In keeping with the government’s love for giant acronyms, they created the ICODE MDA, that is, the International Collaborative Development for Enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness, which is one of 14 projects selected by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to receive $1 million awards beginning this fall through the Coalition Warfare Program, which funds international collaborative research efforts.

The ICODE MDA project is a research alliance between ONR and Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific). ONR is partnering with scientists to build Web-based applications (widgets) for use by sailors and maritime operators to analyze data and other information to combat pirates, drug smugglers, arms traffickers, illegal fishermen and other nefarious groups.

“A lot of maritime threats occur in developing parts of the world,” said Dr. Augustus Vogel, associate director for Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa in ONR-Global’s Chile office. “Our goal is to develop partnerships with countries that have maritime threats to help solve those problems.”

ONR will tap researchers at the Technical University of Federico Santa Maria, one of Chile’s top engineering schools, to create Web-based tools in an open source environment. The work will focus on producing software to improve automation, small-target detection and intent detection.

Ultimately, the software will be compatible with multiple maritime network systems so that navies around the world can use the tools and share information for global operations.

“We’ll take those tools and integrate them into a widget framework that can be part of a coalition-accessible Web portal,” said John Stastny, an engineer in the advanced analysis systems branch at SSC Pacific, who is helping to lead the ICODE MDA project.

This announcement comes on the heels of a NOAA sponsored project Whale Alert, an iPhone app that tracks Right Whale movements along coastal waters which leads to the questions… will iPhones soon become required equipment on the bridge of all ships?

Navy's Top Ship Handler Lt. Zachary Brown

gCaptain forum members have been vocal in questioning the US Merchant Marine Academy’s (Kings Point) relevance in the modern world of increasingly large and complex commercial ships, however an officer aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) has proved that the institution is doing something right.

Each year thousands of candidates from different classes of ships are entered in a competition for the title of the Navy’s Best Ship Handler of the Pacific.  This year, the Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet Junior Ship Handler of the Year award was bestowed on King’s Point alumnus Lieutenant Zachary Brown, who currently serves as Assistant Navigator of the 103,300 ton, 1,092 aircraft carrier USS Stennis.  LT Brown was selected by his command to represent all aircraft carriers stationed on the West Coast.

“It is a great honor to win this award in such a distinguished field of ship handlers,” said Brown. “I’m sure that it was incredibly tough to pick a winner.”

Brown attributes his success not only to hard work, but the guidance and training of those who work with him.
“I had many expert officers of the deck (OODs) who were kind enough to spend many hours discussing ship handling theory and techniques with me,” said Brown. “My goal is to train future OODs and conning officers so they can be skilled ship handlers.”

“LT Brown has defined the bar by which others are measured,” said Captain Ronald Reis, the Stennis’ commanding officer. “His thorough preparation, in-depth knowledge, calm professionalism and mature decision-making have made him my most trusted ship handler and bridge team leader.”

Brown, a native of Ledgewood, Nww Jersey graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy – King’s Point – in 2002 and is an E-6 Mercury pilot, previously serving with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3. He has previously been awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), the Air Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

The award comes roughly one month after Stennis completed a successful seven-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.

This article was originally written by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kathleen O’Keefe for the USS John C. Stennis Blog and was edited by John Konrad.

Local report from the scene:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the initial statement made by the U.S. Navy on the incident:

From Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) — An F/A-18D assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 crashed in Virginia Beach, Va. April 6.

Initial reports indicate that at approximately 12:05 p.m., the jet crashed just after takeoff at a location just off of the base.

Both aircrew safely ejected from the aircraft.

VFA-106 is based at Naval Air Station Oceana, and serves as the East Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron. Their mission is to train Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 Replacement Pilots and Weapon Systems Officers (WSOs) to support fleet commitments.

The Navy is coordinating with local authorities.

Some more video shot from a nearby building:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Friday Afternoon update: A Navy fighter jet crashed Friday into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, Va., after the two-member crew ejected, injuring at least seven people and destroying three buildings and damaging others.

The seven who were injured, including a student pilot and an instructor, were taken to hospitals, officials said. A city spokesman said rescue teams were still searching for possible victims.

The two-seat F/A-18D Hornet crashed around midday shortly after takeoff near Naval Air Station Oceana, a military base, the Navy said in a statement. Navy fire and rescue personnel were on the scene along with local first responders, a Virginia Beach Fire Department representative said.

Virginia Beach EMS division chief Bruce Nedelka said that witnesses saw fuel being dumped from the jet before it went down, and that fuel was found on buildings and vehicles in the area, according to the Associated Press.

“By doing so, he mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire,” Nedelka said. “With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.”

In a statement, Adm. John Harvey, the head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, promised to conduct “a complete investigation into the cause of this mishap and share all information we have as soon as we are able to do so.”

At a press conference in Virginia Beach, a Navy official said the crash appeared to be caused by a “catastrophic mechanical malfunction” shortly after takeoff. He also said that the plane carried a student pilot, who was sitting in the front seat, and an instructor, and that while jet fuel was dumped, it wasn’t clear the pilots intentionally did that.

Three buildings were destroyed, and two more had significant damage, the AP reported.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said he informed Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms that all possible state resources would be available to the city.

“We are monitoring events carefully as they unfold and state police resources are now on the scene,” McDonnell said. “Our fervent prayer is that no one was injured or killed in this accident.”

The crash occurred in the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia. The area is home to a sizable military community and a network of military installations, including a large naval base, Naval Station Norfolk.

The jet that crashed was part of a squadron that trains Navy and Marine Corps aviators. According to a unit website, the training course includes the basics of flying strike missions as well as aircraft-carrier takeoffs and landings.

Rep. Scott Rigell (R., Va.,), whose district includes Virginia Beach, said in a statement, “Our prayers are with our entire Hampton Roads and military communities right now as our first responders are admirably addressing the situation on the ground. I have spoken with Governor McDonnell, Mayor Sessoms, and leadership at Naval Air Station Oceana, and my office and I stand ready to assist as appropriate.”

The same model of fighter jet crashed in December 2008 after a training exercise in a San Diego neighborhood, killing four people and destroying two homes.

Write to Nathan Hodge at nathan.hodge@wsj.com

Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Photo from the scene:

AP photo

A new naval weapon has attracted hundreds of thousands of views on Youtube and left most people scratching their heads… is this thing real, or is the whole video a hoax?

Why in the world would you launch a missile by first dunking it in the ocean first?

The only thing I can think of would be to eliminate the hazard of the exhaust gases burning up the ship, which would pretty much allow you to fire this thing from almost anywhere.  Perhaps you could even install this system on Zodiac or small boat?

Hmm…

The Naval Research Laboratory's Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR) is a humanoid-type robot being designed for shipboard firefighting. Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Shipboard fires present crews with unique challenges that are often limited to the capabilities of the human body.  With that in mind, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have been working to develop an autonomous human-like robot that could help fight fires on board ships.

The firefighting robot, called the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR), is being designed to move autonomously throughout a ship, interact with people, and fight fires, handling many of the dangerous firefighting tasks that are normally performed by humans.

Virginia Tech and the University of Pennsylvania are working with NRL on the firefighting robot project. NRL's firefighting robot will be a follow-on version to the existing Virginia Tech CHARLI-L1 robot, pictured here. Photo: Virginia Tech

The robot will be designed with advanced multi-modal sensor technology for navigation that will allow it to maneuver well in the narrow passages and ladderways unique to ships and a sensor suite that includes a camera, gas sensor, and stereo IR camera for better visibility in smoky or low light conditions.  And, like a sure-footed sailor, the robot will be capable of walking in all directions, balancing in heavy sea conditions, and traversing obstacles.

In addition to its maneuverability, the robots upper body will be capable of manipulating fire suppressors and throwing PEAT grenades for up to 30 minutes of firefighting through stored battery power.

Another key element of the SAFFiR development is to allow damage control personnel and the robot to work cohesively with human team members. The Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence (NCARAI) is developing the algorithms that will allow autonomous mobility and decision making by the robot. To enable natural interaction with a human team leader, the robot will have multimodal interfaces that will enable the robot to track the focus of attention of the human team leader, as well as to allow it to understand and respond to gestures, such as pointing and hand signals. Where appropriate, natural language may also be incorporated, as well as other modes of communication and supervision.

Researchers from Virginia Tech and University of Pennsylvania are also working with NRL on the project. They plan to test the firefighting robot in a realistic firefighting environment onboard the ex-USS Shadwell, the world’s unique fire test ship based Mobile Alabama, in late September 2013.

Right now the SAFFiR is being developed solely for use on Navy and Marine Corps combatants so don’t expect to see one of these guys show up on your vessel any time soon. But hey, we can dream.

After an 11 month, £20m refit, the HMS Argyll is currently sailing on six-month deployment in the middle east. Photo: Royal Navy

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Any attempt by Iran to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz would be “illegal and unsuccessful”, U.K. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond will say Thursday.

In advanced extracts of a speech he is due to give in Washington, Hammond will say disruption to the flow of oil through the strait would threaten regional and global economic growth and it was in all interests that the arteries of global trade are kept open.

“The [U.K.] Royal Navy will continue to play a substantial role as part of the Combined Maritime Forces, both at the Headquarters in Bahrain, and through our mine counter-measure vessels which help maintain freedom of navigation in the Gulf,” he will say, according to the extracts.

Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, has threatened to block oil deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz if global powers impose sanctions on the country’s oil industry over its nuclear activities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that the strait carries about 20% of all oil traded worldwide.

Hammond is visiting Washington Thursday to hold his first meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and discuss Afghanistan, the Gulf and defense cooperation.

In his speech to be delivered at the Atlantic Council, Hammond will also say too many North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries were failing to meet their financial responsibilities in the group.

“Too many are opting out of operations or contributing but a fraction of what they should be capable of. This is a European problem, not an American one. And it is a political problem, not a military one,” he will say according to the extracts.

-By Nicholas Winning, Dow Jones Newswires

WHAT?!

First of all, any seaman, military or commercial, can tell you there is no heckler known as the “Filipino Monkey“. Rather it’s a phrase that’s been uttered anonymously by thousands of mariners for decades. This harassing radio call with racial origins is made over the radio when a sailor hears the distinct accent of a Filipino mariner on the VHF radio.

Why you may ask?

Mostly out of boredom but also for the simple reason that it is sure to get a heated response.

It also happens to be the bane of every Watch Officer’s existence; a joke that is no longer funny but refuses to die. Tim’s Times gave us the details behind this heckle back in September 2008:

The two tone alarm has gone again and this time it’s a pan pan from La Coruna Radio, other side of the Bay of Biscay. You wouldn’t mind so much if it was just the official users of VHF and MF radio that you had to contend with, but oh no there is every manner of animal sound, and jungle noise on the VHF from people who should not be on the radio, let alone a ship. One moron was calling out, “Gorilla from Manila, and Filipino monkey” my watchman who is from Manila laughed and said that it is often Indian’s who call this out to provoke a response from Filipinos, who say “Indian I can’t see you, but I can smell you”. So childish and these guys are in charge of ships, frightening, and these days it is all being recorded, so you must be dealing with stupidity, says a lot for the profession….

Boing Boing tells us;

Indeed, the voice in the audio sounds different from the one belonging to an Iranian officer shown speaking to the cruiser, USS Port Royal over a radio from a small open boat in the video released by Iranian authorities. He is shown in a radio exchange at one point asking the U.S. warship to change from the common bridge-to-bridge channel 16 to another channel, perhaps to speak to the Navy without being interrupted…

“For 25 years there’s been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats,” he said. “He could be tied up pierside somewhere or he could be on the bridge of a merchant ship.”

And the Monkey has stamina.

“He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy,” he said. “But who knows how many Filipino Monkeys there are? Could it have been a spurious transmission? Absolutely.”

Initially I was shocked that a Navy ship, or any ship, could not have known the taunt was a joke. This is seamanship 101. I clearly remember having the taunt whispered in my ear by an upperclassmen during my plebe year that the Naval Academy and by the time I received my officers license I had heard it hundreds of time. How could the officers of the cruiser Port Royal not know this was a common joke? I’m admitting still confused but after hearing the audio file I must say it doesn’t sound like the typical ‘Filipino Monkey’ taunt.

I’ll give the last comment to the cruise ship captain quoted by the Navy Times since it’s both accurate and contains good advice to mariners:

“It was just a gut feeling, something the merchants did. Guys would get bored, one guy hears it, comes back a year later and does it for himself,”

The former skipper noted that he warned his crew about hecklers when preparing to transit Hormuz. “I tell them they’ll hear things on there that will be insulting,” he said. “You tell your people that you’ll hear things that are strange, insulting, aggravating, but you need to maintain a professional posture.”

A civilian mariner with experience in that region said the Filipino Monkey phenomenon is worldwide, and has been going on for years.

“They come on and say ‘Filipino Monkey’ in a strange voice. They might say it two or three times. You’re standing watch on bridge and you’re monitoring Channel 16 and all of a sudden it comes over the radio. It can happen anytime. It’s been a joke out there for years.”

While it happens all over the world, it’s more likely to occur around the Strait of Hormuz because there is so much shipping traffic, he said.

You can watch the Iranian video at EagleSpeak.

Soldiers from Ft. Lee, Va., helped mark Veterans Day ceremonies at the World War II Memorial in Washington.

Joshua Donahue and his daughter Addelyne walked through the Cambridge American Cemetery in Madingley, U.K., after a service. The cemetery is the only American World War II burial ground in England. It is the resting place of 3,812 American military personnel who died in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Veteran Philip Malins, 92, took part in two minutes of silence at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, U.K.

A Filipino soldier played a trumpet at the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig, Philippines, at a ceremony to honor veterans and American and Filipino troops killed in World War II. More than 17,000 Americans and 570 Filipinos are buried at the cemetery.

David Price, 4, son of a U.S Navy officer, played with his toy car at the American Cemetery in Taguig, Philippines.

An American couple walked past thousands of marble crosses to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the American Cemetery in Taguig, Philippines. The cemetery contains the remains Americans who died during World War II in the Pacific, China, India, and Burma along with Filipino scouts.

The Rev. Bruce Hawkins attended a ceremony at the Franco-British National Memorial in Thiepval, France.

World War II veteran John Jeffrey, 90, who took part in the D-Day landings, attended a remembrance service at the Cenotaph, a war memorial in London.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy stood at a ceremony in Paris with the children of French servicemen killed in action.

Veterans attended a ceremony in Brussels.

President Barack Obama, center, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington bowed their heads for a moment of silence after Mr. Obama placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

(c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Some of you may remember a cartoon which appeared during World War I, a drawing showing an inquisitive stranger talking with the gateman at a railway crossing. The gate was painted with the usual black and white stripes, and lying on the river beyond the tracks was a steamer painted with similar markings. The stranger asked, “Why do they paint the stripes on the gate?” And the gateman answered, “Oh, that’s to make them more visible.”

And then the stranger asked, “Well, why do they paint the stripes on the vessel out there?” And the gateman replied, “Oh, that’s to make the ship less visible.”

-Everett Warner [paraphrased from his lecture notes]

A ships in costume, gCaptain brings you Razzle Dazzle; history’s most unusually painted ship. What is Razzle Dazzle? GoTouring.com tells us;

During World War I, the British and Americans faced a serious threat from German U-boats. All attempts to camouflage ships at sea had failed, as the appearance of the sea and sky are always changing.  Any color scheme that was concealing in one situation was conspicuous in others. A British artist and naval officer, Norman Wilkinson, promoted a new camouflage scheme that was derived from the artistic fashions of the time, particularly cubism. Instead of trying to conceal the ship, it simply broke up its lines and made it more difficult for the U-boat captain to determine the ship’s course. The British called this camouflage scheme “Dazzle Painting.” The Americans called it “Razzle Dazzle.”

Artists were enlisted to draw up the camouflage designs. Early in the war, designs were drawn for individual ships, with each ship having its own distinctive pattern. As the war progressed, standard patterns were devised and applied to large numbers of ships. Even the great passenger liners were camouflaged for the duration of the War.

It is unfortunate that there are no color photographs of these WWI ships. People who witnessed convoys of dazzle painted ships reported that the scene was quite dramatic. Imagine sailing across the North Atlantic surrounded by dozens of brightly painted ships, each in different colors and patterns. If you compare the colored drawing with the black and white photograph of the ship “War Clover”, you can get an idea of how much we are missing. Read More…

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The problem confronting a submarine, once his prey has been sighted, resolves itself solely into estimating course and speed of the target, in order to determine how the approach to torpedo fire position should be made. The “dazzle” system of painting is based on this one consideration and that is, of rendering the problem confronting a submarine more difficult, confusing him as to how his approach shall be made and thereby adding in some degree to the safety of the vessel attacked.

U.S. Admiral William S. Sims (1917)

Camopedia has this amazing information on the World War I design team assigned to the project;

ONE METHOD camoufleurs might have used (but did not, apparently) to generate a large number of unique dazzle schemes is the stencil method.

It is indebted to American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921), sometimes called “the father of camouflage,” who (circa 1909) devised a clever, easy way for individuals to design their own camouflage, using cut-out silhouettes.

Whatever the surrounding, said Thayer, a person “has only to cut out a stencil of the soldier, ship, cannon or whatever figure he wishes to conceal, and look through this stencil from the viewpoint under consideration, to learn just what costume from that viewpoint would most tend to conceal this figure.” However, the purpose of dazzle camouflage was confusion, not concealment, so, in the examples below, we have used the silhouette as a mask with which to “find” valuable dazzle designs in an abstract, geometric plan. In studies of human vision, Gestalt psychologists and others have investigated embedded figures or “puzzle pictures” (Wolfgang Köhler called them “camouflaged figures”) in which a simple shape has been adroitly hidden within a larger, more complex surrounding.

In pre-computer days, one could make arbitrary compositions in art by overlapping “systems” on layers of tracing paper, viewed on a light table. Today, it is ever so easy to do the same thing (and much more) by using the “layers” function in software such as Adobe Photoshop. This could have been useful as a way to generate dazzle designs, had all that been available in World War I.

If you are looking for more information on this topic be sure to read things magazine‘s extensive ship camouflage links section.

According a recent MIG report titled “Unmanned Maritime Systems – UAV & USV  Outlook 2012 – 2020“…  they can, but they won’t.

The report suggest a number of problems with the use of unmanned systems. First, the international maritime laws & rules of engagement tightly control the use of weapons at sea. Second, the launch and recovery of the USV can be problematic. Third, the expertise required to conduct a USV operation is out of reach for most commercial seafarers, and poses issues of liability, costs, training, etc.

What is the current state of naval USV technology?

While each maritime power is taking a different view on the development of USVs, the US Navy has identified four types of vehicles for further study:

X-CLASS (SMALL) – The X-Class is unique in that these small, special purpose craft should be purpose-built and not standardized for modularity. But the navy believes to do so would not be cost-effective or efficient due the small size of the craft and the overhead associated with modular construction. The other three classes all benefit from modular construction and all four classes plan to utilize a common command and control system. The X-Class Unmanned Surface Vehicles are about 3 meters in length or smaller and built to support the needs of SOF Support and MIO Support. They have limited endurance, payload, weapons capability and sea-keeping ability.

HARBOR CLASS (7M) – The Harbor Class USVs use a 7 meter RIB as the sea-frame and is capable of being operated in both manned and unmanned modes. The requirements for the Harbor Class are driven by the US Navy’s need for them to be hosted by the majority of warship platforms and to perform advanced ISR and Maritime Security missions. The ISR payload will be arch-mounted such that it can remain in place for manned operation of the craft. Robust electronic warfare, advanced sonar, and deployable payload technologies are also needed to support this class.

SNORKELER CLASS (7M SS) The Snorkeler Class USV is a 7 meter semi-submersible craft operated off a large navy warship platform and designed for a wide range of future operational capabilities. During operation the Snorkeler Class USV  is submerged with only its snorkel above the surface. This mode of operation provides a stable platform in high sea states and inclement weather than other surface hull types. The need for for this class is driven by the MCM Search/ Neutralization and ASW missions of the United States Navy.

FLEET CLASS (11M) – The Fleet Class USVs are 11-meter planing or semi-planing hull craft. They provide moderate speed/endurance while towing MCM sweep gear or high speed and very long endurance to support ASW, SUW, or EW missions. This option is provided by a modular propulsion system. They also support manned operation through the ability to remove and replace their mission systems in less than 24 hours.

The US Navy expects unmanned systems, and Unmanned Surface Vehicles in particular , will provide multiply available force while lowering risk to manned vessels and personnel. These factors could potentially enable a smaller Navy to address widening Navy requirements including anti-piracy missions.

With the Navy’s USV program advancing slowly, what is the overall future of these vehicles in relation to maritime security threats in Somalia?

When launched from a host naval ship, USVs may be an effective tool to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) coverage. Naval professionals are becoming increasingly comfortable with the use of unmanned maritime vehicles. A host of non-lethal and surveillance-only options are likely to be used until lethal weapons are an absolute necessity. The USV can be used to patrol an area on an almost-persistent basis, enabling it to provide a quick response and alert ships in advance of pirates boardings. Plus electronic data collected by USVs could be assist naval intervention units at sea – and be later use for litigation. In face of the growing violence of the Eastern African pirates, it is reasonable to assume that they will gradually become more adept at carrying out night raids.

While USVs are not a panacea to modern piracy, the report suggests that unmanned vehicles will gradually become part of the overall  maritime piracy strategy in both defensive and offensive capacities.