Defense Agency News

The water level at a major river port in Brazil's Amazon rainforest hit its lowest point in at least 121 years on Monday, as a historic drought upends the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and damages the jungle ecosystem.Rapidly drying tributaries to the mighty Amazon river have left boats stranded, cutting off food and water supplies to remote jungle villages, while high water temperatures are suspected of killing more than 100 endangered river dolphins.The port in Manaus…

Leadership has added a new face in the contracting department at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD). Michael Brian Donaldson assumed the role of deputy chief of the contracting office (DCCO) in December, with management responsibility for a team of more than 110 contracting specialists, contracting officers, cost analysts, policy analysts and other contracting professionals.The contracting department at NSWCDD executes several thousand contract actions in a typical year, with a collective value of approximately $950 million.

Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) operates hundreds of boats all the way from a 7-meter Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) to a 78-foot patrol boat, as well as construction equipment such as cranes, bulldozers, pumps, cranes, vehicles and chain saws and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) equipment.Maintaining all of it comes under the watchful eye of Force Maintenance Director Dave Noel.“I’m the guy that fixes the equipment we buy,” Noel said. “Once it’s fielded, it’s our job to keep it operational…

A U.S. sailor aboard a warship ship tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time, the U.S. Navy said on Sunday, as it disclosed the case of a person assigned to an amphibious assault ship at port in San Diego.The Navy said the sailor was quarantined at home and that personnel who had been in close contact with the sailor have been notified and are in self-isolation at their homes."None of them is aboard the ship currently. U.S. Navy ships conduct routine, daily cleanliness procedures geared toward health…

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index dropped for the 13th consecutive session on Tuesday as waning demand across vessels and the coronavirus outbreak dampened sentiment.The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels to ferry dry bulk commodities, fell 13 points, or 2.8%, to 453.The capesize index decreased 31 points to a negative 133, a fresh all-time low.Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal…

Hindsight, they say is 20/20, and in this regard renowned design house Gibbs & Cox has nine decades in the rear view mirror on which to lean. We recently caught up with Chris Deegan, President and CEO of Gibbs & Cox, celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2019, to discuss the organization’s rich history and promising future.When you took the top spot at Gibbs & Cox in 2016, what were your goals for the organization?As a company that designs everything from yachts to work boats to destroyers, I wanted to reassert G&C as the global leader in the naval architecture and marine engineering industry.

Nearly two dozen sightseers were injured from a lava explosion that sent debris hurtling onto a tourist boat in Hawaii. Officials said one passenger suffered a broken leg and others were burned when the volcanic blast launched a “basketball-sized lava bomb” through the vessel’s roof.At approximately 6 a.m. Monday, U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in Honolulu received a report from 911 that sightseers and crewmembers aboard the tour boat Hot Shot had been injured near the Kilauea…

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that DOT has awarded contracts with a total award value of $1.96 billion over eight years to seven U.S. maritime firms to manage, maintain and operate 48 National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) vessels through January 2024. These Maritime Administration contracts are funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Sealift Fund to support DoD’s strategic sealift mission. “Since 1946, National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels have facilitated U.S. strategic sealift, natural disaster response, and humanitarian operations all around the world,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and sailors aboard the USS Carney, USS Gonzalez, and USS Barry successfully completed a flight test involving the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system. At approximately 2:30 a.m. EST today, three short-range ballistic missile targets were launched near simultaneously from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. Two Aegis BMD destroyers acquired and tracked the targets. Using this data, the Aegis BMD ships conducted simulated Standard Missile-3 Block IB guided missile engagements with the distributed weighted engagement scheme (DWES) capability enabled. The DWES provides an automated engagement coordination scheme between multiple Aegis BMD ships that determines which ship is the preferred shooter…

You are not alone if you are bewildered by the talk in Washington about “sequester,” “continuing resolution”, “fiscal cliff,” “budget resolutions,” and “debt ceilings.”  Even those of us who think we understand what’s going on have trouble keeping up. This article will break down the talk into segments on the continuing resolution that funds the government for the rest of this fiscal year: the House and Senate budget resolutions, the upcoming debt ceiling fight; and, finally, the President’s budget request for FY2014. The focus is on maritime, transportation and energy programs.

Building on its relationship with the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) a Royal Navy Type 45 frigate will take part in major research trials. The joint Ministry of Defence and industry-run UK Missile Defence Centre (MDC) has agreed to take part in trials which will include testing the Sampson radar, part of the Sea Viper missile system, in detecting and tracking ballistic targets. While there is no programme to fit Type 45 with Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (TBMD) capability…

Bodkin Design & Engineering (BD&E) contracted to develop a coastal water prototype wave power harvesting system. A prototype unit was constructed and tested at the company's Newton facility and was found to have a power conversion efficiency between 34% and 50%. This covert system is designed to be alternative power source for submerged sensors and systems. In addition to its military uses, this submerged system can find application to commercial moorings and on pleasure boats. The fully submerged, robust, self-contained design is anti-fouling and ideally suited for surf zone operation where extreme environmental conditions could damage systems that rely on deployed arms, floats or fragile mechanics.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced contracts totaling $77 million for three U.S. maritime firms to operate 10 National Defense Reserve Fleet ships through July 27, 2015. “This money will help make sure these important Defense Reserve Fleet ships are manned with skilled mariners and are ready when our Nation calls,” said Secretary LaHood. The contracts were awarded to Ocean Duchess Inc. of Houston, Texas for $16,618,430; Keystone Ocean Shipping of Bala Cynwyd, Pa. for $30,212,588; and Interocean American Shipping Corporation of Moorestown, N.J. for $30,533,710. These companies are responsible for maintaining the ships in good mechanical condition and ensuring crews are available for their operation when needed.

MarineNews spoke with Rick Biben, Chief Executive and President of Gibbs and Cox, Inc., about his background in the industry, the state of the naval design market, how his company is investing for the future and technological and design advancements in the field. What is your background in the industry? After college (Bryant University, 1972, BS Management) I went into the U.S. Peace Corps (Ecuador, 1972 – 1975) for about three years. I left the government and entered the contractor community in 1979. I was with Syscon Corporation from 1981 through late in 1999.

Federal Electronics, Inc. has been selected as a recipient of the 2008 Supplier Excellence 4 Star Award from Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). A supplier to Raytheon IDS for the past 7 years, Federal Electronics was honored with the award for the company's exemplary performance and contribution to the success of Raytheon IDS and its customers. Federal Electronics Vice President Ed Evangelista and Account Manager Chris Heywood were presented with the award in a ceremony at Raytheon IDS in Tewksbury, Mass. "We are honored to have been selected by Raytheon IDS for this prestigious award for the second consecutive year," said Evangelista. Raytheon IDS is involved in Joint Battlespace Integration and provides solutions to organizations including the U.S.

The Lockheed Martin developed Aegis Weapon System successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target outside the earth's atmosphere during its descent phase of flight today. The Aegis Weapon System, aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), and range sensors confirmed a direct hit of the missile target by a Raytheon-developed Standard Missile (SM)-3 over the Pacific Ocean. In addition to USS Lake Erie, the guided missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG 59) also participated in today's test. USS Russell provided target track information to the USS Lake Erie and components of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense element. This test, Flight Mission (FM)-6, marks the fourth time that the Aegis Weapon System successfully guided its Standard Missile-3 to a ballistic missile target.

The recent award from the Japanese Defense Agency for its two newest Coastal Mine Sweepers secures Omnithruster’s position as one of the leading designers and manufacturers of advanced, low noise, shock hardened thrusters. The Omnithruster JT575AM, designed from the ground up for the Japanese Defense Agency, incorporates the patented Omniphaser noise masking system. This device uses some of the thruster’s own output to reintroduce a water/air mixture into the thruster inlet. The air bubbles compress and expand while traveling through the impeller absorbing incipient cavitation energy that normally emanates a noise. This reduction in noise is dramatic; enough in fact, for the U.S.

The Kyodo news service has reported that Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan will spin off its shipbuilding division on Oct. 1 into a new wholly owned subsidiary. The new subsidiary will reportedly be known as Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corp., and will specialize in the manufacture of ships and related equipment, Kawasaki Heavy said in a release. The spinoff is designed to create an efficient corporate structure that will enable the shipbuilding arm to cope with the global shipbuilding industry's oversupply and operate profitably in the long term by giving its managers greater leeway in running it, Kawasaki Heavy said. The new firm will concentrate business resources on high value-added products such as submarines…

by RDML Clinton E. Command Surgeon & CDR William J. Deploying Joint Forces into a challenging and uncertain future poses many unanswered logistic questions for Joint Health Service Support, (JHSS), functions. These challenges are described in terms of the revolution in military affairs (RMA). The first revolution, system of systems, already working its way into doctrine but rapidly on its heals is the second RMA, information dominance. It is this second revolution that is forming the battlefield. It is determining the way we will fight the future battle space, including identifying who our enemies are, how they fight, and the asymmetric threats they pose.

European Union governments urged the European Defense Agency (EDA) on January 24 to examine whether high-speed ferries could be used to more rapidly move troops into conflict zones. The idea is based on a system used by the Australian Navy from 1999 to transport troops and equipment to East Timor from the northern city of Darwin using a large commercial catamaran. The 86-meter (282-foot) Jervis Bay catamaran was chartered to the Australian Navy for two years and made 107 trips between Darwin and the Timorese capital Dili, traveling at around 43 knots — roughly an 11-hour voyage. During that time, it carried some 20,000 passengers and 430 military vehicles, and moved about 5,600 tons of equipment and stores.

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a $517.7b fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill, a 4 percent increase over the amount authorized by Congress last year. The bill, which includes a $50b bridge fund to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the first six months of fiscal 2007, totals $4.8b more than authorized by the House Armed Services Committee. The Senate panel, which met behind closed doors, boosted funding for several weapons programs, including the addition of $1.5b to the Navy's shipbuilding accounts, largely due to concerns about the "declining size of the fleet," according to a summary of the bill released by the committee.

BAE Systems has been awarded a second contract from Boeing for work on the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1), a floating, self-propelled, mobile missile warning radar station. The radar arrived at BAE Systems Hawaii Shipyards in Pearl Harbor from Alaska on June 26 and will remain there through February 2008. The company had previously performed maintenance work on the SBX-1 in 2006. BAE Systems will conduct maintenance and systems upgrades to include fuel oil tank cleaning; tow bridle repairs; a deadweight survey; antenna installation; catwalk and ladder repairs; crane upgrades and additions; galley and scullery upgrades; and will install a quick launch recovery boat. SBX-1 is part of the United States Missile Defense System, operated by the Missile Defense Agency.

The Boeing Company announced that the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) mooring system has been installed at SBX's homeport in Alaska, completing a key piece of infrastructure for the missile defense sensor. Manson Construction, a Boeing subcontractor, used tugs, barges and cranes to place the mooring system's eight anchors on the bottom of Kuluk Bay. Heavy machinery aboard a barge then dragged the 75-metric-ton anchors, embedding them into the sea bed. The construction team completed the installation three weeks ahead of schedule. When SBX visits its homeport of Adak, Alaska, a small island in the Aleutian Islands, it will be chained to the anchors to keep it stationary in Kuluk Bay. SBX is a new sensor developed by Boeing for the U.S.