Launch of a Black Dagger target missile at Fort Wingate NM in support of a White Sands Missile Range test mission.
The Black Dagger was intercepted over WSMR as part of a Missile Defense Agency test of the THAAD radar system and PAC-3 missile system.
GALLUP, NM,
10.01.2020
Video by John Hamilton
White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs
By Robbin Laird
The day before we flew to the USS Gerald R. Ford, I sat down with Rear Admiral Meier, Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, in his Norfolk office, to discuss the way ahead for Naval Air Force, and the next generation large deck carrier.
I would call it that rather than simply a large deck aircraft carrier, because of the warfighting ecosystem which is being crafted by the U.S. Navy and the joint and coalition force to shape a kill web ecosystem.
This is one in which each core platform works with its appropriate mates to shape interactive strike and defense combat clusters operating across the extended battlespace.
I had just returned from Resolute Hunter being held at NAWDC at Fallon Naval Air Station, so we started with this aspect of the evolving ecosystem.
Question: There is the venerable Red Flag which is hosted by the USAF and in which participants are working the kill chain, and the metrics of success are either kill or be killed.
The Navy is now launching Resolute Hunter which is about the sensor networks and decision making to determine how to deliver strike to the appropriate targets at the required speed of delivery.
How would you characterize Resolute Hunter?
Rear Admiral Meier: The origins of Red Flag and of TOP GUN were largely tactically focused.
Resolute Hunter is focused on shaping an evolving operational approach leveraging the sensor networks in order to best shape and determine the operational employment of our forces and the delivery of the desired combat effect.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is entering the Resolute Hunter environment.
How Ford plugs into the data transfer and data fusion environment is enormously important to its operations and how it contributes to the overall force effectiveness.
The dual band radar onboard is a big part of that along with the mission systems and its entire approach to C2 within the fleet.
Question: Having visited Ford with Ed Timperlake when you were the CO and it was being built and then going back last month to see the maturing ship, I would argue that the Ford is the most formidable warship ever built.
But then again Bismarck was the most powerful battleship ever built. It failed because of being an odd man out, whereas obviously with the Ford you are focused on how it anchors, leverages and contributes to the evolving maritime kill web approach.
Is this a fair way to put it?
Rear Admiral Meier: It is. I think it’s a very fair look at it.
The comparison between the Bismarck is interesting too, because the Bismarck was designed as an open ocean battleship and was never able to get to the point where they had the freedom of action and they didn’t have the air cover and support and were ultimately destroyed because they didn’t have the capacity or capability for a defense in depth concept of operations.
From the very beginning, defense in depth has been foundational to the carrier fleet.
You can maneuver in space with your mobile defense in depth network of the strike group itself, the air wing and all of the other surface assets, that’s a robust capability to operate really at a time and place of our choosing, not of our adversaries choosing.
And with regard to the maneuver space, we are working with the joint and coalition force to expand the capabilities of that force as well.
For example, with the Marines working naval integration and expeditionary basing, they can contribute significant ISR and fires support for the fleet.
We are working new ways to integrate with the USAF, as seen in the Resolute Hunter exercise as well.
We are working on ways to enhance a truly joint war fighting force able to synchronize limited precious resources on high value targets.
And to do that in a way that optimizes the effects on those targets and makes the weapons magazines last longer.
Question: The shift from the land wars to shaping approaches to deal with peer competitors, for the U.S. Navy is significantly about the return to blue water operations, including blue water expeditionary operations.
How would characterize the way ahead?
Rear Admiral Meier: In some ways, it is back to the future, and remembering what we did in World War II in the Pacific but significantly updating it with our new technologies, connectivity, distributed maritime operations and understanding the nature of the adversaries we are dealing with.
It is more of a maneuver and raid concept where we pick the time and choose the place and location to be.
Fundamental to that is the capability to do that in a manner that our adversary doesn’t track, detect, target us.
And that does get a little bit harder as technology advances in terms of overhead sensors, space, long range, ISR, those sorts of things as well as emissions control.
We are working to minimize the likelihood of our detection or operating in ways unanticipated by the adversary.
Question: There seems to be an assumption by some of adversaries that they can sit back in territory, launch strikes and get effects without receiving a response.
Clearly, we need to update our weapons enterprise and with the withdrawal from the INF treaty, the opportunity to shape longer range strike seems a key one.
How do you view this challenge?
Rear Admiral Meier: Our force is not designed nor intended to be an offensive force, yet if deterrence fails, we certainly have that capability.
That capability is enhanced with range and speed.
Range and speed can refer to the platform, the shooter or the weapon itself.
I will tell you after really a generation of Naval service where we have focused on land wars in Asia, we’ve really woken up to the need for longer range strike.
It will not be long before we have maritime strike Tomahawk, and hypersonics will be here before we know it.
We’re making great advances in those areas.
We’re talking about a very fluid battlespace, where both blue and red are maneuvering within that battlespace.
The next war we expect to be a maritime fight at extreme ranges.
From a “fighting Navy” perspective, I think it’s imperative that we maintain our tactical and operational edge that includes forward presence, lethality, but, just as we discussed earlier, increasing lethality at range and at speed, which are things that quite frankly we have not focused upon during the land wars.
But when you talk about the maneuver capability of a Ford-class Aircraft carrier, with the air wing range beyond that and the weapons that the aircraft carry, we are delivering significant reach into the battlespace.
We’re engaging in training drills exercises and operating at some ranges that we have not ever done off of the decks of aircraft carriers; it’s really impressive.
Question: You spoke of enhanced ranges.
I think that comes from how the sensor networks interact with C2 at the tactical edge as well as shaping more effective and rapid fleet wide operational decision making.
It is also focusing on the carrier wing, as the carrier wing of the future becomes incorporated on the decks of the carriers, an integratable air wing, with reach beyond their range.
And with the kind of third party targeting which kill webs enable, the operational reach of any particular platform in the maritime force is significantly enhanced as a kill web asset.
Notably, it will be important to leverage the significant numbers of F-35s operating in the Pacific conceived as enablers of a kill web and not just in terms of legacy fighters.
Does this make sense to you?
Rear Admiral Meier: It does on several levels.
The F-35 is a key element of making the air wing integratable in the sense you have described.
The MADL data links in the Pacific fleet of F-35s can provide the kind of significant reach we need in the Pacific.
Obviously, we will need to work the handoffs among aircraft and the security dynamics as well.
But the technical foundation is clearly there.
It can be forgotten by those not close to Naval aviation, that we have essentially had the same air wing for 20 years.
This is certainly not true for the decade ahead, where we have accelerated change with the introduction not just of replacement platforms, but significantly different ones and shaping new concepts of operations for the air wing, with the carriers in the distributed maritime operating space.
And we tend to have an iterative process that continues to build on itself.
From my time at Navy Warfare Development Command, it is clear that we’ve got a robust process of fleet experimentation and gaming both from theory or conceptual gaming to doing demonstrations at sea.
I think we’re on a pretty tight turning path with that process.
We continued our discussion the next day, November 17, 2020, onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford.
He had not returned to the Ford since he had relinquished command, and was onboard with the other senior commanders, and all of the warfighting command elements
What we saw onboard was cyclic operations by the squadrons onboard the Ford.
The speed of launch and recovery was on full display during out visit on November 17, 2020.
Currently, the Ford has 2/3 of its airwings on board, with elements of two air wings and four squadrons operating from the deck.
The carrier is at sea currently working what the U.S. Navy calls cyclic operations, this is where strike packages are launched in clusters, and then operate in the combat space to provide for the various missions done by the Navy at sea.
Normally, at this stage in the certification of a new carrier, cyclic operations would not be performed, but clearly that is not the case with the Ford.
A crucial aspect of the Ford are the C2 capabilities and roles of the carrier, which I visited in October but not on this visit.
The mission operations areas are much larger than on the Nimitz and are being configured for the kinds of information warfare as well maritime distributed operations which the new carrier will execute at greater distance in blue water maneuver warfare operations.
But what was on the ship at sea, and not visible during the October visit, were the full complement of warfare officers, bringing the various warfare competencies to the command deck.
One notable member was the commander of an Aegis destroyer, as Aegis will have a combat officer onboard the Ford working the various ways Aegis and the carrier will work together in the blue water maneuver space.
One marvelous moment in the visit, after having traversed the cavernous ship for several hours, was sitting down in the briefing room to be briefed by one of the squadron commanders.
This commander gave a rapid-fire brief bristling with information and enthusiasm and one might have missed the historic developments he referred along the way.
For example, I had to ask a question to slow this cutting-edge aviator down to highlight this little gem.
On November 9, 2020, the Ford air wings operated with ACC in a counter-air defense exercise with F-22s, and F-15s to shape a joint warfighting package.
This obviously would carry with it the C2 collaboration from land to sea in a warfighting training exercise.
And again, this is not the kind of exercise one would be expecting for the work up of a new carrier.
But that is really the point.
This is not a new version of a legacy carrier; this is a whole re-imaging of the large deck carrier being introduced into the new strategic situation and shaping new combat capabilities with the fleet, the joint services, notably the USAF and with coalition partners.
The eco-system being shaped within which the USS Gerald R. Ford is a key element is so different that Ed Timperlake and I are writing a book for USNI Press entitled the Maritime Kill Web, 21st Century Warfighting and Deterrence.
Towards the end of the visit, in a discussion with Rear Admiral Meier, he underscored that the standup of the Ford was occurring in a way that involved training for evolving warfighting operations, and not just doing trap and cat training onboard the ship.
As one viewed the squadrons operating off of the Ford that morning, it was the legacy airwing of the past twenty years landing and operating with the new combat infrastructure of the next generation carrier.
But as Rear Admiral Meier put it: “It is not difficult to see the air wing of the future operating off of this deck with much greater speed, agility and reach than the legacy air wing.
“But without the new infrastructure, just adding the new platforms, would not get the maximum effect from the integratable air wing.”
Note: One example of the new combat infrastructure on the Ford deck is in the in deck refueling capability.
The in deck refueling stations which are unique to the Ford keep refueling hoses out of the taxi paths to the catapult. (refueling stations which can refuel two aircraft at the at those stations.
This has a major impact because on the Nimitz the refueling crew has to carry several, lengthy connected fuel hoses which are heavy from the starboard side of the Nimitz class to do mid-deck refueling.
On the Ford, the hoses are right there beside the in-deck refueling stations and rather than having to have a crew of 5 people to bring the hoses 150 feet to mid-deck and do refueling, you only need two crew to man the in-deck refueling stations.
By Robbin Laird
I have attended and reported on the last two International Fighter Conferences, both held in Berlin, in 2018 and 2019.
Unfortunately, this one was held on a Zoom stage due to the COVID-19 world.
This year I was especially looking forward to coming to Berlin, because my daughter was coming to study in Berlin as part of her graduate studies.
Neither she nor I made it.
But the Defence iQ organizers are to be congratulated on hosting a first-rate conference under difficult conditions.
The conference was held in virtual space on November 18 and 19, 2020.
Earlier this year, I talked with Alexander Stephenson, Deputy Director, Defence iQ about the approach which they would take. He argued that the conference would host a number of panels through the more traditional virtual presentation methods, but will embed this approach within an innovative networking platform which allows the participants to interact with one another and to do so in way to set up chat rooms around topics of interest among the participants themselves.
He noted that there are some advantages to the virtual conference when enabled with such networking software. They are able to have a wider range of moderators; they can invite a wider range of experts to present at the virtual event, and they can allow the military which comes free to their events to bring a larger delegation of participants to the conference as well.”
And the conference provided a wide range of first-rate experts for discussion.
But the limitations of zoom is clearly that the presentations are set pieces which provide more limited cross learning than one would get with a live conference.
This means for an analyst like myself, I will write about the conference in a series of articles stimulated by one or two of the presentations and to discuss those subjects separately and then link them to what I believe is the larger topic, namely, the evolution of airpower in the high-end fight.
And for me, this is about shaping a kill web enabled integrated distributed force.
The conference provided a rich tapestry of presentations and topics, which evidenced different approaches, and different starting points to the quest for shaping a more integrated combat force, one which would tap into communications systems and sensor networks, to deliver the desired combat or crisis management effect.
The conference addressed a number of new or evolving approaches to shaping combat air platforms, from the Australian loyal wingman program, to the USAF Skyborg program, to the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS program, to the Italian-Swedish-UK Tempest program, to the USAF’s next generation air dominance platform, and to the evolution of U.S. and allied naval aviation.
In addition to, or in parallel to or crossing to the platform discussions was the focus on the changing eco system for integrating platforms and capabilities across an extended battlespace in which peer competitors would contest U.S. and allied operations.
These discussions embraced topics like, human-machine teaming and enabling technologies, combat cloud teaming, the USAF and its JADC2 programmatic efforts, the role of space-based assets in empowering the force, and how to connect the force to prevail in the multi-domain fight and meeting the challenge of countering A2AD in today’s fight.
As one can easily see, this is a rich tapestry of subjects which I will deal with in some detail in future articles.
My own work intersects with this conference quite nicely.
For several years I have worked on the impact of fifth generation aircraft on the “renorming of operations.”
I have just published a book with my coauthor, Murielle Delaporte, on the return of direct defense of Europe and how to deal with the challenge of the 21st century authoritarian powers.
I will shortly publish a book about the evolution of the Australian strategic approach which I call “Joint by Design.”
And then in the first quarter of next year a book on the training side of the challenge, a subject discussed throughout several presentations as well. That book is entitled “Training for the High-End Fight: The Strategic Shift of the 2020s.”
And next year will deliver a book with Ed Timperlake for publication by USNI press entitled “Maritime Kill Webs: 21st Century Warfighting and Deterrence.”
As one can readily see, unpacking the thoughts of the speakers of this conference will be of central importance to my work.
And without any doubt, to other authors, analysts, policymakers, warfighters and defense industrialists.
Again, thanks to the efforts of the Defence iQ and their sponsors for prevailing in the difficult conditions of COVID-19 and taking forward serious thinking about the challenging times in which our forces operate and will need to operate in dealing with the challenges of the 21st century authoritarian powers.
The featured photo: This is my photo of a landing on the USS Gerald R. Ford on November 17. 2020 when I was onboard the next generation carrier. In the kill web enabled integrated distributed combat force, the Ford could operate as the wingman of the B-21 or the B-21 could be the wingman for the Ford.
The USAFE Warrior Prep Center hosted Spartan Warrior 20-09, the largest Combined Air Operations simulation exercise to test a new training simulator.
These exercises will help improve interoperability, operational fluidity for NATO partners and allies, and strengthen coalition force cohesion.
Future Spartan Warriors will further develop the vision for Joint All Domain Command and Control and Agile Combat Employment.
RAMSTEIN, RP, GERMANY
09.18.2020
Video by Tech. Sgt. Devin Nothstine
86th Airlift Wing/Public Affairs
By Pierre Tran
Paris. Thales signed Nov. 17 a contract worth €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) to supply Dutch shipbuilder Damen with a radar, combat management and fire control systems for the German MKS-180 frigate, Philippe Duhamel, vice president for defense mission systems, said.
The deal with Damen was the third largest for Thales, following the sale five years ago of the Rafale fighter jet to India, and a contract 10 years ago for the FREMM multimission frigate for the French navy, he said Nov. 18 in a telephone press conference.
The budget for four MKS 180 multipurpose frigates is worth some €4.6 billion over 10 years.
Thales will supply its Tacticos combat management system, a fire control system dubbed Above Water Warfare System, and Active Phased Array Radar block 2 under the 10-year contract, the company said in a statement. There will also be service support, and test and training facilities on land.
The APAR block 2 will be a development of the block 1 version, which has been fitted on Danish, Dutch and German vessels, Duhamel said. That sensor is a naval variant of the active electronically scanned array, an airborne radar.
Development work will take some five years, followed by integration, allowing the first frigate to be operational in 2028, he said. There are options for two more units.
Some 70 percent of the work will take place in Germany, with 30 percent in the Netherlands, drawing on local subcontractors.
The German frigate deal followed Thales and Babcock winning a tender for the Royal Navy Type 31 frigate, and Thales supplying kit on the French navy FDI frigate for defense and intervention, he said.
The APAR radar differs from the Sea Fire on the French frigate, as the Dutch and German navies’ concept of operations differed from the French, he said.
“The radar reflects the concept of operations,” he said.
The AWWS fire control system seeks to handle a simultaneous and saturation attack from a broad range of new threats, such as surface drones and slow moving targets, as well as fighter jets and missiles, he said. Asked whether the system could handle hypersonic missiles, he said the first rank German navy seeks capabilities to manage future threats.
In other deals, Thales expects a Dutch competition in 2022 as Belgium and the Netherlands seek a replacement for their M frigate, he said. The Thales unit in the Netherlands developed the new fire control system.
Thales signed September 2019 a development contract for AWWS for the Belgian and Dutch navies, the company said.
Thales beat German companies for the integrated systems, said Sash Tusa, analyst with equity research firm Agency Partners.
Hensoldt will supply its TRS-4D air defense radar in a deal worth €200 million. That contract could be seen as a goodwill gesture to a national champion which essentially lost to an outsider, he said.
“The stand-out factor is the German contract shows the big orders are now in mature markets in Europe, which is rearming, whereas previous big Thales arms contracts were in Saudi Arabia, with the Crotale short-range, surface-to-air missile, and the Sawari 1 and 2 frigate deals,” he said.
The drone attacks on Saudi oil refineries in 2019 highlighted the poor performance of such short-range air defense missiles, intended to protect the installations.
Damen has partnered with Blohm+Voss to meet a requirement for a local shipbuilder to be in the MKS 180 program.
The pick by the German authorities of a Dutch company has led to a German industrial consolidation, with family-owned
Lürssen and German Naval Yards forming a joint venture, leaving ThyssenKrupp Marine System out in the cold.
Editor’s Note: For a look at Lürssen in Australia, see the following:
This launch sequence was viewed onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford at sea November 17, 2020.
It also features the in-deck launch control officer.
In this slideshow and video, a US Navy fighter jet lands onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford during the cyclical operations training cycle as seen on a visit to the ship on November 17, 2020.
This photo slide show highlights the view from the bridge of the USS Gerald R. Ford as seen on a visit at sea to the ship on November 17, 2020.
