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NIWC Pacific In The News

09 Apr. 2025 - JUST IN: Autonomous Vessel Proving its Worth to Forward-Deployed Marines

The Marine Corps is trying to figure out how it will sustain forces in a potential Indo-Pacific conflict, and a new autonomous watercraft could be a key capability in the service’s toolkit.

The 12th Littoral Logistics Battalion — a subordinate element of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment stationed in Okinawa, Japan — in January completed new equipment training with the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel, a semi-submersible logistics distribution system that can be configured to deliver a variety of supplies such as food, water, fuel, ammunition, medical supplies and repair parts.
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13 Mar. 2025 - PSNS & IMF completes 3-year MMP availability on USS Ohio (SSGN 726)

BREMERTON, WA – USS Ohio (SSGN 726) completed a three-year Major Maintenance Period availability at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility Feb. 24, 2025, culminating with Naval Sea Systems Command (SEA 07) certification for Unrestricted Operations, and helping return the nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine back to the Indo-Pacific theater of operations.

According to Josh Fleming, project superintendent, Code 326, USS Ohio Project Team, the Ohio project included more than 512,000 resource days of work, with contributions from PSNS & IMF, ship's force (USS Ohio Gold and USS Ohio Blue), International Marine and Industrial Applicators; Alteration Installation Teams; Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific; Naval Information Warfare Center, Atlantic; Commander, Submarine Force; U.S. Pacific Fleet and Squadron 19.
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15 Feb. 2025 - Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions Safe After Growler Crashes 200 Yards from Pens

SAN DIEGO, CA – Just moments after a Navy EA-18G Growler jet crashed into San Diego Bay this week, members of the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program sprung into action.

The twin-engine electronic warfare jet plunged into the bay just about 200 yards from a set of pens holding several dozen bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions, which the Navy uses to help find and mark submerged mines that endanger vessels. The pens, one of several marine mammal enclosures along the bay at Naval Base Point Loma, are just across the busy waters from the runways at Naval Air Station North Island.
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03 Feb. 2025 - NAVWAR at WEST 2025: The Future of Multi-Domain Warfare Demands Agility and Audacious Innovation

SAN DIEGO, CA – At the 2025 WEST Conference in San Diego, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) reinforced its commitment to driving technological innovation and strengthening the Navy’s operational advantage. Through dynamic discussions, strategic engagements and live demonstrations, NAVWAR emphasized the need to rethink conventional approaches to warfare, as well as the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to outpace emerging threats.

As the premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast, WEST offered industry and academia experts the valuable opportunity to engage with U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leaders. Co-sponsored by Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), thousands of people attended at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 28-30 to discuss the landscape of increasingly complex challenges in alignment with the theme: the future is now, are we advancing operational capabilities that pace the threat?.
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26 Dec. 2024 - Navy Seeks to Accelerate Adoption of AI/ML Powered Systems - Seapower

ARLEIGH BURK NM - Class guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103), left, operates in the Red Sea, May 1, 2023, while supporting the Department of State’s efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens and others who have requested departure from Sudan. Credit: U.S. Africa Command.

Deterring China and addressing other global security challenges require the U.S. Navy to evolve in key areas, including faster integration of robotics and autonomous capabilities, said Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti, the 33rd chief of naval operations, in the new 2024 Navigation Plan released in September.
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02 Dec. 2024 - US Approves $125M High Gain Measurement System Sale to UK

WASHINGTON, DC – The US State Department has authorized a potential $125 million foreign military sale to the UK for a High Gain Measurement System (HGMS).

The HGMS is a specialized radar system designed for precise measurement and analysis of radar cross-section data, commonly used in aerospace, defense, and stealth technology development.
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28 Oct. 2024 - Meet the winners of the 2024 CyberScoop 50 awards

WASHINGTON, DC – Scoop News Group is delighted to present the outstanding recipients of the 2024 CyberScoop 50 Awards. These prestigious accolades recognize the exceptional achievements of cybersecurity leaders who safeguard our essential networks, data, and infrastructure while pioneering innovation in this critical field.

This year, voters from across the nation spent three months nominating and selecting leaders who have exhibited remarkable dedication, creativity, and resourcefulness in defending against cyber threats. With over 800,000 votes cast in five distinct categories, these honorees truly represent the pinnacle of cybersecurity excellence.
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25 Sept. 2024 - Johns Hopkins APL Testing New Software Platform for Navy USV Operating Systems

BALTIMORE, MD — Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory are collaborating with the U.S. Navy to validate Autonomy Baseline Library, a new software developed for rapid analysis of uncrewed surface vehicles’ systems and capabilities suited for specific naval needs.

The software tests, which were initially undertaken in the Navy’s Technology Readiness Experimentation, or T-REX, held in March, will culminate at the Autonomous Warrior joint force exercise scheduled in October in Australia, APL said Tuesday.
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09 Sept. 2024 - Empowering Excellence with Art & Frankie-Episode 16: Nurturing the Next Generation

SAN DIEGO, CA — In this episode of Empowering Excellence with Art & Frankie, we explore NAVWAR’s impactful STEM Outreach and Academic Engagement programs, which are designed to inspire and nurture the next generation of scientists and engineers. Join us as we chat with Christina Roc, STEM and Academic Engagement Director at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, to discuss the exciting work being done to engage students from K-12 all the way to university level.

We’ll dive into how these programs create pathways into the workforce for STEM graduates, foster academic partnerships, and address real-world challenges in information warfare. Whether you're interested in education, innovation, or how NAVWAR is shaping the future, this episode offers a fascinating look at the role of STEM in national defense.
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09 Sept. 2024 - NIWC Atlantic Develops Portal to Virtual World, Hosts Marines for Coast-to-Coast LVC Experiment

CHARLESTON, SC — Experimentation to make warfighters better decision-makers took a leap into the future in mid-August when a specialized capability designed by Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic made its debut during a naval integration event that wrapped up on both coasts Aug. 22.

Called Virtual Stand-in-Force (VSiF) and sponsored by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL), the innovation offers Marines local access to live, virtual and constructive (LVC) experimentation, which Department of the Navy leaders call a “game-changer.”
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09 Sept. 2024 - Robotics Showdown: NSWC Philadelphia-Guided Team Triumphs at FIRST Championship

PHILADELPHIA, PA – A high school team advised by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) has achieved a world title at the FIRST Robotics Championship held in Houston, Texas. The victorious team, RoboLancers from Central High School in Philadelphia, won the championship in collaboration with teams from Arizona, Missouri, and Israel.

This victory underscores the significant contributions of NSWCPD in aiding local public school robotics teams, many of which are underserved and underfunded. It also highlights the valuable work performed by the Naval STEM Coordination Office stationed at the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
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05 July 2024 - RIMPAC exercise tests bounds of 3D printing of crucial parts in real time

MARINE CORPS BASE HI — The Navy is experimenting with deployed 3D printing during the Rim of the Pacific exercise in pursuit of eventually shortening the supply line for crucially needed parts to mere hours. Media were invited Tuesday to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for an up-close look at several 3D printers that manufacture parts made of metal and polymer.

Media were invited Tuesday to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for an up-close look at several 3D printers that manufacture parts made of metal and polymer.
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18 June 2024 - Navy awards tech company contract for Project Overmatch software

SAN DIEGO, CA – Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific has awarded a follow-on contract to software company EpiSci to advance the Navy’s Project Overmatch initiative.

The contract is estimated at approximately $2.7 million with a “period of performance” from April 25, 2024, to May 1, 2025, according to a Navy spokesperson.
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31 May 2024 - NAVWAR Named Navy’s Best Place to Work in 2023 Rankings

SAN DIEGO, CA – Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) was named as the top Navy organization in the 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, listed first out of 17 Department of Navy (DON) agency subcomponent organizations.

The annual report, published by the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, offers the most comprehensive assessment of how federal public servants view their jobs and workplaces, providing employee perspectives on leadership, work-life balance, pay, professional development among other issues.
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30 May 2024 - SMART Scholar and Mentor at the Forefront of Science Exploration

Nanotechnology, laser beams, and drones – just a few of the innovative projects this year’s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholar and Mentor of the Year Award winners, for fiscal year 2023, are working on to reshape scientific exploration and advancement. Among these distinguished individuals, Carlos Torres Jr., Ph.D., and his mentor, James Adleman, Ph.D., stand out as prime examples of excellence.

Torres’ SMART journey began over 15 years ago, when he started his SMART-sponsored master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. At the time, his research focused on the understanding and characterization of electrical transport and flicker noise in graphene. This research is essential for the development and optimization of graphene-based electronic devices, which can be used in things like telecommunications, quantum computing, and solar cells.
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23 May 2024 - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters Discusses How Marine Mammal Program Contributes to National Security

SAN DIEGO, CA – The Navy's Marine Mammal Program uses bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect, locate and recover objects and threats in harbors and at sea for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Threats could include explosives, mines, enemy divers and manned or unmanned surface or subsurface vessels.

A particularly important mission for the mammals is protection of the Navy's submarines which are part of the nuclear triad, said Drew Walter, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear matters.
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16 May 2024 - Seeing the full picture: SeaVision supports maritime domain awareness during Obangame Express 2024

ARLINGTON, VA - A team of employees at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific recently won the Department of Defense (DOD) STEM Advocate of the Quarter award for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. The accolade recognizes outstanding STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education and outreach efforts that further the mission of the DOD.

The team, which comprised approximately 100 volunteers, received the award for their work planning and executing NIWC Pacific’s hosting of the 26th International Student Robotic Submarine (RoboSub) competition in August 2023. The NIWC Pacific winners were co-led by:

• Stephanie Luna, strategy implementation manager, Corporate Operations
• Travis Moscicki, project lead, Unmanned Maritime Vehicle Lab

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11 May 2024 - Seeing the full picture: SeaVision supports maritime domain awareness during Obangame Express 2024

One of the key drivers of the development and implementation of unique scenario events in the ongoing Obangame Express exercise in West and Central Africa is the exercise’s role in bolstering awareness of, and adherence to, the Yaoundé Code of Conduct.

Information and intelligence sharing throughout the five zones of the Yaoundé Code is crucial to the Code’s success in ensuring regional maritime security and stability. Through exercises like Obangame Express, partner nations leverage maritime infrastructure, assigned forces, and technological advancements and innovations to provide a maritime picture that can be easily understood across national and regional boundaries. Key to this understanding is the use of a program called SeaVision.
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May. 2024 - Lessons Learned from Year One of Data Science at Sea

For thousands of years, mariners traversing the world’s oceans did not have easy access to fresh, potable water. Sailors could easily die of thirst if they failed to prepare adequately for a long journey. Modern U.S. aircraft carriers do not suffer from this limitation. Their nuclear reactors produce the steam power that enables onboard desalination plants to create an essentially unlimited amount of potable water from seawater. Through the sustained and thorough application of engineering manpower, equipment, and taxpayer dollars over three generations, the Navy has broken entirely free of one of the major logistical shackles that impeded ocean travel for millennia. Seawater, once only considered a means of traversal and treated as an environmental hazard, is now a valuable resource that can be put to a variety of uses.

In 2022, Carrier Strike Group One’s Data Science at Sea team (hereafter “CSG-1” and “DS@S”), came to a similar conclusion about a different readily available and underutilized resource on board the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). Taken together, our intelligence resources, combat systems, and weapons platforms were generating terabytes of operationally relevant data every day, but only a small fraction meaningfully informed decision making. Most of it was never accessed at all. Poor knowledge-management practices, the lack of trained data scientists or software coders assigned operationally, and a stubborn devotion to Microsoft PowerPoint as a singular data visualization tool kept CSG-1’s data from providing much operational value.
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18 Apr. 2024 - AFCEA International Announces The 2024 Cyber Edge Writing Award Winners

FAIRFAX – The threat of cyber attacks is constant and the ability to identify and mitigate the danger is a 24-hour challenge. In AFCEA’s fourth annual The Cyber Edge writing competition, sponsored by ManTech, 37 thought leaders challenged themselves to write articles that addressed this year’s theme, Mitigating Cyber Threats Today and Into the Future. Experts judged entries on criteria including content originality, usefulness, objectivity and writing quality. Entrants had to illustrate innovation, advanced technologies, strategies, tactics and policy or legislative changes to counter cyber threats.

Winners will receive engraved awards and monetary prizes and will be recognized during an awards ceremony at AFCEA International’s TechNet Cyber conference, June 25-27 in Baltimore.
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16 Apr. 2024 - Inside the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program

SAN DIEGO – In 1959, the Navy stood up its Marine Mammal program here. With one dolphin, researchers set out to study how fast the creatures could swim, in an effort to improve ship and torpedo performance.

Sixty-five years later, the program has roughly 120 sea animals that are trained to detect mines and other underwater hazards.
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04 Apr. 2024 - SMART Scholar and Mentor of the Year Awards Announced for Fiscal Year 2023 in Recognition of Their Remarkable Contributions to the Department of Defense

ALEXANDRIA. VA - U.S. Scholars and mentors from the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program, earned the Scholar and Mentor of the Year Awards for their impactful research in enhancing Department of Defense (DoD) capabilities.

Each year, the DoD SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program awards scholar and mentor pairs who demonstrate exemplary achievements throughout their SMART-sponsored journey, from academia to civil service career. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, the number of nominations received doubled and were representative of SMART Sponsoring Facilities across the entire Do.
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20 Mar. 2024 - Navy Leaders Discuss the Importance of the Information Professional Community

SAN DIEGO - U.S. Navy Information Professional (IP) officers gathered at the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific’s Information Professionals Symposium to collaborate, strengthen community relationships, and sustain overall readiness for the fight today, tomorrow and into the future, Feb. 12, 2024.

The event, organized by Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station San Diego on behalf of U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Susan BryerJoyner, deputy director for Command, Control, Communications, and Computer/Cyber Systems for the Joint Staff J-6, welcomed several guest speakers who presented their views on the vital role of the IP community and their impactful contributions to the fleet and Joint Force.
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18 Mar. 2024 - AI Futures | NSWC Philadelphia Division/NIWC Pacific Engineering Career Panel

Various speakers from Naval Surface Warfare Center (Philadelphia Division) and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific joined in a live panel talking to students about various aspects of their job and ways to get into their respective entities!
YouTube Video

 

11 Mar. 2024 - Inside the Navy’s marine mammal program

A look at the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, now in its 65th year of training dolphins and other animals to perform underwater tasks, and study their behavior.
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05 Mar. 2024 - ‘Hackers’ part of obstacles in student cybersecurity competition

Safeguarding network infrastructure against skilled hackers was among the tasks for University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students in a national cybersecurity competition.

The challenge was designed to test the competitors with real world scenarios. The UH Mānoa team consisting of eight undergraduate and graduate information and computer science students finished fifth in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Regional Competition (CCDC) in late February. Read more

 

26 Feb. 2024 - The Navy is trying to use quantum computers to task spy satellites

The real breakthrough in quantum computing is always ten years away, or so goes the old saw. But even though disagreement persists about how to measure the performance of one quantum computer over another, and even how to code for machines that are fundamentally unlike the machines that code was invented for, the U.S. Navy is already experimenting with sort of highly complex problems that only quantum computers can solve.

One of them is scheduling satellites to be in specific places at specific times to collect images. Read more

 

04 Mar. 2024 - Batesburg-Leesville native serves at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

San Diego, CA – Petty Officer 1st Class Mercedes Finley, a native of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, is currently serving in the U.S. Navy assigned to Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific.

Finley, a graduate of Strom Thurmond High School in 2009, has been in the Navy for 15 years, serving as an aviation maintenance administration man. She joined the Navy to provide a better life for her daughter, and her journey has been both challenging and rewarding. Read more

 

16 Feb. 2024 - Navy Academics: AI the ‘Next Frontier’ for R&D

SAN DIEGO – Defense Department leaders keyed in on artificial intelligence throughout much of the discussions at AFCEA West this week about the ways it could help better equip U.S. military personnel. For some, the hype around artificial intelligence must make way for clearer eyes and a better understanding of what the tech is and how it can better be used to aid the Navy.

Retired Marine Col. Randy Pugh, director of the Naval Warfare Studies Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School, said the Navy must find a way to invest in its workforce and come up with “creative applications for AI for warfighting purposes.” Read more

 

13 Feb. 2024 - NPS Doctorial Program Advances Technical Capacity, Research Capability For NIWC Pacific Employees

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Facing the increasingly complex, and critical, mission of advanced technological and engineering support to the Navy’s information warfare community, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, headquartered in San Diego, Calif., requires naval-unique intellectual capital to consistently advance naval-relevant technologies and capabilities.

At the heart of this challenge is the NIWC Pacific workforce, and a persistent need to develop capacity and expertise at the leading edge. This is where senior leaders at NIWC Pacific made a crucial decision and turned to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). Read more

 

Feb. 05, 2024 - JWCC 1 year in: Military branches test the waters as DoD envisions cloud service 2.0

WASHINGTON — Just over a year ago the Defense Department awarded four tech giants — Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Oracle — a contract worth up to a collective $9 billion to provide cloud services for the Pentagon and each military branch, if the branch’s so choose to use it.

The program, called the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), is a second try after the Pentagon’s infamously contentious and ultimately failed $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative, or JEDI, project. Read more

 

Jan. 31, 2024 - New SDMAC Report Reveals NAVWAR’s Economic Impact in San Diego Region

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) partnered with both the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) and the University of San Diego (USD) Knauss School of Business to publish the newest edition of the NAVWAR economic impact study, unveiled at a reception and release event held at USD Jan. 30.

This study aims to quantify the economic relationship between NAVWAR and San Diego and explain NAVWAR’s significance to the region and vice versa. Utilizing IMPLAN, a regional economic analysis software used in estimating economic impact, the report determined total economic impact by combining direct impact with indirect and induced impact. Read more

 

Jan. 22, 2024 - Navy Tests Submarine-Launched Drones to Enable Undersea-Surface-Air Targeting

The U.S. Navy will be testing a cutting edge-submarine launched drone system engineered to release from beneath the surface of the ocean to perform forward, wide-area reconnaissance and targeting.

The small unmanned system is engineered to survive a transit through the water column up to the surface and into the air to provide continuous connectivity for submarine commanders interested in surveilling the threat environment, identifying targets and sustaining connectivity with surface ships, drones and aircraft. A 2023 Navy essay from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center describes the Submarine Launched Unmanned Aerial System (SLUAS) as a four-pound, 19-inch drone sensor launched from undersea in a canister through a three-inch signal ejector. The upcoming assessment, which is designed to further refine tactics, technologies, requirements and Concepts of Operation, is being led by the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific. Read more

 

Jan. 19, 2024 - Mine Mission: Marine Corps Looks to Boost Mine Countermeasure Capabilities

Bringing together military partners such as Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis detachment and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific — as well as representatives from government, industry and academia — TCE 23.2 aligned with the emerging naval concept known as Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), which involves deploying small but highly mobile units to isolated locations. EABO has the potential of quickly getting forces into a strategically vital area, and potentially in an adversary’s weapons engagement zone, in response to an evolving threat when no other U.S. military assets are available.

A key element of EABO is explosive hazard detection and defeat, from the deep water through the beach zone to the inland objective, to enable naval maneuvering. This involves EHD/MCM, obstacle detection, and the use of sensors and software to determine routes for safe passage around hazards. Read more

Dec. 20, 2023 - Mighty Mentorship: Navy Civilian Employee Wins DoD STEM Advocacy Award

Arlington, VA - Growing up in Del Rio, Texas, a small town located on the U.S.-Mexico border, Juan Lafuente attended a high school that was short on resources but rich in caring, dedicated teachers — resulting in h6 math and science programs.

Lafuente’s physics teacher, Mr. Francisco, was a powerful proponent of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and pushed his students to excel in such subjects. Seeing a similar passion in Lafuente, Mr. Francisco helped him apply and earn acceptance to summer engineering enrichment programs at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.

The encouragement paid off as Lafuente later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in systems engineering and embarked on successful military and civilian careers with the Department of the Navy, including his current role as head of the Nuclear Command Control and Communications Messaging and Interior Communications Branch at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific.
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Sept. 22, 2023 - Carderock Hosts Visualization Workshop to Improve Unmanned Technology and Naval Assets

Potomac, MD  –  Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) Additive Manufacturing Technology Office (SEA 05T1) demonstrated sustainment technologies at the Visualization Workshop hosted by Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Maryland, Sept. 12-14, 2023. The workshop explored commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) unmanned remote operated vehicles, along with imaging and modeling technologies to enable Navy assets to rapidly “see” above and below the water line, inside and outside of the hull.

Working on an expedited timeframe, SEA 05T1 worked with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Montana State University’s MilTech, Partnership Intermediary, and the Kostas Research Institute at Northeastern University to research technologies that provide dynamic visualization of Navy assets at sea. Demonstrations were presented by Skydio, Cupix, RDI Technologies, Boston Dynamics, VideoRay, Deep Trekker, Eddyfi, Beast Code, Boston Engineering, Artec 3D, Source Graphics, Qii AI, and the University of Houston. Technology evaluation panelists and observers included representatives from the Ford-class Aircraft Carrier Sustainment Program, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory, NAVSEA, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, U.S. Coast Guard, and SEA 05T staff. Read more

 

Sept. 19, 2023 - MIT News: Four Lincoln Laboratory technologies win five 2023 R&D 100 awards

Ultrasound that doesn’t require touching patients. A web-based tool that reinvents crew scheduling for the Air Force. Cryptographic hardware that protects sensitive data. And the world’s first practical memory for quantum networking. These four technologies developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, either wholly or with collaborators, received 2023 R&D 100 Awards. 

The Security/Cyber Module (SCM) End Cryptographic Unit (ECU) is a compact device that secures tactical datalinks of uncrewed systems. The module modernizes security by pulling together multiple cybersecurity technologies, most notably a technique called Tactical Key Management that establishes secret keys on the fly for secure communication. The module is the first crypto device designed for a broad swath of uncrewed systems within the Joint Communication Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JCAUS), a recent U.S. Department of Defense effort to modularize uncrewed system radio links and allow reuse of NSA-certified components by standardizing capabilities and interfaces. The award is shared with the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. Read more

 

Sept. 16, 2023 - Helix Robosub club surfaces with education and fun all in one

The Helix Robosub club is an underwater autonomous robotics program aimed to compete in “Robosub” a yearly, international underwater autonomous robotics competition. They program, build, and test their own robot to compete. After about a year and a half of hard work and planning, they were able to attend Robosub 2023 over the summer. The competition was hosted at NIWC Pacific’s TRANSDEC, a local naval base and they had entries from all over the world, including top colleges and universities. Read more

 

Sept. 8, 2023 - Women of the Workforce Team Leads Collaboration, Community Outreach at NIWC Pacific

What compels busy people to take on more work than is asked of them? Who would log off from work at 4 p.m., grab a trash bag, and pick up litter from a two-mile stretch of the beach? Many people at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, it turns out, earlier this summer. Read more

 

Aug. 31, 2023 - NPS Research on Coast Guard Icebreaker to Enhance Arctic Readiness

During a seven-week Arctic transit aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Healy (WAGB 20), researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) will study the impact of the extreme environment on crew performance and potential mitigations, as well as advanced Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies in adverse sea conditions. One of the new tasks envisioned is the 3D printing of parts at sea, especially in austere or contested environments where supply chains are limited. The Amos01 3D printer aboard the Healy was developed by the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific; its data acquisition system is being tested aboard other U.S. Navy ships, but this is the first Arctic voyage to test the system aboard an icebreaker. The accelerometers installed on the 3D printer record roll, pitch and yaw and other environmental factors to determine how these conditions affect not just the printer’s overall component quality, but the operator’s performance. Read more

 

Aug. 30, 2023 - Naval Academy Midshipmen Connect to Engineering Community in Warfare Center Internship

PORT HUENEME, Calif.  –  Three midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy recently took a deep dive into the world of engineering duty officers (EDOs) at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD). As they prepare to chart their careers in the Navy, the second-class midshipmen gained insights in the field by connecting with EDOs and civilian engineers, touring sites where they support the fleet and working on an engineering design project during a month-long internship with NSWC PHD in late May and June.

 

The first stop in the midshipmen’s summer internship was in San Diego, where Braida met up with them to tour ships and sites connected to the EDO community. Those included a Zumwalt-class destroyer, a littoral combat ship, NSWC PHD’s Mission Module Readiness Center and Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific. Read more

 

Aug. 28, 2023 - First Cohort of NAVWAR and NPS Scholarship-for-Service Program Set to Start this September

The inaugural Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) Scholarship-for-Service (S4S) Program has officially commenced, with four students selected as part of the initial cohort to start their studies at NPS this September. Scholarship-for-Service refers to the scholarship provided to the participants to complete their master’s degrees at NPS at no cost to them, in exchange for three years of service at a Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific or NIWC Atlantic laboratory upon graduation. The NIWC locations include San Diego, Calif. and Charleston, S.C.; New Orleans, La.; and Norfolk, Va., respectively. Read more

 

Aug. 2, 2023 - VCNO Franchetti Talks STEM Skills at Autonomous Sub Contest

NAVAL BASE POINT LOMA, Calif. – As teams of college and high school students pored over their home-built robotic submarines and others prepared to place theirs in a huge, hillside water tank, Adm. Lisa Franchetti couldn’t be happier with what she saw. Franchetti, current vice chief of naval operations and self-described STEM fan, sees the Navy’s strength and future in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills displayed by students and their autonomous underwater vehicles built for this year’s RoboSub competition. This year marks the 26th iteration of the International Student Robotic Submarine competition that’s co-hosted by the Office of Naval Research and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, or NIWC-Pacific, and held at the Transducer Evaluation Center, a six million-gallon pool known as TRANSDEC at Naval Base Point Loma. Thirty-four teams – including international teams from Bangladesh, Canada, India and Singapore – are participating in the competition, which began July 31 and ends Aug. 6. Read more

 

Aug. 1, 2023 - AVBotz team ready for RoboSub 2023

Coming off its second-place finish in the 2022 RoboSub competition, Amador Valley High School's robotics team, AVBotz, has returned this week to defend its high standing in the international event. This year's competition is ongoing now at NIWC Pacific's TRANSDEC in San Diego, being contested from this Monday through Sunday (July 31 to Aug. 6). Read more

 

July 20, 2023 - NUWC Division Newport’s Coral Mitigation Team keeps AUTEC pier construction project on schedule by relocating rare coral

ANDROS ISLAND, Bahamas – When it was determined last year that sections of a pier at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Atlantic Undersea and Test Evaluation Center’s (AUTEC) on Andros Island in the Bahamas needed to be replaced and repaired, the project wasn’t as simple as it seemed on the surface. Coral colonies that grew on the underwater pier structures over decades included species of coral that were designated as rare or threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and therefore required protection in accordance with the Environmental Final Governing Standards (FGS) for the Bahamas. Divers and scientists from NUWC Division Newport collaborated with the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific Littoral Dive Unit, NIWC Pacific Scientific divers, and AUTEC to safely remove and relocate the coral. Read more

 

July 20, 2023 - NIWC Pacific employee earns Women of Color STEM Technology All-Star award

This month, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific leadership announced a Center recipient for a Career Communications Group’s (CCG) 2023 Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Technology All-Star award: Wanda Lam, a systems engineer from the Command & Control and Enterprise Engineering Department. Technology All-Stars are accomplished women of color in mid-level to advanced stages of their careers with more than 15 years of experience. Awardees are chosen for their excellence in their workplaces and communities. Read more

 

July 19, 2023 - NIWC Pacific employee shares how her career started with the SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program

Meet a current oceanographer and outreach lead at NIWC Pacific. Most of her oceanography work involves using passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for studying whale behavior. We track actively vocalizing whales in order to investigate their kinematic behavior, learn about their song patterns, and measure the intensity of their vocalizations. This work helps the Navy get baseline behavior information about these animals, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, and estimate whale abundance in our study areas. This is important for understanding and reducing the impact of Navy training and testing on protected species. Read more

 

July 14, 2023 - Cubesats, robotics, 3D printing: Hands-on STEM experience for high school students

From space exploration using robotics to creating 3D printed wearable devices, 16 high school students from Oʻahu experienced a hands-on learning opportunity in the field of engineering through the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Engineering’s Junior Engineers Summer STEM Experience (JESSE) program. The six-week rigorous curriculum provided an opportunity for participants to engage in engineering projects and assist college undergraduates, researchers and professors with their research in state-of-the-art facilities. Students also participated in cultural programming, professional development workshops, and other enrichment activities, and made weekly site visits to engineering employers including Island Energy, Hawaiian Electric Company, SSFM International, Burns & McDonnell, Booz Allen Hamilton, KAI Hawaii and NIWC Pacific. Read more

 

July 7, 2023 - Third Marine Aircraft Wing Squadron prints medical device in-flight

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- On June 21, 2023, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 164, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), facilitated the in-flight three-dimensional (3D) printing of a medical cast aboard an MV-22B Osprey, in support of the Marine Corps’ Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 4-23. This milestone event took place as the U.S. Marine Corps looks to sharpen its expeditionary manufacturing capabilities. The Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith, emphasized the importance of these organic Marine Corps capabilities in recent testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The specific printer used is known as a TAMOS (Tactical Advanced Manufacturing Operational System), developed by Mr. Spencer Koroly from Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California. Read more

 

Jun. 16, 2023 - Benthic microbial fuel cell as a local power source for oceanic devices

Scientists at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific have invented a novel benthic microbial fuel cell, a carbon-neutral energy resource that can operate in marine sediments and provide underwater power. As a possible power solution for oceanic devices, Navy researchers have developed an advanced benthic microbial fuel cell technology that could act as a local power source. Read more

 

Jun. 5, 2023 - Digital Transformation: NATO Workshop looks to an AI-Enabled Future for NATO’s Lessons Learned Tools

From 23 to 25 May 2023, the NATO hosted a three-day workshop in Cascais, Portugal. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate LL end-users and LL staff to explore the ways in which incorporating semantic representation into LL tools could better support their everyday work. Semantic representation enhances the ability of machines to understand context, and offers the potential for future LL tools to be smarter and more automated. The event was organized in partnership with a NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) Research Task Group (SAS-IST-179) on Semantic Representation to Enhance Exploitation of Military Lessons Learned. The JALLC is co-chairing this three-year Research Task Group with the US Naval Information Warfare Centre Pacific. Read more

 

June 1, 2023 - NIWC Atlantic and NIWC Pacific collaborate with University of Hawaii to create opportunities for cybersecurity students

CHARLESTON, S.C. – An academic collaboration between Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic, NIWC Pacific and the University of Hawaii (UH) is creating paths for cybersecurity students to gain vital hands-on experience and bolster their career opportunities for government work. The Naval Information Warfare Center and University of Hawaii System Cybersecurity Internship Program was created in 2020 with the university’s Information and Computer Science department to increase the number of cybersecurity professionals in Hawaii. Read more

 

May 8, 2023 - The Navy’s sea lions love video games

SAN DIEGO — Meet Spike, the most avid gamer in a sea pen floating in the San Diego Bay. He likes fish, ice, naps, and when people cheer his name. He was last of three male sea lions to learn how to play video games, but first to complete training on a game system Navy scientists created as part of their latest research on cognitive enrichment for marine mammals. His name isn’t really Spike; you can think of it more like his gamertag. His ability to understand the concept of controlling a cursor on a screen, then progress through a series of more challenging games, marks the first recorded success in testing cognition of California sea lions with an animal-controlled interface. Read more

 

May 4, 2023 - NIWC Pacific holds change of command, retirement ceremony

SAN DIEGO — Capt. Patrick McKenna assumed command from Capt. Andrew Gainer in a change of command and retirement ceremony at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific May 4. As commanding officer, McKenna will lead more than 5,200 civilian employees and military members across the globe in serving NIWC Pacific’s information warfare mission. Read more

 

May 1, 2023 - AI2 researchers release new multimodal approach to boost AI capabilities using images and audio

Earlier this month Seattle-based Allen Institute for AI (AI2) released an open multimodal augmentation of the popular text-only corpus, c4. This new data set, which AI2’s researchers dubbed Multimodal C4, or mmc4, is a publicly available model that interleaves text and images in a billion-scale data set. This open data set will allow researchers to explore new ways to improve AI’s ability to interpret and learn, so they can provide us with better tools in the future. Work on Multimodal C4 was supported in part by DARPA MCS program through NIWC Pacific, the NSF AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, Open Philanthropy, Google, and the Allen Institute for AI. Read more

 

Apr. 24, 2023 - Triton’s Role in Australian Defense and Deterrence

Triton’s high-altitude, long-endurance capabilities make it much more than an ISR & Targeting platform. With an operating altitude greater than 50k feet, and endurance great than 24 hours, Triton can provide continuous communications relay to keep a distributed force connected to ensure commanders are operating off a shared common operational picture. By leveraging MQ-4C Triton’s utility as a gateway node the aircraft showcased the ability to connect fifth-generation platforms with naval assets across a distributed maritime fleet. The first-of-its-kind demonstration was conducted in partnership with Naval Air Systems Command, Office of Naval Research, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, and BAE Systems. Read more

 

Apr. 19, 2023 - Air Force Special Operations Command hosts U.S. Air Force multi-classification Hackathon

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The Department of the Air Force conducted its latest “BRAVO” hackathon March 20 – 24 at Hurlburt Field, Florida, this time partnering with the other defense services and intelligence agencies. A hackathon is an innovation building conference commonly employed by technology companies where agile teams develop prototypes, working around-the-clock over the course of a week in response to challenges associated with data. Prior BRAVO projects have produced multiple prototypes and inventions influencing major Defense Department programs. Read more about NIWC Pacific's participation in this event here

 

Apr. 11, 2023 - NAVWAR Mentors Tomorrow’s Talent at FIRST® Robotics Competition

Ten high school teams, mentored by Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) and Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific employees, competed at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®) Robotics Competition (FRC) San Diego Regionals Tournament March 24-26 at the UC San Diego LionTree Arena in San Diego, Calif. With 50 teams total from across Southern California and even abroad, these high school students had six to eight weeks to design and build their robots to the challenge’s specifications. This year’s theme, CHARGED UP℠, inspires teams to see the potential of energy storage in a new light as they compete to charge up their communities. Read more

 

Apr. 11, 2023 - ONR’s RoboBoat Competition Makes a Splash in Sarasota, Florida

ARLINGTON, Va.—A unique maritime competition, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), recently took place in Sarasota, Florida. The 16th annual RoboBoat competition brought together teams of students from across the globe to assemble and navigate autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USV) through a series of real-world challenges, including coastal surveillance, port security and oceanographic exploration, at Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park. Read more

 

Apr. 3, 2023 - Navy tests secret Project Overmatch tech with Carl Vinson strike group

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy is testing technology developed as part of its secretive Project Overmatch using the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group in the waters off California, according to the chief of naval operations. Read more

 

Mar. 29, 2023 - NIWC Pacific Logistic Specialist Named Sailor of the Year in Full Circle Moment

Logistics Specialist First Class (LS1) Nichole Usita was named Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) Sailor of the Year for fiscal year 2022 at a ceremony March 3, at NAVWAR Headquarters. Selected from a field of exceptional performers, NAVWAR Sailor of the Year is a prestigious honor recognizing Sailors who embody sustained superior performance, command impact, proven leadership, and the Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment. Assigned to Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, Usita distinguished herself through her work as the Aviation Branch Lead Petty Officer. Her enthusiastic approach to team engagement led to qualifications of multiple team leads, system admins, and functional analysts, providing systems life-cycle support to Naval Air Stations, Marine Corps Aviation Groups, surface ships, and aviation squadrons throughout the Pacific Fleet. Read more

 

Mar. 29, 2023 - What Was She Thinking? An Investigation

In 2012, future First Lady Melania Trump tweeted a photo of the smiling face of a beluga whale accompanied by the text: “What is she thinking?” This question, however unsettling its speaker or baffling its context, was a good one, and not without precedent. It’s clear animals think, often in ways that recall our own intelligence; crows use tools to extract termites and Japanese macaques salt their sweet potatoes in the ocean. Although my investigation led me to the identity and life story of the particular beluga whale in Melania's photo, a whale whose life was uniquely well-documented compared to other beluga whales and who likely thought about us as well, I still do not know exactly what this whale was thinking. This larger question may always remain beyond our grasp. Read more

 

Mar. 29, 2023 - NIWC Pacific and its partners are building a quantum Navy

Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific’s mission touches cyber, sea, space — and, since 2000, the subatomic realm. We make sense of the first three through programming rules and various fields of classical mechanics; the fourth is something else entirely. For one, classical physics can predict, with simple mathematics, how an object will move and where it will be at any given point in time and space. How objects interact with each other and their environments follow laws we first encounter in high school science textbooks. What happens in minuscule realms isn’t so easily explained. At the level of atoms and their parts, measuring position and momentum simultaneously yields only probability. Knowing a particle’s exact state is a zero-sum game in which classical notions of determinism don’t apply: the more certain we are about its momentum, the less certain we are about where it will be.  Read more here or watch a video here

 

Mar. 20, 2023 - NAVWAR Seeking Applicants for Department of Defense’s New HBCU/MSI Scholarship for Service Program

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) is currently accepting applications for the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) Scholarship for Service (S4S) Program. The deadline is March 31. This brand-new program across the Department of Defense (DoD), piloted by NAVWAR, is an effort to encourage research and educational partnerships between HBCU/MSIs and government defense organizations. Like the NAVWAR HBCU/MSIs Data and Cyber Internship program, NAVWAR is prioritizing supporting young graduates by providing unparalleled hands-on experience and mentorship from Navy STEM professionals along with financial assistance. Read more

 

Mar. 16, 2023 - NIWC Pacific cohosts international underwater vehicle competition

SAN DIEGO — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific will cohost the 26th international RoboSub competition in its Transducer Evaluation Center with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) July 31-Aug. 6. At the underwater vehicle competition, students from across the globe will build robotic submarines designed to overcome simplified versions of challenges relevant to the autonomous underwater vehicle field. Read more

 

Mar. 9, 2023 - U.S. DOT and NIWC Pacific Host SeaVision Training for Exercise Cutlass Express 2023 Participants

MOMBASA, Kenya - In concert with the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) hosted SeaVision training for exercise Cutlass Express 2023 (CE23) participants, in Mombasa, Kenya, March 8, 2023. Read more

 

Feb. 22, 2023 - NAVWAR Discusses the Need to Capitalize on Commercial Capabilities for the Future Fight

Key leaders from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) Enterprise and its affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEOs) came together to discuss “Capitalizing on Innovation” at the Department of Navy Information Technology (DON IT) West Coast Conference, Feb. 13, at the San Diego Convention Center. DON IT West provides the opportunity for attendees to hear directly from Navy leadership, allowing them to obtain the necessary information to identify innovative IT solutions for current and future challenges. During the conference, NAVWAR Commander Rear Adm. Doug Small discussed how the robust constellation of allies and partners remains a critical strategic advantage over our competitors. He also stressed the importance of speed and the role entrepreneurship plays in rapidly fielding systems for the future force. Read more

 

Feb. 17, 2023 - NAVWAR's First-Ever Buildathon Inspires the Next Generation of Citizen Developers Using Microsoft Power Platform Tools

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) hosted its inaugural Buildathon Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, facilitated by the NAVWAR Office of the Command Information Officer (OCIO) and Acquisition and Program Management competency, alongside Program Executive Office (PEO) Digital and Microsoft. Read more

 

Feb. 14, 2023 - Connecting Distributed Platforms Across Domains

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully demonstrated its gateway technology in a flight test that proved the ability to connect airborne platforms with naval assets. The first-of-its-kind demonstration was conducted with Naval Air Systems Command, Office of Naval Research, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific and BAE Systems. Northrop Grumman demonstrates its next generation gateway system on a Triton Flying Test Bed. This multi-platform, multi-domain capability on the Triton platform bolsters the Navy's interoperability to help enable distributed maritime operations. Read more

 

Feb. 6, 2023 - Navy Innovation in Environmental Compliance

Perhaps you’ve been out for a stroll across one of the many docks and shipyards that make up the three U.S. Navy bases on the San Diego Bay in San Diego, Calif. Spotting a storm cloud on the horizon, maybe you’ve even thought to yourself, ‘I wonder what could be done to prevent the contamination of marine habitats when surges of storm water flood across industrial facilities that contain potential contaminants like copper and zinc?’ Okay…maybe not, but there is someone who has: Leonard “Len” Sinfield. Not only has this question kept him up at night, Len has invented a filtering device that he hopes will reduce the amount of potential contaminants that run off from industrial sites. With the support of the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, Len’s innovative idea was awarded a patent through the U.S. Navy patent office in Oct. 2022. Read more

 

Feb. 6, 2023 - Science Success Stories: Naval STEM Highlights Student-Outreach Efforts in 2022

Last year was busy for the Department of the Navy’s (DoN) Naval STEM Coordination Office. Located at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in northern Virginia, the team worked hard to expand its program offerings for all levels of students — from elementary to graduate school. These activities included an international robotics competition; a four-week internship focusing on orthopedic surgery; and an online essay contest aimed at introducing students to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) topics impacting the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Read more

 

Feb. 3, 2023 - 2023 ROBOSUB Competition: Intent to compete now open

Are you ready to explore another world of autonomous robotics? If your answer was indeed, than join us for an event full of exploration and adventure–the 2023 RoboSub Competition! Get started by completing the Intent to Compete – now open! We want your team to join us in Southern California this summer and be a part of our incredible RoboSub community! Get started and learn more here

 

Feb. 1, 2023 - NAVAL UX Forum 2023: ‘Designing for the Warfighter’

More than 200 people attended the 2023 NAVAL UX (User Experience) Forum, held Jan. 26, in the UCSD Park & Market complex, San Diego, Calif. The conference started out as NAVAL UX Day, a virtual half-day event created by the user-centered design (UCD) subject-matter experts at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific and championed by the research and development center’s leadership team. Speakers included the Honorable Ms. Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (via video); Rear Adm. Douglas Small, commander, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command; and Mai Nguyen, director of the University of California, San Diego Design Lab. Capt. Andrew Gainer, NIWC Pacific commanding officer, opened the event with a salute to Shyu’s vision, “Our Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering says it best, ‘the speed of decision making is what will give us an advantage over our adversaries.’ If human-centered design, here at the center, helps our warfighters focus less on systems and more on decisions, that’s a win.” Read more

 

Jan. 31, 2023 - NY Times Science Feature: The Navy’s Dolphins Have a Few Things to Tell Us About Aging

White caps were breaking in the bay and the rain was blowing sideways, but at Naval Base Point Loma, an elderly bottlenose dolphin named Blue was absolutely not acting her age. In a bay full of dolphins, she was impossible to miss, leaping from the water and whistling as a team of veterinarians approached along the floating docks. Read more

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Jan. 26, 2023 - Overmatch secrecy needed as China, Russia surveil US Navy, experts say 

The thick fog of secrecy encircling the U.S. Navy’s Project Overmatch is still needed to keep rival nations including China and Russia off-balance, unable to discern from afar how the service is readying for future large-scale conflicts, according to a pair of experts. Read more

 

Jan. 24, 2023 - Quantum Research Consortium Notching Progress

The Chips and Science Act is accelerating the work of a new Washington, D.C.-area quantum research consortium that is trying to create and operate a quantum network as a regional test bed, the body’s executive director said on Jan. 18. The Federal agencies involved in the effort are the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Observatory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Security Agency, and NASA. Additionally, the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific and the Air Force Research Laboratory will participate as out-of-region affiliates. Read more

 

Jan. 19, 2023 - Product Test Center brings augmented reality to vendor partners

The Product Test Center Analytical at Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support introduced augmented reality headsets for the purposes of performing remote inspections for DLA Troop Support Clothing and Textile suppliers during a demonstration on January 9th. The Product Test Center will be responsible for training the vendor textile technologists and engineers on the usage of the AR headsets. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific will also be involved in providing technical support. Read more

 

Jan. 13, 2023 - NIWC Pacific Demos Cross-Banding Capabilities Between Legacy, Modern Satcom Systems

The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific has conducted a demonstration to validate cross-banding capabilities between legacy and modern military satellite communications for the Department of Defense. During the event, operators established two-way communication between ultra high-frequency military satcom channels and modern mobile user objective system wideband code division multiple assets, Space Systems Command said Wednesday. Read more

 

Jan. 12, 2023 - Navy Scientists Test a Method for Healthier, Longer-Living Coral

The U.S. Navy and coral: neighbors; living, breathing structures; and members of interdependent ecosystems. Corals are animals, symbiotic with both the organisms living in their tissues and the ocean’s coastlines. In many ways, coral reef health is community health—they provide medicine, food, jobs, and recreation; and protect coasts from erosion and storms. That’s part of the reason Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific scientists have been researching a way to improve coral survivability for coastlines where coral and the Navy are neighbors. Thanks to the team’s innovative housing structures—or “Coral Arks”—they’ve improved survival rates of translocated coral by 38% during the past nine months compared to traditional methods. Read more

 

Jan. 10, 2023 - New Quantum Capabilities for Naval Warfare Centers

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and all 14 Naval Warfare Centers signed a memorandum of understanding Dec. 2 with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Information Directorate to establish a conduit for exchange of technical expertise and the exploration of co-projects with a focus on creating useful quantum computing capabilities for the Department of Defense. To manage access to the IBM-Q Hub and facilitate advancements in quantum computing, NRL stood up a Naval Quantum Computing Program Office (QCPO) with Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific serving as the co-lead, and with other representation from Naval Warfare Center quantum subject matter experts. Read more

 

Jan. 6, 2023 - Former NIWC Pacific employee elected Co-Chair San Diego’s Cyber Center of Excellence 

San Diego’s Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) has announced the election of Pat Sullivan to co-chairman of the board. Sullivan’s prior positions included executive director for the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I), as well as the director for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. Read more

 

Jan. 3, 2023 - For 60 Years, the Navy Has Been Training Dolphins and Sea Lions to Keep Rivals Away From Its Most Sensitive Hardware

Since 1959, the U.S. Navy has trained a small force of bottlenose dolphins and sea lions to recover lost equipment, intercept intruders in ports, and detect buried sea mines. Read more

 

Dec. 27, 2022 - Navy Says Red Hill Cameras May Not Be Operable for Defueling

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, a Navy entity, was hired to do maintenance and repairs on the system under a contract worth up to $4 million. Its subcontractor, Integrated Security Technologies, has been doing most of the work. The biggest challenge has been global supply chain shortages for camera parts, the Navy said. Military officials estimate it could take six to 18 months or more to fix all of the cameras. Read more

 

Dec. 20, 2022 - Winners Announced for Navy’s Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Tool Automation Challenge

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division in April 2022 launched a two-phase prize challenge aimed at identifying providers of a capability that would automate document and data assessment for the controlled unclassified information (CUI) content using artificial intelligence (AI) and /or machine learning (ML). Recently, NSWCPD announced the winners of the challenge. Taking first place of the Phase Two challenge was IBM followed by Deloitte, SERCO/Nuix and the Navy’s own Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific Division’s (PAC’s) Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (ML/NLP) Group. Read more

 

Dec. 20, 2022 - Carderock Supports Atlantic Thunder 2022 (with video)

The sinking exercise was a collaborative event between United States and United Kingdom forces conducted to gain proficiency in tactics, targeting and live firing against a surface target at sea. Carderock, together with Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, took a central role in planning and conducting AT22. The team’s efforts focused on Battle Damage Assessment (BDA), 3D reality capture using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and providing crucial subject-matter expertise to 6th Fleet, Commander, Task Force (CTF) 65 and other AT22 planners and participants. Read more

 

Dec. 8, 2022 - Project Overmatch: US Navy preps to deploy secretive multidomain tech

The U.S. Navy is moving quickly to link its fleet through its Project Overmatch initiative, which has been kept almost entirely secret for two years. Read more

 

Dec. 7, 2022 - Seaport threat factors in Georgia

In recognition of the country’s critical contribution to the Black Sea security architecture, the U.S. has collaborated with Georgia on several initiatives in the region. In 2022, the U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific worked with local stakeholders to find ways to improve search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, and port security in Georgia. By working with local stakeholders like Georgia to address both tangible security threats and their underlying socio-economic drivers, the United States can cost-effectively improve regional security. Read more

 

Dec. 2, 2022 - Fellowship Connects NPS Information Warfare Students to NIWC Pacific Needs

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC) Pacific selected five U.S Navy and Marine Corps students from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for the prestigious NIWC-PAC Fellowship. These warrior-scholars are directly connecting their education, ideas and research to fleet information warfare (IW) force design objectives in support of the capabilities necessary to counter adversary forces, improve command and control across the fleet, and to persistently cover the maritime battlespace for decision advantage. The partnership between the two organizations provides a direct connection between the alignment select NPS research efforts with NIWC-PAC focus areas, advancing the impact of NPS education and research programs in IW for the U.S. Navy and DOD. In addition, the partnership lays the groundwork for future technical and project management assignments for NPS graduates at NIWC-PAC. Read more

 

Nov. 21, 2022 - Are Unmanned Surface Vessels the Key to a 500-Ship U.S. Navy

In an era of great power competition, navies – by virtue of their ability to span the globe and effectively deliver combat power – are likely to be the sine qua non of military power. This leads, naturally, to the tendency to count numbers of ship hulls when comparing the strength of navies. Lost on no one is the fact that the size of China’s Navy now exceeds that of the U.S. Navy, and the gap in ship numbers is growing. An article by George Galdorisi, director of Strategic Assessments for Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific. Read more

 

Nov. 17, 2022 - 70 acres of Navy federal property up for lease

The Navy has put up 70.3 acres of federal property that sits between Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 on the market for lease for a private development. The property includes Naval Base Point Loma, Old Town Campus, which is home to Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, or NAVWAR. Read more

 

Nov. 14, 2022 - NAVWAR’s STEM Outreach Fosters Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) co-hosted the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) LEGO League (FLL) Challenge Qualifying Tournament Nov. 5 at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, Calif. The NAVWAR STEM Robotics Outreach Program, created by Robotics Outreach Coordinator and Tournament Director Wanda Curtis, enables the workforce to engage the community as a coach or mentor to a local robotics team. Now, both she and Brian Williams serve as co-coordinators and FIRST tournament directors, engaging and training NAVWAR and Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific employees year-round. Read more

 

Oct. 18, 2022 - Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks Visits Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

Deputy Secretary Hicks visited Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific today to see the Navy's most cutting-edge, multi-domain unmanned technologies and command-and-control programs, especially as they relate to operations in the Indo-Pacific. Among the unmanned technologies she viewed, was "Sea Hunter" – an autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV) launched in 2016 as part of the DARPA Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program to discuss advancements, challenges, and strategic advantages of autonomous technology and machine learning capabilities. Read more

 

Sep. 30, 2022 - NIWC Pacific’s all-source Intelligence Carry On Program reimagines DevSecOps for the fleet

What makes ICOP unique is its government-owned baseline and all-government engineering team, who maintains complete configuration management control of the hardware and software throughout the experimentation-to-deployment cycle. A program of record in the Battlespace Awareness and Information Operations Program Office (PMW 120) since 2015, the NIWC Pacific team has fielded ICOP systems across more than 90 ships, cruisers, and destroyers. The Marine Corps has funded ICOP and its associated antennas across every amphibious class of ship in the Navy. Thanks to its flexibility and capability to operate across multiple security domains, ICOP systems are now deployed across five numbered fleet Maritime Operations Centers providing critical support at the operational level of war. Read more

 

Sep. 28, 2022 - SECDEF visit highlights autonomous vehicle innovations at NIWC Pacific

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) and Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific leadership hosted Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III Sept. 28 at NIWC Pacific for a tour of its latest unmanned undersea and surface vehicle capabilities. NIWC Pacific and its partners briefed the secretary on their innovations, many of which highlighted the Center’s constant collaboration with the warfighter. Read more

 

June 16, 2022 - Department of the Navy Top Scientists, Engineers Recognized for Excellence

WEST BETHESDA, Md. – The best of the best in Navy and Marine Corps science and engineering were recognized June 16, at the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN RD&A) Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers Awards Ceremony. Read more

 

June 14, 2022 - BALTOPS 22: A Perfect Opportunity for Research and Resting New Technology 

A significant focus of BALTOPS every year is the demonstration of NATO mine hunting capabilities, and this year the U.S. Navy continues to use the exercise as an opportunity to test emerging technology, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Public Affairs said June 14. Experimentation was conducted off the coast of Bornholm, Denmark, with participants from Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport, and Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring all under the direction of U.S. 6th Fleet Task Force 68. Read more

 

Jun. 6, 2022 - Naval Information Warfare Center 5G Experts Recognized with Prestigious Etter Award

The Department of the Navy (DON) presented its most esteemed engineering award to a team led by Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic on June 16 for its leadership in developing the 5G-powered smart warehouse on Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia (MCLB Albany). All six members of the DON 5G IPT accepted the award in person — four engineers from NIWC Atlantic and two from NIWC Pacific. Read more

 

May 2, 2022 - Department of Defense Hosts Ribbon-Cutting for 5G Smart Warehouse Network

The DoD 5G-NextG Initiative hosted a 5G Smart Warehouse Network ribbon-cutting ceremony at Naval Base Coronado last week. Developed in collaboration with Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, Naval Supply Systems Command, Navy Reg ion Southwest, Naval Base Coronado, industry partners, and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), the 5G Smart Warehousing project at Naval Base Coronado is the program’s use-case incorporating 5G capabilities for trans-shipments between shore facilities and naval units. Read more

 

Mar. 1, 2022 - Four NIWC Pacific SMART scholars receive Scholar and Mentor of the Year awards

Four Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific employees were recognized by the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program recently for their achievements in the pursuit of their SMART-sponsored degree. Read more

 

 

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