USN in General

[Pelican]

U.S. Navy LCS Begins First Ever Middle East Deployment

MANAMA, Bahrain - USS Sioux City (LCS 11) arrived to Bahrain for a scheduled port visit, June 25, marking the completion of a 10,000-mile journey while becoming the first littoral combat ship to operate in the Middle East.

Continues at - https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... eployment/

Link from Tim.

[Pelican]

Second American nuclear submarine arrives in Scotland

The USS Georgia, equipped with an underwater launch system for special forces, joins the USS Rhode Island at Faslane naval base near Glasgow in Scotland.

The USS Georgia, like the USS Rhode Island, is an Ohio-class submarine. Unlike the Rhode Island however, she was converted to a cruise missile submarine from a ballistic missile submarine.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/second- ... T0QkGuelE4

[Pelican]

China claims to have "driven away" destroyer USS Benfold while it was conducting freedom of navigation operation near disputed Paracel Islands.

China seized Islands from Vietnam in 1974 & since made claims over almost the entire South China Sea

See - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chin ... -7lvws6030

[Pelican]

USSOCOM Update On MC-130J Amphibious Capability Or ‘MAC’

At the U.S. Special Operations Forces Industry Conference 2022 (SOFIC 2022), held in-person for the first time (and also virtually) since the COVID-19 pandemic, USSOCOM Program Executive Office Fixed Wing (PEO FW) offered additional insight as to the progress of the Special Operations Command’s quest for an amphibious C-130J seaplane for greater mobility, flexibility, and survivability in the INDO-PACOM region.

See - https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... ty-or-mac/

[Pelican]

USSOCOM Update On MC-130J Amphibious Capability Or ‘MAC’

At the U.S. Special Operations Forces Industry Conference 2022 (SOFIC 2022), held in-person for the first time (and also virtually) since the COVID-19 pandemic, USSOCOM Program Executive Office Fixed Wing (PEO FW) offered additional insight as to the progress of the Special Operations Command’s quest for an amphibious C-130J seaplane for greater mobility, flexibility, and survivability in the INDO-PACOM region.

See - https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... ty-or-mac/

Link from Tim.

[Pelican]

US Navy Punishes Over Two Dozen Officers and Sailors Over Fire on USS Bonhomme Richard

In July 2020 an explosion and fire broke out aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard dockside at the Naval Base San Diego. The fire would burn for four days, injuring 60 firefighters and ultimately resulting in the total loss of the ship, which was towed to a scrap yard in April 2021.

Last Friday, the US Navy announced punishments for more than 20 officers and enlisted personnel for their actions and inaction in connection to the fire. The fire itself is believed to have been started by an act of arson. Navy Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays was charged with arson in the disaster. He faces a hearing on Aug. 17, with his trial expected to run Sept. 19 through Sept. 30.

Although Seaman Mays was accused of deliberately starting the fire, the findings of an investigation released by the Navy in October 2021 revealed that the damage could have been lessened had naval officers been better prepared. “The ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” the report said.

Continues, including photos, links, video, at - http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2022/07/us-n ... more-59457

[Pelican]

US Navy Punishes Over Two Dozen Officers and Sailors Over Fire on USS Bonhomme Richard

In July 2020 an explosion and fire broke out aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard dockside at the Naval Base San Diego. The fire would burn for four days, injuring 60 firefighters and ultimately resulting in the total loss of the ship, which was towed to a scrap yard in April 2021.

Last Friday, the US Navy announced punishments for more than 20 officers and enlisted personnel for their actions and inaction in connection to the fire. The fire itself is believed to have been started by an act of arson. Navy Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays was charged with arson in the disaster. He faces a hearing on Aug. 17, with his trial expected to run Sept. 19 through Sept. 30.

Although Seaman Mays was accused of deliberately starting the fire, the findings of an investigation released by the Navy in October 2021 revealed that the damage could have been lessened had naval officers been better prepared. “The ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire,” the report said.

Continues, including photos, links, video, at - http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2022/07/us-n ... more-59457

Navy Punishes More Than 20 Sailors Over Fire on the Bonhomme Richard

The punishments included reprimands for the former leadership of the warship, which was destroyed in 2020 at a base in San Diego.

See - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/18/us/n ... hment.html?

[Pelican]

Life Inside $4 Billion US Gigantic Submarine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsNZ5y6ttf0

Link from Tim.

[Pelican]

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding Awarded DDG(X) Design Engineering Contract

HII announced that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been awarded a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for engineering and design from the U.S. Navy for the next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDG(X)) program.

See - https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... rettyPhoto

Link from Tim.

[Pelican]

‘Chink In The Armor’ – Why World’s Most Powerful US Navy Remains Highly Susceptible To Cyber Attacks


EXPERT REVIEWS By Prakash Nanda July 24, 2022


Amid an avalanche of cyber-attacks in Ukraine and troubled China-US relations, the US Navy, compared to its sister services, is increasingly being perceived as highly vulnerable to hackers for access and information.

So much so that while the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is pushing the Navy to create a singular and special work role dedicated to cyberspace matters, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) would like the Navy to entirely get out of cyber operations for U.S. Cyber Command.

These recommendations from the two committees of the two Houses in their respective versions of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which are now for legislative approval from the two chambers of the US Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – and their eventual adjustments or reconciliation.

The SASC had passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023 on June 16, but the full text of the bill and its provisions were released publicly only on July 18. The House Committee completed its consideration on June 23.

Both HASC and SASC seem to have shared concerns that the US Navy does not have a dedicated military occupational specialty for cyber, affecting its overall combat readiness.

As it is, the US Navy is currently the only service that does not have a dedicated specialty “designator,” the term used in naval parlance for cyber.

Its cyber personnel are primarily resourced from its cryptologic warfare community — which is also responsible for signals intelligence, electronic warfare and information operations, among several mission sets — with additional roles resourced from information specialists and cyber warfare engineers, who, otherwise, are not operators.

These engineers only deal with technical skills and the development of tools.

Of course, there is an overall US Cyber Command that was created in 2010, with each service (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) contributing to the joint Cyber Mission Force.

And when it was created, the Navy, ironically, was supposed to be the leading branch of the military for the cyber arena as it was said to have a rich heritage in what was then known as “tailored access operations” at the National Security Agency (NSA).

The NSA has been responsible for breaking into adversary computers for intelligence gathering purposes. It is to be noted that Cyber Command and NSA share the same Director and are closely aligned).

Accordingly, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command (FCC)/U.S. TENTH Fleet (C10F) was created in 2010 as the Navy component command to the U.S. Cyber Command (it also became the Navy space component to U.S. Strategic Command and the Navy’s Service Cryptologic Component Commander under the National Security Agency/Central Security Service.

It now has an operational force composed of more than 14,000 Active and Reserve Sailors and civilians organized into 28 active commands, 40 Cyber Mission Force units, and 27 reserve commands around the globe. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command reports directly to the Chief of Naval Operations as an Echelon II command and is responsible for Navy information network operations, offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, space operations and signals intelligence.

Continues at - https://eurasiantimes.com/us-navy-remai ... r-attacks/