Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory have discovered 45 components of barnacle adhesive as part of efforts to address barnacle encrustation on the surface of U.S. Navy vessels.

NRL said Tuesday the encrustation of barnacles and other sea creatures costs the service branch $56 million in annual maintenance and fuel consumption costs for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

“Barnacles increase drag and fuel consumption, decrease efficiency… you’ve got to remove them somehow, whether it’s scraping a ship underwater or dry docking it,” said Christopher Spillmann, an NRL research physicist.

Spillman added NRL has yet to develop methods to address the newly discovered barnacle glue components but researchers are working toward the objective.

Kathy Wahl, a section head at NRL’s chemistry division, said surface treatments of barnacles such as tributyl tin are banned due to environmental reasons and that there are efforts to create less toxic alternatives.

Researchers examined the barnacle’s glue and ability to attach permanently on surfaces from three perspectives that include the barnacle base’s mechanics; the chemical composition of the glue; and how the barnacle’s biology contributes to its attachment process.

NRL’s study revealed that barnacles shed their skins and leave a combination of hard shell, cuticle and adhesive under their base plate which grows stronger and larger over time.

Wahl noted that researchers aim to manipulate the barnacle’s interaction with the surface rather than kill the barnacle.

A panel of senior leaders from the Defense Information Systems Agency and Joint Force Headquarters - Department of Defense Information Networks have discussed the agencies’ plans and priorities for 2017.

DISA Executive Deputy Director Tony Montemarano noted the agency has modified its future business plans to a more purchase-oriented focus as opposed to product creation strategies as a result of budgetary restrictions, DISA said Tuesday.

Alfred Rivera, Development and Business Center director, said DISA will focus on next-generation engineering in a push to generate more engagement with partners as well as develop a common DODIN laboratory and prepare for Systems Engineering Technology Innovation contract discussions for information technology systems support.

“We need to figure out how to transition capabilities while at the same time maintaining legacy capabilities,” said John Hickey, Cyber Development Directorate director.

“We are looking at what are those tools that we can turn off as we actually move to replace and tech refresh capabilities,” added Hickey.

The panel discussion also included David Bennett, Operations Center director, and U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Skinner, deputy commander of the JFHQ-DODIN.

The Senate Armed Services Committee recommended the nomination of James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, as Defense Department secretary through a 26-1 vote Wednesday.

The committee said Wednesday it will hand over Mattis’ official nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.

The approval comes days after the Senate and House passed a congressional waiver that would authorize Mattis to serve as DoD secretary.

Mattis retired as head of the U.S. Central Command in 2013 and needed the waiver that exempts him from a federal law that requires former military officers to wait seven years after retirement from active duty prior to assuming the top civilian post at the Pentagon

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein has said the service branch looks to begin its search for a light-attack aircraft this spring, the National Defense magazine reported Wednesday.

Vivienne Machi writes Goldfein said at an American Enterprise Institute event the military branch plans to collaborate with defense contractors to conduct an experiment called OA-X to find a potential commercial-off-the-shelf light-attack aircraft or a low-end fighter plane designed to perform close-air support missions.

“This is an experiment… there are very appropriate acquisition laws that ensure we have a fair and open competition; this is not a competition,” Goldfein noted.

He also commented on Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain’s (R-Arizona) white paper that calls for the Air Force to adopt a “high/low mix” of fighter jets.

Goldfein said such a recommendation would allow the service branch to maintain readiness levels and support the campaign against violent extremism through sustained air power, the report added.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has said he agrees with Sen. John McCain’s (R-Arizona) plan to increase the U.S. Navy’s fleet of ships, but caution should be exercised when it comes to the replacement of existing designs, such as littoral combat ships, with new combat vessels, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

“LCS has got to compete (with alternatives) in my mind, but time is an element of that competition,” Richardson told reporters after a Defense One-hosted event.

“We just can’t stop building stuff.”

Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. writes McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a white paper Monday that seeks to put a cap on the production of LCS in fiscal year 2017 in an effort to start the procurement of new small surface combatant ships by 2022.

Richardson noted that the Navy needs to ramp up construction of destroyers, attack submarines, amphibious ships and oilers in the near term and called for the adoption of drones that can operate with the service branch’s warships, the report said.

“I am really interested in unmanned (systems, and) we’re doing what we can to increasingly network the fleet together,” he added.