Nuclear Submarines and Nuclear Power in Australia?

05/11/2021

By Denis Mole

In Adelaide’s The Advertiser newspaper on 7 March, former defence minister Christopher Pyne said, ‘Then there is the nonsensical argument that the Attack Class submarines are no good because they aren’t nuclear. Almost all of these arguments are driven by people who either know nothing at all about submarines and defence or have outdated information that is no longer relevant.’ Pyne must therefore believe that Australia’s current and recent submarine commanding officers know nothing about submarines.

The 2016 defence white paper called for Australia’s future submarines to be ‘regionally superior’. As a former commander of the submarine force, I don’t know any submarine commanding officer over the past 30 years who has any doubt that, overall, nuclear-powered submarines are superior to diesel submarines of similar vintage. Australia’s new Attack-class submarines will probably be superior to most diesel submarines in our region, but they won’t be superior to China’s nuclear-powered submarines entering service in the 2040s and beyond. China’s navy is numerically larger than the US Indo-Pacific fleet now and is forecast to be more powerful than the American fleet by 2035. Australia’s 12th Attack-class submarine won’t enter service until around 2054 and will be in service until about 2080.

Pyne went on to say, ‘Australia does not have a nuclear industry. One cannot be created overnight.’ Pyne might have the cart before the horse. The Americans had their first nuclear-powered submarine in service before their first nuclear power station. The nuclear power station program in the US had been languishing until Captain, later Admiral, Hymen G. Rickover was appointed to head the nuclear reactor development for both naval and civil applications. In the early years, it was trained nuclear submariners leaving navy service and going into the commercial power sector that allowed that industry to grow rapidly.

The claim that Australia can’t have nuclear-powered submarines because it doesn’t have a nuclear industry has never been tested. An Australian ability to manufacture and reprocess nuclear fuel wouldn’t be essential in order to own and operate nuclear-powered submarines. Modern American and British submarines are built with nuclear fuel to last the life of the vessel. Japan has 33 nuclear reactors in power stations but doesn’t manufacture or reprocess nuclear fuel. This is also true of many countries in Europe and the Middle East that have nuclear power. Australia buys advanced combat aircraft and weapons that are manufactured overseas, so why not nuclear reactors and the whole-of-life fuel they require? Nuclear-powered submarines could be built in Australia with imported reactors.

Notwithstanding that reactors and fuel can be purchased from other countries (the OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights is from Argentina), why doesn’t Australia have a larger and more diverse nuclear industry? Of the top 20 economies (Australia is 13th), 17 have nuclear power. Australia, Italy and Saudi Arabia are the three exceptions. Italy imports 16% of its electricity from adjacent countries, more than half from France where it is produced from nuclear power. Saudi Arabia is acquiring nuclear power. And, as various countries commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it’s noteworthy that no major economy intends doing so without nuclear power in the mix.

Diesel submarines have been around for about 120 years and nuclear submarines have been around for about 65 years, so neither form represents new technology. With a choice between the two technologies, the leading Western maritime powers of the US, UK and France all adopted the nuclear option with no diesel attack submarines, because nuclear power is the more effective and superior technology.

At the time when replacements for Australia’s Oberon-class submarines were being developed in the 1980s, it’s almost certain that neither the US nor UK would have sold nuclear submarines to Australia. With the Cold War at its peak, their focus was on the Soviet Union and the possibility of maritime warfare in the North Atlantic. France was just starting to develop its first nuclear-powered attack submarines. But what about when it came time to explore options to replace the Collins-class submarines?

The 2009 defence white paper announced that the Collins class would be replaced and Australia’s submarine force would be expanded to 12 boats. The defence minister at the time, Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon, directed the department that, in developing options, it was not to bring forward any nuclear proposal. Three years later, when he was no longer defence minister, Fitzgibbon admitted it was a mistake ruling out a nuclear option; however, neither of his successors altered the ‘no nuclear’ guidance to the department. Consequently, when the Coalition government came to power in 2013, only conventional options had been developed.

The notion of conventionally powered submarines’ suitability for Australia in the second half of this century needs to be challenged. The Attack-class program should proceed as replacements for the six Collins-class submarines to avoid a capability gap; however, options to acquire nuclear-powered submarines for the additional six boats and eventually replacements for the six Attack-class submarines should be pursued immediately.

Submarines could lead to a broad nuclear industry in Australia.

Denis Mole served in the Royal Australian Navy for more than 35 years, commanding submarines and attaining the rank of commodore. He has recently retired from the commercial marine and defence support sector.

This article was published by ASPI on April 15, 2021.

The featured photo: WATERS OFF GUAM (Dec. 11, 2020) The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Asheville (SSN 758) steams off the coast of Guam during a photo exercise with the French Navy Rubis-class nuclear powered submarine (SSN) Émeraude. Asheville and Émeraude practiced high-end maritime skills in a multitude of disciplines designed to enhance interoperability between maritime forces. Asheville is one of four forward-deployed submarines assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron 15. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelsey J. Hockenberger)

Reshaping ISR for Navy-USMC Integration

05/10/2021

By Robbin Laird

The terms C2, ISR and training are changing significantly in the shift from the land wars to the high-end fight. C2 is migrating from hierarchical direction to mission command and distributed operations; ISR is moving from intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance to INFORMATION to decision making for an integrated distributed force; and training is open ended learning process of how to shape modular task forces that can work together to deliver the desired crisis management and combat effects.

We have written a great deal in the past months about the very significant changes in these domains, and I have recently published a book which highlights some of these changes.

But as the Marines work with the Navy towards more effective integration for the high-end fight, both sides face significant challenges to work with one another. On the one hand, the US Navy has added new ISR capabilities in the form of P-8s and Tritons which have not been designed in any way to support the kind of maneuver operations which the Marines are built to do. On the other hand, the excellent C2 which the Marines have built to operate ashore are not built to work with the at sea maneuver force.

There is no magic technological wand which can be waved over the two forces and create integratability. This must be worked from the ground up on each side and the ultimate purpose of doing so needs to be shaped in very concrete ways and in very clear mission areas. Why are they integrating? For which crisis management or combat effect? Against which adversaries and for what demonstrated positive outcome?

During my visit to II MEF, I had the chance to discuss the way ahead on the Marine Corps side with a very experienced SIGINT officer, who is the head of II MEF G-2 and is the senior intelligence officer for the MEF, Col. William McClane. He joined the Marines towards the end of the Cold War, and as I have seen in both Marine Corps and Navy interviews, there are a smattering of such officers towards the end of the careers who bridge the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the new phase of peer competition.

Obviously, the bulk of their careers have been through the land wars period, but these officers understand how very different those wars are from facing an adversary with full spectrum forces able to conduct contested operations across the battlespace, up to and including nuclear weapons.

I have referred to this as the strategic shift, but in many ways, this is more of a strategic shock than a strategic shift. The Navy is shifting from support to land operations to blue water maneuver warfare; the Marines are shifting from being best mates of the U.S. Army to reworking into a maneuver force for full spectrum crisis management. In my own view, the question of being reworked as a maneuver force for full spectrum crisis management is only partly subsumed under an effort for enhanced integration with the Navy. Land-based operations even in the conditions of maneuver warfare is only partly part of the maritime fight.

In effect, what is happening is that as the Navy reworks its locus from the land wars to blue water expeditionary operations, the Marine Corps is reworking how it can assist in such a shift but also, how it can operate from afloat and ashore mobile bases to shape a way ahead in their ability to work with allies in interactively shaping more effective support for allied defense, on the one hand, and more effective allied integration with the Marine Corps and the joint force’s ability to operate across the extended and contested battlespace.

I had a chance to talk with Col. McClane on several issues but will highlight three major ones. The first one is the return of Russia as a definer of North Atlantic defense. The second is the intelligence to information transmutation of ISR. And the third is the challenge of working more convergence between Navy and Marine Corps ISR systems.

But the overview point made by Col. McClane was clearly articulated by him: “We are in a campaign of learning to shift from COIN operations to great power competition.”

Part of that learning is re-focusing on the Russians. When I went to Columbia University for my PhD in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the universities were committed to Russian studies. They certainly are not now. If there is a refocus on dealing with the Russians, the absence of analysts with Russian knowledge, language, and substantive, is a major problem.

This is certainly reflected in refocusing a force like the USMC. What Col. McClane noted was that our Nordic allies certainly have not taken a vacation from dealing with Russians, and that their domain knowledge is a key part of shaping a rethink of how to understand Russian behavior training, and operations. And clearly, it is the Russian military we are dealing with, not the Soviet Union.

This means that there is a double knowledge challenge. The first is that much of the residual U.S. knowledge remains under a Soviet hangover. And second that fresh knowledge of how the Russians operate under President Putin militarily needs to be built out.

The second is the intelligence to information shift in ISR. As Col. McClane put it: “We tend to get too fixated on the cyber piece to the determinant of working the information piece about how Russian decision makers operate and will operate in a crisis. That is a craft which we need to master.”

The information piece is about shortening the cycle from knowing to acting, as well as working information war. Col. McClane noted that “it is crucial we master the process whereby information can be tailored for messaging that affects the adversaries’ cognitive decision making. The messaging is key.”

The third key challenge we discussed is aligning USMC and US Navy intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. A key example is that the P-8 which is being operated by the US Navy and our allies in the North Atlantic is not generating data easily usable by the USMC. In fact, in the recent Dynamic Cape 21 exercise, the Marines were able to work much more effectively with USAF unmanned aerial systems than Navy assets in terms of ISR missions.

This means, for Col. McClane: “We need naval capability development not just US Navy, and USMC separate acquisitions in the ISR area. If we are truly going to fight a naval campaign, the Marines will need to be able to tap into U.S. Navy systems useful to a Marine air-ground task force. Fixing and resourcing the Naval ISR enterprise is a key part of shaping the way ahead.”

Featured Photo: U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepare to retrieve U.S. Marines during a simulated air assault as part of exercise Trident Juncture 2018 in Keflavik, Iceland, Oct. 17, 2018. Trident Juncture, a NATO-led exercise, hosted by Norway, will include around 50,000 personnel from NATO countries, as well as Finland and Sweden, and will test NATO’s collective response to an armed attack against one ally, invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Nelson)

Defender Europe 21

DEFENDER-Europe 21 is a large-scale U.S. Army-led exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between the U.S., NATO allies and partner militaries.

This year, more than 30,000 multinational forces from 26 nations will conduct nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in 14 countries.

GERMANY

03.11.2021

Video by Robert Sekula

U.S. Army Europe and Africa

Trojan Footprint 21: Working the Black Sea Region Challenges

05/09/2021

Trojan Footprint is the premier Special Operations Forces exercise in Europe.

While the exercise is focused on improving the ability to SOF to counter myriad threats, it also increases integration with conventional forces and enhances interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners.

Most importantly, however, Trojan Footprint builds upon already strong relationships, grows trust and develops lasting friendships that promote European peace and stability.

According to a press release from the U.S. embassy in Georgia published on May 6, 2021:

Georgia is serving as the host nation for US Special Operations Command Europe’s (SOCEUR) premier SOF exercise – called Trojan Footprint 21. US Army Green Berets assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) will train and continue to build interoperability with Georgian Special Operations Forces (GSOF) in tactical training events throughout the region.

“While the exercise is focused on improving the ability of SOF to counter a myriad of threats, it also increases integration with conventional forces and enhances interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners,” said Col. Marc V. LaRoche, Deputy Commander, US Special Operations Command Europe. “Most importantly, Trojan Footprint fortifies military readiness, cultivates trust, and develops lasting relationships which promote peace and stability throughout Europe.”

Trojan Footprint 21 also helps to strengthen NATO military relationships in Europe, and establish a common sight-picture for combat and peacekeeping missions abroad.

US Army Green Berets assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) will train and continue to build interoperability with Georgian Special Operations Forces (GSOF) in tactical training events throughout the region, the US Embassy to Georgia has reported.

The SOCEUR-led exercise will provide an opportunity to test and improve upon multi-domain tactics, techniques and procedures. These operations will leverage the professional skillsets of air, land and sea forces to execute a complex mission, and increase the readiness of Special Operations Forces in the Black Sea region,” said the US embassy.

The embassy said that the Trojan Footprint 21 also helps to strengthen NATO military relationships in Europe, and establish a common sight-picture for combat and peacekeeping missions abroad.

In a separate meeting with US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, Prime Minister Garibashvili thanked the US for the visit of Legend-class US Coast Guard national security cutter, making its first port call in Batumi after conducting series of exercises with the Georgian Coast Guard, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa.

Captain Timothy Cronin, Commanding Officer of the vessel, and his crew were greeted at a welcoming ceremony by Head of Adjara Government Tornike Rizhvadze, and Head of Interior Ministry’s Coast Guard Department Captain Ramaz Papidze.

“The US Coast Guard looks forward to more opportunities where we can work with the Georgian Coast Guard and Our Black Sea partners to advance the rule of law on the sea,” stated Captain Cronin.

According to a story written by Captain Kevyn Kaler, 352nd Special Operations Wing and published on April 4, 2021:

NATO ally, Romania, is hosting an integrated contingent of U.S. Army, Air Force, and Naval special operations forces to train and build interoperability during Trojan Foot-print 21. On May 3rd, 2021, Special Operations Command-Europe’s (SOCEUR) premier SOF exercise kicked off. Allies and partners will include, Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom for combined, joint exercises in training locations across Romania and Europe.

“While the exercise is focused on improving the ability of SOF to counter a myriad of threats, it also increases integration with conventional forces and enhances interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners,” said Col. Marc V. LaRoche, Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). “Most importantly, Trojan Footprint fortifies military readiness, cultivates trust, and develops lasting relationships which promote peace and stability throughout Europe.”

The SOCEUR-led exercise will provide these units an opportunity to test and prove multi-domain tactics, techniques and procedures. All-domain operations leverage the professional skillsets of air, land and sea forces to execute a complex mission, increasing the lethality and readiness of these forces in the Black Sea region.

This exercise will allow NATO allies and other regional partners to continue to build upon and strengthen the relationships within this joint, combined training in Europe and establish a common sight-picture for combat and peacekeeping missions abroad.

Also, see the following:

NATO allies take over Black Sea for military exercise

French Naval Group Delivers First Air Defense FREMM Frigate to the French Navy

The FREMM DA Alsace  was launched April 18, 2019 at the Naval Group shipyard of Lorient thirteen months after its keel laying. It is the ninth FREMM frigate built by Naval Group and the seventh one for the French Navy.

According to Naval Group: “On April 12, 2021 in Toulon, in the presence of Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, Naval Group delivered, in accordance with its calendar commitments and expected performance, the FREMM DA Alsace.

“Intended for the French Navy, it is the first of the two air defense frigates of the FREMM program.

“This is the seventh European Multimissions FREMM Frigate ordered by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) for the benefit of the French Navy, and whose program management has been entrusted to OCCAR 1.”

The video below provided by Naval Group highlights the build of the new frigate.

Pierre Tran provided an update on Naval Group in a piece published on April 1, 2021:

Paris – An early French order for a third frigate for defense and intervention helped Naval Group boost competitiveness on its offer of the FDI warship to Greece, executive chairman Pierre Eric Pommellet said March 30.

“It is good news for the competitiveness of our shipyards,” he said in a video press conference.

Pommellet was referring to the March 29 announcement by the armed forces minister, Florence Parly, that France was bringing forward the delivery of two FDI warships by a year to 2025.

“I have the pleasure to announce that we will speed up the delivery of the FDI 2 and 3, the frigates Admiral Louzeau and Admiral Castex,” she said at Naval Group’s  shipyard at Lorient, western France. “In this way, we will have three intervention frigates a year earlier than planned.”

Earlier production of a third FDI will help a cost cutting drive, with NG seeking to shed €124 million ($145 million) of costs. Competitiveness could always be improved, Pommellet said, declining to give a value on that French order, reflecting Parly’s withholding that information.

Those second and third FDI vessels will be delivered nine months apart in the first and last quarter of 2025, specialist website Mer et Marine reported. Delivery of the remaining FDI 4 and FDI 5 vessels remained 2027 and 2029.

Delivery of the first FDI, the Admiral Ronarc’h ordered in April 2017, was due in 2024, the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office said in a March 29 statement.

That first FDI had been scheduled for delivery in 2023, but NG had temporarily closed shipyards last year due to the pandemic crisis.

The FDI, bearing a brandname of Belharra, is aimed at the highly competitive export market, seen as necessary for the financial health of the company.

A cut in costs was needed, as Greece had last July found NG’s €2.5 billion offer for two frigates too expensive, business website La Tribune reported March 23.

Naval Group made a fresh offer mid-March of four FDI warships, with the first to be built at Lorient and three in a Greek shipyard, a defense source said. Those frigates would be armed with the MBDA naval cruise missile, a weapon absent from the five-strong order for the French navy.

France has also offered Greece two secondhand frigates from the French navy for free, to bridge the gap until delivery of the first FDI, the source said.

Local Content on Australian Submarines

On the plan to build 12 attack submarines, NG has committed to ensure 60 percent of local content from the Australian supply chain, said Pommellet, with that commitment applying from today and respected “by the end of the program.”

There has been media pressure for a pledge on local content, and that topic was high on the agenda when Pommellet flew to Australia last month for high level talks.

The submarine project pointed up the shift of NG from essentially a French company to becoming a global actor with an Australian industrial base.

There would be significant industrial investment and Australia would be part of the global supply for NG, he said.

NG was already working with local partners, including family owned firms and engineers, to build facilities at Adelaide port, he said, with the Thales Australian unit among the partners.

BAE Systems was also at the harbour, he said, working on its Australian navy frigate.

There will be “no worries” for local content on the submarine project, he said, pointing up the significance of Australian sovereignty.

NG was in negotiation for the next stage in the project, which is basic design and likely to last two to three years, followed by detailed design, and then manufacture, he said. Long-term programs were managed in stages, and it was up to the government to decide it had chosen the right partner as each phase came up. That reflected national sovereignty.

NG’s Australian unit has committed to at least 60 percent local content, created almost 300 jobs, and plans to double its local workforce this year, the company said in a March 23 statement. That recruitment was part of preparation for building a hull qualification section in Adelaide in 2023 and building the first submarine pressure hull in the following year.

More than 120 local firms have registered interest to be tier one capability partners, to build major parts for the boat, the company said. That was in response to announcement of the first local manufacturing package worth almost A$900 million.

Next Generation Aircraft Carrier

The DGA awarded March 19 a two-year contract to NG, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, a commercial shipyard, and TechnicAtome, a nuclear engineering company, to conduct further studies on a next generation aircraft carrier, the procurement office said in a March 29 statement.

The study follows previous preliminary studies which led the president, Emmanuel Macron, to opt for a nuclear powered carrier to replace the Charles de Gaulle carrier.

When these studies are completed in 2023, a more detailed, three-year study will follow, to allow industry to make an offer for building the carrier, the DGA said. There will also be a safety study for the nuclear engine.

The aim is to start building the ship in 2025, hold sea trials in 2036, and enter service in 2038, to avoid a capability gap before the Charles de Gaulle is retired from service, the DGA said.

NG has formed a joint venture with Chantiers de l’Atlantique to work on the new carrier, with the former to receive 2/3 of revenue and the latter 1/3, Pommellet said.

That joint venture, named MO PA for aircraft carrier prime contractor, will be 65 percent held by NG and 35 percent by Chantiers de l’Atlantique. That JV company name evoked memories of a previous project, named MO PA 2, which worked on studies for a sister ship to the Charles de Gaulle. That MO PA 2 project was cancelled for lack of funds.

The joint venture aims to be clear on management of the program, with each partner clear on what the partners will manage.

NG will be overall architect, and integrator for combat, navigation and aviation systems, catapults and arresting cables, subsystems for the nuclear boilers, and integration of the boilers into the ship.

Chantiers de l’Atlantique will build the ship and manage major systems such as electric propulsion, living quarters and auxiliary systems.

Financial Hit

A speeded up order for a third frigate for the French navy reflected the need for NG to plug a looming gap for work at Lorient and winning state support.

NG had been waiting for that announcement for some time, Pommellet said

The government holds 62.5 percent of NG, while Thales, an electronics company, holds 35 percent.

The shut down of the yards in the first half last year hit 2020 sales and profit, and  hurt the company’s export drive.

That lock down led to 2020 revenue falling to €3.3 billion from €3.7 billion in the previous year, with a profit margin dropping to 2.6 percent compared to 7.6 percent.

The 2021 target for the profit margin was 7.5 percent of sales, the company said.

The pandemic crisis cut down export prospects, hampered by cancellation of the Euronaval trade show last year and the Paris air show this year, Pommellet said. Trade shows were an important means of pitching directly to prospective clients.

Domestic deals accounted for 70 percent of 2020 sales, with 30 percent from  exports, he said. The 2021 target was 60:40 percent, and Australia was a major  factor.

Pommellet said he took note of business magazine L’Usine Nouvelle challenging the company for withholding a press release on 2020 financial results, which were published in a March 24 interview with La Tribune.

The MEB and Naval Integration: Working the Next Phase of Atlantic Defense

05/07/2021

By Robbin Laird

The Russian seizure of Crimea set in motion the return of direct defense for both Europe and the United States. With Putin’s Russia reshaping it defense capabilities and concepts of operations, there is a significant reset in terms of how the United States and the allies are working force integration in the North Atlantic. With the Nordics leading the way in terms of European responses to the Northern Flank, the reestablishment of Second Fleet and the standup of a NATO command on U.S. soil, Allied Joint Forces Command, have set in motion a Norfolk led effort for reworking how the United States Navy works with allies in shaping the way ahead in what has been called the “Fourth Battle of the Atlantic.”

With the shift from the land wars to full spectrum crisis management, and with a new focus by the U.S. Navy on fleet combat operations, a new phase in working Marines with the evolving approach to Naval integration is underway.

This clearly affects the North Carolina-based Marines, and no force more so than the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade within II MEF.

During my visit to II MEF during the last week of April, I had a chance to meet with the acting commander of 2nd MEB, Colonel David Everly (see biography at the end of the article).

2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade is a very flexible force capability.

As their website highlights:

“The MEB Command Element (CE) provides a Marine Air Ground Task Force /Joint Task Force (MAGTF/JTF)-capable headquarters that can rapidly deploy and when directed composites with naval and / or land-based forward-deployed and/or rapidly deployable forces to form a MAGTF or the core element of a JTF headquarters in order to fulfill Geographic Combatant Commander (GCC) operational requirements.”

But that force construct faces significant challenges as the effort to shape new approaches to naval integration unfolds. As Colonel Everly put it in our discussion: “We’re changing our culture. We’re shifting our culture back to align with the naval character of our force.”

He added that “understanding the Navy’s composite warfare concept is not something culturally ingrained in how the USMC has been trained and operates.”

But there is a cultural challenge on the Navy side as well. “Our expertise as a MEB is in composite warfare. How well does the US Navy fighting as a fleet, understand that expertise and how best to leverage that and shape new approaches to integration.”

In other words, a core challenge is co-evolution to create new combat capabilities. On the one hand, as the Navy reworks fleet operations, how best to leverage what the USMC can contribute? How should the USMC reshape to better support fleet operations, and reshape its approach to composite operations?

A key challenge is working two key elements: how to contribute as a task force element and how to be able to deploy as a self-sufficient force in a crisis?

On the one hand, what is being worked are new ways to shape modular task forces within which the Marines bring core competencies and capabilities. On the other hand, how to ensure that the Marines are a survivable force when they deploy as a unit?

For Colonel Everly, a key way ahead is to train and exercise together and to reshape interactively the kind of co-evolution which will lead to mission success. The MEB is clearly pursuing such an approach as seen in the recently completed Dynamic Cape 21 exercise. In this exercise, working how to shape expeditionary logistics as a key part of support to force projection in the North Atlantic was a key part of the effort.

Logistics is crucial as well as shaping the kind of distributed C2 which can be leveraged to craft flexible force integration as well.

That kind of effort was seen earlier this year when 2 MEB completed an Initial Response Team Exercise.

As a story released by the command indicated about this exercise:

U.S. Marines with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade completed an Initial Response Team exercise, taking place on Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, N.C., Jan. 14, 2021. The Initial Response Team exercise simulated a forward theater deployment to establish a command and control communication node for 2nd MEB with support from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263.

“We conducted an Initial Response Team fly away drill that consisted of Marines from core functional areas within the MEB,” said Maj. Jay Montgomery, G-3 future operations planner, 2nd MEB. “The team was given 24 to 96 hours to prepare for a simulated forward deployment and establish a command and control center.”

As 2nd MEB executed the exercise, they were air lifted to Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue and immediately began set up of their control center. This quick execution not only demonstrates the mobility and flexibility of the MEB, but also ensures proficiency of the Marines involved.

“From the moment we had boots on the ground we were able to set up communications for our staff within 20 minutes,” said Gunnery Sgt. Scott Brown, a network chief with 2nd MEB. “Being that fast to establish communications is essential to being able to enable and control units, anywhere at any given time.”

Being able to establish a command and control station on a short notice is one of the requirements for 2nd MEB’s goal of staying a force in readiness and projecting forward to prepare for an eventual II MEF deployment.

“One of the missions for MEB is to be rapidly deployable; deployments and drills like this help us rehearse the establishment of command and control,” said Col. Garrett Benson, assistant chief of staff, G-3 operations, 2nd MEB. “The Initial Response Team was a way of maintaining 2nd MEB’s proficiency in rapid deployment and getting out the door completely ready to go both administratively and medically.”

Benson said the drill showcased MEB’s ability to be anywhere, anytime. “The purpose of the exercise was to ensure we are ready at a moment’s notice in Europe, Africa or anywhere else in the world,” said Benson. “This training event was a success and it validated our ability to deploy on a short notice, furthered our capacity to incorporate aviation assets into our movement and reinforce our relationship with II Marine Expeditionary Force staff as we look to execute these exercises like these in the future.” 

 The C2 piece and the expeditionary logistics pieces are two key parts of adapting 2 MEB’s composite warfare capabilities to the new focus on integrated operations with the U.S. Navy, but they are a work in progress. A couple of examples of what the MEB can bring in the future to the maritime fight are ashore fires, such as HIMARS or the Naval Strike Missile. Another example is working signature management so that Marines operating in expeditionary base locations can provide ISR and other capabilities to the fleet.

Both face challenges. Col. Everly was part of the team that brought HIMARS to the land wars. When the HIMARS was introduced into the land wars, the focus was not on shaping them for a dynamic employment concept. I have seen at MAWTS-1, the Marines working integration of HIMARS with F-35s which is the kind of dynamic employment concept which makes sense for the way ahead for Marine Corps integration for the maritime fight.

The signature management piece is part of the larger challenge of working information warfare as part of force insertion and engagement which would enhance integratability as well. As Col. Everly put it: “The information domain is still something that both the MEB and the MEF are working to put their arms around.”

Another piece to the Marines working to enhance their ability to contribute to the 4th Battle of the Atlantic is enhanced integratability with the relevant nations in the areas of interest and operations. Col. Everly underscored that exercising and training in the region is a key part of enhanced integrability which enables the Marines working with allies can bring to the fight. “Our interoperability with the Nordics, the French and the British is a key part of our effort as well. And this is part of the co-evolution which we are experiencing as they are evolving as we are ourselves.”

An example of the kind of co-evolution underway between the Navy and 2nd MEB was highlighted in a recent composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) lead by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. The IKE CSG Commander is Rear Adm. Scott Robertson who I interviewed last year when he was head of the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC), located in San Diego, California.

The kind of innovative thinking he was focused on in that command has been carried over in the rethinking of fleet warfare operations.

As Robertson put it in an interview on the COMPTUEX event: “We were able to actually test some of our draft C2 (command and control) elements on how would we actually fold in Marines in an EABO capacity into the [composite warfare commander] construct, which was a big step for us, figuring out how do we sit there and do mutual fire support irrelevant of whether it’s coming from an aircraft, a surface ship or an EAB established ashore somewhere.”

This is the kind of exercise effort which Col. Everly highlighted in our discussion as crucial to shaping the way ahead to deliver a more effective force going forward. But clearly, working co-evolutions of the Marines with the Navy and with the allies is a major strategic challenge, but one ripe with strategic opportunities as well.

Colonel David Everly

Colonel Everly is a native of Inglewood, California. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a BS in Business Administration.

As a company grade officer, his operational assignments were Forward Observer, Guns Platoon Commander, Headquarters Platoon Commander, Assistant Executive Officer, Fire Direction Officer, Artillery Liaison Officer and Battery Executive Officer, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines; Target Information Officer, 26th MEU (OPERATIONS NOBLE ANVIL and SHINING HOPE -Albania, OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN –Kosovo, and OPERATION AVID RESPONSE –Turkey); Assistant Operations Officer, Operations Officer and Battery Commander, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines (OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM -Philippines/Thailand, and the Unit Deployment Program (UDP) -Okinawa, Japan.

As a field grade officer, his operational assignments were Executive Officer, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines (OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM); Operations Officer, 11th Marine Regiment; Commanding Officer, 5th Battalion, 11th Marines; Commanding Officer, The Basic School; AC/S G-5 Plans Officer, II MEF; Chief of Staff and Commanding Officer, 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

His supporting establishment assignments include instructor and Staff Platoon Commander (SPC), The Basic School; Faculty Advisor and Expeditionary Operations Instructor, Expeditionary Warfare School; Ground LtCol Assignment Monitor and Ground Colonel Assignment Monitor, Manpower Management Division, HQMC.

His joint duties include Deputy J3 Operations Officer, Joint Inter-Agency Task Force for Former Regime Elements (OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM); Operations Directorate (J3), Current Operations (J33), Joint Staff. Junior Military Assistant to the 24th and 25th Secretaries of Defense.

Colonel Everly’s civilian and military education include: US Army Field Artillery Officer Basic Course (with honors), US Army Field Artillery Career Course (with honors), Marine Corps Command and Staff Seminar Program, MS in Management and Leadership from Webster University, MS in Financial Planning from Oklahoma State University and MA in Strategic Security Studies for the National Defense University.

Col Everly’s personal awards and decorations include: Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation with Gold Star, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal with Bronze Star and the Combat Action Ribbon.

MWX 2-21

U.S. Marines participate in service-level training events to include Integrated Training Exercise 2-21, and Marine Air Ground Task Force Warfighting Exercise (MWX) 2-21, at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, February 2021.

MWX is the culminating event of the service level training exercise, challenging Marines to fight against a free thinking adversary with similar capabilities in a force on force environment.

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA,

02.20.2021

Video by Lance Cpl. Colton Brownlee

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms

C2 and Fleet Innovation in the North Atlantic

05/06/2021

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

With the standing up of Second Fleet in 2018, the stand up of Allied Joint Forces Command and the incorporation of the NATO Centre — Combined Joint Operations from the Sea – it is clear that Vice Admiral Lewis, who oversees all of this, has a clear focus on C2. To do distributed maritime operations or to build  an integrated distributed force, one has to build around mission command C2.

This is totally at odds with the last twenty years of war in the Middle East. It is not hierarchical management at the tactical edge; it is about reshaping the force into modular task forces able to function on the basis of mission command and integrated as a coherent fighting unit. And because of the nature of the North Atlantic, this means from the ground up that the U.S. Navy and the sea services must be integratable with allied navies. And this requires training to do so as well as NATO C2 equipment on board.

Because the focus is on the ability to fight tonight, this effort is not about waiting for the optimal 2030 technology solution, which almost certainly will not come in any case. C2F from the beginning of its new life has been focused on how to do distributed C2 with the technology at hand. VADM Lewis has asked a simple but direct question: What can we do now with the technology which exists to deliver enhanced capability for an integrated distributed force?

He has tasked C2F to do this; he has tasked CJOS COE to provide a NATO input to how to do this. And at the same time, Lewis has generated the demand set to find ways to do this better with technology that is already out there or could be coming. He has done this in two ways – one with regard to NATO and the CJOS COE which is plugged into ACT’s efforts to look at future warfighting capabilities and one with regard to the Mid-Atlantic Tech bridge and their working with a variety of technology companies to shape solutions relevant to the evolution of the fleet concept of operations.

During our visit to C2F in March 2021, the Command was working an exercise with a distributed command post deployed to Tampa at MacDill AFB. Vice Admiral Lewis was on a visit to NATO Europe, but as he commented when returning, “exercise ran smoothly with the team in place, which underscores the importance of exercising our ability to do the kind of innovative C2 which a distributed maritime force needs to operate with today.”

The Tampa exercises was simply the latest in a series of ongoing distributed C2 exercises, with earlier ones having been done elsewhere, such as in Iceland or at Camp Lejeune (see stories in the appendix to the article below.)

We had a chance to discuss the expeditionary MOC approach with two members of C2F during our visit.  Our first discussion was with LCDR Sean McDonnell in his office at the command. He has been in the U.S Navy since 1994 and is the Command’s JICO or Joint Interface Control Officer. Among other things, he works with the Fleet’s Global Command and Control System through which the ships and other C2 nodes connect to provide the commander with the most comprehensive picture that he has to command forces.

With the new C2F, Lewis has been focused as mentioned above on distributed C2 which means that LCDR McDonnell when he joined the command focused on how best to support this Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) transition. The command is working expeditionary communications as a core capability or a core enabler of the force.

And by opening the aperture to do so, further innovation is enabled to shape a more interactive and integrated distributed force working with allies as well. A key task which has focused his attention is upon getting the US Navy more capable of working in an integrated manner with NATO European navies. He noted that “we are making significant progress In U.S. Navy assets communicating early and often over NATO networks and we have just installed BICES installed in our office.” BICES is NATO’s version of SIPRNET.

C2F is clearly focused on getting U.S. Navy strike groups much more familiar with NATO procedures as well. He noted that the COMPTUEX exercises (CSG-4) are “now including a NATO vignette where the strike groups have a BICES computer at their battle watch captain station, through which they give updates and communicate regularly with simulated NATO European fleet forces.”

Our next conversation was with Captain Craig Bangor over the phone for he was deployed to Tampa for the C2 exercise. Captain Bangor was one of the very first members of the new C2F and was tasked by VADM Lewis from the outset to work the kind of C2 innovation he was looking for in the fleet.

As Captain Bangor: “C2 has become a bureaucracy unto itself. We focused on the outset on ways to unify the fleet in the Atlantic that could be distributed, work closely with allies, and be very integratable given the demands or the tasks.”

He argued that “expeditionary C2 is a key tool we need in the tool box; it is not just sitting back somewhere and watching the show. We need to have intimate feedback from the commanders who are actually doing the work and expeditionary C2 allows me to have a much more effective force.”

For the C2F team, then doing the C2 piece from the beginning is really a key effort. As Captain Bangor noted: “We need to have the ability to have C2 deployed to where it needs to go; and able to be well positioned to take advantage of adversary actions because the commanders that are doing the fighting can be enabled by the most effective C2 the fleet can provide. Interactive mission command is a key part of working effective distributed C2.”

A third conversation was with CAPT Troy Denison. CAPT Denison is a Surface Warfare Officer and was the XO and then the Commander of the USS Truxtun (DDG 103) for three years from 2016-2018. Denison enlisted in the Navy in 1993 and became a commissioned officer in 1999 after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute.

Captain Denison provided significant insights into how working C2 differently allowed for what we have referred to more flexible modular task force operations. He noted that in 2019, the USS Normandy led a four-ship task force into the High North. This task force did not operate with organic U.S. counter air from a U.S. aircraft carrier, but allies provided such air cover as part of the integration effort.

The tie between a mobile command center and the deployment was evident.

The four vessels, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen, USS Forrest Sherman, and USS Farragut and a helicopter maritime strike squadron are part of the newly-reactivated U.S. 2nd Fleet intended to counter Russian activity in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

The vessels sailed from their home base in Mayport, Florida earlier this month and on arrival formed a Surface Action Group.

As the 2nd Fleet does not have any permanent operations center in Europe, around 30 of its staff set up a temporary Maritime Operations Center in Keflavik, Iceland, which will coordinate the SAG’s activity…..

“Iceland is a key ally, and its strategic location in the North Atlantic provides a perfect opportunity to test out our expeditionary MOC for the first time,” confirmed Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, the commander of 2nd Fleet. “Operating out of Iceland reinforces our partnership while allowing us to practice operating in an expeditionary manner and test our ability to surge forward.”

Captain Denison noted that the deployment in 2019 was more by accident than design as the Truman was not available. But now they are focused on deliberate ways to design different types of task forces, which of course, works effectively with C2 as a key enabler.

It was clear in discussing the high north experience from this exercise and other developments, that working the High North with core allies or what Rear Admiral Betton calls the “relevant nations” allows for shaping of new paradigm of collaboration. The logistics and communications challenges, just to mention two of those challenges, certainly drives thinking through new ways to collaborate and to operate in the region.

We discussed this more fully with a fourth officer during our visit, CDR Shaun Servaes.  He arrived at the beginning of the standup of C2F and was immediately tasked to work on the BALTOPS Exercise held in 2018.  BALTOPS was the first exercise to be managed by C2F and this put them in the thick of a key part of the North Atlantic region affected by the return of Russia as a direct military threat to Europe. They embarked on the USS Mount Whitney to work the C2 part of the exercise and did so with significant NATO participation. So the first exercise presaged what was to come for C2F. The bulk of the force was provided by NATO, not the United States.

CDR Servaes underscored that the BALTOPS exercise underscored priorities for VADM Lewis in the initial standup of C2F. “Admiral Lewis has said since the beginning, he wants to integrate the Marine Corps with naval forces, basically be one force. He wanted to demonstrate as well that the US command element could command subordinate forces that were offered from other nations, as well as embarking international command elements with us. Our deputy commander was a UK commander of the taskforce.”

We then went on to discuss the challenge of shaping an effective U.S. and Allied high north force. Here the logistics challenges are formidable. As CDR Servaes underscored: “If you look from St. John’s, Canada, which is the last place we can get gas heading north, go touch the Arctic Circle and come back to St. John’s it is a longer transit than from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, which is the longest transit we have in the Pacific.” Obviously, to address these challenges allied has to be built in from the ground up and with it an effective C2 structure.

In other words, the command is a warfighting weapon. Its value is driven by how the fleet can integrate across the combined air-maritime forces operated by NATO nations across the domain of the Atlantic. And this is about 360-degree defense operations, inclusive of undersea assets as well as space assets.  It really is a kill web approach built around a comprehensive focus on C2, mission command, and an open aperture to encompass the best of new C2 technologies and leaving the rest.

By forging C2F as the command element working with Allied JFC, the real-world interaction between national fleets and C2 integration can be worked to ensure the capability to fight to night as well as evolving the template for incorporating new technologies and capabilities into the evolving force.

Appendix

June 2019: Expeditionary Command Post for C2F in Iceland

U.S. 2nd Fleet (C2F) has temporarily established an expeditionary Maritime Operations Center (MOC) in Keflavik, Iceland, to provide the U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) commander an additional ability to lead forces from a forward-operating location.

“I welcome C2F back to the European theater for the second time this year,” said Adm. James G. Foggo III, commander, Naval Forces Europe and Africa. “The additive capacity that 2nd Fleet brings to the European theater when operating forward alongside U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) contributes to the overall success of our naval forces’ ability to address challenges and threats to safety and security in the maritime domain.”

The expeditionary MOC, made up of about 30 members of C2F staff, has the ability to command and control forces, provide basic indicators and warnings for situational awareness, and is able to issue orders while maintaining reach-back capability to C2F’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.

“Iceland is a key ally, and its strategic location in the North Atlantic provides a perfect opportunity to test out our expeditionary MOC for the first time,” said Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet. “Operating out of Iceland reinforces our partnership while allowing us to practice operating in an expeditionary manner and test our ability to surge forward.”

The C2F expeditionary MOC is executing command and control of ships assigned to the recently deployed Surface Action Group (SAG), which is comprised of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), and USS Farragut (DDG 99), as well as embarked aircraft from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72.

While in the Atlantic, the SAG is operating in support of naval operations to maintain maritime stability and security, deter aggression, and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

C2F’s temporary operations out of Keflavik mark the second time the new fleet has operated at a forward location. C2F first demonstrated this expeditionary capability through command and control of exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) in June 2019, when the majority of its staff embarked USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20).

“Successful operations in the Arctic require practice, and we will take the lessons learned from this deployment to further refine the expeditionary MOC concept for future operations in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions,” said Capt. Chris Slattery, director, C2F expeditionary MOC.

The expeditionary MOC concept is scalable and temporary in nature. While the C2F expeditionary MOC is currently operating out of Iceland, there is no predetermined or permanent operating location in the European theater.

C2F exercises operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships, aircraft, and landing forces on the East Coast and the Atlantic. When directed, C2F conducts exercises and operations within the U.S. European Command AOR as an expeditionary fleet, providing NAVEUR an additional maneuver arm to operate forces dynamically in theater.

U.S. 2nd Fleet Commands Naval Forces from Camp Lejeune

JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina (NNS) — U.S. 2nd Fleet (C2F) has established an expeditionary Maritime Operations Center (MOC) at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

This expeditionary MOC, made up of approximately 30 members of C2F staff, has the ability to command and control forces, provide basic indicators and warnings for situational awareness, and be able to issue orders with a reach-back capability to C2F’s headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

Participating naval forces include the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which is comprised of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the guided missile cruisers, USS San Jacinto (CG 56), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55), USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), USS Truxton (DDG 103), and more than 6,000 Sailors all stationed a Naval Station Norfolk.

“Camp Lejeune is the ideal location for Navy-Marine Corps integration opportunities,” said Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander U.S. Second Fleet. “For the purpose of this expeditionary MOC, our USMC counterparts are providing C2F with the supplies and equipment essential to the successful execution of this exercise.”

In CNO’s Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority 2.0, C2F was tasked to be expeditionary— whether from a maritime platform or an austere location. Regularly operating C2F’s expeditionary capability ensures our ability to respond expeditiously and proficiently when called upon.

Maintaining and expanding upon the ability to command and control forces away from headquarters is central to C2F‘s employment of forces in the Atlantic. During this iteration of the expeditionary MOC, II Marine Expeditionary Force assisted with infrastructure development. Both C2F and II MEF will draw lessons learned from this operation to inform future employment of an integrated command and control center in the future.

“We are implementing lessons learned from previous expeditionary MOC operations which will directly influence the way we employ naval forces at the operational level going forward,” said Capt. Craig Bangor, Second Fleet MOC director. “To accomplish our assigned mission this time, we have included intelligence, logistic, cyber, information, and maritime operations and planning capability organic to the expeditionary MOC. While the team in Norfolk is leading and planning for a wide array of operations, our team in Camp Lejeune is solely focusing on the employment of the Eisenhower Strike Group as it crosses the Atlantic utilizing the expeditionary MOC capabilities.”

The expeditionary MOC concept is scalable and temporary in nature, and the iteration in Lejeune marks the third for C2F sing it’s establishment in August, 2018. C2F first demonstrated this expeditionary capability through command and control of Exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) in June 2019 when the majority of staff embarked aboard USS Mount Whitney. Most recently, C2F employed a forward deployed expeditionary MOC in Keflavik Air Base, Iceland.

C2F exercises operational authorities over assigned ships, aircraft, and landing forces on the East Coast and the Atlantic.

02.26.2020

Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet