first Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) to the U.S. Navy by successfully completing its first operational mission as part of the Joint Forces Command's Exercise, Millennium Challenge 2002. On Aug. off the coast of Hawaii. Additionally, lock-out operations were completed, enabling the submerged departure of SEALs and their equipment. completion. The ASDS performed exactly as planned and participants praised the achievement. "This first-of-its-kind system provides a new level of operational capability to our SEAL forces in high-threat areas," said Fran Holian, vice president of Northrop Grumman Oceanic and Naval Systems. The business unit produced the ASDS for the Navy's Special Operations Command. of the ASDS and prepare it for an operational evaluation in mid-2003.