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Ireland is a nation that has experienced great joy in celebrating the written word along with great sadness and tragedy during their many times of trouble.
The Irish love of poetry and music is in their human essence as is a feistiness and undaunted courage about almost everything.
In America, the Irish have managed to make great strides in becoming political leaders.
President Kennedy, President Reagan and the late Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill are perfect examples.
As an aside, “Tip” and “Ronnie” got along better than Speaker O’Neill (D) did with President Carter (D).
On November 11, 2011, Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth President of Ireland.
“A passionate political voice, a poet and writer, academic and statesman, human rights advocate, promoter of inclusive citizenship and champion of creativity within Irish society,
Michael D. Higgins has previously served at almost every level of public life in Ireland, including as Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.
He has also published four collections of poetry — ’The Betrayal; The Season of Fire; An Arid Season’ and ‘New and Selected Poems’.”
Irish President Michael D. Higgins. Credit Photo: AP
On his being elected there was some rather significant opposition about his positions prior to becoming President.
In reacting to his election, his past political actions and statements were widely noted:
“Ireland elects as president poet Michael Higgins, who was against the American war in Iraq, protested against visiting President Ronald Reagan and rallied against Israel’s maritime embargo of the Hamas terrorist authority in Gaza.”
But the Israel National news was also very fair in pointing out President Higgins made a vow to not carry his past positions into office:
“If he carries out his vow to remain “neutral,’ Higgins will not continue his activity, at least not publicly, against Israel.”
The list of what he believed in was widely known, admiring Castro, mourning Arafat, being angry with President Bush and the Iraq war and he was solidly elected.
Those actions and others could have justifiably sent major shockwaves to Israel and moderate and conservative Americans.
In a country as Catholic as Ireland, he got off to a good start and was commended for bringing an inclusive element to his inauguration:
“The inauguration will include a Christian service of prayer followed by blessings from Islamic and Jewish representatives and a moment of reflection to mark the humanist philosophy and secular aspects of Irish life.”
So how is it going about half way through his term in terms of keeping his vow?
The proof of his adhering to his vow can be seen in the actions of both the President and his fellow citizens.
History may show that President Higgins of Ireland is building on the great legacy of a past Irish President ‘Eamon de Valera:
“The original Irish Constitution of 1937 specifically gave constitutional protection to Jews.
This was a necessary addition to the constitution by Éamon de Valera because of the treatment of Jews in Europe at the time, particularly under Hitler…
The Dublin Jewish community arranged the planting and dedication of the Éamon de Valera Forest in Israel, near Nazareth, in recognition of his consistent support for Ireland’s Jews.”
It is, therefore, vital that people of good conscience heed Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan’s recent statement at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, when he forcefully said:
“I believe that it is essential that we redouble our efforts throughout the world to resist and combat anti-Semitism in all forms.”
On a human level it must be very hard for Jewish travelers on vacation in certain countries.
Further proof of respecting all religions and cultures can be seen in the actions of the Irish people:
Although in Ireland “there were still some smaller rallies in Dublin (about Israel’s actions in Gaza), where we spent our first couple of days before heading out to the Irish countryside.…
“Enough of this,” our 20-year-old daughter declared a few days into the trip.
“I don’t see why we can’t say we’re Israeli.
The next person who asks, I’m just going to tell them.”
I couldn’t stop her.
She was an adult.
So what happened?
Absolutely nothing.
People nodded, said something like, “That’s interesting,”
“Hey, I know krav maga,” or “I have a cousin who visited Israel last year.”
On a personal artistic level President Higgins is a poet as much as a successful politician and has released a very serious poem, “The Prophets are Weeping,” which should be widely noticed and read in a world where information war is being waged on global proportions.
There is some public debate in Ireland as to the focus and meaning of the poem.
Independent of all that, an artistically gifted individual can often sense and capture a greater meaning for humanity then the exact time, date and meaning when they originally created their work.
“Dover Beach,” by the English Poet Mathew Arnold is a perfect example.
Tt was created around 1851.
The English, just as the Irish, have had generation after generation of truly great writers and poets.
“Dover Beach” stands the test of time as a worthy poem.
The last lines of Dover Beach were truly an ominous foreshadowing of 20th Century Wars:
“And we are here as on a darkling plain…swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight…where ignorant armies clash by night”,
In this hundred year period of commemorating WWI-the “War to end all Wars,” 1914-1918, deadly armies were clashing by night in those horrific WW I battles.
To continue the symbolism of Dover Beach to the English in WW II. the White Cliffs of Dover became both a symbolic symbol and an actual physical place where England stood defiant against the Nazis.
Just listen to Vera Lynn sing “There’ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover.”
As in World War II, there is now a battle raging against vicious genocidal individuals, who have proven to be as motivated in doing evil to innocents as were the Nazi SS.
Just like in pre-WWII days Ireland just like under the great leader President ‘Eamon de Valera can be a force for good.
Based on documented reported evidence from the Middle East the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is committing full scale genocide against Christians in the name of their religion.
As reported in The Jerusalem Post on February 24, 2015: “Many of the violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL [Islamic State] may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide,” the report says.
Readers may feel comfortable in reflecting on a universal meaning in President Higgin’s poem “The Prophets are weeping.”
President Higgins has created a very powerful Information War (IW) message against some very horrible events occurring right now.
ISIS is a brutal force, which asserts that only they have the right to rule in the Middle East and beyond.
We can call them extremist; but that is not enough.
We need to engage in the battle of ideas as well for it is Western secularism and tolerance which is the enemy, not Jews or Christians. Shiites or Sunni.
It is about power dominance via exploiting ideological purity and mobilization of the “faithful” to achieve the purity of rule desired by the ISIS leadership and followers.
In reading the poem it can be seen as a stand against corrupted religious doctrine.
Of course, only President Higgins knows what he means, but like Mathew Arnold and many poets and writers before and after him, their words can have powerful meanings that transcend time.
“The Prophets are Weeping” can be read as a stance against the horror coming out of the Middle East, and It is published below for the reader to take away any message they so feel:
The Prophets are Weeping:
To those on the road it is reported that
The Prophets are weeping,
At the abuse
Of their words,
Scattered to sow an evil seed.
Rumour has it that,
The prophets are weeping.
At their texts distorted,
The death and destruction,
Imposed in their name.
The sun burns down,
On the children who are crying,
On the long journeys repeated,
Their questions not answered.
Mothers and Fathers hide their faces,
Unable to explain,
Why they must endlessly,
No end in sight,
Move for shelter,
for food, for safety, for hope.
The Prophets are weeping,
For the words that have been stolen,
From texts that once offered,
To reveal in ancient times,
A shared space,
Of love and care,
Above all for the stranger.
As The Irish Times highlighted the importance of the release of the poem in early 2015:
President Michael D Higgins has released the text of the only poem he has written since assuming office in 2011.
The Prophets are Weeping with its references to extremism and the displacement of people could hardly be more topical given the situation in the Middle East.
The poem was completed last year before the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris which left 12 people dead. That attack inspired the following week’s cover which featured the prophet Mohammad weeping.
Mr Higgins finalised the poem in October last year but had been working on it for some time.
The President was influenced by the flight of people from northern Iraq and those in flight from the Syrian conflict.
Not only is the President, a poet, identifying the distortion of basic principles of humanity, but as a successful politician he fully understands core dynamics of a free society.
The President said his poem was influenced by the flight of people from northern Iraq and those in flight from the Syrian conflict. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill/The Irish Times.
Ireland has countless debating points bandied about in freedom from fear as an antidote to such ideological Islamic purity that leads to genocide.
The President of Ireland in his stated political principles on leading his country captures the value of inclusive, not divisive, social solidarity.
He also stress a way to foster creative empowerment of the arts beginning at a local level.
Like his poem showing the dangers of corrupted thinking, his leadership of Ireland shows creative empowerment as the way to inoculate a nation against such crazy distorted fanatical power gone mad.
ISIS is now being reported as destroying historic artifacts in their blind rage for some form of cultural purity.
Not only are they genocidal fanatics they are striking right at the heart and soul of humanity a society’s’ culture.
But the Irish well understand the power and glory of their creativity that has gone before in their turbulent history and that it must always be protected as a force for good today.
President Higgin’s political statements and his poetry are very powerful positive affirmations of how to foster creativity in a free society and he has been a man of his word:
We must seek to build together an active, inclusive citizenship; based on participation, equality, respect for all and the flowering of creativity in all its forms.
A confident people is our hope, a people at ease with itself, a people that grasps the deep meaning of the proverb ‘ní neart go cur le chéile’ – our strength lies in our common weal – our social solidarity.”
I will champion creative communities who are bringing about positive change at local level by giving recognition to their achievements on the national stage.
I believe that when we encourage the seedbed of creativity in our communities and ensure that each child and adult has the opportunity for creative expression, we also lay the groundwork for sustainable employment in creative industries and enrich our social, cultural and economic development.
Finally Ireland (so far) does not have a national motto but often a sign can be seen in galic; Céad Míle Fáilte- “One hundred thousand welcomes.”
The Naval Academy Motto is; Ex Scientia Tridens –Through Knowledge Sea Power, and that captures the vision for a 21st century Cyber Operations Major being developed at the US Naval Academy.
In preparing the U.S. Navy for 21st Century Warfare, the U.S. Naval Academy is in the formative stages of beginning to train Midshipman for Cyber Operations.
The USNA Cyber Center, the catalyst for dynamic innovative course development, is temporally housed in Leahy Hall on the Academy Yard.
The building is named for Fleet Admiral William Leahy who was the most senior US Navy Admiral in World War II. The Hall is across the street from the actual path of light that allowed USNA Professor Albert Michelson Class of 1873 to experiment in measuring the speed of light.
The scientific and engineering tradition at Navy is moving ahead at flank speed in embracing all things “cyber.”
The effort is building on a distinguished lineage of scientific and engineering history. Midshipman Albert Michelson, Class of 1873, and then USNA Professor Michelson, in the late 19th Century pushed the theoretical boundaries of physics at the Naval Academy for the 20th Century Navy. Now on the banks of the Severn River the beginning of a dedicated Cyber Center is preparing midshipman to enter today and tomorrow’s fleet.
Every year Nobel Laureate Professor Michelson is honored at the Michelson Memorial Lecture Series in which many distinguished Nobel Laureates and other prominent world-class scientists provide their insights on critical issues.
The Michelson Memorial Lecture Series commemorates the achievements of Albert A. Michelson, whose experiments on the measurement of the speed of light were initiated while he was a military instructor at the U. S. Naval Academy. These studies not only advanced the science of physics, but also resulted in his selection as the first Nobel Laureate in science from the United States.
For example, in 2009, Professor Christos Papadimitriou Hogan Professor of Computer Science at University of California Berkeley presented a paper entitled:
In the questions, which followed the presentation, Professor Papadimitriou was asked for his view on which country is advancing computer science the most.
His answer was very direct in stating that with all due respect to his colleagues around the world he believed that the United States was in a leading position for two simple reasons. America has freedom of expression, which generated a framework for the development of innovative approaches, and the financial support was significant for innovative research and applications as well.
Cyber science is a new academic discipline for advancing military combat operations and it clearly is intellectually exciting to be a Midshipman at the Naval Academy during this significant moment in time.
The Midshipmen are “plank holders” in a new field of study.
And it is a field of study, which is foundational for 21st century warfare.
The logo as seen on a wall plaque in the Center for Cyber Security Studies. Credit: Second Line of Defense.
Cyber is one of the key domains of warfare, which a modern sea service must master to be successful in a wide spectrum of operations.
The modern warships and systems already deployed with the USN and USMC as well as those coming on line and anticipated in the future all rely on digital content, communications and effective C2 capabilities to ensure mission success.
Admiral Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, has prioritized the importance of cyber, and has even compared to the importance, which he places on nuclear deterrence.
“The level of investment that we put into cyber in the department is as protected or as focused as it would be in strategic nuclear.”
He highlighted why cyber was so important to the USN in an interview published in May 2013:
For the U.S. Navy, cyber security is critical because its ability to coordinate ships, planes and personnel depends heavily on computer networks and satellites.
“We’ve got to understand how to defend them, how to exploit them ourselves and how to, as necessary, be able to do offensive effects,” said Greenert, who will attend this week’s IMDEX Asia maritime defense show in Singapore.
“Many people who look at the future of warfare say it’s bound to start in cyber. The first thing you’d want to do is shut down their sensors, interrupt their power grid, confuse them … and presumably guard against that kind of thing and recognize if it’s starting.”
The U.S. Navy has enjoyed advantages in traditional sea, undersea and air warfare but times have changed, he said. “In the cyber domain, a lot of people – civilian hackers, anybody – can get into this,” Greenert said.
Cyber is often confused with computer and information security. But it is really about cyber operations within the context of rapidly evolving concepts of operations, as digital systems become dominant players in the evolution of war fighting capabilities.
Our visit to CVN-78 highlighted the centrality of C2 and related systems to the operation of the next large deck carrier.
In fact the CVN-78 is designed specifically with the need to embrace the dynamic nature of evolving cyber capabilities.
There are 17 compartments in the Aircraft Carrier that can be constantly configured and reconfigured to be dedicated to a specific or general use of computers.
The ship was designed with tremendous excessive power to facilitate all electronically powered systems yet to come, from advanced computers facilitating state-of-the art communications, radar and other sensor systems to lasers as weapons.
Additionally there are three software upgradeable aircraft flying today – the Australian RAAF Wedgetail, the Navy’s advanced Hawkeye, and the F-35 – and two of these aircraft will fly off of the Ford and intersect with the software upgradeable radars and C2 systems onboard.
And working collaboratively to integrate strike and defense capabilities with the rest of the Navy force, the joint force and coalition partners rests upon effective cyber operations. This means that cyber is part of the evolving concepts of operations for the maritime, joint and coalition force. It is not an add on; it is not a standalone; it is part of the integrated warfighting effort.
The CNO underscored in a speech October 2013, the importance of the educational process to prepare the Navy for the way ahead in operating 21st century forces:
“We’re going to have to teach our people to understand the value of this spectrum and cyber.
We just need to break out of our training techniques.”
The US Naval Academy is at the cutting edge of “breaking out of our training techniques.” To understand the role, which the Academy is playing, and the approach the USN is taking to shaping new approaches we visited the U.S. Naval Academy in February 2015.
We had a chance to discuss the evolving approach with Captain Paul Tortora, Director of the USNA Center for Cyber Security Studies, and with four second class midshipman (college juniors) who are part of the first class of majors in Cyber Operations.
Captain Tortora and 4 students in the cyber major after the SLD interview. Credit: Second Line of Defense
Captain Tortora is a 1989 graduate of the Academy as a math major, who then became a Navy Nuclear trained officer serving on a fast attack submarine and then mid-career switching over to become an intelligence officer aboard the USS Eisenhow
Because the field is in flux, the challenges are in flux, the approaches to deal with the challenges being shaped, and the mix of skill sets being defined to operate as cyber warriors, Captain Tortora is pursuing an open ended approach to shaping the Center.
First, it is a center not an academic department.
Academic departments tend to become very close ended and rigid in defining subject areas, an approach which would lead to failure to dealing with the emerging subject of cyber operations.
An academic department is being set up in order to have tenured faculty, with a goal of approximately 6 departmental members, 3 military and 3 civilian, but the Center-led effort will remain crucial to the continual process of engaging with and shaping the field of endeavor.
And as the first classes go into the field and experience feed back to the Academy the subject itself will be redefined, reworked, and taught differently as fleet experience folds into the teaching process.
Captain Tortora explained that there are two different but intersecting processes in play at the Academy.
The first is the requirement to teach ALL Midshipmen cyber awareness and cyber security fundamentals.
And the expectation is that this beginning effort will be revitalized over time as the graduates lead the way in shaping the 21st century USN and USMC. There are two mandatory cyber courses all Midshipmen take, one as Plebes (freshmen) and another as Juniors, both of which cover basic cyber awareness, security and electronic warfare.
The all things digital approach is being laid down and built upon in shaping cyber engagement.
The second is standing up a dedicated Cyber Operations major, which is really more about how to effectively operate across the breadth of the cyber domain, similar to more of a con-ops rather than a narrowly technical cyber security curriculum.
Here the goal is to combine the technical fundamentals of this domain, with the non-technical policy and legal aspects to understand the social dynamics within which cyber attack and defense is an operational reality. As Captain Tortora said in discussing the cyber attack/defense enterprise, “we have no problem saying ‘attack’, we are, after all, educating future Naval Officers.”
The interaction among the students and faculty is crucial to shaping what should be included in shaping the curriculum and what is necessary for an appropriate education. Captain Tortora repeatedly emphasized the key role, which the students were playing in shaping the major and how to forge an effective curriculum.
“They are the ones crucial to helping us build out an effective curriculum; sometimes they refer to themselves as intellectual guinea pigs.”
The three year track followed by majors at the Academy (and remember the 2nd Class ‘16 are first ever Cyber Operations majors at the Academy) involves technical issues, policy issues, legal issues, social issues and then in the third year seminars and papers. The curriculum already has a number of courses dealing with the non-technical aspects of cyber operations, to shape a more comprehensive understanding of the operational dynamic.
The interactive nature of shaping the field is reflected in the fact that the students in the field are engaging in various outside organizations and attending external conferences and sessions, such as attending the Cy-Con Conference in Estonia.
Internships are crucial as well at places like NSA, and with various Centers located in industry and government which are engaged in shaping approaches to dealing with cyber operations.
The initial launch class of Cyber Operations majors has 28 students and the sophomore class behind them as 55. The goal is to have 40-60 students per each level, with three sections, which can be managed by two instructors per cyber course.
Midshipmen take 140-150 total credit hours of classes while at the Naval Academy with 15 dedicated courses, or 50 credit hours, in a major as part of those total hours.
Only four of the majors could potentially go directly into Information Warfare openings, with another two potentially into the Information Professional community, while the rest will proliferate into all possible fleet positions, and some could go to fields like Marine Corps Aviation or Navy SEALs. This means that in addition to the basic course work taken by everyone at the Academy, the Navy is looking to proliferate officers with a cyber major throughout the fleet.
And as Captain Tortora put it: “It won’t be long before fleet admirals will want to have with them an experienced cyber officer and team to help them deal with and generate cyber effects as part of cyber operations.”
The four midshipmen who participated in the roundtable had a wide variety of interests and backgrounds and illustrated that the approach being taken to prepare for cyber operations was not narrowly technical.
The four Midshipman Majors interviewed at the Center for Cyber Security Studies, US Naval Academy. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense
Sitting in during our interview with Capt Tortora were four members of the Class of 2016.
All are 2/C and will be among the first to graduate with a major in Cyber Operations. The Midshipman were, Zachary Dannelly, Erin Devivies, William Young, and Max Goldwasser.
Because all Midshipman participate in athletics one was a competitive swimmer another played Squash a third was the Brigade Heavy Weight Boxing Champion, and Midshipman Devivies throws the Javelin for the woman’s track team. She is the proud daughter of two career enlisted Marines. Additionally, all four qualified as shooting “expert” on the range with both the pistol and rifle.
As one midshipman put it: “IT builds the car; Cyber Operators drive the car. I want to drive the car.”
Obviously, there needs to be technical proficiency and competence, but one Midshipman was thinking about becoming a history major, another a Chinese major, and they felt that these interests could be met by dealing with the social, policy and legal dynamics of cyber operations.
These are not folks headed down the path of firewall technicians; but rather participating in military operations, which will subsume cyber operations. And the graduates from the Naval Academy as cyber operations majors will form, in the words of Captain Tortora, “a bow wave of young officers coming into the force that will force change more broadly in the Navy.”
We proposed that the process is similar to the ground forces coming out of World War I with the coming of the tank, and that the tank had huge impact on concepts of operations. Captain Tortora commented: “The concept of change is good but it is more like the combustion engine changing warfare rather than the tank. The Navy did not stand up an Aviation Department at the Academy until AFTER World War II. What we are doing here is trying to get ahead of the curve.”
The course is so new, that the process of accreditation by ABET can only happen after the first class graduates, but the staff is working to try to ensure accreditation by ABET.
ABET is a non-profit and non-governmental accrediting agency for academic programs in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. ABET is a recognized accreditor in the United States (U.S.) by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
A key challenge in shaping a Center on Cyber Operations is to be able to attract staff and to try to keep graduates in the Navy after their obligatory period will be over.
Of 60 or so PhDs who received their degrees last year in cyber related fields only a handful went into academics. This means that the Academy will take flexible approaches to appropriate staffing, drawing upon visiting professors, and other ways to bring in the kind of practitioners who would both contribute to and benefit from the dynamic and highly interactive environment Captain Tortora and his team have put in place.
In short, it is not surprising then that the U.S. service academies are standing up cyber learning approaches in their curriculums and setting in motion and educational revolution for the digital warriors coming to the force.
But the US Naval Academy is certainly at the cutting edge of these efforts, and has set in motion an approach designed to prepare the future Marines and Naval officers who are trained at the Academy for both sensitivity to and understanding of cyber operations.
Editor’s Note: The video seen earlier in the article provides the CNO’s perspective on cyber operations as published on October 28, 2014.
Shipmates,
Recently I visited Navy Cyber Forces Command in the Hampton Roads area.
After holding a great All Hands Call with our cyber warriors and reenlisting some motivated Sailors, I sat down with two Shipmates to discuss what our cyber forces do and why their mission is important.
In this episode of “Conversation with a Shipmate,” we discuss cyber security and warfighting.
Understanding Cyber
All of us, not just cyber warriors, need to understand the role that cyber security plays in our everyday operations.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
The Electromagnetic spectrum is also a hot issue for our Navy, and the exploration of that focus area goes hand in hand with what we’re doing on the cyber warfront.
Warfighting on the Sea and in Cyberspace
The Navy is has an inherent and unique need to combat cyber threats.
Our resources, ships and bases around the world are connected by the very networks our cyber warriors defend.
For a PDF of this article please go to the following:
2015-03-02 Trident Juncture 2015 will be a major exercise for NATO forces, essentially leveraging their amphibious capabilities as part of a combined arms exercise.
As an article published March 2, 2015 in The Diplomat (Madrid), the role of the exercise and of Spain within that exercise was highlighted.
Our country and Portugal will be the hosts of some manoeuvres that will also have Italy’s aerial support and could gather 20,000 soldiers together.
The crisis in Ukraine is relaunching the fight between blocs that prevailed in Europe after the Second World War.
On one hand, Russia is increasing its hopes to be on a level with the URSS.
On the other hand, the NATO sees the Russian resurgence with concern.
After the last summit of Cardiff (Wales), the allies have approved a calendar of joint manoeuvres to stay in shape, standing out Trident Juncture among them.
This exercise will be celebrated in autumn 2015 in waters of the Strait of Gibraltar with Spain and Portugal as hosts and Italy’s aerial support.
It will be led by the Transformation Command and it will be an exercise of “high intensity and high visibility” that will allow the allies materializing the initiative of the so called Connected Forces into specific actions, whose objective is for the NATO troops to stay prepared to react in the case of crisis after the end of the operations in Afghanistan at the end of the year.
The exercise will put the abilities of the Nato Response Force (NRF) into practice facing 2016, when Spain will be responsible for the land component command. Besides, it could serve as the trial base for the new force of fast intervention described in the summit of Wales as Trident Juncture of the NATO, a force made up of 5,000 soldiers able to deploy in 48 hours to deal with situations of crisis in the East and the South of the Alliance.
Trident Juncture will be settled in a scene adapted to the new threats, such as cyber defence, incorporating the lessons learned in two decades of operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other places. The land command will be joined by aerial, sea and especial forces, as well as by intelligence, surveillance and recognition elements.
In all, more than 20,000 allied soldiers could participate, a number that can still vary depending on the contributions made by the countries, according to the Ministry of Defence. In any case, this will be the biggest exercise carried out by the NATO since the end of the Cold War.
The exercise is part of what NATO refers to as the Connected Forces Initiative.
According to an RFP released to industry for participation in the exercise, the CFI is characterized as follows:
CFI is a major part of Allied efforts to achieve NATO Forces 20201. It is an Alliance-wide programme providing a philosophy, focus and means through which to enhance and sustain NATO’s military preparedness and operational ability. On the one hand, CFI is seen as a series of interlinked activities involving education and training, including exercises; the NATO Response Force (NRF); and technology. On the other hand, it looks to inject the fundamental requirements of “communicate, practise and validate’ throughout the Alliance.
CFI provides for Allies an alternative to the operational focus of the last decade. Coherent education and training is the bedrock for the development of individuals and teams so they have the cognitive ability to understand complex situations, people and cultures, and are comfortable with ambiguity and risk. Relevant and forward-looking NATO doctrine and common procedures will enhance interoperability.
CFI seeks to connect Allied forces to enhance and sustain interoperability; to connect NATO with others to facilitate interagency actions on operations in the modern environment within a comprehensive approach2; and to connect with Partners to enable cooperative security in accordance with the Alliance’s Strategic Concept. The combination of NATO Command Structure (NCS – personnel and units on fulltime service with NATO) and NATO Force Structure (NFS – multinational units on part time service with NATO) headquarters and units will provide a framework for the deployment and incorporation of modern, targeted technology to support operations and training.
The pathway to Trident Juncture 2015 is seen in the following NATO graphic:
In short, Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 will take place from 28 September to 06 November 2015 in multiple locations across the Alliance including Italy, Portugal and Spain. Over 25,000 troops are expected to participate in the exercise.
The purpose of TRJE15 is to train and test the NRF, a high readiness and technologically advanced force comprising of land, air, maritime and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly on operations wherever needed.
The exercise represents the final step in the certification process for the command and control elements of the NRF for 2016. The exercise will also allow Allies and partners the occasion to train, deploy and exercise in a complex and distributed environment.
Editor’s Note: The video above highlights preparation for the exercise as seen in a February 2015 video release from NATO.
Sunday 08 February JFC Brunssum deployed an OLRT to the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway.
This is a training exercise where OLRT members will spend a week immersed in the fictitious crisis scenario being used for Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 (TRJE15).
2015-02-26 We wrote earlier about the evolving operational map of Europe or what might more correctly referred to as the evolving Euro-Med security zone.
The Euro crisis is defining the end of a period of history. The era since 1991 has been defined by the expansion of Europe, the consolidation of NATO, and America as the hinge that held much of the strategic map together.
At the heart of these convergent developments is the idea that a European currency would be combined with a European foreign policy and a European defense. Security, defense, a common currency and convergent development and growth paths would create a new global entity, a new Europe.
But now, new centrifugal forces are widening political, social, economic and security differences within the EU and among its neighbors. The deepening recession is increasing differences among citizens and encouraging nationalism and political localization.
This crisis comes as new dynamics are emerging and rewriting the map. The Arab Spring, the rise of Iran, the Syrian crisis and the operations against Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi are raising the global profile of the Middle East. The Russians are focused like a laser beam on an energy policy that will enable them to play a key role in Europe and Asia. The Arctic is one of the centerpieces to Russian strategy. And the Chinese are leveraging their global economic assets to find a new place in Europe and the Middle East.
Europe will be challenged as many intertwined strands of integration are rolled back, fraying what has been an intricate but incomplete tapestry.
Clearly, the euro crisis focused most clearly right now on Greece and its new government, the ISIL engagement within the Middle East spilling over into North Africa and into Europe itself, as well as the Russia map rewriting exercise and European responses to that exercise are crucial as well.
We also wrote earlier that we saw a clear effort on the Russian part to dip into this environment and try to reshape things to their advantage.
The Russians are building naval support capabilities in both the Eastern and Western Mediterranean.
It is often noted that the current state of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean is not first rate, and is populated with many aging assets.
This is largely true, but misses the point that the Russians have set in motion a major naval and air modernization effort, and by laying down a solid geographical infrastructure, when capabilities are added, then they have tools to go with the infrastructure to shape regular influence in the region…..
With regard to the Western Mediterranean, Cyprus is the key target of the Russian effort.
Cyprus hosted multiple visits by Russians warships in 2013. For example, last May, three Russian navy warships, which were part of a flotilla sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, docked at the new port of Limassol. The ships included the destroyer “Admiral Panteleyev,” the salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov and the tanker Pechenga.
In remarks to Russian news agency Tass, the Cypriot leader (l) voiced “deep gratitude” to Russia for its economic help (Photo: kremlin.ru)
Now Cyprus and Russia have stepped up their game, and Cyprus, on the one hand, is asserting its sovereignty within the European Union to work to block any further sanctions on Russia and to expand Russian use of its ports, and, on the other hand, Putin seeks to aid Cyprus in their initiative and to use this effort to consolidate his position in the Ukraine.
According to a story by Andrew Rettman Cyrpuin the EU Observer:
The Cypriot president has, on a visit to Moscow, showcased his country’s economic dependence on Russia and the emergence of an increasing threat to EU and US unity on sanctions.
Nicos Anastasiades used the trip, on Wednesday (25 February), to formalise an accord for Russian warships to use Cypriot military bases and to speak out against EU policy on Ukraine. Referring to Russia as a “great country”, the 68-year old politician said: “I think it’s increasingly felt by our European counterparts that action against such a great country as Russia leads to countermeasures on the part of Russia which have negative results, not only for Cyprus, but also for a number of other European Union countries.”
He noted that his own “small homeland” is “largely dependent on the Russian Federation, whether it’s the economy, or services, or tourism, or defence, or solidarity on the Cyprus issue”.
He said he supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
But he went on to describe the situation as a “civil conflict” and to “welcome” Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s contribution to the peace process, which was recently revived in Minsk – remarks which go against the EU joint position that Russia is arming, commanding, and fighting alongside the anti-Ukrainian paramilitaries.
For his part, Putin told press the naval treaty concerns counter-piracy and counter-terrorism operations, adding: “I don’t think this should worry anyone”.
He noted that Russian investors and banks are highly active in Cyprus – a relationship rooted in its favourable taxation regime and a history of laxity on anti-money laundering.
“Cyprus is in second place in terms of investment in Russia’s economy, with $65 billion. We know that a large part of this is repatriated capital, but that it is coming via Cyprus is already not a bad thing”, the Russian leader said.
He added that Sberbank and VTB Bank – both facing credit restrictions as part of the EU sanctions package – are “working actively” in Cyprus.
He also said Russia brings in 80 percent of Cypriot foreign investment and 600,000 tourists a year and reminded Anastasiades that Moscow recently extended the soft terms of its €2.5 billion “stabilization loan”.
Putin stopped short of publicly asking Anastasiades to help dismantle the EU sanctions policy.
But he said Cyprus, despite being “small”, is an “equal member” of the EU and has the “same voice” as others on sanctions.
He also said EU states should take sanctions decisions based on their “national interests” and not “on the basis of some obscure reasons of a general nature formulated by some unknown people”.
The Russian leader used the meeting to threaten the EU that he will cut gas supplies via Ukraine in the coming days unless Ukraine agrees to pay for gas consumed by Russia-occupied territories in east Ukraine.
Editor’s Note: Russia and China in late 2014 agreed to joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean and the Pacific in 2015.
Published on Nov 22, 2012
CHINESE & Russian WARSHIPS in ACTION 2012
According to story by Christopher Harress, and published November 19, 2014:
The navies of Russia and China have agreed to conduct naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean in spring 2015, according to a statement issued by the Russian navy on Wednesday.
That brings two potential U.S. adversaries closer together and sees China assert its presence in a region, the Mediterranean, far from its shores in another development that marks its emergence as a serious military power.
Russian Defense Minister Gen. Sergei Shoigu made the announcement after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart, Col. General Chang Wanquan, on Tuesday in Beijing.
“We plan to hold another joint naval exercise in the spring of next year in the Mediterranean Sea and also joint doctrine navy exercises are planned in the Pacific,” said Shoigu.
Shoigu remarked that cooperation between the two countries’ militaries has improved in recent years and joint exercises are now a regular military feature. An exercise in May marked the third time the two had worked together and the first time sailors worked on combat exercises in mixed groups.
The planned exercises are part of a new military relationship between Russia and China that has become warmer in recent years, and they represent a shift from Mao Zedong’s army-centric military to a more flexible and capable fighting force that includes the navy and air force.
In 2014, a Chinese crew performed in the World Championships Tank Biathlon and in Aviadarts, a large-scale aerial gunnery, navigation, formation and reconnaissance competition.
Both were held in Russia.
And while having conducted exercises in the Mediterranean as recently as January 2014 and July 2012, Chinese warships appearing in the region is still a relatively new development for an area that normally just supports NATO exercises.
In a meeting in the United Kingdom in November 2014 with one of the RAF officers responsible for the introduction of the F-35 into the UK forces, Group Captain Paul Godfrey highlighted the behind the scenes work to roll out an F-35 fleet, an effort largely ignored by the analytical press.
“There are 115 F-35s flying now.
We are focused on how we are going to use the capability, not whether it will exist.
There is a huge gap between the users of the aircraft and the broader puzzlement over the future outside of the warrior community; we are just getting on with it.
We just need to encourage thinking that isn’t tied to whatever we’ve done in the past.
The F-35 fleet is different and can be used for force transformation; unless you don’t.”
While more direct than most, the Group Captain’s comments reflects the reality as seen by those in the U.S. services and in U.S. allied partners involved in bringing the F-35 fleet to life. It starts with the USMC, F-35B and will accelerate through the next three years. The USAF recently had its first F-35A arrive at Nellis AFB configured for the rollout of their first squadron next year.
Capt. Brent Golden, 16th Weapons Squadron instructor, is greeted by Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, after arriving in the Weapons School’s first F-35A Lightning II at Nellis, January 15, 2015. Credit: USAF
While the Chinese and Russians introduce their “fifth generation,” as only defined by stealth attributes, the US and its allies are preparing to launch a global fleet of “flying combat systems” with integrated combat systems. The Chinese and Russians have clients for their military weapons; the U.S. has allies and what is unique about the F-35 is it is jointly funded and jointly operated by a global coalition.
The initial operating capability of the F-35 is not simply about the introduction of a replacement aircraft but the next phase in a revolution of airpower that will be inextricably intertwined with doing air combat differently. In our discussions with the pilots, maintainers and industrialists involved in the launch of the F-35, there is clear awareness by all that the F-35 is not simply about business as usual. There is a clear sense of excitement seen by the F-35 launch cadre, which is missed by those not part of the process.
Each service or partner has a launch point that will drive F-35 enabled transformation. Combat pilots and commanders recognize that this is not a replacement aircraft in and of itself, but rather it is the driving technology catalyst for a transformation of combat air power in this next phase of military aviation history. Put in other words, it is not a by itself platform – it is a driver, enabler and transformative element in the re-shaping of airpower.
We have had the opportunity to visit three key centers for the operational launch for the F-35, MAWTS-1 MCAS Yuma, and VMX-22 for the USMC, Naval Strike Air Warfare Center, NAS Fallon for the USN and Nellis’s Air Warfare Center for the USAF.
In all three centers F-35 teams are looking both inward and also reaching out to work jointly with each service partner to help integrate the aircraft within airpower legacy technology and operations. The coming iterative dynamic sharing, of new training, tactics and technological innovations is especially noteworthy because throughout that never ending process allies will also add their perspectives to the learning cycle.
The USMC is the first user of the F-35, and is on track with plans to declare IOC in 2015. Because the Marines are an integrated air-ground-sea force, their combat force preparation and initial experience with the F-35 will have significance far beyond just the USMC and is being closely tracked, watched and discussed by a number of partner nations in the F-35 program.
Precisely because the F-35 is coming at the end of an innovative decade of introducing the Osprey into operations, the F-35 is the next big step forward in the transformation of the USMC.
With the Osprey, the Ground Combat Element (GCE) gained range and speed to operate on land or from the sea; this range and speed has led to several changes in how the Marines operate and these changes are being embodied in a new class of large deck amphibious ships, the USS America class, which has been specifically designed to operate both the Osprey and the F-35.
DCA General Davis at the Change of VMX-22 Command Ceremony, June 2014. Credit: Second Line of Defense
As the Deputy Commandant of Aviation, General Jon Davis put it:
The F-35B will mirror the MV-22’s assault support revolution across three key functions of Marine Aviation: anti-air warfare, offensive air support and electronic warfare.
A 5th Generation aircraft will enable our MAGTFs (MEUs, MEBs and MEFs) to fight any adversary, anywhere, from small deck amphibious carriers or expeditionary forward operating bases ashore.
Next up is the USAF, the service which will be the largest user of the F-35. The USAF is unique in that it will operate two stealth aircraft – the F-22 and F-35 – and not also looking at synergistic combat effects they can test them against each other to prepare for those adversaries who will deploy their own version of stealth in the years ahead.
It is ultimately the impact of an integrated fleet of F-35s with fused data and distributed decision-making, which will allow the USAF to rethink how to do 21st century air operations.
In our recent visit to the Air Warfare Center at Nellis it is clear that the Weapons School and associated elements within the Center are getting ready to roll out its own version of force transformation associated with the F-35.
Evident from our interviews at Nellis is the very clear notion that for the US Air Force the F-35 is not simply about the platform but how the new combat aircraft can augment 21st century air combat operations.
The way ahead was put very clearly by Major General Silveria, the Commander of the USAF Warfare Center:
The USAF will be the largest user of F-35s but we have many partners worldwide who are investing significantly in the aircraft. Our ability to work together is going to be a fundamental aspect of shaping our working relationships going forward and helping one another to deal with difficult combat situations ahead.
The aircraft will demand a culture change, and understanding the adaptability of the aircraft is at the center of the culture change.
Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, U. S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, salutes his crew chief, Airman 1st Class Patterson, 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, as he begins taxiing for his final qualifying flight in the F-35A Lightning II Sept. 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Silveria became the first general officer in the Department of Defense to qualify in the fifth generation fighter. He completed his training with back-to-back flights and hot pit refueling. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)
The last of the U.S. airpower services to put their F-35 into operation will be the US Navy. The USN benefits significantly from earlier service investments in the common combat systems across the three variants the USN will fly the F-35C.
For the carrier Navy, the F-35C comes at a very crucial time. On the one hand, the threat envelope is going up as competitors like China are looking to enhance their long range strike capabilities against the Carrier, although striking a well defended carrier maneuvering in the open sea at 30 plus knots is much harder than critics seem to realize. On the other hand, a new Carrier class is coming on line, one which is designed with the F-35C in mind.
A visit to Fallon Air Station highlighted how the USN is preparing to expand their capabilities to operate in an expanded battlespace. At Fallon, the Navy trains to provide an integrated air wing to deploy aboard the Carrier. Because of the need to prepare for an expanded battlespace, at Fallon they are laying down the foundation for virtual live constructive training to reach beyond what can be trained to in a physical range. This means training pilots and commanders to deal with expanded reach of red forces as well as an ability to reach more effectively into maritime and joint forces as well.
As the Commander of the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center, Rear Admiral Scott Conn discussed the way ahead for Naval Aviation:
In looking to the future, in five years we are going to have JSF in the fleet.
In five years we may have UCLASS on our carriers. In five years, the Super Hornet of today is going to be different.
In five years the E-2D capabilities and our networks will have matured.
In five years the threat is going to change and competitors will have more capability.
In working with Naval Aviation Leadership, we are on a journey of discovery of how to best create a training environment that replicates potential adversary’s capabilities.
Ed Timperlake with Admiral Scott Conn outside of the NSWC building at Fallon after the Second Line of Defense interview. According to Admiral Conn, “We are working at Fallon at expanding the capability for Naval aviation to operate in an expanded battlespace.” And the Admiral made it clear that this was being done with adding capabilities like the F-35, and leveraging joint and coalition capabilities into what we are calling an attack and defense enterprise.
It is this shift to preparing to fight in the expanded battlespace when the F-35 C will enter the carrier air wing. It is about expanding the reach of the carrier, not simply relying on the organic range of any particular organic asset.
The head of Naval Air Warfare, Admiral Manazir highlighted how he sees the transition:
It is as challenging right now to figure out how to use this fifth generation capability as to deal with the “red” side.
We’re thinking about integrating the weapons system capability…not the platform…in reshaping the airwing – that is the challenge.
In the past, any high-end capability, like the F-117 in Desert Storm, went by itself. The approach was: leave me alone, don’t touch me; I can operate more effectively alone. From this perspective, fifth generation is understood as a high end, leave alone capability: the capability to go downtown with a low probability of intercept, low probability of detection data link and associated weapons systems that allows the platform to operate inside the red battlespace.
We are not simply doing that.
We are focused on the ability to connect into the integrated fire control network, pull that fifth generation information into the network.
We’re learning a lot of lessons from F-22, we’re bringing those lessons on as our corporate knowledge starts to gell so we understand how to do this effectively.
You captured the exact point.
We think of integrated capability.
If you take this fifth generation airplane that people like to keep by itself, how do you integrate into the strike group? But integration from the blue side is the key challenge and advantage of adding fifth generation to the airwing.
F-35C on approach to a landing aboard the USS Nimitz. Credit Photo; Breaking Defense
And for the partners, the introduction of the F-35 is part of an overall process of defense transformation. For the Royal Australian Air Force, it is a foundational element in what Air Marshal Brown RAAF Chief of Staff refers to as Plan Jericho, whereby the synergy among their new platforms is taken to another level with the capabilities of the F-35 as a flying combat system.
For the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy it is about the synergy between the F-35 and its new carrier and shaping new capabilities to be deployed to meet 21st century threats and to fulfill 21st century missions.
The most neglected aspect of the IOC of the F-35 is its global nature.
It is not just about the three U.S. services, it is about partners and allies concurrently rolling out their F-35s and sorting out how their new air systems transform their forces. The F-35 is not an airplane; it is a global air combat system.
The USMC and the smaller partner air forces due to their size will find very innovative ways to leverage their F-35s within their operational situations. The USAF as the largest user of the F-35 will find unique ways to combine F-35s with their other assets in shaping a more effective air dominance enterprise.
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And the USN will focus on how the F-35C enables a more effective integrated Command and Control effort to greatly empower the evolving integrated air wing and Navy surface warfare ships and their submarines.
Each service and partner will provide ways to think about how the F-35 transforms their approaches; and the sharing of these ways to think will empower the overall joint and coalition combat capabilities for US and allied joint and coalition forces as well.
In other words, rather than thinking of an IOC it is better to focus on rolling out of a global fleet which will help re-shape collaboration and innovation in 21st century combat operations. The F-35 is enabler and a catalyst it is not just an end in and of itself.
As Major General Silveria summed up the strategic direction:
The term integration can be confusing because it really is about the evolving capabilities of the combat air force going forward and to shape the combat choreography of many moving parts to shape the effects you want to achieve with airpower.
And with the F-22 to date and with the F-35 entering the combat air force, it is about how legacy aircraft can adjust to the new capabilities and the combat team learn how to use both the legacy and the new aircraft more effectively together.”
The F-35 has entered aviation history at a juncture where information dominance is clearly recognized as the pivotal discriminator in 21st century air enabled defense operations.
For the F-35, the cockpit design coupled with the breakthrough pilot helmet synergistically operating with the cockpit is a foundational element for leveraging the sensor generated information generated by the airplane and its ability to operate as an integrated information dominance air system.
As Lt. Col. “Chip” Berke put it in a presentation last year in Australia at the Williams Conference on the future of air combat:
Lt-Colonel Berke said the old mantra of “speed is life, more is better’’ had been replaced by “information is life, more is better’’.
“Information is far more valuable than speed,’’ he said.
“The F-35 has no peer in terms of information dominance.”
One of the key designers of the F-35 cockpit, and one who made seminal contributions to the improvement of the F-16 cockpit as well, is Dr. Mike Skaff, the chief engineer of pilot/vehicle interface for the F-35 program, and a former USAF F-16 pilot.
The SLD team has spoken with Skaff several times in the past about the role of the F-35 cockpit and the PVI in the shaping of its capabilities for 21st century combat operations.
An important overview on the design approach to the cockpit and the PVI was provided by Skaff in a piece we published in late 2013.
As Skaff introduced his article, he underscored a critical transition.
When Col John Boyd documented the concept of the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) loop as it pertains to tactical aviation and the energy maneuverability egg it was in an era when fighter physical performance was the dominant factor.
Although there were simple fire control radars and missiles, his analysis pertained primarily to the visual encounter and energy maneuverability.
His bottom line: the pilot who runs through his OODA loop fastest stands a far greater chance of victory than his slower opponent who is constantly reacting to an ever changing situation.
This assertion stands today, but fighter performance is no longer the primary factor.
It is information, and the dominance thereof, that determines victory in the information age of tactical aviation.
I had not visited the Lockheed Final Assembly Line recently, my last visit being in the Fall of 2012.
Much has changed since then, and I had a chance to sit down and discuss with Skaff his perspective on the way ahead.
And what is new as well, is the growing number of pilots who have experienced the cockpit and the information management capabilities of the aircraft.
We have interviewed several of these pilots, but two comments clearly stand out as key lead ins to a discussion with Skaff.
The first is the perspective of Lt. Col. Summa, the newly appointed head of the Beaufort training squadron, who has been the Ex O of VFMA-121. During our visit to the squadron last summer, he described how he was using the screens to manage his operations.
Question: The F-35 is a multi-mission aircraft and as such how do you approach doing air-to-air and air-to-ground missions?
Major Summa: You can flip between the two without ever forgetting where you were on the last one.
And let me explain that a little bit better. In the F-18, when we were going to air-to-ground mode specifically on the strike, and we are using the radar, and if we want to the targeting pod, we would get to a certain point in time in the mission, where we have to use some sort of a planning tool.
The pilot would have to sort out when he would be able to go all heads down to try to find the target and employ on the target.
Major Summa discussing the Squadron’s experiences to datei in a July 2014 interview. Credit: SLD
And I need to have a certain amount of distance between me and a threat so that when I come heads back up and start looking for possibly an air breathing threat or a surface-to-air missile, would need to suspend the task of employing that piece of ordinance or that weapon for the CAS mission.
This airplane’s different because with the data being fused, I’m not using multiple different displays with each.
The main difference that I see between federated and fused systems is in the F-18, not only was it all in different displays, but each sensor had its own uncertainty volumes and algorithms associated with it.
It was up to me as an aviator knowing the capabilities and limitations in my system to decipher and draw the line between the mission sets.
In the F-35, the fusion engine does a lot of that in the background, while simultaneously, I can be executing an air-to-air mission or an air-to-ground mission, and have an air-to-air track file up, or multiple air-to-air track files, and determine how to flip missions.
Because the fidelity of the data is there right now, which allows me to determine if I need to go back into an air-to-air mindset because I have to deal with this right now as opposed to continuing the CAS mission.
And I have a much broader set of integrated tool sets to draw upon.
And more recently, the Commanding General of the USAF Warfare Center at Nellis AFB underscored what he was learning about the use of the screens in the cockpit, or the PVI capabilities.
The aircraft will demand a culture change, and understanding the adaptability of the aircraft is at the center of the culture change.
The aircraft is adaptable in many ways.
One way is simply the cockpit – you have very few switches and you have a blank screen that you can configure to the mission, which you are engaged in.
You will configure differently for air-to-air mission than close air support missions, for example, in terms of what you want to see on the glass in the cockpit.
When you first start to fly it you have a 20 by 8 touch screen.
You don’t have an air-to-air display, a radar, a targeting FLIR display, an instrument reading, an engine instruments, a radio frequency, an ILS display.
You don’t have any of that unless you want to see it.
And so you start with a blank page.
Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, U. S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, has a laugh with Airman 1st Class John Patterson, 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, after completing his final qualifying flight in the F-35A Lightning II Sept. 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Silveria became the first general officer in the Department of Defense to qualify in the fifth generation fighter. He completed his training with back-to-back flights and hot pit refueling. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)
One of the things that’s interesting in training and it still goes on, is that the instructor who you first fly with will say, okay, here’s what you do.
You get four displays, I want you to take the right side make this one all one big display and then I want you to take this one and I want you to put the air-to-ground radar here and I want you to put the targeting fleer here and I want you to put the air-to-air radar over here.
And down on the bottom of this one put the weapon one and the other, you know, the air-to-service weapon and then I want you to put the air-to-air weapon here. And okay, go.
So there are you are flying because that’s what your instructor told you to do.
And then you start to realize that you can configure to your preferences.
I’ll do a full screen here and then when I’m in a air-to-ground role I’m going to expand my air-to-ground and it’s going to take up this whole side because I want it bigger and I want to be able to pick out the little part of the radar that I’m trying to target.
The air-to-air display will have this element, this element, and the another element.
It will show me the electronic emissions that are in the air, but when I go to air-to-surface mode I don’t want to see all that so I’ll change what appears on the screen.
What’s interesting is when you get in to the debrief, you can see people’s how they do a displays tape and they’re all different.
For Skaff, it is very rewarding to be getting this kind of feedback from the F-35 pilot community and also the formation of an initial users group shaping demand for changes in the way the cockpit and its integrated systems operate.
In other words, he is learning what the pilots like and what they don’t; what works the way it was designed and what needs to be improved or changed.
When we approached the design of the F-35 cockpit, we actually thought of dividing the two screens into an air-to-air screen and an air-to-ground screen.
But the pilots did not want us to do that, for they wanted much greater flexibility to reshape to their operational demands and needs of the moment.
Now, the pilot can program what he wants to see on the tactical situation display. He has the air picture, the ground picture, or both pictures; a navigation picture or whatever he believes is most crucial to his mission success at that time.
And so what you described was what we had anticipated that each pilot would have a different technique, a different way to employ the jet. And so I’m glad to hear you say that.
I think though the technology is moving so fast and so now we see the commercial world it’s outpacing us. And we say, oh, I wish we had that in the cockpit.
Now we’re not yet ready for a technology refresh because there’s enough hardware robustness that we can just change the software.
And we’ve talked before about a software-defined jet. And so that’s good news. We can do a lot of upgrades and alterations using the software.
Question: Clearly, one change is in display area where change will come over time.
What is your thinking about this challenge?
Skaff: It is.
With regard to the sensors, there is a lot of trade space.
But in the displays where I work it is tighter. We are getting closer to the limits in graphics processing technology.
What you see on commercial displays may appear in the future on the airplane, but not right away.
When we talk to the manufactures of new gaming display technologies they make it clear that the virtual reality machines are using something called texture as opposed to vectors.
And so when sensors report battle space we typically portray that to the pilot in vector form, circles, squares, triangles, radar dishes, etc.
And so these chip makers told us their chips don’t do that.
We’re not quite there yet, but we’re almost there.
But we’re going to have to rethink how we portray information for the pilot.
And that’s always the trick.
Because we know that we’re deep in the information age and information dominance is what makes us lethal.
The person that can garner and use information the quickest and the best is going to be victorious.
And so the more I know and the better I can act on that.
Senior Airman Michael Sterchi, a C-130 Loadmaster from the 700th Airlift Squadron, listens to Mr. Mike Skaff, chief engineer of pilot/vehicle interface for the F-35 program, for some pointers on flying an F-35C off the carrier, 31 Aug. Lockheed Martin held a special event for the press and invited guests at the Marietta facility with their F-35 Joint Strike Fighter cockpit demonstrator as the focal point. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Brad Fallin) 9/1/11
And so in this information age we realize that that airplane is just a broker for information.
So the smart person can use gray matter to decide how to act upon that information and then dominate in battle space.
That really is the key. And we’ve talked about how do you dominate?
Do you interconnect the vehicles? Do you dominate that way?
And so if somebody knows something that I don’t know I may want to know it, but I don’t know until you show me what you have.
And so we’re to the point where you do a search on Google you get back too much information. You’ve got 10,000 hits on this search word, well, which one is the one you want?
Haven’t you done that before?
And you keep going next page, next page, next page, and five pages in was what you were really thinking about and going for.
And you wonder how come the machine couldn’t have put that on the first page?
What caused it to do that?
And so that’s what we’re wrestling with now.
Trying to figure out what the war fighter needs and when she needs it and determining the best way to present that information on those big displays is crucial for information dominance.
Question: Clearly, with a growing number of pilots flying the airplane, they will be key factors in shaping your thinking about the way ahead in engineering terms.
How do you see that process?
Skaff: When I worked on the F-16, many of the changes came from input from the pilots.
How are you using our product?
Where are the problems?
Where does it let you down?
What didn’t we think of that you want on the airplane?
We will do the same with the F-35.
And there is a new technological aspect which will shape the way ahead as well, namely the new helmet technology.
With pilots using both the screen and helmet technologies over time, they will determine how they use these integrated but different systems.
The helmet is working really well.
Remember we talked about that as being risky, and we’ve mitigated all the risk and we’re very pleased, have high expectations that it’s working better than anticipated.
And so there are things in there that we have not even dreamt of using that for. And looking through the airplane with DAS, that’s neat. But it’s way more than that.
That sensor has tremendous potential.
The hardware is installed, there’s plenty of trade space to change the software.
What else can those cameras detect?
And we are now reaching the point where we will shape military standards for the new helmet, and as we do so, provide baselines for moving ahead and future modernization.
Much of this will be determined by pilot use and re-engineering to deal with design shortfalls or simply desires by the operators to do it differently from how we initially designed the system to work.
For earlier discussions with Mike Skaff see the following:
I first met Captain Hall at the christening ceremony for the USS America in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on October 20, 2012.
A lot has happened since then with the ship, and its arriving combat capabilities.
The ship moved out of the yard last year and began a tour around South America and arrived in San Diego on September 15, 2014.
It then moved to San Francisco for its Commissioning ceremony on October 11, 2014 and then returned to San Diego for its further preparation to go to sea for its initial deployment in 2016.
Captain Robert Hall, Jr., Commanding Officer of the USS America, and the Ship’s Sponsor, Lynne Pace. Credit: SLD
I had a chance to discuss recent events with Captain Hall on February 5, 2015 in a telephone interview.
When the ship moved from its yard around South America to its home port, normally there would not have been as much aviation activity aboard the ship as the America experienced.
But because the ship was a launch point for four port visits and several foreign leadership engagement visits, aviation was a key part of the transit.
And the coming onboard of VMX-22 allowed the Marines to already begin to become familiar with the ship from a maintenance and operational point of view.
In an earlier interview with the Commanding Officer of VMX-22, Col. Rauenhorst, noted that the early Marine Corps experience with the ship was very positive.
Maintenance wise, the hangar bay provided two dedicated spots to perform maintenance with the wings spread, as compared to legacy amphib ships with only one dedicated spot in the hangar bay.
Additionally, when we encountered heavy sea states, freezing rain and snow in and around the Straits of Magellan, we were able to hangar all 11 aircraft, including four CH-46s from HMM-364 and three SH-60s from HSC-21, to protect them from the elements.
Once clear of the weather, the Air Boss was able to quickly return the aircraft to the flight deck and resume normal flight operations, that otherwise would have been delayed in de-icing the aircraft.
The Marines onboard were really impressed with the size of the hangar bay and being able to do maintenance in protected spaces, rather than having to do it on the flight deck as before on legacy large-deck amphibs.
This perspective was also emphasized by Captain Hall.
“Although normally, we would not have had aviation assets aboard during a ship shakedown, we were able to sail with Navy MH-60s and Marine Ospreys and CH-46s.
This gave the respective air detachments a great opportunity to start familiarizing themselves with the spaces aboard the ship for the maintenance and operation of their aircraft.
This was also an incredible training bonus for my crew driven by the desires of SOUTHCOM and 4th Fleet to highlight the ship and the Navy/Marine Corps team during our transit around South America.
And, although we were able to flex some of the capability AMERICA will bring to the Fleet, we didn’t have the full complement of Marines or their aircraft onboard to fully flex our capability.
Of note, the two high bays, with one near the aft end of the hangar, will clearly allow for an Osprey, or other aircraft, to go into long term maintenance without interrupting the flow through the hanger deck and up to the flight deck.”
Question: Secretary Hagel decided to visit USS America in his final days as Secretary of Defense.
What was the reaction of the crew to this honor?
Captain Hall: The crew was very excited about the visit and listened attentively to the Secretary’s message.
He highlighted his support for the USN-USMC team and the kind of integration we are doing aboard this ship.
He went out of his way to praise the crew for their dedication, sacrifice and technological competence in bringing this new class of ship to life.
Question: You went around the Straits of Magellan, and you were able to put your aircraft inside. This will be a nice maintenance bonus due to having an enlarged hangar bay, won’t it?
Captain Hall: It will. The size of the hangar definitely improves our capacity to get more aircraft out of the weather if necessary.
During our transit through the Straits of Magellan we actually sheltered our three MH-60S and four MV-22 Ospreys in the hangar due to icing conditions on deck.
The USS America during its South American transit. Credit: USS America
Question: How did the Osprey enhance your ability to do missions on the voyage around South America?
Captain Hall: The speed and range of the Osprey meant we could bring foreign leaders aboard the ship from some distance.
We had four principle port visits – Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Peru – but we were also able to fly out and do key leadership engagements with dignitaries from Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and El Salvador because of the Ospreys.
During each engagement, the key leaders were interested in our significant humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities and their reaction to the Osprey was very positive.
For some South American leaders, they saw the utility of the aircraft for their own fight against narco-terrorism and to provide for security over the large distances some countries need to cover.
Question: You were speaking of it being unusual to fly aircraft aboard a ship on its shakedown cruise. When did you get aircraft operational aboard the ship?
Captain Hall: Almost immediately.
Aircraft arrived on the first day and we launched Marines during the first week.
You have to realize that half the crew had never been to sea before, so the experience they were able to gain quickly was invaluable.
Captain Hall addresses the crew during a ceremony remembering September 11, 2001 aboard the USS America. Credit: USS America
Question: What is next?
Captain Hall: Between now and March, we will do some additional ship tests including operating in the range off of southern California to test the C2 and combat systems.
At the end of March we have our final contract trials scheduled.
In late Spring we move into a post-shakedown availability (PSA), where the ship receives some final modifications prior to moving into our training phase in early 2016 and eventual deployment.
Some of the modifications we’ll receive during PSA are the result of lessons learned from the F-35B operations and testing aboard the USS WASP.
So by 2016, the largest and most powerful assault ship ever built will be ready to answer the nation’s call.
And do the dedication of the officers and crew of the USS America and the hard work of NAVSEA and the men and women working in the yards, the United States will have a unique combat capability.
A large deck amphibious ship that can deliver a Marine Corps assault force with unprecedented capability able to operate in the dangerous waters of the 21st century environment.
Earlier, Col. Raenhorst provided his own evaluation of the tour seen from the Marine Corps perspective.
The crew was super motivated to the get the aircraft onboard the ship and to operate it.
We did a crawl, walk and run set of phases as we were settling into the flight operations, starting off with day and night Carrier Qualifications (CQ) off the coast of Pensacola.
And then by the end of the deployment, Captain Hall had a very seasoned crew there that were doing both tilt rotor and rotary-wing day and night operations without a flaw, from launch and recovery of aircraft that included air traffic control in international airspace throughout the Caribbean, Central, and South America.
Below are the comments made by Secretary Hagel during his visit to the USS America on January 14, 2015:
Well, it’s good to be out at sea. They don’t let old infantry guys do much of this, as you probably know for good reason. We cause problems: fall and stumble. But this is pretty exciting to be out here this morning on this particular ship with you. And this is a pretty special crew, as you I think all know, because of what you have done already, what you represent, and what you will do here in the future.
First, I want to thank — thank you for your service, your sacrifice, what you do for our country. I want to thank your families. I know it was not easy to make that move across country from the east to the west for your families and for all of you, there were tremendous additional pressure put on all of you.
That very, very acclaimed and successful trip around South America, where you received a tremendous amount of attention and positive response: I was in Peru and Chile a couple of months ago, and heard about what you all accomplished on that swing around South America. Not only how impressed everyone was with you, with the ship, with the capabilities, but you represent the best of America. And it’s, I think, appropriate that you’ve lived up to the name of this ship in every way, so thank you. And again, please thank your families for their sacrifice.
I’m on about a three day tour around the country visiting with the Marines and the Navy, Army, Air Force to thank each of the services for their service, thank them for the privilege I’ve had to serve as secretary of defense and be part of your team, which has been a great honor for me, and it’s an honor that I will always, always appreciate, and the privilege I had to be part of this enterprise. I will always appreciate it.
I thought I’d make a couple of comments about you, about your ship, about the future, at least from my perspective, and then we’ll talk about whatever you want to talk about.
First, we were talking with the admiral and captain, and some of us say we came on to the ship here a few minutes ago about three essential priorities that I have focused on since I have been secretary of defense, that I think capture the future of our country, the future of our military. And the future in every respect of opportunities of our security, and it is first people, second, capability, and third, partnerships. And you probably represent and this ship represents those three foundational elements of our future as well as any one group of people.
And I say that because this is a very select crew, as you all know, for the reasons you know why you were selected for this crew. This is a particularly important skillset that’s required. You are on-board and you run, maintain, and sail one of the most sophisticated Navy platforms we have with more capabilities than almost anything else. That’s first.
(Jan. 14, 2015) – Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Chuck Hagel speaks with Sailors during an all-hands call on board the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America is the first ship of its class and is optimized for Marine Corps aviation. Credit: USN
Second, capabilities, as I’ve just — capabilities represented on this ship and the amphibious possibilities that our Marines are getting back to after 13 years of long war: two long wars. What you’re doing here, represent that in every way.
And third, partnerships. The reference I made to your tour around South America. Those partnerships that we are building, partnerships to assist our partners in their capacity and their capability, and their ability to not just defend themselves, but partner with us in a world that is now completely interconnected, as we all know. And so the threats are global. Opportunities are global. Relationships are all now more global than ever before. And that won’t decrease. That will only increase.
And what you do and what that trip represented, very much was a clear not just optic, but partnership building and capacity building, but in fact it went deeper and in more depth than just an optic.
I say that too, because you all are thinking about your futures. If you’re married, your husbands and your wives are thinking about your future. What is the future of this business? I know because of the last two years, especially because of sequestration and because of budget issues, we’ve been through a down-time, because of that. And that has created a tremendous amount of uncertainty in your families, and I suspect you, what kind of future you have. Is it a career that I can build on? What are the plans for the future?
Well, plans for the future are to continue to stay technologically ahead of every country in the world. We must. That technological edge has given us an important position in our own capabilities, but also in the assistance that we can provide our partners. And it’s clearly in our interest.
Also, as you look ahead, for the future of our defense enterprise, it is becoming more skill oriented than maybe ever before, even though today we have the best led, best trained, best educated, best motivated, best equipped force the world’s ever known. That won’t always be that way, just because it is that way today. It requires tremendous investment and leadership and thinking of future challenges and future opportunities. And that’s why I say those three components of our future, the people, the capacity, and the partnerships all come together in a critical way that represents our future.
We can talk about any more of these things or additional issues here once we get into questions, but I wanted to just at least give you a top line sense of my thinking, and I think it’s not just my thinking, but I think as we evolve and in our own geopolitical strategies and our thinking in the world, and how do we protect our interests, and you know, just in the last couple of weeks, what’s happened in the world in the cyber world, cyber has changed everything.
The Internet has changed everything. It’s given non-state actors, individuals capacities, capabilities empowered them in ways 10 years ago we’d never seen anything like this. All that is shifting and changing at these unprecedented historic rates, but they also represent opportunities.
One of the most significant accomplishments of the military establishment, certainly since World War II, certainly is keeping this country safe and securing this country, which is our principal responsibility.
But that cannot come divorced from other areas of social responsibility, whether it’s sexual assault or not paying attention to the human requirements and the individual needs of our sailors, our soldiers, our marines, our airmen and their families.
The military has done a better job of that than any institution. One reason is that is that we’re more cohesive, we’re more of a united community. So we have more opportunities to do that. But also, when you look at the cutting edge social changes that we’ve seen in the United States since World War II, all have begun here in the military.
And I know when you’re sitting out here and running through new trials at sea with this magnificent ship with the kind of capabilities and the clear mission you have, and the deadly responsibilities that you have, it becomes easy to maybe overlook or discontinue or disconnect some of the social, human responsibilities that we each have for each other.
But I want to tell you and assure you and reassure you that we will not do that. We are not doing that. And all the leaders that will come in behind me and the admiral and the captains and you represent leadership classes in every aspect of your profession, because you are leaders or you wouldn’t be on this mission, you wouldn’t be on this crew.
We won’t disconnect the individual and the human part of who we are. Because in the end, as advanced as our technologies are and as good as they will become, even better, without quality people it won’t matter. It won’t matter. And leadership does matter. Because one of the factors of leadership, and again, why you were chosen for this crew, is judgment. You can’t teach judgment. Skillsets, experience, motivation, all of that helps you form judgment, but in the end you all have to make tough choices and make judgments.
And that’s what leadership is about. And that’s what quality individuals are about. Can you make the right judgments at the right time, the right way?
So, I tell you these things not because you haven’t heard them and you don’t know them and you’re not living them, but I think it’s important that you hear from your leadership every now and then that these are fundamental aspects of who we are and what we represent, and why we’re so good is that we haven’t forgotten those and we’re not going to forget those parts of this institution.
And I particularly wanted to say that because I hope that’s some reassurance for your families. We’re going to continue to keep and must prioritize a cycle of bringing good people, the best people, into this business.
That just doesn’t always happen. Every day is a new day: new challenges, new opportunities. There’s no such thing as status quo. The world doesn’t stand still. Dangers, challenges, opportunities, they change. They evolve. And look at the world we’re in. So do quality people. Quality people have options. So, we want to keep the quality at the level and increase that as we go forward.
So, thank you again for what you do and your service and your sacrifices. I am very proud of you. Our president is. This country is. All America is.
So, we know that sometimes it gets a little lonely, and maybe sometimes you wonder if anyone’s paying attention. We are. And we are grateful. And you make us a better country in every way, so thank you.
The significance of the visit was enhanced by the fact that Secretary Hagel chose to go out of his way to highlight the importance of what we have called insertion forces in shaping a way ahead for U.S. military power.
An article in Stars and Stripes highlighted the importance of the visit by the Secretary to the USS America.
In a piece published on January 14, 2015, Jon Harper underscored that Hagel highlighted the Marine’s high tech future.
ABOARD THE USS AMERICA — The Marine Corps’ future will be high-tech and amphibious, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Wednesday while visiting the Navy’s newest amphibious assault ship.
For more than a decade, the Marines have been slogging through counterinsurgency wars and essentially serving as a second land army. Now that they are out of Afghanistan and pivoting to the Pacific, the service is transitioning back to an emergency response force that operates from the sea.
As Marines return to their roots, their tools will be cutting-edge, Hagel said on what is expected to be his last trip as Pentagon leader. He visited the USS America to discuss what lies ahead for the military.
“You run, maintain and sail one the most sophisticated Navy platforms we have, with more capabilities than almost anything else,” he told troops aboard the ship, which is undergoing sea trials off the California coast. “Capabilities represented on this ship [showcase] the amphibious possibilities that our Marines are getting back to after 13 years of long war … What you’re doing here represents that in every way.”
The America, commissioned in October, is designed to carry Marines and their most technologically advanced aircraft, including the F-35B Lightning II fighter jet and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor troop transport. Both can take off and land vertically.
The America’s design is different from previous amphibious assault ships. It has an enlarged hangar deck and no well deck, which frees up space for aircraft. It is as large as the aircraft carriers of some nations.
The realignment and expansion of aviation maintenance facilities provides a significant increase in available stowage for parts, support equipment and aviation fuel. Having two hangar bay areas with overhead cranes instead of just one greatly speeds up and facilitates aircraft maintenance, according to Navy Chief Petty Officer Leandro Suarez.
Capt. Michael Baze, the ship’s executive officer, said the America is optimized for aviation and “being able to deliver Marines very fast over great distance.”
He said the Osprey in particular “allows you the flexibility and maneuverability that you might not have with … a traditional landing force on the beach.”
The America can hold up to 31 aircraft, depending on the types in the mix, according to Baze.
“It’s awesome. I’ve got to pinch myself every once in a while,” he said.
He noted that, when deployed, the America will likely be the flagship of an amphibious ready group, which would include ships that could put Marines ashore using traditional sea-to-land connector vessels.
For earlier stories on the USS America see the following:
And for two articles published in other publications which address the capabilities being delivered by the ship and the USN-USMC team see the following:
The first slideshow shows technicians working to maintain USMC aircraft onboard the USS America.
The photos were supplied by VMX-22 and shows their maitenance work aboard the USS America.
The ship has a hanger deck below the flight deck where maintenance is performed, unlike legacy large deck amphibs where it is done on the flight deck.
This means among other things, when the weather gets dicey, the aircraft can be put below deck avoiding the need to maintain them for any damage from the weather when they would have had to be topside on a legacy ship.
The second slideshow highlights aboard the USS America as it transited around South America.
In the first photo, a U.S. Navy aviation boatswain’s mate (handling) directs an MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft carrying Marines assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force South to land on the flight deck of the newly commissioned amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) in the Caribbean Sea following bilateral training with Colombian service members July 19, 2014.
In the second, third and fourth photos, U.S. Marines assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force South return to the newly commissioned amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) in the Caribbean Sea following bilateral training with Colombian service members July 19, 2014. The America embarked on a mission to conduct training engagements with partner nations throughout the Americas before reporting to its new homeport of San Diego. The America was set to be ceremoniously commissioned Oct. 11, 2014.
In the fifth photo, a tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey, assigned to the “Argonauts” of Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22, takes off from the flight deck of future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during flight operations.
In the sixth photo, an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handler) directs a pilot to an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21, in preparation for flight operations aboard the future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).
In the seventh photo, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21, takes off from the flight deck of future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during flight operations.
In the eighth photo, an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handler) directs a tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey, assigned to the “Argonauts” of Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22, to take off from the flight deck of future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during flight operations.
In the 9th and 10th photos, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Kenny Vida, flight deck leading petty officer aboard future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), observes an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter as it takes off.
In the 11th photo, Sailors assigned to future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) chock and chain an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter after it lands during flight quarters.
In the 12th photo, Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Trevor Vindelov, assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, performs a corrosion inspection on a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter in the hangar bay of future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).
In the 13th photo, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Jeff Acevedo, left, assigned to Air Department’s V-3 division, directs his tractor driver, Airman Robert Johnson, while moving MV-22 Osprey in the hangar bay aboard future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).
In the 14th photo, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jeff Acevedo, left, directs Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Jeff Acevedo, both assigned to Air Department’s V-3 division, while moving an MV-22 Osprey in the hangar bay aboard future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).
In the 15th photo, Sailors assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, embarked aboard future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), perform preventive maintenance on aircraft tie-down chains in the ship’s hangar bay.
In the final photo, Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Reginald Gilmore, assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, embarked aboard future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), performs routine maintenance on an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter in the ship’s hangar bay.
Credit: USS America:Summer 2014
To set the proper landscape to discuss the changes within aviation and the amphibious fleet, one can go back a decade ago and look at the aviation and ship pairings and their operational reach.
The ARG-MEU a decade ahead operated within the LPD-17, without the T-AKE ship, without the Osprey and was primarily a rotorcraft, landing vehicle and mixture of Harrier fast jets force.
And the three ship ARG-MEU would operate largely in a 200-mile box affecting the objective area where it was located.
The Osprey has obviously been a game changer, where today, the ARG-MEU can “disaggregate” and operate over a three-ship distributed 1,000-mile operational area.
Having the communications and ISR to operate over a greater area, and to have sustainment for a disaggregated fleet is a major challenge facing the future of the USN-USMC team.
Earlier, we discussed the challenge as seen by on veteran ACE Commander, Lt. Col. Boniface.
Sustainability over distance is a key challenge as the geography covered expands and the ACE assets can operate over those greater distances as well.
Lt. Col. Boniface highlighted two key challenges.
The first is simply the challenge to the Military Sealift Command to support a disbursed ARG-MEU.
The second is having a responsive and effective parts availability pool to support the deployed but dispersed ARG-MEU. This is an especially important challenge for the Osprey because of relatively limited locations within which parts are available to be flown or delivered to the ARG-MEU on deployment.
Put another way, the deployment of the ARG-MEU is not constrained by Osprey operations, but the effectiveness of the logistics or sustainment operations. The carriers get supplied every week; the ARG-MEUs only every 10-14 days. This disparity no longer makes sense given the reality of ARG-MEU operations under the influence of the Osprey.
In effect, there is a tactical limitation posed by sustainment, which can have strategic consequences.
In many ways, the USS America can be seen as significantly enhancing the logistical or sustainment punch of the amphibious strike force.
Major Schreiner, the ship integration officer within Headquarters USMC Aviation, whose task it is to help work through the intersection between the ACE and the ships off of which the ACE flies and will fly, provided insights into the thinking surrounding the design of the new ship in an interview last year.
“The USMC as a tiltrotar-assault enabled force is clearly just now coming into its own as a unique combat capability for 21st century operations.
The USS America will provide a significant boost to the ability to both maintain and to provide operational tempo to support the force.
According to Major Schreiner, one of the key elements of maintaining the Osprey is the need to open the nacelles and to work on them. On current LHAs, this can only be done topside, but with the new ship, it will be possible to maintain the Ospreys completely in the Hangar deck.”
The synergy among the three decks, the flight deck, the hangar deck and the intermediate area will significantly improve the workflow and the ops tempo for the assault force.
The traditional LHA was sized primarily for rotorcraft operations; the new one is sized for the Osprey and the F-35B.
According to Major Schreiner, “the footprint of the new aviation assets are about 30-40% larger than the rotorcraft and fast jets they are replacing. With the change in operational capabilities and concepts comes the need to provide for a new logistics capability for the force as well.”
The logistics demands from the Ospreys on the traditional LHAs required work topside, which affects flight deck operations as well as facing daylight limitations within which the work needed to be done.
What we found with the MV-22 was that it needed some extra space.
It needed some space in the hangar for assault maintenance.
What we found in the legacy amphibious ships that we were unable to do that efficiently down below, so the workaround for the Marines, the only workaround is to do those modifications topside which are extremely time consuming and it is a delicate balance on doing them during a period of daylight where they could effectively see and then balance it out with flight operations.
To get the needed changes, the ship designers of the USS America look to the hangar deck and the intermediate areas. The hangar deck has no well deck and that provides extra space as well as overhead cranes and storage areas for parts.
The ops tempo for the assault force is enhanced as well.
According to Major Schreiner:
The idea was is not only to provide enough space to incorporate for the growth in airframes and the logistics footprints but also to provide for operational maneuver space down below as well.
We can cycle planes from the hangar to the flight deck to enhance sortie generation rates for the helos, the Ospeys and the F-35Bs in whatever package is appropriate to the mission.
Working the synergy among the three decks will be crucial to shaping the workflow to support operational tempo.D
For a text only version of this article in PDF format please see the following:
2015-02-22 According to an Australian Ministry of Defence story published on February 22, 2015, the Global Hawk has landed in Australia for the Avalon Air Show.
A United States (US) Global Hawk flew into Avalon airport on 21 February, 2015 for the Australian International Airshow.
The arrival of the US Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk marks the first time a military Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has flown into an Airshow in Australia and the first time a military UAS has landed at an Australian commercial/civil airport.
The Australian Defence Force is proud to be part of the 2015 International Air show with displays commemorating the Centenary of ANZAC and 100 years of military aviation service to Australia.
The video ends with a comment that “we can expect these types of operations in the future.”
What the Group Captain might have had in mind is not just the United States but the Asian allies of Australia.
According to this story published December 17, 2014 by Seth Robson in Stars and Stripes, the sale of Global Hawk in the region was the focus of attention.
The U.S. government has approved the sale of four RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones to South Korea.
The foreign military sale is included in a list of contracts announced on the Defense Department’s website Monday.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp.“has been awarded a $657,400,000 hybrid contract … for aircraft for the Republic of Korea,” the announcement stated.
The contract includes four RQ-4B Block 30 Global Hawk aircraft, two spare engines and ground control equipment. The first Global Hawk is to be delivered in 2018, the San Diego, Calif.-based company said in a statement. Each aircraft will contain an “Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite,” the DOD announcement said.
South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration confirmed the sale but declined to provide details Tuesday.
Northrop Grumman said the contract is the first sale of the aircraft to an allied nation in the Asia Pacific under the Foreign Military Sales process.
Several other U.S. allies in the region, including Japan and Australia, have expressed interest in acquiring the Global Hawk or a naval version of the aircraft — the MQ-4C Triton.
“This will provide critically needed wide-area surveillance capability to military commanders so they can make more informed decisions,” the Northrop Grumman statement said.
The U.S. Air Force has flown Global Hawks out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, since 2010 and there are plans to base a pair of Tritons there from 2017.
The aircraft are seen as a key tool in keeping tabs on North Korea’s nuclear weapons development and Chinese naval maneuvers.
Hawaii-based Pacific Forum think tank President Ralph Cossa, a former Air Force officer, said South Korea’s acquisition of the drones is part of efforts to give the country’s military commanders operational control of forces on the peninsula during any war with North Korea.
Under the current arrangement, U.S. commanders would take command of all U.S. and South Korean troops in the event of war.
“Part of the concept of Opcon transfer to the Koreans involves them doing a whole lot of things to upgrade their capabilities,” Cossa said. “This (the Global Hawk) is a significant upgrade.”
The South Korean surveillance planes will add to American situational awareness in the region, he said.
“It is a force multiplier in many respects,” he said of the acquisition. “You are looking for greater contributions from allies and this is certainly a way they will be able to cooperate and add to our capabilities.”
The South Korean Global Hawks will focus almost exclusively on North Korea, Cossa said.
“They certainly won’t be looking at the Chinese but the more the Koreans are doing for themselves frees up U.S. assets to do other things.”
And Australia itself will have its own Global Hawk in terms of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAS system.
The MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), is a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft that will be used for maritime patrol and other surveillance roles.
Supporting missions up to 24 hours, the MQ-4C Triton is equipped with a sensor suite that provides a 360-degree view of its surroundings, for over 2,000 nautical miles.
Up to seven MQ-4C Tritons will be based at RAAF Base Edinburgh (SA) and will operate from the runway alongside the P-8A Poseidon when it enters RAAF service.
The MQ-4C Triton will operate alongside the P-8A to replace the ageing AP-3C Orion capability. The endurance of the MQ-4C Triton means it can stay airborne for longer than a traditional aircraft where the pilot is in the aircraft.
Like other Air Force aircraft, the Triton will be flown by a qualified RAAF pilots, experienced in complex airspace. However the Triton will be flown a ground station where pilots are supported by a co-pilot while the information gathered is analysed and disseminated by up to operational staff.
Operational staff may include aircrew, intelligence, operations and administration officers, engineers and logisticians, depending on the training or mission requirements.
Whilst building on elements of the Global Hawk UAS, the Triton incorporates reinforcements to the airframe and wing, along with de-icing and lightning protection systems. These capabilities allow the aircraft to descend through cloud layers to gain a closer view of ships and other targets at sea when needed and will complement theP-8A Poseidon.
The Triton platform has been under development by the United States Navy since 2008.
