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Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are becoming increasingly critical to the Department of Defense (DOD) National Defense Strategy to build a cohesive network of partners and strengthen allies who will address shared challenges.
In alignment with the strategy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (PHD) agreed to take on a unique role in the U.S. government’s near-future sale and delivery of four new combat ships to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The command in November signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Program Executive Office (PEO) Unmanned and Small Combatants, International Small Combatants (PMS 525) to be the post-delivery test and trials execution agent for the four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ships, a variant of the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) under construction now.
Located in Washington, D.C., PMS 525 is responsible for the production, test and delivery of the MMSCs.
The DOD states in its plan, “In consultation with Congress and the Department of State, the Department of Defense will prioritize requests for U.S. military equipment sales, accelerating foreign partner modernization and ability to integrate with U.S. forces.”
One aspect of that directive is forming enduring coalitions in the Middle East to help grow its stability and security.
“That’s also the role of PMS 525,” said Ryan Barber, test and trials assistant program manager for PMS 525. “The office wants to increase small combatant sales to foreign governments, and that potentially could mean more involvement for PHD in an expanding program.”
In addition to PHD’s regular qualifying, testing and evaluating of the combat system, the command’s MMSC team will lead combat system engineers and technicians in engaging test targets by operating the ships’ combat systems during simulated and live-fire tests.
In effect, they will be launching the missiles and firing the guns on the MMSC ships.
Team members will get combat system element training as well as combat system team training to qualify and certify operating the combat system from detection through engagement. As Navy personnel typically man these positions during Combat System Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT), this is a new opportunity for the PHD workforce.
PHD team members will also train in elements not part of the U.S. inventory. This additional experience will likely enhance the products and services provided to U.S. and FMS navies.
“As we achieve success with this (live-fire testing) strategy in FMS and attract potentially other customers, this could become a necessary and innovative strategy for other FMS ships,” Barber said. “And it may become the way we test these ships that we sell to our international partners.
“If everything works well, this approach could lead to other (foreign military) sales,” he added.
PHD team members will be responsible for their In-Serve Engineering Agent (ISEA) tasks as well as those of the post-delivery test and trials execution agent. Under the agreement, they will conduct Total Ship Qualification Trials (TSQT) and provide limited training of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). TSQT is a variation of the typical CSSQT and focuses on testing a ship’s capabilities, but does not evaluate the crew’s proficiency.
At more than 4,000 metric tons, according to Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wis. and shipbuilding partner Lockheed Martin Corp., the prime contract supplier, the MMSC is the first LCS variant to be built for a foreign government.
Ship construction kicked off in October and is estimated to take three to four years. Team members from PMS 525, PHD and other systems command warfare centers met in January at PHD to start long-term planning and scope determination for post delivery.
During the visit, the team also toured the Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS) moored at PHD. The SDTS concept of operation is similar to the MMSC test strategy in that a professional mariner crew operates it, and qualified government personnel conduct the live-fire tests.
“Our strategy includes testing our ship with professionals prior to handing it to the Saudis,” Barber said. “We are looking to train some RSNF sailors, and the SDTS could be a part of that, but we are just exploring that now.”
The team will be executing the post-delivery period without the standard U.S. Navy infrastructure support—a full complement of seasoned U.S. Navy Sailors and personnel from the squadrons and Regional Maintenance Centers. Rather, PHD will plan for and perform all those functions.
The U.S. government sells conventional military weapons, equipment and services to approved allied and friendly nations under its FMS program. According to the Government Accountability Office, FMS sales totaled $472 billion from fiscal year 2007 to 2018. Annually, it’s about $43 billion.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2020 14:14 |
| Story ID: | 363757 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 579 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Foreign Military Sale Enables Warfare Center to Enter New Era of Combat System Testing, by Carol Lawrence, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
