CRANE, Ind. -- Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) hosted nearly 300 military and civilian experts for the 14th Biannual Nuclear Triad & Advanced Conventional Strike Symposium last week to highlight Crane's invaluable work through collaboration with the United States Air Force in pursuit of both strategic nuclear modernization and other key conventional strike technological requirements.
Senior military leaders discussed Triad modernization and provided an update on the Air Force/Navy collaboration on Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) while industry/academia panels and congressional speakers shared their perspective on the current challenges facing our nation. Numerous speakers emphasized the critical role NSWC Crane plays in the nation's defense.
Other topics included Strategic Deterrence, updates on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) and Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM), and Hypersonics - which would relate to speeds at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).
The impressive list of speakers for the Triad event included Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Senator Joe Donnelly, Senator Todd Young, Congressman Trey Hollingsworth, Congressman Pete Visclosky, Vice Admiral Terry Benedict, the Navy’s SSP Director, Major General Scott Jansson, Commander of Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, CAPT Doug Williams, SSP’s Missile Branch Head, and Colonel Heath Collins, Senior Material Leader and System Program Manager for the Air Force's Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program office.
Vice Admiral Benedict also delivered an all-hands address to the NSWC Crane workforce on Monday and participated in a question and answer session with those in attendance.
Several of the distinguished guests from Tuesday’s Triad event had the opportunity to tour NSWC Crane’s state-of-the-art laboratories and other facilities.
NSWC Crane also hosted industry speakers from Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Dynetics and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).
NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with focus areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s warfighter.