Category: US Indo Pacific Command

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Pete Nguyen provided the following statement:

Today the Department of Defense’s Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA) announced the Maritime Security (MARSEC) Consortium, a new public-private initiative focused on transforming maritime security in Southeast Asia. 

The MARSEC Consortium brings together defense industry investors, companies, U.S. government policy and innovation officials, and Southeast Asian government decision-makers committed to identifying low-cost, commercially available solutions to meet interested Southeast Asian partners’ most pressing maritime security challenges.  IPSA is launching the MARSEC Consortium in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The MARSEC Consortium will convene decision-makers, operators, and solution providers.  Together, they will match policy objectives and operational challenges with commercially available solutions, demonstrate those capabilities, and expedite delivery.  Ensuring Southeast Asian allies and partners have impactful, cost-effective means to monitor, manage, and enforce maritime security interests will increase regional and global peace, security, and prosperity.

In the coming months, the MARSEC Consortium will pursue these goals through the following lines of effort:

• Advance upwards of $95 million annually toward low-cost, commercially available solutions to strengthen maritime domain awareness, logistics and sustainment, and maritime defense in Southeast Asia;
• Regularly convene stakeholders across the DoD enterprise and industry to mitigate barriers to delivering commercially available solutions;
• Work with likeminded partners to align security cooperation activities along MARSEC Consortium objectives;
• Expand technology demonstrations for allies and partners in multilateral exercises such as BALIKATAN.

The United States envisions a Southeast Asian region free of coercion where safety, security, sovereignty, self-determination, and prosperity are shepherded by ASEAN centrality.  With more than 60 percent of global maritime trade transiting Southeast Asia by ship, the maritime domain is central to security and prosperity in Southeast Asia.  The United States is committed to ensuring these trading lanes remain free and open for all.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

PHILIPPINE SEA  –  

The four strike fighter squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 departed the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) and returned to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni this week, with the primary fly-off taking place on Nov. 17, 2024.

The air wing is forward-deployed to Japan and is embarked aboard the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier when it operates at sea.

“Carrier Air Wing 5 has always provided the U.S. Navy and our allies premier strike capability, and I’m proud to say we continue to improve and innovate,” said Capt. Patrick S. Corrigan, commander of CVW 5. “We’re coming back even better than we left. Our presence – both at sea and in Japan – is a powerful deterrent force in an ever-evolving theater.”

This year marked a period of transition for the air wing and carrier strike group.

George Washington replaced USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) as the Navy’s forward-deployed carrier, while the air wing welcomed its first F-35C Lightning II jets, with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, as well as CMV-22B Osprey aircraft, with the arrival of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30, Detachment Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF).

CVW 5 departed Japan in May aboard Ronald Reagan and is returning aboard George Washington. The carriers conducted a “hull swap” of personnel and equipment in San Diego to transfer forward-deployed duties in July, during which time the air wing conducted fully integrated training at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.

“Carrier Air Wing 5 represents the Navy’s determined investments in Naval Aviation through cutting-edge technology and our most advanced training with years of unmatched experience flying in this consequential theater,” said Rear Adm. Greg Newkirk, commander of Task Force 70 and the George Washington Carrier Strike Group. “Our forward-deployed forces in Japan are among our most capable in the world and represent a tangible sign of America’s commitment to Japan and the region.”

The F-35C is the most capable fighter in the U.S. Navy and the backbone of air superiority; it complements the carrier strike group with a dominant, multi-role, 5th generation aircraft that enhances U.S. power projection and deterrence.

The Navy’s V-22 variant includes increased operational range, faster cargo loading/unloading, aerial refueling capability, increased survivability and enhanced beyond-line-of-sight communications when compared to the legacy C-2A. This aircraft brings agility, flexibility and sustainability to effectively operate our naval forces forward in a high-end fight. The CMV-22B represents the next generation of the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission and is the critical enabler to ensure sustained deployed mobility for the carrier strike group.

In addition to the Argonauts of VFA-147, CVW 5’s strike fighter squadrons are the Diamondbacks of VFA-102, the Royal Maces of VFA-27 and the Dambusters of VFA-195, the latter three of which fly F/A-18F and F/A-18E Super Hornets.

Alongside the strike fighter squadrons, CVW 5 includes the EA-18G Growlers of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141, the E-2 Hawkeyes of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 125, the MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 and the MH-60R helicopters of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77.

The air wing’s helicopter squadrons operate out of Naval Air Field Atsugi when not embarked aboard the carrier.

CVW 5 became America’s first permanently forward-deployed air wing in 1973, when it was embarked with the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV 41) in Japan.

These forces, along with their counterparts in the Japan Self-Defense Forces, make up the core capabilities needed by the alliance to meet our common strategic objectives. The security environment in the Indo-Pacific requires that the U.S. Navy station the most capable ships and aircraft forward. This posture enables rapid response times for maritime and joint forces, and brings our most capable ships with the greatest amount of striking power and operational capability to bear.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen, and United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III convened the fourteenth Trilateral Defense Ministers’ Meeting (TDMM) on 17 November 2024 in Darwin, Australia.

Through this fourteenth meeting, we affirm the longevity and enduring commitment of our partnership. Grounded in shared values, deep trust, and our unbreakable commitment to strengthening collective deterrence, our cooperation continues to evolve. We acknowledge significant progress made to implement activities and practical areas of cooperation set forth in our 2023 and May 2024 Joint Statements.

We are united in our steadfast commitment to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, where the rule of law is upheld, sovereignty is respected, and nations can make decisions free from coercion or threats of force.

We reaffirm our consistent and unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity, ASEAN-led regional architecture, and look forward to a successful ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Lao PDR this week. We reinforce our commitment to work with partners, including Canada, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom to increase engagement with Southeast Asian partners and support the region’s security priorities.

We recognize the criticality of backing Pacific-led responses to Pacific-security challenges, consistent with the Pacific Island Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. We commit to coordinate our defense engagement with Pacific counterparts, including capacity-building, Women, Peace and Security activities, and working through and with Pacific-led architecture such as the Joint Heads of Pacific Security and the South Pacific Defense Ministers’ Meeting, of which Australia is a member and Japan and the United States are observers.

We reiterate our serious concern about destabilizing actions in the East and South China Seas, including dangerous conduct by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against Philippines and other coastal state vessels. We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. It is important that all states are free to exercise rights and freedoms consistent with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea. We reaffirm the need for all states to pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law and that the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award is final and legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings.

We emphasize the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.

We strongly condemn North Korea’s destabilizing activities, including its series of reckless launches using ballistic missile technology, and its intercontinental ballistic missile test on 31 October 2024. These are

serious violations of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and pose a grave threat to international peace and stability. We reaffirm our continuing commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, consistent with UNSC resolutions. We express serious concern for Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security following reports of the transfer of ballistic missiles and other materiel to Russia from third countries to sustain its aggression against Ukraine, and the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia. We urge Russia to immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. We concur in the importance of continuing to remind third countries, including the PRC, of their duty to uphold international law and in no way to validate, support, or condone Russia’s attempts to acquire territory by force, in violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. These developments have destabilising consequences for the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions.

To support regional stability and collective deterrence, we commit to enhancing our defense cooperation under the following four pillars:

Expanding trilateral operational cooperation

• Recognizing the critical role the trilateral partnership plays to uphold regional stability, we commit to trilateral policy coordination and to consult each other on regional security issues and contingencies. We announce the establishment of the “Trilateral Defense Consultations” to support alignment of policy and operational objectives of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), the Australian Defense Force (ADF), and the United States forces from peacetime to contingency.
• We welcome Japan’s increased participation in Australia-United States force posture cooperation activities by increasing trilateral interoperability with the ADF and United States through:
  • Annual trilateral amphibious training among the ADF, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, and United States Marine Rotational Force – Darwin in northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific region from 2025, beginning with TALISMAN SABRE 2025.
  • Increasing Japan’s contribution to Exercise SOUTHERN JACKAROO and Exercise TALISMAN SABRE in Australia, including more complex scenarios in order to increase trilateral interoperability from 2025.
• We reaffirm our commitment to trilateralize key Japan-United States exercises in Japan such as Australia’s inaugural participation in Exercise ORIENT SHIELD from 2025, and enhance the ADF’s participation in exercises such as Exercise YAMA SAKURA, KEEN EDGE, and KEEN SWORD.
• We continue to grow trilateral intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region as a priority, including Australian personnel’s participation in the Japan-United States Bilateral Information Analysis Cell (BIAC). We work towards further commitment of Australian intelligence and capabilities for the BIAC.
• We intend to enhance trilateral air interoperability enabled by the Australia-Japan-United States Memorandum of Intent signed at Exercise PITCH BLACK 2024. We continue to explore future opportunities to increase trilateral cooperative activities, including reciprocal deployments of air assets such as fighter and transport aircraft, to all three countries from 2025, through Exercise COPE NORTH, Exercise BUSHIDO GUARDIAN, and Exercise PITCH BLACK.

Building advanced capabilities together

• We acknowledge progress and expanded cooperation under the trilateral Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Projects Arrangement, particularly collaboration on composite aerospace materials and autonomous systems.
• We commend steady progress of discussion in the area of collaborative combat aircraft and autonomy and commit to find cooperative opportunities in this area.
• Our countries intend to continue to work together to strengthen regional deterrence, including through cooperating on a networked air and missile defense architecture to counter the growing range of threats throughout the Indo-Pacific. We continue to make progress on our regional architecture through deepened information sharing to improve each country’s ability to respond to threats. We continue to cooperate through various activities including trilateral training, exercises, and exchanges. The inaugural trilateral regional air and missile defense live-fire event at Exercise TALISMAN SABRE 2027 will be a key milestone.
• We welcome progress on Japan’s consultation with AUKUS partners under AUKUS Pillar II, with the initial focus to improve interoperability with Japan’s maritime autonomous systems.
• AUKUS partners welcome Japan’s October 2024 participation as an observer in Exercise AUTONOMOUS WARRIOR under the AUKUS Pillar II Maritime Big Play series, an important step in our practical collaboration. AUKUS partners look forward to continued consultations with Japan to determine projects for future cooperation under AUKUS Pillar II.
• In order to promote trilateral defense industrial cooperation, we concur in further collaboration, including within the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR), a multilateral forum of allies and partners aimed at strengthening defense industrial resilience in the Indo-Pacific region, and welcome increased opportunities for interaction between Australian, Japanese, and United States defense industries such as holding the Australia-Japan-U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems Defense Symposium in Tokyo this October.

Planning together

• We welcome bilateral initiatives that will improve trilateral operational coordination, planning and information sharing between respective command centres, such as
  • Commencement of the first Japanese Joint Staff Liaison Officer in Australia’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) in November this year, while acknowledging the commitment to send an ADF liaison officer to JSDF Joint Operations Command (JJOC) once established in 2025.
  • The United States-Japan Security Consultative Committee (‘2+2’) announcement to reconstitute U.S. Forces Japan as a Joint Force Headquarters, which will serve as an important JJOC counterpart.

Demonstrating our presence in the region

• We welcome greater defense cooperation between Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States in the South China Sea, including through regular Maritime Cooperative Activities to support regional maritime security and uphold international law.
• We welcome the success of our maritime patrol aircraft collaboration activity with India on the sidelines of Exercise KAKADU in September 2024.
• We commit to enhancing Australia-Japan-India-United States maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific from 2025, acknowledging India’s leadership role in conceptualizing the idea of closer collaboration in maritime surveillance.
• We intend to deepen cooperation with Pacific island countries, including through Australia, Japan, and United States contribution to Exercise PUK PUK in Papua New Guinea in 2025 and future iterations of Operation RENDER SAFE.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii  –  

The Quarterly National Guard Commander’s Update Brief (NG CUB), held at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, on November 14, 2024, highlights a vital effort to synchronize National Guard activities with the strategic objectives of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) and the Indo-Pacific Command.

USARPAC Commanding General Gen. Ronald P. Clark’s engagement with Army National Guard leaders during this forum exemplifies the collaborative focus on regional security and operational readiness in the Pacific Theater.

USARPAC Deputy Commanding General for Mobilization and Reserve Affairs Maj. Gen. Lance A. Okamura stated that the NG Cub serves as an opportunity for National Guard states involved in the State Partnership Program (SPP) to share updates on their operations, activities, and investments (OAIs) and Key Leader Engagements (KLEs).

These updates allow for critical two-way communication, aligning state-level efforts with USARPAC’s strategic goals and ensuring a unified approach to security challenges and partnership-building efforts in the region.

“General Clark’s active participation underscores the importance of strong collaboration between the National Guard and USARPAC to enhance regional security. By engaging directly with state Senior Leaders, the forum facilitates open communication, fosters mutual understanding, and ensures that National Guard operations are harmonized with Indo-Pacific strategic initiatives,” said Okamura.

These efforts directly support the Theater Army’s goals of deterring adversaries, improving regional cooperation, and maintaining a decisive positional advantage in the Pacific.

The NG CUB also emphasizes the critical role of the SPP in building and maintaining partnerships with Indo-Pacific nations. Through joint training exercises, exchanges, and cooperative engagements, the SPP enables National Guard units to enhance the capacity of partner nations, promoting stability and strengthening alliances. This collaborative approach is vital for generating and applying military capabilities that contribute to regional resilience and deter aggression.

The robust participation in the November forum, including senior leaders from Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington, alongside representatives from all 11 states and territories with Pacific partnerships, highlights the increasing importance of these engagements.

The National Guard’s diverse presence across the Pacific underscores its unique ability to connect the U.S. with its regional partners, fostering trust and cooperation that bolster collective security.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD  –  

This month, U.S. Cyber Command launched the second iteration of the International Coordinated Cyber Security Activity (INCCA), a focused defensive cyberspace operation aimed at strengthening Department of Defense (DoD) networks and enhancing global cybersecurity partnerships.

INCCA is a key part of USCYBERCOM’s mission to protect DoD information networks, systems, and infrastructure from evolving cyber threats. The operation involves globally deployed defensive cyber teams working to detect, mitigate, and share threat intelligence on malware and vulnerabilities targeting DoD networks. This collaborative defense effort improves information sharing and strengthens the security and resilience of national and partner networks.

Through INCCA, USCYBERCOM aims to enhance the operational resilience of the Department of Defense Information Networks (DODIN) and ensure the continuity of critical cyber operations. The activity focuses on strengthening internal DoD defenses while coordinating with external partners, including Joint Force Commanders, interagency partners, and international allies.

INCCA also drives improvements in cyber defense capabilities, boosts expertise, and ensures DoD networks remain resilient in the face of evolving cyber threats. By emphasizing innovation, collaboration, and vigilance, INCCA reinforces USCYBERCOM’s commitment to safeguarding cyberspace and defending against adversaries that threaten national security.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan  –  

374th Airlift Wing and Japan Air Self-Defense Force Operation Support Wing leadership met with Mizuho Town and Musashimurayama City leadership during their Industrial and Dehdara Festivals Nov. 9, 2024.

Mizuho Town celebrated their 51st annual Industrial Festival with various foods, toys, games and live entertainment, featuring a performance from the United States Air Force Band of the Pacific – Asia.

Meanwhile, Musashimurayama City celebrated their Dehdara Festival. In its 16th installment, Musashimurayama hosted a farmers’ market, cars, games and live entertainment. The Dehdara Festival originates from the legend of the giant Dehdarabochi, a tale that has been passed down in the city for generations.

The 374th AW leadership attendance at off-base Japanese festivals promote positive relations between U.S military members and local Japanese people while immersing leadership in the affairs of the community.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met yesterday with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Washington, D.C. Secretary Austin congratulated President Prabowo on his recent inauguration and the two leaders discussed ways to advance the U.S.-Indonesia defense relationship, as well as regional and global security issues.

The two leaders discussed shared security concerns in the South China Sea and Indonesia’s plans to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.  President Prabowo affirmed his commitment to working closely with the United States to enhance interoperability, and to continue expanding bilateral and multilateral exercises, including Super Garuda Shield. 

Secretary Austin and President Prabowo also announced the establishment of the U.S-Indonesia Defense Alumni Association as a critical step to deepen people-to-people ties. Both leaders committed to expand the bilateral defense partnership under the U.S.-Indonesia Defense Cooperation Arrangement, signed last year, and the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework.  

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

NEWPORT, R.I.  –  

Traveling across the globe is nothing new for Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport In-Service Engineering Agents (ISEA) Matthew George, Daniel Braman and Dillon Savitzky, but the trio recently experienced a historic first Down Under.

Members of the Handling Systems Engineering Branch in the Sensors and Sonar Systems Department, the agents participated the first three-week Submarine Tendered Maintenance Period (STMP) at HMAS Stirling in Perth, Australia, marking a significant step in the Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) trilateral partnership.

STMPs are similar to planned maintenance periods that are typically conducted in U.S. submarine ports. They usually last up to three weeks and don’t require the submarine to be dry-docked.

When factoring in the historical aspect, Braman — a 14-year employee at Division Newport with plenty of temporary duty travel under his belt — said his most recent work trip tops the list.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we did the first modernizations performed in Australia on a submarine,” Braman said. “To do a modernization on a submarine is nothing. Everyone does it. But we’re the first ones doing a modernization in Perth, and no one can take that away from us.”

The ISEAs worked alongside submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) personnel, as well as their Royal Australian Navy (RAN) counterparts to conduct repairs and modernizations to the ship’s thinline towed array handling system aboard the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776).

This maintenance period aided the execution of Pillar 1 of the AUKUS partnership, which is to deliver a sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarine capability to Australia by the early 2030s.

“This is the first time since World War II that the U.S. has conducted submarine maintenance in Australian waters, and certainly the first instance in history of a joint American-Australian team performing maintenance on a nuclear-powered attack submarine,” Rear Adm. Lincoln Reifsteck, U.S. Navy AUKUS Integration and Acquisition program manager, said in early September after the STMP was complete. “The importance of this event cannot be overstated. These last few weeks provided essential maintenance and stewardship experience for our Australian partners in advance of establishing a sovereign SSN force in Australia.”

STMPs are a significant step toward achieving the AUKUS Pillar 1 objective.

“The main thing is that we integrated with a foreign military and trained them on how to do maintenance, repair, troubleshooting and modernization on our system,” Savitzky said. “They’re going to be receiving these submarines at some point, and they’re in the process of building up their infrastructure and capability. As Department of Defense civilians supporting the U.S. Navy, we were at the beginning of that process of integrating with a foreign military.”

George, Braman and Savitzky embarked on the 48-hour trip to Australia from Rhode Island on Aug. 19. Like any other in-service engineering trip, they had to learn the lay of the land and found the RAN sailors to be helpful and eager to learn.

“They certainly had a great thirst for knowledge, and they picked up everything pretty quickly,” said George, who has been with Division Newport for 22 years. “They were very willing to help, whether that was trying to track down shipping pieces or equipment. They were on the ball for everything.”

Savitzky, a certified second-class Navy diver, worked with RAN and U.S. Navy divers and Sailors serving on the tender on mechanical and electromechanical equipment in the submarine’s ballast tanks, which is only accessible by diving when the submarine is pierside. Above the water, George and Braman communicated with Savitzky to help execute the modernization, repair plan and inspection list.

“We operate as a team and it’s really a team process,” Savitzky said. “It’s not just the diver in the water doing all of the work. I’m constantly communicating with them topside, bouncing stuff off them. It works best when you have someone experienced topside, and someone experienced in the water.”

Nick Savage, head of the Handling Systems Engineering Branch, said George, Braman and Savitzky work together often and are among the best in the business at what they do.

“They have a really high standard for each other, and that makes them a really high-performing team,” Savage said. “There hasn’t been a situation where they haven’t been able to figure out what’s wrong. When other entities can’t figure something out, they’ll call us. Our role is the last line of defense to get something solved. It really requires a high-performing team, and that’s what we have here.”

NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher’s Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.

Join our team! NUWC Division Newport, one of the 20 largest employers in Rhode Island, employs a diverse, highly trained, educated, and skilled workforce. We are continuously looking for engineers, scientists, and other STEM professionals, as well as talented business, finance, logistics and other support experts who wish to be at the forefront of undersea research and development. Please connect with NUWC Division Newport Recruiting at this site- https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/Career-Opportunities/ and follow us on LinkedIn @NUWC-Newport and on Facebook @NUWCNewport.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

AT SEA – Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States concluded the second iteration of exercise Freedom Edge, a trilateral multi-domain exercise, which ran from Nov. 13-15, 2024.

Approximately 7,000 trilateral military and defense force personnel, seven ships and more than 20 fighter, maritime patrol and tanker aircraft executed Ballistic Missile Defense, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Maritime Interdiction, and Defensive Cyber training.

During the exercise, while at sea aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73), sea commanders from the three nations met to enhance operational communication and cooperation. Japanese Rear Adm. Takashi Natsui, Commander, Escort Flotilla 4; Republic of Korean Rear Adm. Hur Sung-jae, Commander, Maritime Task Flotilla 7; and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory D. Newkirk, Commander, Task Force 70, oversaw the operational control of their national forces to provide seamless interoperability.

Freedom Edge demonstrates the defensive posture and unbreakable will of Japan, the ROK, and the U.S. to promote trilateral multi-domain interoperability, safeguard freedom and ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula. 

The three countries continue an unprecedented level of trilateral defense cooperation through a systematic approach to a multi-year, multi-domain exercise plan.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

Today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced additional capabilities selected for accelerated fielding as part of the Replicator initiative. This second tranche, or Replicator 1.2, will include systems in the air and maritime domains, as well as integrated software enablers that will enhance the autonomy and resilience of other Replicator systems.

These capabilities add to the first tranche of selected systems announced earlier in 2024 and further contribute to the Department’s goal of fielding multiple thousands of all-domain, attritable autonomous (ADA2) systems to warfighters by August of 2025 — or within 24 months of Deputy Secretary Hicks launching the initiative.

“The Replicator initiative is demonstrably reducing barriers to innovation, and delivering capabilities to warfighters at a rapid pace,” said Hicks. “We are creating opportunities for a broad range of traditional and nontraditional defense and technology companies, including system vendors, component manufacturers, and software developers, to deliver critical capabilities that our warfighters need, and we are building the capability to do that again and again.”

Collectively across both tranches, more than 500 commercial firms were considered for Replicator hardware and software contracting and major subcontracting opportunities. Contracts have been awarded to more than 30 hardware and software companies, of which 75 percent are non-traditional defense contractors, in addition to more than 50 subcontractors.

Included in Replicator-1, Tranche 2 (1.2) is the Army’s Company-Level Small UAS effort, which has selected the Anduril Industries Ghost-X and the Performance Drone Works C-100 UAS. These systems will enable Army maneuver companies to conduct multiple tasks with rapidly reconfigurable, attritable, modular payload capabilities to execute reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition missions.

“Ukraine has demonstrated the value of small, attritable drones on the battlefield,” said Gen. Randy A. George, the Chief of Staff of the Army. “The delivery of commercially available Company Level Small UAS with support from the Replicator initiative will allow American soldiers to rapidly experiment, learn and innovate with these systems. The advancement of battlefield technology requires us to innovate faster than ever before.”

The Department is also scaling loitering munitions through fielding and expanded experimentation of the Anduril Industries Altius-600 as part of the U.S. Marine Corps Organic Precision Fires program. This system complements the Switchblade-600 loitering munition produced by AeroVironment Inc. that was included in the first tranche of Replicator.

“Replicator is helping Marines experiment with a portfolio of systems that deliver organic, loitering, beyond-line-of-sight precision strike capability,” said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith. “Expanded experimentation with these systems will inform future Organic Precision Fires efforts and enable refinement of our Force Design, concepts and doctrine.”

Additionally, the Replicator initiative has selected the U.S. Air Force’s Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV). Over the next year, the Air Force and DIU will partner with multiple vendors to develop and demonstrate design variants. Four vendors are currently providing prototypes: Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems Inc., Leidos Dynetics, and Zone 5 Technologies. Select ETV prototypes will be accelerated to scaled production.

“The ETV’s modular design and open system architecture make it an ideal platform for program offices to test out new capabilities at the sub-system level, reducing risk, and demonstrating various options for weapon employment,” said Gen. Jim Slife, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. “We are excited to be a part of Replicator 1.2 and to increase the speed of the ETV effort.”

Replicator 1.2 also includes additional systems that remain classified, including low-cost long-range strike capabilities and maritime uncrewed systems.

The Department’s autonomy efforts, including Replicator, are also leveraging resilient decision-making architectures for collaborative autonomy teaming, or ‘integrated enablers’ capable of coordinating hundreds or thousands of unmanned assets in a secure shared environment. These ‘integrated enablers’ are enhancing the ability of Replicator systems to operate and collaborate autonomously, and to remain resilient in the face of jamming and other countermeasures. The Department is acquiring many of these integrated software enablers using Commercial Solutions Openings led by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) that streamline and accelerate onramps for commercial industry. Announcement of these awards is forthcoming.

“Combining cutting-edge hardware with cutting-edge software — the capabilities and needs of each pushing the bounds of what is possible with the other — is at the heart of the very best of technology in the commercial sector,” said Doug Beck, Director of DIU. “Replicator is harnessing this same synergy, ensuring we can adopt commercial best practices to iteratively develop, test, and ultimately field autonomous systems, both individually and collectively, at scale.”

Selected capabilities fill both operational and scaling gaps and will be fielded by August 2025 to meet the ambitious goals of the Replicator initiative.