The U.S. Navy received pre-commissioning unit USS Illinois attack submarine on Saturday from General Dynamics‘ Electric Boat subsidiary.

USS Illinois, the 13th nuclear-powered submarine of the Navy’s Virginia class, arrived ahead of the contract delivery date, the service branch said Monday.

“Our plan is to have Illinois out on operations next year, going from construction start to mission — ready in just over six years,” said Navy program manager Michael Stevens.

The Navy added USS Illinois is the third of eight Virginia-class Block III submarines that was delivered to the service branch and is scheduled to be commissioned on Oct. 29 in Groton, Connecticut.

The watercraft underwent the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey assessments to validate the vessel’s seaworthiness and operational capacity.

Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow that works to launch six Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Navy said.

Virginia-class submarines are designed to support anti-submarine, anti-surface ship, irregular, mine and strike warfare missions as well as special operation forces and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in littorals and deep waters.

The U.S. Navy‘s supply department for the USS Illinois worked with the Naval Supply Systems Command’s Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk to deliver the Virginia-class submarine with 99.51-percent onboard material.

A team of logistic specialists monitored the delivery of more than 10,000 items in the authorized medical allowance list, authorized dental allowance list, general use consumables list and government furnished equipment for USS Illinois as well as outfitted and stowed the submarine, the Navy said Friday.

“Beyond the hull of Illinois, the most valuable asset — the crew — was provided with dedicated support facilities to ensure training, administration and day-to-day operations of the command continued unencumbered by the construction,” said Lt. Joseph Aiello, assistant director of NAVSUP FLC Norfolk’s Groton division.

The submarine’s team at NAVSUP FLC Norfolk’s Groton division comprises 19 civilian and military personnel, the Navy said.

USS Illinois is the Navy’s 13th Virginia-class submarine and is scheduled for commissioning on Oct. 29.

The U.S. Air Force plans to utilize satellite data from international partners as part of a weather data strategy the service branch has submitted to Congress, Space News reported Monday.

Mike Gruss writes the Defense Department will use data from satellites operated by South Korea, India and Europe’s Eumetsat meteorological satellite organization through a seven-year period under the Air Force strategy.

Air Force deputy space undersecretary Winston Beauchamp told reporters in a briefing that weather data is one of the “less sensitive” missions in terms of sharing, according to Space News.

Beauchamp added the support of allies eliminates the need for commercial data services.

The Air Force expects the current Defense Meteorological Satellite Program to be operational until 2021 and the service branch aims to launch its Weather Satellite Follow-on program in 2022 which will deploy a replacement satellite every five years, Gruss reports.

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth has participated in communication and medical simulation training aboard USS Bataan as part of the large-scale exercise Bold Alligator.

The U.S. Navy said Friday the exercise sought to prepare more than 70 NMCP medical personnel to help treat mass casualties in the event that USS Bataan would be deployed to a war zone.

Cmdr. Michael Spooner, director of the healthcare simulation and bio-skills training center at NMCP, said the full-scale mass casualty simulation will work to assess the casualty receiving treatment ship crew that will be assigned to Bataan during a large-scale combat event.

He added that the exercise featured simulation mannequins and a trainer for leg tourniquet application, among other equipment, as well as “actors” who served to simulate casualties or injured patients.

“What makes the drill successful isn’t necessarily the medical equipment or the resources, but the level of communication,” said Cmdr. William Wiegmann, a critical care nurse assigned to CRTS.

“As information traveled throughout the team, it made a huge impact, and so did the simulation.”

The team assessed the needed treatment based on severity of injury, with patients wearing “cut suits” moving from the primary to the third triage depending on their treatment progress, the Navy said.