Fire Controlman 3rd Class Jacob Caton, left, and Fire Controlman 3rd Class Sheldon Rachel, both assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), perform maintenance on the ship’s starboard Close-In Weapon System mount, while Normandy is underway as part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, Oct. 25, 2022. U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Malachi Lakey
The Naval Brief: Long-range fires experimentation; Hypersonic development tests; Red Hill defueling; and more...
The Naval Brief: Long-range fires experimentation; Hypersonic development tests; Red Hill defueling; and more...
Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future.
Joint project. Navy Tomahawks and SM-6 missiles were fired during a scenario at this year’s Army’s Project Convergence experiment in California, Defense One reports. The naval services also demonstrated that they can “sense, counter sense, and make sense” of the environment by using commercial and government off-the-shelf equipment to help troops make decisions faster, said Brig. Gen. Kyle Ellison, commander of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab at the AFCEA NOVA Naval IT event in Virginia on Tuesday. “Having robust joint all-domain command and control networks supports the warfighter through increased situational awareness and reduced fog of war,” Ellison said.
Hypersonics testing. The Navy and the Army launched a rocket Wednesday in a test that will inform their hypersonics weapon programs, and they plan to launch another one this week. The Navy is developing a common design for a hypersonic missile glide body to be used by the military services, and using that glide body and a booster for its Conventional Prompt Strike weapon. The Army is expected to deliver its first hypersonic missiles to an artillery unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state next year.
Red Hill update. The “defueling unpacking operations” of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii will begin this week, the Pentagon said in a statement following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s meeting with senior Navy and defense officials. The Navy has until next Tuesday to submit a closure plan for the Honolulu facility to the state’s department of health.
Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. Sunday was the 39th anniversary of the Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 American service members, including 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers.
From Defense One
Aides Recall How Ash Carter Changed Pentagon's Weapons Buying // Marcus Weisgerber
Over decades, the physicist-turned-defense leader worked to speed up and streamline arms procurement.
Sanctions May Push Russia into 'Technological Regress' // Edward Graham
A CNAS report warned that Moscow's increased sense of vulnerability could lead it to "double down" on nuclear capabilities.
The Military's Network Warfare Experiment Scaled Up This Year // Patrick Tucker
The U.S. Army-led experiment attempted to create a lot more targets, challenges, and complexities to test out futuristic concepts.