Undersea Warfighting Development Center Leadership Visits NUWC Division Newport
A constant co-evolution of technology and operational concepts is critical to providing the best warfighting capabilities possible to the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet. In support of that mission, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and the Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) continue to have a strong working relationship.
On March 31, the warfare center welcomed UWDC Commander Rear Adm. Michael R. Van Poots and some of the organization’s senior leaders for a full day of tours and discussions. Van Poots was joined by Dennis Boyer, SES, deputy commander; Capt. Todd Moore, chief of staff; Ellen Greenberg, director, Commander’s Action Group Director; and Capt. Matt Boland, director, Tactical Analysis Group (TAG).
Division Newport consistently delivers new technologies and capabilities within its technical design and in-service engineering roles. It is strategically important to show the status of the latest and greatest items to develop and modify the tactics, procedures and technology before they are on deployment, Division Newport Technical Director Marie Bussiere said.
After some early discussions with Division Newport leadership, Van Poots toured Division Newport’s Classified Rapid Innovation Center, where subject matter experts provided updates on the warfare center’s efforts in strike tactical operations, fleet experimentations, capability deliveries and new payloads integrated within the combat system.
Van Poots then toured the Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) Lab for a briefing on how it is helping the Submarine Forces Pacific (SUBPAC) Warfighting Evaluation Center (WEC) by addressing problems and evaluating capabilities in the undersea battle space. This work is performed in collaboration with UWDC’s Submarine Aggressor Squadron (AGGRON).
A tour of the Weapons Analysis Facility (WAF) Lab followed. The facility is used for critical tasking in torpedo software development, software integration into torpedo weapon systems, simulation and analysis of both in-water and simulated weapon runs.
The group also met with members of the USW Electromagnetic Systems Department, for the latest developments in communications and electronic warfare, as the U.S. Navy’s principal research, development, test and evaluation agent for USW electromagnetic systems, including antennas, periscopes, electronic warfare, radar and communication system.
At the Naval Array Technical Support Center, Sensors and Sonar Systems Department employees gave an in-depth explanation of how the facility operates, including a detailed description of the different components and functions of towed arrays. This includes the platforms on which they operate, as well as what the future holds for these systems. This facility is used to support the full spectrum of science and technology, advanced development, and in-service engineering of submarines and surface ships, including towed sensor arrays—used for submarine and surface ship range and detection—and advanced development and handling systems.
The tour concluded with a briefing on the latest updates from the Yellow Moray Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (AUV) Program, a submarine system that enables the launch and recovery of specially configured REMUS 600-based AUVs from Virginia-class torpedo tubes.