Tough Questions Ahead
RICHARD C. BARNARD, Editor in Chief
Everyone who joins the staff of Seapower — the defense magazine
that covers the future — learns sooner or later that most of the
questions about the road ahead are actually pretty tough. What will be
the strengths and weaknesses of potential adversaries in 2020? How should
the Navy invest today to take advantage of their weaknesses and counter
their strengths? And what is the right size and structure of the U.S.
naval fleet over the next couple of decades?
Quick answers to questions like these are part of the ambient noise
in Washington, a town overrun with pundits who get paid for their analyses
but don’t have to live with the results. But one of the individuals
who has to get it right is Vice Adm. Joseph A. Sestak Jr., the deputy
chief of naval operations for requirements and programs. Some of his
views about the future appear in this month’s “Interview,” beginning
on page 32.
Among the more tedious questions facing the military is how best to
coordinate the command and control of the growing squadrons of unmanned
vehicles that populate the battlespace. One answer is to devise a common
command and control architecture for unmanned systems. That’s the
goal behind a Navy-Army technology demonstration project that would provide
for “the concurrent management of large numbers of unmanned systems
of all types.” Seapower Correspondent Amy Klamper’s report
begins on page 10.
Also in this issue, Managing Editor Richard Burgess covers (p.
12) the
Navy’s experiments with the Air Force Global Hawk, a high-flying
unmanned aircraft that can stay aloft for long periods of time and will
be tested as an ocean-scanner in the Trident Warrior ’05 exercises
this fall. Beginning on page 20, Special Correspondent Jason Sherman
and Assistant Editor David Munns provide a thorough review of maritime
domain awareness, a relatively new and growing defense arena. On page
26 is an intriguing look at new optics for submarines, including the
Virtual Periscope, a device that turns the ocean itself into a lens.
The subject of “In My Own Words” this month is Capt. Stephen
W. Ferguson, master of the underway replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn,
who says he has “put a lot of miles under the keel” and jokes
that he has “given the sea the best years of my wife.”
As always, thanks for reading Seapower.
We are eager to get your feedback. Contact me at rbarnard@navyleague.org
or by mail at Seapower, 2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201-3308.
