Robbin Laird, Author at Second Line of Defense

Exercise MALABAR

Posted on October 31, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

10/31/2020

By Lieutenant Will Singer

HMAS Ballarat and USS John S. McCain united on the high seas and remained in company through the Malacca Strait while sailing for Exercise Malabar.

Both ships will soon join with Indian and Japanese partners for the high-end military exercise.

Ballarat’s Commanding Officer, Commander Antony Pisani, welcomed the cooperative deployment with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

“The cooperative deployment allows HMAS Ballarat and broader Navy to hone our warfare and mariner skills and develop our ability to operate and communicate together,” Commander Pisani said.

“The shared mutual trust both navies have for each other ensure such activities are mutually beneficial, enhancing the readiness and preparedness of the ships that undertake them.

“This deployment reinforces our commitment and right to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight under international law across our Indo-Pacific region.”

Commander Ryan T Easterday, Commanding Officer of USS John S. McCain, said the activity reinforced the strong bond with Australia.

“We find tremendous value in sailing with our close ally Australia, as well as our other allies and partners in support of a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” Commander Easterday said.

“The training we are conducting while we operate together helps both ships’ crews improve their mariner skills and warfighting proficiency, in addition to the interoperability benefits we accrue by working together as a team.”

Ballarat’s Officer of the Watch, Lieutenant Matthew Newman, was on duty during the exercise between the two warships.

“The opportunity to exercise close manoeuvring at high speeds was a unique experience that solidified a number of core mariner skills in a real-time context,” Lieutenant Newman said.

“Ballarat and John S. McCain conducted a number of turns, wheels and formations that demonstrated the capability of both vessels and our ability to fight and win at sea.”

Australian Department of Defence

October 30, 2020.

Australian MH-60 R Romeos Train with the Fleet

Posted on October 31, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

816 Squadron is the Fleet Air Arm’s MH-60R ‘Romeo’ operational support squadron deploying up to 8 Flights in the Navy’s destroyers and frigates.

A multi-role Maritime Combat Helicopter, 816 Squadron aircrew and technicians are specialists in flying and maintaining the MH-60R in order to provide a ship or task group with an enhanced anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability.

Requiring a crew of three, the Aircraft Captain, Mission Commander and Sensor Operator combine to maximise the employment of the Romeo.

Australian Department of Defence.

October 20, 2020.

The US Cold Civil War: Pippa Malmgren Looks at the United States

Posted on October 31, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

Recently, Pippa Malmgren, a U.S. analyst baed in London, provided thoughts on American developments.

An article by Tyler Durden published on October 18, 2020 provided the interview.

Here we are excerpting the discussion of the digital civil war, but the video below provides the full interview.

Erik: I want to pick up on a phrase you used just a minute ago, “a new kind of civil war”. Tell us more about what you mean, because it seems to me we do have scope for this unrest, to grow to a scale that really is a civil war. But obviously, this is not the 1800s we’re not going to dig trenches and have soldiers on either side with muskets trying to shoot at each other. It seems like we’re already seeing burning things down major arsons, are one of the elements of these new tactics of what I think could escalate into this new kind of civil war. What are the other attributes? What is this new kind of civil war? What does it look like?

Pippa: Well, another attribute of it is its digital quality. And there’s a lot of writing about it and you and I have talked in the past about the changed balance of power between states and citizens, and the use of data, and digitization, the use of mobile phones, for example to track behaviors. And again, COVID has totally accelerated that process with the introduction of track and trace, and ever larger powers and freedoms by governments to keep an eye on the citizens using their electronic technology and every nation does this differently.

Recently, I think just this week, we saw in Hong Kong the Chinese authorities blocked off a few city blocks, and everyone inside those few city blocks basically had a data search done. And it heavily targeted young people because they’re trying to find who are the protesters, who are the organizers of the protest against the Chinese state. And so basically your digital identity, which is in your phone gives away so much information about you, who you connect with, where you’ve physically been.

It’s capable of being used as a microphone to record everything that you say, there’s a record of all your emails, all your communications, all your text messages. So, this is the new war zone, it is a data space and I don’t that we’ve reached an agreement about what’s a reasonable amount of data for governments to have access to and what’s not.

I don’t think we’ve reached that in China and I don’t think we’ve reached it in the West either because it’s all so new, people still don’t even understand that they’re giving away that information. They still will have conversations in front of an Alexa and think that it is still private when in fact all that data is easily auctioned off on the net and available for sale.

So I think data is the second war space or Warzone where the civil unrest is unfolding and then I think another area of it has to do with morals. And this is such a super controversial area because everyone takes the high ground and says my morals are better than your morals, but the point is, they’re all arguing about what’s the right set of morals.

And I think that’s a really fascinating fight about philosophically what are the right set of morals for a modern society? And that’s why again, the Supreme Court issue is so important. And we just saw this opinion being released by Justice Clarence Thomas that calls into question the case that allowed gay marriages. And such an interesting question because for me when I was growing up a conservative was liberal in the sense that the view was, once you get to your own front door, anything you want to do, should be allowed inside within a certain reason.

But, basically, the freedom to be who you were was protected, today that’s not considered the conservative position. And the liberal position has moved to, we’re entitled to come into your house and tell you what you can and can’t do. It’s like a complete reversal of where things used to be. So some of this is navigating in a moral space, which is a bit like the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly 18th century where those were the kinds of issues that we had civil unrest over, they were moral issues, and we’re seeing maybe a repeat of history on that front.

See also, the following:

The Cold Civil War in the United States: A Key Challenge Facing the Future of the Nation

Rotary Wing Innovation and Shaping a Way Ahead for the Integratable Air Wing

Posted on October 31, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

By Robbin Laird

For me, the biggest surprise during my several months of discussions about training for the high-end fight has been learning about the contribution of the Romeo community to the innovation underway.

With the shift from the primacy of the land-wars to a return to Blue Water operations, the capabilities of the systems onboard the Romeo have been given much more prominence.

Part of it is due to the work with Fire Scout for the S-60 community working through ways ahead for manned-unmanned teaming, which is an increasingly important aspect for shaping the way ahead. And part of is due to the enhanced emphasis on shaping a wide range of ISR-capabilities to inform combat operations.

In my discussions at NAWDC with the head of the Maritime ISR (MISR) Weapons School, CDR Pete “Two Times” Salvaggio, the CDR underscored how he viewed the contributions of the Romeo community to the MISR effort. According to “Two Times:” “They are a force to be reckoned with. 50% of the people we are getting come from the Atlantic Romeo squadron.”

Prior to my July 2020 visit to NAWDC, I had the chance to talk with CDR Jeremy “Shed” Clark, CO of the Naval Rotary Wing Weapons School (SEAWOLF) at NAWDC but was able to continue our discussion during the July visit. In our earlier discussion, he highlighted how he saw the change underway.

“The new generation of Navy operators are clearly thinking in kill web terms – they are not focused simply on what their platform can do based on how they were trained, but how they can work in the broader battlespace to deliver the desired effects working closely with partners in the sensor, decision-making and strike web. He argued that this meant that NAWDC is looking at how to change the entire dynamic of the strike group with such an approach.”

One role we discussed during the July meeting was how Romeo was working with Growler to deliver electronic warfare capabilities to the fleet. When the fleet transits narrower areas, the Romeo is working EW functions for the fleet. And to do so more effectively in the future, how should payloads be shared with unmanned systems, like the Fire Scout. And because they are already operating Fire Scout, it is not simply an abstract discussion, but can be translate into how the Firescout can work differently with the S-60s.

CDR Clark also reinforced the point made by “Two Times,” namely, that the Seahawk community was increasingly engaged in the expanded ISR for the fleet. He noted that after officers come through the Seahawk program, they now spend time at MISR to focus on the ISR part of what the Romeo provides. They are focused on ways to use their systems in an integrated ISR environment.

But he cautioned: “We are not training to our broader community.” But he sees the MISR engagement as a way to shape that broader community focus. I did note that during my visit of the new building to host integrated simulators there was no planned Romeo simulator in the building. He noted: “We are currently working on a white paper on why such an acquisition is necessary and what capability the Romeo will bring to the integrability effort.”

CDR Clark highlights the importance of identifying capability gaps and then looking at the operational platforms in terms of targeted modernization strategies.

He noted: “We eeed to look at the gaps in the mission sets, and then consider the applicable platforms whose upgrades could close those gaps most expeditiously and cost effectively. We should look for the lowest cost solutions on a particular platform, rather than looking to upgrade the entire force. And such gaps could well be met by changes in USMC or USAF platforms, not just with regard to US Navy platforms.”

I would add that as software upgradeable platforms enter the force, like F-35 and P-8s, this approach is particularly apt.

And I had such a conversation during a 2016 visit to the United Kingdom with the Commander of the ISTAR force. According to Air Commodore Dean Andrews:

“Treating each of the platform types as interconnected segments of an ISTAR capability Venn diagram will allow us to create the breadth of intelligence and understanding in the common operating picture that the Joint Force needs.

“Getting out of the platform stovepipe mentality will not be easy; it will be necessary to shape an overall operational approach to where the key operators of the platforms become plug and play elements in the overall ISTAR Force.”

We discussed the idea that as the core platforms are replaced by an all software upgradeable fleet, the possibility could exist to put the platforms in competition with one another for modernization upgrades.

“Which upgrade gets the priority for which platform to make the greatest contribution to the integrated ISTAR capability are the sort of decisions that should lie with the ISTAR Force in the future – it is at Force level, not within individual programmes and projects that the overall capability benefit can be seen and prioritized.”

Operating as a kill web has clear implications for shaping modernization approaches for the platforms engaged in the integrated force.

Featured Photo: Oct. 13, 2020: An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, from the “Battlecats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73, prepares to land on the flight deck aboard the aircraft USS Nimitz (CVN 68).

Nimitz, the flagship of Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, conducting missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, and maritime security operations alongside regional and coalition partners.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Cheyenne Geletka/Released)

FuelTRAX

Posted on October 30, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

10/30/2020

U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 attending Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 1-21 test FUELTRAX at Laguna Army Airfield, Arizona Sept. 28, 2020.

The WTI course is a seven-week training event hosted by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, providing standardized advanced tactical training and certification of unit instructor qualifications to support Marine aviation training and readiness, and assists in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics.

YUMA, AZ,

09.28.2020

Video by Pfc. Celestino HernandezSilvar

Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1

The Shift to the Indo-Pacific: Australia Resets Its Defence Strategy

Posted on October 30, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, launched a new defense and security strategy for Australia. This strategy reset puts Australia on the path of enhanced defense capabilities. The change represents a serious shift in its policies towards China, and in reworking alliance relationships going forward.

It is a shift several yers in the making, with Australia re-focusing on its region.

In this video, the ADF explains the shift with regard to the Middle East.

“Australia is reducing its maritime presence in the Middle East to enable greater focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

“The changes include ceasing the annual deployment of a Royal Australian Navy ship to the Middle East, and not extending Australia’s time-bound commitment to the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) beyond December 2020.”

The focus is a reinforcement of enhancing the working relationships in Indo-Pacific, both in terms of whole of government efforts as well as by the ADF itself.

In the slideshow below is shown the following:

“19-20 October 2020 HMAS Arunta conducted a passage exercise with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Kirisame in the South China Sea. HMAS Arunta sailed from the Port of Darwin on 11 October for a six-week East Asia Deployment.

“HMAS Arunta, which recently returned to Australia from a three-month regional deployment, will undertake a number of engagements as part of the East Asia Deployment. The ADF is committed to strengthening its longstanding security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. Our relationships are based on mutual respect, trust and a shared vision for a secure, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”

Later this year, we are publishing a book on the evolution of Australian defence strategy.

The change represents a serious shift in its policies towards China, and in reworking alliance relationships going forward. “Joint by Design” is focused on Australian defence modernization and policy, but it is also about preparing liberal democracies around the world for the challenges of the future.

HMAS Arunta and JS Kirisame sail together in the South China Sea during a passage exercise between the two navies.

HMAS Arunta (foreground) conducts Officer of the Watch manoeuvres with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Ship JS Kirisame during a Passage Exercise as part of an East Asia Deployment.

HMAS Arunta, JS Kirisame and USS John S. McCain conduct a passage exercise as part of Trilateral engagement in the South China Sea.

The Second National French Lockdown: Not Just About COVID-19

Posted on October 29, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

10/29/2020

By Pierre Tran

Paris – A grim mood gripped France on the eve of the second national lock down to fight COVID 19, with the nation placed Oct. 29 on the highest security alert in the wake of two deadly incidents in the south of the country.

The police arrested an assailant who used a knife to decapitate a woman and kill two other people at a church in Nice, while police shot and killed a man wielding a handgun in the suburbs of Avignon.

President Emmanuel Macron flew down to Nice in the wake of the killings and denounced what he called a “terrorist Islamist attack.”

The head of state said the armed forces would deploy 7,000 troops to the nationwide Sentinel street patrols, up from the present 3,000, while he offered the “support of the whole nation to Catholics in France and elsewhere.”

The French constitution states the nation has a secular culture, yet the importance of Catholicism is such that France is called the oldest daughter of the church.

The bells of Notre Dame cathedral in the capital tolled at 3 pm, along with those of other churches across France, to mourn the killings inside the church in Nice.

Such was the strength of feeling, Cédric O, minister for digital affairs, called on Twitter to suspend the account of the former Malaysian prime minister, Mohamad Mahathir, who accused the French of killing “millions of people. Many were Muslims.”

A boosting of the military presence is intended to guard public places, such as churches, and patrol streets, which will be largely empty as people have been ordered to stay at home.

There will be three versions of the official document which allows people to leave home. Failure to show the document will lead to a fine. All those who leave home must wear face masks.

Even before the deadly incidents of Nice and Avignon, France was grappling with a social crisis stemming from the deadly second wave of the pandemic, with Macron Oct. 28 addressing the nation on television and announcing a lock down would start in two days’ time.

The lock down starts at midnight on Oct. 29, and will run for four weeks to Dec. 1, with the government to review the conditions. The government has sought to adapt the lock down, allowing children to go to school, but closing restaurants and cafés.

There is concern Christmas may be a sad affair, with little contact permitted among families and friends.

Companies are waiting to hear detailed instructions of the new lock down, an executive at an arms firm said. About a third of staff are working from home, and two thirds working in factories.

The concern is the pandemic will lead to a “slowdown in exports,” the executive said.

A cut in foreign sales will hit the order book, an industrial backlog which keeps production lines open.The procurement office drafts contracts for arms programs factoring in export potential, as foreign sales are used to cut domestic prices.

The French public health authorities show that by Oct. 28, 35,785 had lost their lives due to the pandemic, with 244 deaths over 24 hours, and some 1.2 million cases, a rise of 36,437 patients.

Companies had to re-organize their work conditions after the first national lock down, which came into effect March 17. Office workers were told to work from home, while factories were initially closed down, work spaces cleaned, and production sites re-organized to allow greater distance between workers and teams split into shifts.

Featured Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron visits the scene of a knife attack at the Basilica in Nice | Pool photo by Eric Gaillard/AFP via Getty Images

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/nice-a-islamist-terrorist-attack-says-macron/

Working the Left Side of the Kill Chain: MISR Comes to the Navy

Posted on October 29, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

By Robbin Laird

Frankly, until I went to San Diego this February, I had never heard of Maritime ISR officers. And looking at the web, it is apparent that I am not alone. But now NAWDC is training MISR officers and they have their own warfighting patch as well.

The importance of MISR cannot be understated. As Vice Admiral Miller, the Navy’s Air Boss has put it: “The next war will be won or lost by the purple shirts. You need to take MISR seriously, because the next fight is an ISR fight.”

During my visit to NAWDC in July 2020, I had a chance to continue the discussion of MISR with the Department head, CDR Pete “Two Times” Salvaggio as well as having lunch with students in the course as well.

What is entailed in “Two Times” perspective is a cultural shift. “We need a paradigm shift: The Navy needs to focus on the left side of the kill chain.” The kill chain is described as find, fix, target, engage and assess

Kill chain is to find, fix, track, target, engage and assess. For the US Navy, the weight of effort has been upon target and engage. As “Two Times” puts it “But if you cannot find, fix or track something, you never get to target.”

There is another challenge as well: in a crisis, knowing what to hit and what to avoid is crucial to crisis management. This clearly requires the kind of ISR management skills to inform the appropriate decision makers as well.

The ISR piece is particularly challenging as one operates across a multi-domain battlespace to be able to identify the best ISR information, even it is not contained within the ISR assets within your organic task force. And the training side of this is very challenging.

That challenge might be put this way: How does one build the skills in the Navy to do what you want to do with regard to managed ISR data and deliver it in the correct but timely manner and how to get the command level to understand the absolute centrality of having such skill sets?

“Two Times” identified a number of key parameters of change with the coming of MISR.

“We are finally breaking the old mindset; it is only now that the department heads at NAWDC are embracing the new role for ISR in the fight.”

“We are a unique organization at NAWDC for we do not own a platform. And the MISR school has both officers and enlisted in the team. We are not all aviators; we have intel specialists, we have cryptographers, pilots, crewmen etc.

“Aviators follow a more rapid pace of actions; non-aviators do not have the same pace of working rapidly within chaos. Our goal at MISR is to be comfortable to work in chaos.”

Another part of the shift is to get recognition that ISR does not SUPPORT the force; it is essential element of the combat capability for the force to be able to operate effectively. It is inherent to the force; not external to it.

The kill web approach is about breaking the practice of correlating specific sensors with specific weapons; it is about shaping a much broader understanding of how to work sensor networks to deliver the outcome one is seeking.

“Two Times” argued that the training within NAWDC to train MISR officers is not bad, but the big challenge is to work to break down habitual operational patterns of senior commanders, who really are not focused on how the ISR revolution is changing warfighting.

How to do a better job of linking up warfare training outside of NAWDC with the fleet?

They have deployed MISR officers on five CSGs to date; and the reaction of the senior officers is that they would never deploy again without this skill set. But it has taken 2-3 months during the deployment to get senior officers to gain appreciation of what a MISR officer can bring to the fight.

The kill web perspective is founded on a core combat platform or combat group understanding what adjacent forces, whether Navy, joint U.S. or coalition, can be leveraged for enhanced reach and combat effectiveness. The traditional CSG model focuses on its organic capabilities, and the skills are honed to get complete combat value from the integrated air wing working with the other elements of the carrier task force.

The kill web model is different. The CSG is operating in the extended battlespace. One is able to deliver multiple functionalities from the CSG but the focus then is upon contribution to the extended fleet or combat force, but not just in terms of what a tightly integrated CSG can provide This means that it is important to understand what the assets outside of the CSG can bring to the fight and, conversely, how carrier based assets can contribute more broadly to a distributed fleet as well.

And according to Two Times, this is one of the key foci of what MISR officers are addressing. “That is what we teach; we are an effects focused contributor; not a platform focused effort. There are not enough platforms to go around; not everyone is going to have their own P-8 but they may well need the kind of information which a P-8 like asset can provide.

“That is where the MISR approach comes in. You do not need to control the platform. Tell me what it is you need to know about, and we will reach out and find a way to get you that information. What critical pieces of information do you need to make the critical decision that you need to make. We will find a way to get you that information. And we work that entire process.”

“We work for C2. Because this skill set has not existed in the Navy, there is a lot of ad hoc solutions to close the ISR gap. Under the MISR approach, the elements of the Navy operating force can leverage the broader ISR assets rather than having a platform lassoed by a command element to provide only for its own needs.”

“The problem is that if that the command element is familiar with some platforms but not others which could deliver the desired information.”

In effect, the MISR officers are translators to the fleet of shaping requests for information to the kill web rather than to a specific Navy platform. “You can paint our uniforms into many colors. We are doing multi-domain ISR. We are building products for mission execution that get everyone on the same page.”

There is another aspect of the coming of MISR to the fleet which could have a significant impact on operational capabilities beyond what “Two Times” discussed. And that flowed from conversations at lunch with the MISR course participants.

There is a clear opportunity to add passive sensing to platforms operating within the force. For example, the CMV-22Bs will fly to the fleet for the logistics function, but why not place passive sensors on the aircraft to scoop up ISR information which can be distributed to an appropriate functional area. For example, the Romeo, P-8 and Triton communities are working to shape more effective integration. Clearly, MISR officers will know that ISR dynamics within that functional area and might be the perfect players to suggest what passive sensing on the CMV-22B might best provide to that force package or to one of the elements within that package.

The coming of MISR is a key part of reshaping the force and building out a kill web foundation for the maritime force. But being knowledgeable about ISR assets throughout the joint and coalition force and being able to tap into those either at the level of CSG or numbered fleet levels will be a significant training challenge. And new ways will have to be found to meet those challenges for sure.