Navy planning ESB, mine countermeasures exercise this spring

The Navy is planning an exercise this year with the full suite of its new mine countermeasures capabilities to continue testing how effectively the mission package can be used on vessels other than the Littoral Combat Ship.

The service conducted a similar exercise in September, but did not include aviation assets during that test, Capt. Gus Weekes, the program manager for LCS mission modules, said last week at the Surface Navy Association's annual conference.

Weekes said the test this spring will include the entire MCM mission package, which is scheduled to achieve initial operational capability in fiscal year 2022.

Expeditionary sea bases, expeditionary fast transports, amphibious warships, commercial vessels and foreign platforms have all been considered as "vessels of opportunity," Inside Defense previously reported.

The MCM mission package is comprised of a dozen different technologies that work together to identify and neutralize buried and bottom mines.