will be applied to operational missions in theater.

The aircraft is based on Insitu’s Scan Eagle UAS, which has flown more than 245,000 hours in support of Navy and Marine Corps forward deployed forces via a services contract. The RQ-21A system has a 25 pound payload capacity, ground control system, catapult launcher and unique recovery system, known as Skyhook, allowing the aircraft to recover without a runway.

The RQ-21A includes Day/Night Full Motion Video (FMV) cameras, infrared marker and laser range finder, and Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers. The ability to rapidly integrate payloads allows warfighters to quickly insert the most advanced and relevant payload for their land/maritime missions and counter-warfare actions.

“The expeditionary nature of the RQ-21A makes it possible to deploy a multi-intelligence capable UAS with minimal footprint, ideal for amphibious operations such as a Marine Expeditionary Unit conducts,” Rector said. “The RQ-21A can be operated aboard ship, and then rapidly transported ashore as either a complete system or just a “spoke”, or control center, making this system ideally suited for humanitarian or combat operations, where getting real-time intelligence to the on-scene commander is crucial.”

The DoN plans to purchase a total of 36 STUAS systems, each with five aircraft. Initial Operational Capability is scheduled for second quarter fiscal year 2014.

Britain, which has always prided itself on its sea power, will have to do without the ability to launch jets at sea until 2020 as it tries to balance its books and two new carriers are built.

Crowds lined the harbour walls at Portsmouth on the English south coast to say farewell to the “Mighty Ark”. Some onlookers wore black armbands or waved flags.

The warship, which saw active service in the Balkans and the second war in Iraq, is being towed to Izmir on Turkey’s west coast. It was sold as scrap to recycling firm Leyal, for £2.9 million ($4.4 million, 3.4 million euros).

HMS Ark Royal and its sister aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Illustrious were the biggest ships in Britain’s navy — a key part not only of Britain’s defence but also its ability to project power worldwide.

Invincible was sold to Leyal for scrap in 2011, while Illustrious is serving as a helicopter landing platform and ministers hope to preserve her for the nation after it retires next year.

Britain will have no carrier strike capability until two new, bigger Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers come into service from 2020.

Ark Royal sailed back into Portsmouth in December 2010 as part of eight percent defence spending cuts introduced by Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government in a bid to shrink Britain’s budget deficit.

“Ark Royal, like her sister ships, has served this country with great distinction,” a Ministry of Defence spokesman told AFP.

“Retiring her five years earlier than planned was a difficult decision but it was the right one that, combined with her sale, has saved over £100 million.

“A decommissioning ceremony was held in March 2011 to pay tribute to her 31 years’ service with the Royal Navy.”

London decided to decommission the Ark Royal and also retire the fleet of Harrier jets deployed on board.

The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers were ordered in part because it would be more expensive to scrap pre-agreed contracts.

The government felt it could bridge the 10-year carrier gap by using foreign bases and overfly rights if required.

There have been five ships called Ark Royal, all of which were aircraft carriers except the first — a wooden sailing ship that saw battle in 1588 in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

The JHSV is a versatile, non-combatant transport ship built by Austal USA and designed for fast intra-theater transportation of troops, military vehicles and equipment.

The ship was presented to the Navy’s independent Board of Inspection and Survey for five days of material assessments and testing, including underway at-sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. The Acceptance Trials evaluated the ship’s major systems and equipment to include a full power run and demonstrations of main propulsion engineering and ship control systems, anchoring, food service and crew support systems. The ship reached speeds of over 40 knots during at-sea trials.

“With these extensive tests, this new, highly-flexible ship class continues to demonstrate its performance ability and endurance,” said Capt. Henry Stevens, JHSV program manager. “Leveraging commercial design and technology, JHSV 2 is building on the successes and lessons learned from USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1), while improving our processes for the entire JHSV program.”

Acceptance Trials represent the cumulative efforts following a series of in-port and underway inspections conducted jointly by the JHSV Program Office, SUPSHIP Gulf Coast, INSURV, the Military Sealift Command and Austal, USA, throughout the build, test and trials process.

USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1), delivered to MSC in December 2012, is currently undergoing post-delivery testing and trials in Little Creek, VA. These trials include extensive ramp interface testing, refueling at sea, and additional crew training prior to the ship’s first deployment.

JHSV is designed to commercial standards, with limited modifications for military use. The vessel is capable of transporting 600 short tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots, and can operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities and on/off-loading a combat-loaded Abrams Main Battle Tank (M1A2). Other joint requirements include an aviation flight deck to support day and night aircraft launch and recovery operations. JHSV will have airline style seating for 312 embarked forces with fixed berthing for 104.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft. Delivering high quality war fighting assets, while balancing affordability and capability, is key to supporting the Navy’s Maritime Strategy.

There has been a good deal of conversation recently debating the size of the Navy’s ballistic missile submarine force and need for a nuclear deterrent. Some of the information used in this reporting references SSBN patrol data available to the public that is limited in content. I’d like to take the opportunity to address some of the assertions and conclusions drawn from incomplete SSBN operational data.

The most fundamental purpose of the SSBN force is to deter nuclear attack against the United States and against our friends and allies. The SSBN force does this as a part of our nuclear triad with the SSBN force providing the survivable assured response. This response is delivered by ensuring that the required quantity of SSBNs is loaded with the required number of warheads is hiding in the right locations at sea and connected by the right communications links.

The president, National Security Council, secretary of Defense and U.S. Strategic Command establish the policies and plans that determine the required quantity of SSBNs that must be at sea. For more than 50 years, the Navy has adapted and revised the SSBN force and its operations to meet this national requirement in the most cost-effective manner. As a practical matter, the specifics of our SSBN operational patterns and locations are not public knowledge; this would undermine the operational security upon which a survivable deterrent must depend. Without providing operational details, here are some key points we’d like to make to shape this conversation.

We have the right number of SSBNs to provide our required sea-based deterrent.

Some contend we can reduce our SSBN force and still meet requirements. This is not true. The current force of 14 SSBNs is necessary to provide 10 operational SSBNs and support our national deterrence requirements. Our SSBN force is sized with a clear recognition of the need to sustain required at-sea deterrence even during refueling overhauls and other modernization and certifications. Reducing the force by even one operational SSBN today would gap deterrent coverage. The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review acknowledged this when it noted that only as the end of the refueling overhauls is approached in 2015 should we begin to consider the potential to reduce the SSBN force to 12 ships.

Operational SSBNs remain as fully utilized today as they have been over the last decade.

Use of data on the number of patrols and notional “typical” values for patrol length and operating cycles can be misleading. In particular, the “number of patrols” is a poor predictor of days doing the deterrence mission. It is true that since the mid-1990s, the SSBN deterrence requirement has been reduced to reflect a smaller force (14 total vice 18) and the commencement of overhauls of those 14 SSBNs (now only 10 to 12 operational SSBNs vice 18). Since those adjustments, however, the pace at which our operational SSBNs go to sea in the conduct of the deterrence mission has remained essentially constant and offers no slack.

Looking forward, the Navy needs to sustain at least 10 operational SSBNs to meet requirements.

It has been posed that the SSBN force can be reduced even more than planned because the targeting requirements will decrease in the future and the Navy could compensate for a smaller force by loading more warheads onto each missile. Strategic planners do not see things this way. The nuclear trajectory of the international community is in grave doubt, and there is every indication that U.S. deterrence will play an increasing – not decreasing role in the future. This occurs even as we reduce our SSBN-loaded missiles from more than 240 today to 160 when the last Ohio retires. There is already risk in this projection; there is no need to introduce more.

In order to sustain 10 operational SSBNs from now through the introduction of the new SSBN, we must complete refueling overhauls of all 14 Ohio SSBNs and operate the 12 newest of them to their full 42-year extended life. Doing this successfully will require extraordinary attention, careful maintenance, excellent engineering skill and dedicated, well-trained operators, and it will produce a lean SSBN force working very hard to provide the Nation with the required survivable assured nuclear response capability while doing the necessary maintenance to support obligations over the long-term.

“Today we saw a small, but significant pixel in the future picture of our Navy as we begin integration of unmanned systems into arguably the most complex warfighting environment that exists today: the flight deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,” said Vice Adm. David Buss, commander, Naval Air Forces, the Navy’s “Air Boss”.

The unmanned aircraft launched from the deck of George H.W. Bush at 11:18 a.m. It executed several planned low approaches to the carrier and safely transited across the Chesapeake Bay to land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., after an approximately 65-minute flight.

Buss called the launch a “watershed event” in naval aviation and said he expects that decades from now, a future “Air Boss” will have a picture of the X-47B launching from Bush behind his or her desk just as he has a picture of aviation pioneer Eugene Ely’s first-ever landing on the deck of a ship in 1911 behind his desk today.

Completing another important first for the UCAS-D program, the team demonstrated the ability to precisely navigate the X-47B within the controlled airspace around an aircraft carrier at sea and seamlessly pass control of the air vehicle from a “mission operator” aboard the carrier to one located in the Mission Test Control Center at NAS Patuxent River for landing.

“The flight today demonstrated that the X-47B is capable of operation from a carrier, hand-off from one mission control station to another, flight through the national airspace, and recovery at another location without degradation in safety or precision,” said Matt Funk, lead test engineer for the Navy UCAS program.

Prior to the catapult launch on Tuesday, the UCAS test team also conducted deck-handling and ship-integration testing to demonstrate the capability to safely operate the X-47B in the dynamic, unforgiving environment of an aircraft carrier flight deck.

“This event is a testament to the teamwork, professionalism and expertise of everyone involved with X-47B program,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons. “Their work will positively impact future unmanned aviation development for years to come.”

Over the next few weeks, the X-47B aircraft will fly approaches to the ship multiple times and eventually land on the pitching flight deck, said Navy UCAS Program Manager Capt. Jaime Engdahl.

The UCAS team will conduct additional shore-based testing with the X-47B at NAS Patuxent River in the coming months before its final carrier-based arrested landing demonstration later this summer.

Vice admiral B K Varma, chief of staff, Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy said “the aircraft is to be used for broad-area maritime and anti-submarine operations. The aircraft is going to be a unique part in our anti-surface warfare, surveillance and intelligence capacities”.

He said “it is capability based planning, not a threat based planning, that India follows to enhancement of maritime border security”.

As part of a detailed maritime mission plan, Varma said, different phases of coastal security schemes were also being implemented across the Indian maritime borders.

“For an effective understanding of the maritime related issues in Indian waters, a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is now being designed to coordinate with 17 maritime agencies in the country. This will also ensure an identity for each and every fishing boat and vessels in Indian waters to avoid maritime safety and security violations,” he said.

The Boeing P8I is armed with anti-ship Harpoon missiles, Mark-54 anti-submarine torpedoes and Mark-82 depth bombs and was handed over to India in Seattle in December 2012.

It also has a Global Positioning System ( GPS)-cum-Inertial Navigation System that ensures accuracy in hitting targets.

It was in 2009 India signed a two billion dollar contract for a batch of eight aircraft, of which seven will be delivered by 2015.

Induction of P8Iaircraft is being observed as a significant development in enhancing India’s coastal security at a time when there are a lot of speculations about how China is involved in the development of a port near Karachi, a coast-based port of Gwadar.

The group has entered the Red Sea and is preparing to transit the Suez Canal, and should reach the Mediterranean by mid-May, he said.

The group, including the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the amphibious warfare ships Peresvet and Admiral Nevelsky, the tanker Pechenga and the salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov left the port of Vladivostok on March 19 to join Russia’s Mediterranean task force.

The task force currently includes the large anti-submarine ship Severomorsk, the frigate Yaroslav Mudry, the salvage/rescue tugs Altai and SB-921 and the tanker Lena from the Northern and Baltic Fleets, as well as the Ropucha-II Class landing ship Azov from the Black Sea Fleet.

The task force may be enlarged to include nuclear submarines, Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov said on Sunday.

The Defense Ministry said in April Russia has begun setting up a naval task force in the Mediterranean, sending several warships from the Pacific Fleet to the region. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March a permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean was needed to defend Russia’s interests in the region.

A senior Defense Ministry official said the Mediterranean task force’s command and control agencies will be based either in Novorossiysk, Russia, or in Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, head of the parliamentary defense committee, previously told RIA Novosti that the Mediterranean task force should be comprised of 10 warships and support vessels as part of several tactical groups tasked with attack, antisubmarine warfare and minesweeping.

The Soviet Union maintained its 5th Mediterranean Squadron from 1967 until 1992. It was formed to counter the US Navy’s 6th Fleet during the Cold War, and consisted of 30-50 warships and auxiliary vessels.

Abe’s comment came after Japan’s Defence Ministry said a submerged vessel was spotted in the contiguous waters — a 12 nautical mile strip outside territorial waters — near one of Japan’s Okinawa islands, from late Sunday to early Monday.

The government would not confirm media reports it was a Chinese sub.

“These are serious acts. If (submarines) enter our territorial waters while underwater, we would have to implement maritime security action,” Abe told parliament Tuesday.

He did not clarify further, but the form of words he used may indicate that the Defence Minister could order action by Japan’s Self Defense Forces.

In the incident on Monday, the submarine was tracked close to territorial waters off Kume, although it did not violate any laws.

Under international rules, vessels can pass freely through the outer ring of waters, provided their intent is peaceable. Submarines must surface and display their flag if they navigate into territorial waters.

The submarine incident came as three Chinese government ships spent half a day in waters off the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands that Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.

It was the latest episode in a fraught few months which have seen repeated stand-offs between official ships from both sides as they jostle over ownership of the strategically-important and resource-rich islands.

China is believed to be boosting its naval capability in the Pacific and has been criticised by neighbours for what is seen as an increasingly aggressive stance in the region, particularly in its multiple territorial disputes.
— Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story. —

USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Squall (PC 7) and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) are scheduled to arrive this summer. Two additional ships are expected to transfer next year. Commander, Patrol Coastal Squadron ONE (PCRON 1) along with a PC maintenance support team will also permanently move.

Five PCs have provided dedicated coastal patrol capability to the Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet (C5F) area of operation (AOR) since 2006. The PCs currently stationed in Bahrain are manned with unaccompanied, rotational crews. The forward deployment resulted in the decision to shift from 6-month rotational crews to permanent crews stationed in Bahrain allowing families to accompany their sailors to Bahrain. The shift alleviates the significant strain placed on the crews and their families while ensuring capacity and capability.

A total of ten PCs will be permanently stationed in Bahrain by the spring of 2014. Three PCs will remain stationed in the continental U.S.

PCs provide the U.S. Navy with a fast, reliable platform that can respond to emergent requirements in a shallow water environment. The primary mission of these ships is coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, an important aspect of littoral operations outlined in the Navy’s maritime strategy.