Michael hits LCS mine warfare testing

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Hurricane Michael, which devastative Florida’s Gulf Coast a week ago, has also taken out parts of the Air Force and Navy’s weapons systems and testing of the Littoral Combat Ship mission modules and unmanned systems the Navy is developing at Naval Surface Warfare System Panama City. The AF is also still evaluating the 17 F-22s Raptors left behind at Tyndall Air Base. Navy Capt. Danielle George, program manager for LCS mine-countermeasures (MCM) warfare, said that the hurricane may have caused serious damage to important equipment. The LCS program office is reviewing satellite images from its location in Maryland. Some Panama City buildings were damaged, and “(P)ossibly some of the equipment that was in there, ranging from government accepted test pieces of equipment to manufacturing capability for one-off parts for legacy systems,” could be at risk. The Navy recently put a priority on testing new mine warfare capabilities, which is an area both U.S. and NATO officials have admitted have atrophied since the end of the Cold War. Earlier in October, Naval Sea Systems Command received go-ahead from the Defense Department to begin developing an unmanned surface vehicle as part of the MCM system. The future plan is to field a platform that can mix and match different modular systems for mine hunting, minesweeping, and mine destruction, according to Navy officials. The Navy is looking to 2019 to award initial contracts for the second phase of a new unmanned undersea vehicle program. Teams from both Lockheed Martin and Boeing/Huntington Ingalls will undergo a critical design review for their prototypes of the Orca Extra Large UUV, which should have a range of 1,000 miles in order to allow manned ships and aircraft to keep a standoff distance from potential threats. (Source: Breaking Defense 10/17/18)