MyCG announced Coast Guard Cutter Mellon as the Eight Bells multimedia contest winner. (No theirs is not the one I have included above. That one comes from Campbell and includes scenes from their exercise North of the Arctic Circle.)
You can see all the ten entries here. All the entries are worth a look. Well Done.
A small unmanned aircraft system operator recovers an sUAS (Scan Eagle–Chuck) after a flight from Coast Guard Cutter Stratton in the South China Sea Sept. 16, 2019. The sUAS is capable of flying for more than 20 hours and has a maximum speed of about 60 mph. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Nate Littlejohn.
The Navy Leagues Seapower web site is reporting that the Coast Guard will have Scan Eagle UAV systems installed on all currently operational National Security Cutters by the end of 2020, and in addition that the systems will be installed on the Offshore Patrol Cutters.
There is a lot of significant information in this report.
Contractors still control the UAVs.
“Insitu installs the UAVs and their launch-and-recovery equipment and ground-control stations on board the ships, he said. Insitu sends four-person teams to deploy with each ship. They operate the entire system once on board. The teams are fully embedded with their ship’s crew.”
The sensor package.
“A standard pack-out for a deployment is three ScanEagle UAVs, he said. The sensor systems include and electro-optical/infrared camera, a laser pointer, a communication relay, an Automatic Identification System interrogator and Vidar (visual detection and ranging, a surface search capability).”
The increased search capability.
Currier said that before deployment of the ScanEagle the NSC had a scan of 35 miles either side of the ship with its organic sensors.
“With ScanEagle on board, for good parts of the day, you’re up to 75 miles either side of the ship as you’re moving through the sea space,” he said. “ScanEagle is a game-changer.”
“We’ve effectively doubled the search area of a national security cutter,” Tremain said. “We’re he only company flying with Vidar, and we’re surveilling up to 1,000 square miles of open ocean per flight hour, and we’re identifying greater than 90% of the targets.”
You might think these would not be much of an improvement over a ship based manned helicopter, but in fact the helicopter would probably not be air borne searching more than four hours a day, while three Scan Eagles could conceivably maintain a watch 24 hour a day. Additionally a helicopters sensors are probably not as effective as the VIDAR on the Scan Eagle.
Using these for search rather than the helicopter, also means less wear and tear on the helicopter, and that the helicopter is more likely to be available when it is really needed.
The National Cuttermen Chapter is part of the Surface Navy Association, so Coast Guard members/units can compete for these two awards. The second in particular seems appropriate. Deadlines are short.
—–
CAPT RAYMOND A. KOMOROWSKI PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Deadline Date: 1 October 2019
This photography award was initiated to showcase the professional activities and lives of the Surface Warfare Community. These images represent their contribution in the following areas: naval warfare; archival material; and educating the citizens of the United States regarding surface warfare department and its achievements.
Category winners will receive $100 and the Grand Prize winner will receive an additional $500 and an invitation to SNA’s Annual Symposium. Photographers are only eligible to win one award unless awarded the Grand Prize.
For award submission criteria and information go to: http://navysna.org/awards/komorowski-photo/
VIDEO AWARD
Deadline Date: 1 October 2019
To creatively promote the values of the Surface Navy Association and to actively engage the Surface fleet and SNA members to choreograph and produce a Surface Warfare ‘spirit spot’ video, showcasing Sailor’s lives in the Surface Navy and Coast Guard (at sea and ashore) or supporting surface warfare in industry.
A montery award will be given to the command’s MWR fund or to the industry individual or group. Cash prices will be 1st place – $600, 2nd place – $300 and 3rd place – $200. First place winner (1 only) will also be invited to the SNA Annual Symposium for recognition.
For award submission criteria and information go to: http://navysna.org/awards/video-competition.html
Award Coordinator
SURFACE NAVY ASSOCIATION
6564 Loisdale Court, Suite 318
Springfield, VA 22150
Phone: 703-960-6800
www.navysna.org
awards@navysna.org
Like many of you, I was unable to attend the Surface Navy Association Conference, but I did find a number of videos which may provide some of the information that would have been available there. The Coast Guard Commandant had been scheduled to speak but cancelled, apparently in response to the partial government shutdown.
I have provided three videos, each about ten minutes, that may be of general interest, and links to four others, typically 20-25 minutes. The descriptions are from their respective YouTube pages.
The second and third videos have specific Coast Guard content, which I have identified by bold typeface with the beginning time in parenthesis. Some of the other equipment may have Coast Guard applications in the future.
Day 1 video coverage at SNA 2019, the Surface Navy Association’s national symposium. In this video we cover:
– Austal latest frigate design for FFG(X)
– Raytheon DART Variable Depth Sonar (VDS)
– Raytheon / Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
– Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti Ship Missile (LRASM)
Day 2 video coverage at SNA 2019, the Surface Navy Association’s national symposium.
In this video we cover:
– Fincantieri Marine Group FREMM frigate design for FFG(X)
– General Dynamics NASSCO John Lewis-class T-AO (New Oiler)
– Raytheon SM-2 restart
– Raytheon SM-3
– Leonardo DRS Hybrid Electric Drive for U.S. Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) (time 11:10)
Day 3 video coverage at SNA 2019, the Surface Navy Association’s national symposium. In this video we cover:
– Atlas North America’s solutions for mine counter measures, harbor security and unmanned surface vessels
– Lockheed Martin Canadian Surface Combatant (Type 26 Frigate, Canada’s Combat Ship Team)
– Insitu ScanEagle and Integrator UAS (time 4:30)
– Raytheon SPY-6 and EASR radar programs
—
NAVSEA’s Moore on Improving Ship Repair, McCain & Fitzgerald, Ford, LCS
Vice Adm. Tom Moore, USN, the commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command, discusses US Navy efforts to increase public and private ship repair capabilities, lessons learned from repairing USS John S. McCain and Fitzgerald, the new Ford-class aircraft carrier, getting the Littoral Combat Ship on regular deployments and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia.
GE Marine’s Awiszus on LM2500 Engine Outlook, Future Shipboard Power
George Awiszus, military marketing director of GE Marine, discusses the outlook for the company’s LM2500 engine that drives warships in more than 30 nations and the future of shipboard power with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia.
US Navy’s Moran on Improving the Surface Force, Culture, Ship Repair & Information Sharing
Adm. Bill Moran, USN, the vice chief of naval operations, discusses dialogue with China, improving the surface force in the wake of 2017’s deadly accidents, refining Navy culture, increasing ship repair capabilities, harnessing data, improving information sharing across the force and the new Design for Seapower 2.0 with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference and tradeshow in Northern Virginia.
US Navy’s Coffman on New Expeditionary Warfighting Concepts, Organizations, Unmanned Ships
Maj. Gen. David “Stretch” Coffman, USMC, the US Navy’s director of expeditionary warfare (N95), discusses new expeditionary warfighting concepts, the recent deployment of Littoral Combat Group 1 — composed of USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Somerset (LPD-25) — to South America, new formations to replace the current Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit, unmanned ships, the performance of the F-35B Lightning II and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.
If you were unable to attend the Surface Navy Association Symposium, but would like to see what you missed, NavyRecognition offers a series of videos. They include a number of systems that have been discussed here including, smart projectiles for the 57mm, unmanned surface vehicles, the LRASM Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, SeaRAM as a replacement for Phalanx, TRAPS Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar, MK20 Mod 1 Electro-Optical Sensor System (EOSS), TRS-3D Baseline D multi-mode radar (MMR) ordered for the ninth NSC.
If you want to look primarily at the frigate proposals as well as the proposed weapons modules for the LCS which might also be applicable to the icebreaker, there is this composite video.
Incidentally why was there no mention of this symposium on the National Cuttermen Association Chapter, Surface Navy Association website?
Recently recieved an email from the President of the Cuttermen Association. I am quoting it below.
Past and Present Members of the Coast Guard Cuttermen Association,
We are very excited that the Coast Guard Cuttermen Association (CGCA) and the Surface Navy Association (SNA) have agreed to merge their organizations. This will bring new members to SNA, and will provide CGCA with the full time administrative support it needs in tracking its membership and in communicating with its members through email and online. The potential merger was unanimously approved during CGCA’s Annual Meeting in January, and the details were approved by both organizations in June. For those of you who have not been as deeply involved in the administration of our organization, you may not know that SNA provided significant assistance each year since our inception, and continues to do so. There is an incredible synergy and purpose between our two organizations and our sea services, which makes this merger common sense. We are much stronger together.
We will reach out to our membership periodically in coming months to provide more information on this effort and our progress and answer any concerns. CDR Tony Russell has volunteered to spearhead a membership drive with the chapters to encourage renewal of existing members and seek new members within our cuttermen communities. We are planning a formal signing ceremony in September.
Through the merger agreement the CGCA will now be known as the National Cuttermen’s chapter of the Surface Navy Association, and the Washington Homeport of CGCA will now be the Anacostia chapter of SNA. The New London Chapter will be become the New London chapter of SNA. All financial resources of the National Cuttermen’s Association will be transferred to our new chapter within SNA under the signed agreement, and a final financial report will be made to our membership.
I am impressed by the efforts of Captain Tom Crabbs the prior President and his board to build towards this partnership with Surface Naval Association last year, which we have now finalized. As your new CGCA President I am excited about the benefits of our merger with the Surface Naval Association for both organizations, and the opportunity that this effort presents to renew and grow our organization. This partnership will resolve some of the significant administrative challenges that our organization has faced since conception.
LT Torrey Jacobsen was elected as our new Vice President. Rear Admiral (Select) Eric Jones is our newly elected Treasurer. Brian Perkins (CAPT, USCG ret.) serves in his new capacity as our Secretary, and has been the workhorse behind arranging this new SNA partnership. CAPT Tom Crabbs continues to serve on our Board as our Past President.
In the next couple of days SNA will be sending an email with procedures on how past members can rejoin and current members can affiliate with a chapter of their choice.
If you have any questions please feel free to write me at Scott.W.Clendenin@uscg.mil.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of our organization.
Captain Scott Clendenin
President
National Cuttermen’s Chapter
This is probably a good thing. It another small step toward recognizing the the Coast Guard’s role in the National Fleet. The Coast Guard is already well represented at the SNA’s annual symposium. For more information on the Surface Navy Association, their web site is here. Their next symposium, “Distributed Lethality: Enabling Sea Control,” is scheduled for January 10-12, 2017. Not sure the Coast Guard will have much to say about “distributed lethality” unless we start think about something like this.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 