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An Investment Portfolio
... For the Navy After Next
By EDMUND P. GIAMBASTIANI JR.
Vice Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., USN, is the deputy chief of naval operations for resources, requirements, and assessments.
While the traditional security objectives of the U.S. military remain largely unchanged, changes in the security environment and technological advances require constant reassessment of the methods used to attain those objectives. The rise of regional actors seeking to expand their spheres of influence and thwart the interests of the United States represents a significant problem in the global security environment.
While none of these nations are expected to be a major threat to the United States, it is likely that some, at least, will challenge America's ability--or the perception of that ability--to maintain a forward presence. To meet this challenge, U.S. forces must be more agile, more lethal, and better able to rapidly apply decisive power. In short, the U.S. military must transform from an attrition-based to an effects-based force.
For the Navy, this means:
* Remaining expeditionary and forward-deployed; assuring access for joint forces; enabling effects-based operations; and keeping options open, other than preemption, by overcoming the tyranny of distance with a timely, in-theater initial crisis response--the critical enabler for effects-based operations--from sovereign forces deployed forward.
* Expanding core competencies by fielding the capability to project defense ashore (theater ballistic missile defense) to improve joint warfighting efficiency.
* Maximizing warfighting output--lethality, payload, responsiveness--by taking advantage of the digital processing revolution to:
(a) Increase lethality and, by fielding more precise and brilliant weapons, reduce the number of weapons needed to destroy a single target;
(b) Reduce the physical size of weapons through component miniaturization to significantly increase platform payload, or extend the reach of the weapons by keeping them the same size and filling the volume freed through miniaturization with more fuel;
(c) Field expeditionary sensors platforms (un-manned underwater vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles) and miniaturize their onboard sensors to free hull volume--either to increase platform payload or to put the same warfighting capability and capacity in a smaller hull; and
(d) Establish new force architectures by exploiting new operational concepts to apply lethality for effect by simultaneously controlling and attacking within the battlespace from geographically dispersed and netted platforms, expeditionary sensors, and weapons.
This transformation is supported by Navy investments today. However, be- fore discussing what the 21st-century Navy will look like, it is important to understand why the United States needs a forward-deployed Navy. The overseas presence of naval forces is not an end in itself; it is, rather, a means through which U.S. power and influence are projected overseas from sovereign combat platforms operating in international waters in times of peace as well as war. To fully understand the reasons for the Navy's transformation, therefore, one must first understand why the nation invests in forward-deployed naval forces and recognize the return the nation receives on this investment.
Following is a brief discussion of some of the more important strategic concepts involved:
Command of the Seas: In an era of "globalization," information and communications technologies inextricably link U.S. interests and the nation's economic prosperity to the freedom of trade across the world's oceans. Trends in the role of trade in the nation's economy demonstrate this link. U.S. exports support an estimated 11.5 million jobs and have fueled one-third of America's total economic growth since 1993.
Looking at the global economy as a whole, one can see just how much that economy depends upon maritime transport, with 99 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the value of all U.S. intercontinental cargo moving across the seas by ship. America's economic prosperity is increasingly conditioned on a stable international economy--one that is enabled by, and dependent on, freedom of the seas and assured access to key resources.
Extending U.S. Sovereign Power Forward: Forward-deployed naval forces demonstrate America's commitment to defending U.S. national interests, reassuring allies and friends. Those same naval forces are available for military operations that improve ties between nations and promote interoperability. In event of a crisis, forward-deployed combat-credible naval forces are usually either already present or able to quickly deploy into the region of crisis to provide a rapid-response capability.
Naval forces have provided such timely responses on 144 occasions, including 11 different combat operations, in the last decade alone. Each of the Navy's last 11 carrier battle groups to deploy has engaged in combat either in Southeastern Europe or in the Middle East. During Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, rotationally de-ployed naval forces struck 85 different targets in just four nights of combat. Because of the advantages provided by tactical surprise, naval aircraft from sovereign ships at sea flew the only U.S. tactical aviation missions within the theater on the critical first night. Because the movement of other U.S. forces to the area was not needed to initiate military action, no strategic warning was available to Iraq.
Forward-deployed combat forces also create a regional "knowledge base" as naval forces train and operate where the nation wants to fight and win its wars--overseas. Because of the full spectrum of capabilities immediately employable from forward locations, naval forces are, in many cases, the decisive force for operations short of a major theater war. However, when crisis does escalate to war, naval forces synergistically complement their ability to provide early combat power from the sea by assuring access for the joint forces. That capability represents another excellent example of the "compound interest" derived from the nation's investment in naval forces.
Assuring Access: One of the premises of the U.S. National Military Strategy and the effects-based warfare doctrine is that the United States will have immediate and sustained access to any region of the world at any time. Assuring such access in the face of asymmetric threats is an issue involving the entire joint force, but--because they are already there--naval forces play a particularly critical role in enabling access for forces arriving from outside the theater.
To summarize: naval forces on rotational deployment: will provide much of the early combat power in any contingency; create the conditions that will enable the projection, from outside the theater, of joint combat power into the area of operations; assure access for follow-on combat and logistics forces; and then become part of the larger joint warfighting effort. For all these reasons the Navy's transformation necessarily focuses on: (a) warfighting capabilities and capacity; (b) force architectures; and (c) the concepts of operations required to defeat anti-access challenges and assure access for both naval forces and the joint force.
Enabling the Transformation of the Joint Force: Finally, the Navy's inherent capability to create the conditions that ease access for the introduction of the other elements of the joint force will be critical: (1) to the ability of the Marine Corps to move the point of forcible entry further inland, beyond the beachhead; and (2) to the efforts of the Army and Air Force to become lighter, more expeditionary, and more deployable.
A new core competency, the ability to project defense ashore from the sea with theater ballistic missile defense and overland cruise missile defense systems will help the Army and Air Force continue the expeditionary focus of their respective transformation efforts by providing a protective "umbrella"--for the Marine Corps as Marine ground forces move over and around obstacles to push the point of entry further inland; and for the Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF) and the Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) as they deploy into theater faster and lighter.
In much the same way, precise and timely "artillery from the sea" will provide the fire support needed for earlier attainment of land dominance both by the Marine Corps and by a lighter Army.
The Once and Future Navy
The discussion of the transformation of the Navy, which is already expeditionary, raises a question: What Navy? The two-part answer is "the Navy today" and "the [later] 21st-century Navy."
The Navy Today: To better understand the Navy's continuing transformation, one needs to appreciate that most Navy platforms are long-term capital investments--two-thirds of the Navy ships sailing the seas today, or now under construction, will still be in the fleet in 2020. Therefore, to "see" the Navy's transformation one must first look "inside" current ships and aircraft. The Navy already has distributed "stealth" systems and capabilities beyond submarines to its new generation of ships and aircraft and is pursuing open-system architectures and modular designs to allow for the rapid incorporation of emerging technologies--while at the same time reducing manning.
The capability to launch offensive strikes against targets ashore has been expanded from just 14 platforms in the 1980s--the carriers--to almost 150 of the surface and subsurface ships in today's Navy. Less than a decade ago, only about a dozen or so aircraft in a carrier air wing were capable of delivering precision ordnance; today, all 50 strike fighters in a carrier air wing are capable of launching precision-guided munitions.
The combat capability of individual platforms also has been enhanced, as illustrated by the example of the carrier air wing. During Desert Storm, the notional air wing was capable of striking 162 aim points in a successful day of normal flight operations. The broader distribution of precision weapons, combined with the increase in the percentage of strike aircraft in an air wing, means that today's air wing is capable of hitting more than four times as many targets as the Desert Storm air wing--with fewer total airframes. By 2008, when the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will have entered the fleet in numbers, that increase will be nearly sevenfold.
The 21st-Century Navy: The Navy after Next will extend the transformation of the formidable capabilities already resident in the today's Navy by: (a) maximizing warfighting output--lethality, payload, flexibility--by leveraging the computer revolution; and (b) establishing new force architectures with new operational concepts to apply lethality for effect by simultaneously controlling and attacking within the battlespace from geographically dispersed and netted platforms, expeditionary sensors, and weapons.
A Broad Spectrum
Of Advanced Capabilities
Revolutionary advances in miniaturization, processing power, and networking capabilities are allowing the Navy to create expeditionary sensors that extend sensor reach without sacrificing warfighting capacity (because they do not compete with weapons for the critical space within the platforms) and at the same time permit sensors to be deployed from those platforms.
Following are a few specifics:
* Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)--i.e., miniaturized submarines--will precisely map the ocean bottom, finding and neutralizing mines, without putting at risk the manned submarines from which they deploy. The UUVs will covertly carry out hydrographic surveys to support amphibious operations and transmit the information gathered back to the submarine in real time.
* Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will provide a point of view over land that cannot be provided by shipborne sensors, allowing the Navy both to provide artillery from the sea in real time to support the ground battle and to attack mobile and relocatable targets ashore with deep precision strike weapons.
* Miniaturization will allow the Navy to install an Aegis-like radar (the Advanced Electronically Scanned Array radar) on an aircraft, the Super Hornet, that will allow it to see both air and ground targets at longer distances, more precisely, and with less energy. Longer sensor reach, greater precision, and less energy transmitted will make the Super Hornet more lethal and improve its survivability.
Just as technological advances have allowed the Navy to create expeditionary sensors and to miniaturize/extend the reach of organic sensors, they also are allowing increases in the lethality of Navy weapons and the payload of Navy platforms. Smart, precise weapons with extended reach allow the Navy's warfighters to hold more targets at risk with fewer weapons and with less risk of collateral damage.
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles take UAVs to the next step by turning an autonomous sensor into an autonomous weapon, giving the Navy the option to employ tactical airpower from a ship other than a carrier. Investments in UAVs and the miniaturization of weapons--without sacrificing lethality--enable this transformation. Future UUVs, moreover, will have the ability not only to find, but also to neutralize mines.
The Tactical Tomahawk is an example of a deep precision strike weapon that has benefited from a revolution in military affairs. This weapon, which is now able to hold time-critical targets at risk, extends the reach of the shooter to well over 1,000 miles inland.
The Tactical Tomahawk not only can loiter over the target, but also can serve as an expeditionary sensor by transmitting its view of the battlespace back to the shooter.
Extended-Range Guided Munitions will provide real-time naval fires support to the joint land battle--in high volume and with GPS (global positioning system) precision.
The continuing miniaturization of air-dropped weapons, such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, will allow the Super Hornet to attack seven times as many targets in one sortie as could be attacked during Desert Storm in 1991.
Already There, Fully Aware
Simply by "being there," naval forces build the regional knowledge base that allows all components of the joint force to apply lethality against already identified centers of gravity to achieve the greatest effect. State-of-the-art networks, communications equipment, and decision aids all turn information into knowledge by presenting the battlespace in a readily understood format, in real time, to the warfighter. This knowledge will be built in real time from the information provided by a distributed network of sensors, weapons, and platforms, and will allow forces deploying from the United States to "reach forward" to access the knowledge base and--before arriving in the combat area--achieve the same situational awareness as the forces already in theater.
* Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) will allow platforms to "share" sensor information in real time to establish a coherent, shared air picture that will allow all platforms in the area to take advantage of the sensor information available from all other dispersed and netted platforms and expeditionary sensors in the area to engage contacts be-yond the reach of onboard sensors.
Area Air Defense Commander will provide a three-dimensional, real-time graphical representation of the battlespace that creates knowledge from information to allow the warfighter to rapidly identify and engage targets.
CEC will allow platforms not only to project offensive aerospace power, but also to project defense at great ranges. Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (TBMD) systems, therefore, will allow naval forces to project defense ashore--a new core competency for the 21st-century Navy--to protect key ports and airfields needed for follow-on joint forces to conduct offensive operations. In addition to assuring command of the seas, the Navy will assure military access to the theater of operations and ensure that the land battle can be sustained.
In a CEC environment, self-defense becomes mutual and supportive. The Ship Self-Defense System will allow platforms to exploit shared knowledge and to rapidly (i.e., automatically) engage threats with fire-and-forget weapons, such as the Rolling Airframe Missile, to provide true defense in depth.
* The Naval Fires Control System creates a CEC environment for land warfare by providing sea-based forces with a real-time view of the land battle from expeditionary sensors such as UAVs and Army and Marine Corps sensors on the ground. This ability, combined with deep precision strike capabilities and precision "artillery from the sea," means that naval forces will be fully integrated into the land battle and able at all times to provide real-time "calls for fire" support.
The New Architecture
Of U.S. National Security
From the above examples, it is clear that taxpayer investments today--fueled by a real revolution in military affairs--are already rapidly transforming the Navy--and will continue to do so. This continuing transformation is driven not by the need for new "buzz" words but by the capabilities, force architecture, and concept of operations required to assure access to the battlespace and to conduct effects-based warfare in a new security environment. The investments provide not only increased warfighting capability and capacity today--lethality and payload--but also more and better options for the Navy after Next.
The use of Integrated Power Systems (IPSs) will expand (by a factor of 10) the electrical power-generation capabilities of future ships as well as their storage and distribution capabilities (by allowing systems to plug into the grid, rather than having to be hard-wired into it).
The use of electric drive: (a) reduces the power demands of the propulsion train, allowing a greater proportion of the power generated to be shifted to sensors and weapons; (b) increases ship design flexibility by eliminating the need for a shaft; and (c) frees hull volume previously needed for turbines/motors/reduction gears. The Navy can use the space saved to carry additional weapons, or can choose instead to build smaller platforms.
With greater power available for weapon systems, High Energy Wea-pons become an option for future platforms. The combination of higher power density and greater hull volume created by the miniaturization of weapons, the use of expeditionary sensors, and the reduced size of organic sensors also gives the Navy the option of: (a) turning current platforms--long-term capital investments--into ships of ever-increasing combat capability; or (b) building smaller and more agile platforms with the same warfighting capability and capacity of today's larger platforms.
The post-Cold War shift from blue water into the littoral was a revolutionary step for the Navy. It required the establishment of new core competencies, the fielding of new capabilities, and the development of new concepts of operations. Today, the Navy is forward-deployed in the overseas littorals, 365 days a year, with rotationally deployed forces. Today's platforms reflect how much the Navy has "transformed" over the last 10 years to meet the challenges of operating in the littoral and supporting the joint force. The investments being made in the 21st-century Navy will continue that transformation not only by providing the lethality, payload, and responsiveness required by the joint force today, but also by serving as leverage for the building of a Navy after Next that is significantly different from today's Navy: a Navy that is immediately employable because it is forward-deployed; that can simultaneously control and attack within the entire
battlespace; that is the critical enabler for effects-based warfare; and that makes possible the strategic transformation of U.S.-based forces to a lighter, more expeditionary, rapidly deployable joint force. *
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