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I had a chance to discuss maritime issues with Rear Admiral Torben Mikkelsen both in Copenhagen during my visit in June 2022 and at the Euronaval exposition in Paris during the week of October 16, 2022. He has been Admiral Danish Fleet Commander since 2017 and recently left that position to become head of the Danish naval modernization effort. His new title since June of this year is Executive Director, Navy Programs, Defence Command, Denmark.
I spoke to him in June shortly after he entered the new job and at Euronaval and will combine comments made in the two interviews which bring together his perspective. And with Finland and Sweden coming into NATO, it is important to think of maritime operations in support of defense and security for the entire region from Iceland through to the Kola Peninsula.
There is clearly a need for a creative rethink, or in the words of the late Brendan Sargeant, “the exercise of strategic imagination.” This means that Mikkelsen is not coming to the position as the head of naval modernization with a narrow focus on replacing legacy platforms. His task is to think of maritime operations in a broad sweep of capability across the region and how best for Denmark to contribute.
Both interviews provided perspective on his new job. Rear Admiral Mikkelsen is to focus upon the maritime operations ecosystem and way ahead for maritime power in the Nordic region and to examine the desired effects to be created by Danish forces in conjunction with Nordic forces and with other core allies operating in support of the region.
Looking at the operational ecosystem more broadly means looking at basing, training, and manpower which will be available for the maritime force. It means examining and conceptualizing how ships will operate and be supported on regional basis. It means examining ways to enhance cooperation and integration among Nordic navies and with allied navies.
A key focus is upon the desired effects to be created, and the missions to be supported by the desired maritime payloads, rather than upon the platforms as the primary focus. The effects focus means that air and land capabilities which are integratable with maritime platforms is a key focus of attention is as well in thinking about the operational ecosystem.
Rear Admiral Mikkelsen underscored the importance of the following: What effects do we need to achieve?
And how will sensors and the weapons as payloads on the fleet and in the force create those effects?
How will autonomous systems play a role?
How and where in our battlespace?”
Rear Admiral Mikkelsen is focused on the operational effects point of view rather than a platform centric focus.
For example, he noted that autonomous systems could contribute to the domain knowledge to protect the seabed infrastructure, for example. They could also play a key role within the Baltic Sea in ISR sharing as well among the Nordic nations.
What effects do we need to create and how would different platforms seen as an integrated operational whole deliver those effects, from a coalition point of view?
With regard to the seabed infrastructure challenge, what Rear Admiral Mikkelsen has highlighting was that the maritime domain involved a growing security challenge as a core aspect of the effects he was focused upon achieving.
For example, the offshore oil and gas fields as well as existing and not least the many coming wind farms, for example, needed to be protected. Almost certainly, maritime robotic systems would play a key role here and modular task forces of robotic systems with relevant manned vessels would be a key element of the way ahead?
But how to do so?
And as he looks at ship design going forward, they will be focused on what effects any new platform can deliver in an integrated context. Their understanding will be shaped by their experience with modularity and will build on the next generation of modularity represented by the cube system built by SH Defence.
Here the focus is upon systems, platforms, and weapons, which can be swapped out rapidly to prepare a ship and its crew to a specific mission. The flexibility which comes with the possibility of adding such functional preparedness is key to a rapid changing future. And they will work closely with Nordic and other navies to purse an approach so that they can reconfigure allied fleets rapidly for fit for purpose operational requirements.
Another aspect for their shipbuilding approach is lowered manning requirements as well as more rapid approaches to ship maintenance. Not to mention a focus on a much more adaptable and flexible educational and training perspective for that force. How can they tap new technologies for such purposes?
Rear Admiral Mikkelsen and his team will look at areas where “green propulsion” will give you an operational advantage and makes sense. Where can such new technologies fit into NAVY vessels and is there a possibility to see the “green propulsion” change in the merchant NAVY in conjunction with Royal Danish Navy.?
In short, Rear Admiral Mikkelsen and his team will look at concrete ways to shape a mission focused navy which is working closely with other Nordic navies to do so with a key focus as well on integration with other larger allied navies.
They will start by focusing a Multi Combat Patrol vessel ship class with Baltic Sea and North Sea missions.
The ship class will be designed with integrated combat and security effects in mind and capabilities to work with all domain uncrewed systems as well.
Featured Photo: BALTIC SEA (June 07, 2020) Royal Danish Navy HDMS Esbern Snare (L17) sails in the Baltic Sea during the start of BALTOPS 2020. BALTOPS is the premier annual maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic region, enhancing flexibility and interoperability among allied and partner nations. (Photo courtesy of the Lithuanian Navy)
U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461 perform external lifts and fire GAU-21 .50-caliber machine guns from CH-53K King Stallions at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Aug. 4 – 24, 2022.
This was the first time the Marine Corps deployed the King Stallion in an exercise. HMH-461 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force.
U.S. Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 252, fire AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and AGM-176 Griffin missiles near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, Aug. 31, 2022.
VMGR-252 trained in close-air support by using the Harvest Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit.
VMGR-252 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force.
08.30.2022
Video by Lance Cpl. Christian Cortez 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
For our interview with KC-130J Harvest Hawk operator, see the following:
In my recent article on the CMV-22B coming to the carrier, I highlighted the importance of ramping up the CMV-22B buy to enable the kinds of support needed for a distributed fleet in a contested environment.
I also noted that “the synergies between the Navy and the USMC in this area are obvious, in terms of operating and maintenance knowledge.”
I want to focus on the sustainment side of the equation and the importance of having a fleet of aircraft ready for operations around the world, safely and quickly, when they are needed.
How do you sustain a fleet conducting forward operations but distributed across a vast battlespace?
Clearly, the need to deliver the necessary capabilities for sustained operations at the speed required is crucial; and this is where the transition from the C-2A to the CMV-22B will truly be a force multiplier.
I first dealt with Marine Corps Osprey maintainers during a visit to Marine Corps Air Station New River in 2010. That was 12 years ago, and the U.S. Navy has nearly two decades of Marine Corps experience to draw upon since the Marines began to operate the aircraft in 2007 in Iraq.
In an interview I did with Master Sgt. Jeremy Kirk during that 2010 visit, he underscored what he saw as a challenge for the Marines in maintaining the aircraft. I asked him the differences between maintaining the H-46, (the legacy aircraft known as the “Phrog”) and the Osprey: “There are differences. One of the biggest differences is the lack of experienced maintainers for the V-22. With the “Phrog” being around for so long, we have decades of experience in the minds of the maintainers. We are still learning the V-22. You have younger Marines and a new aircraft.”
The Osprey is a digital aircraft and the Marines working with their first digital aircraft was a key part of the transition. With the Navy now operating the aircraft, there is a “ground-hog-day” experience where the Navy needs to learn that a tiltrotor aircraft is neither a rotorcraft nor airplane; it is a hybrid with unique contributions to make to the warfighting enterprise.
In a meeting I had with him during his last week of service at New River before retirement in 2013, he noted: “There are several streams of activity which need to align to get the new system up and running and integrated into operations. He spoke in detail about one which was getting the Marines committed to owning the system and learning how to fix “new” problems, which come up with a new system. The challenges are different and must be worked differently. You need to get the maintainers to change their culture.
“Sorting out problems with the gearbox is a good example of what needed to be done. The gearbox on this airplane is very complex and central to its unique operational capabilities. The gearbox inside the nacelle turns a rotor, and they were chipping. This is high-end engineering. But when it was chipping, maintainers put it aside and waited for a new part. This meant the fleet was going to be degraded.
“The flight line needed to take ownership of the problem because a lot of it was self-inflicted. Maintainers would look to blame someone else when they had a proprotor gearbox go bad. As it turns out, the technology required was to use isotropic oil that absorbs moisture out of the air, so if you have a gearbox that’s not turning and boiling the oil out on a regular basis, it goes long term down. It’s sucking in the moisture of the North Carolina Coast into the oil.
“And the maintainers would leave it out on the flight line all opened just breathing the air, and then when they finally got a part or piece, they try to fire it up and another gearbox would chip, or another problem would manifest itself someplace else. It was an endless loop. We took some ownership here on flight line, shaped better maintenance practices, and helped industry.
“Once we got that proprotor gearbox moving back out of the red into the black, the internal culture of the community changed to become significantly more optimistic. The maintenance man-hours required to change a proprotor gearbox initially was estimated at 1800 maintenance man-hours. We’re doing it now in about 380. That’s how good we got at it.”
Recently, I turned to “Mongo” again to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by the U.S. Navy now buying into the Osprey capabilities to support the carrier and the fleet. He is now in charge of sustainment at Bell, and we picked back up from our earlier interview.
He highlighted that while the Marines have significant experience in sustaining the aircraft, the Navy has its own learning curve, just as did the Marines earlier.
“It is sort of a ‘ground-hog-day.’ The Navy maintainers are generationally detached from the innovations of the past two decades of Marine Corps operations and development. But they are inheriting more than 20 years of operational experience and are building from that forward with specific U.S. Navy operational demands associated with the large deck carrier and then with the fleet.”
He pointed out that the Navy’s acquisition of the Osprey meant the Navy was taking ownership of the aircraft and making it a naval aircraft instead of a unique Marine Corps platform. This meant the Navy was activating its naval sustainment enterprise and would focus on the demand side of the fleet regarding the sustainment effort.
Seymour pointed out that both services benefit from Navy ownership of the platform; the Marines will benefit from Naval ownership and the focus on support from the naval enterprise, while the Navy will benefit from the established global sustainment capabilities and parts distribution points supporting USMC operations.
The Marines have an established infrastructure for supply and intermediate and depot-level repairs throughout the United States, as well as forward bases in Okinawa, Hawaii, in addition to facilities at RAF Mildenhall in the UK and Yokota Japan for the USAF variant of the aircraft (which is highlighted in the photos in the slideshow at the end of this article).
There is a significant opportunity for change concerning the sustainment approach driven by the Navy’s aircraft acquisition.
The Osprey’s complete integration into the Navy’s sustainment enterprise provides an opportunity to build an Osprey focused aggressive performance-based logistics approach. The Navy does this with the Seahawk helicopter and is in the throes of establishing a major F-35 Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract for both the Marines and Navy.
Currently, the Navy manages most of the 1,600 to 1,700 repairable parts that make up an Osprey. The co-prime contractors on the program – Bell Boeing – manage nearly 20% of these parts. The shift to a PBL would allow the co-primes to better manage the supply chain, the parts distribution and the readiness and reliability of the parts and bring down the cost per flight hour.
The speed of delivery to the fleet – not merely as a narrowly defined COD replacement – makes the V-22 an asset that can deliver supplies with the relevant speed in a contested battlespace. The Navy’s challenge of managing many parts by contracting with many suppliers slows the ability to keep that fleet operational at the readiness levels desired.
A shift to a comprehensive PBL would empower Bell Boeing to drive change where rapid operations might expose a need to re-design parts. Under the PBL construct, the cumbersome process required to redesign parts is streamlined. Instead, this would be done in a timely fashion in partnership between government and the Osprey OEM.
The co-primes with the current PBL contract are in the high 90 percentile regarding material availability for the 228 parts for which they are responsible. These are the key parts that I discussed with “Mongo” 10 years ago. “What has been exposed then is how a wide number of low technologies, low cost and low complexity parts for the aircraft which the Navy is directly managing are not as readily available for the fleet when they need them.”
And because the predictable trajectory for the CMV-22B is to provide fleet support in its point-to-point sustainment roles, significant enhancement in fleet readiness is a key element of getting the kind of enhanced performance for the fleet as an integrated combat force.
The Navy has demonstrated in other programs its confidence and competence in working PBLs with industry. This benefit can also be extended for Osprey fleet readiness.
The defense industrial base is strained even in the face of the conflict with Ukraine.
For a Naval force with high demand in contested operations, this should indicate what is needed: a shift from a peacetime mindset to one in which significant global operations and conflict is becoming a distinct possibility.
We need a wartime approach to sustainment, not a “just-in-time” one. The speed of delivery to the fleet – not merely as a narrowly defined COD replacement – makes the CMV-22 an asset that can deliver supplies with the relevant speed, range and operational flexibility in a contested battlespace.
During its first two global deployments with 7th fleet, the CMV-22 demonstrated a remarkable positive impact on carrier battle group operations and readiness. To prepare for future maritime operations in a contested environment and take full advantage of Naval Aviation’s Osprey force: (1) lessons learned must be shared between Navy and Marine Corps users; (2) a robust PBL must be developed; and (3) serious consideration must be given to increasing the CMV-22 program of record so that the entire Joint Force Maritime Component benefits from this game changing capability.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joel Miller, 352nd Special Operations Maintenance Squadron electrical environmental systems technician from Goshen, Ind., repairs wiring on a CV-22B Osprey Jan. 29, 2015, on RAF Mildenhall, England. The CV-22 can perform missions that normally would require both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Vital to the special operations mission, maintainers are prepared to fix the aircraft when necessary ensuring the Ospreys are ready to fly at all times. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kate Maurer/Released)
U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS (Sept. 23, 2017) Lance Cpl. Deonte Dawson, from Atlanta, assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), tightens a bolt on an engine starter in an MV-22 Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 161 (Reinforced) in the hangar bay. America is the flagship for the America Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 15th MEU, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations to reassure allies and partners and preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Vance Hand/Released)
Aircraft maintenance contractors utilize a FlexDecks Osprey Wing and Nose Stand to maintain a MV-22B Osprey at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, November 28, 2017. The platforms offer full nose and wing fall protection and enhanced worker safety while creating a more proficient maintenance process. It provides the maintainers more accessibility to the aircraft, which ultimately reduces the amount of time the maintainers take to get the aircraft back into the fight. Featuring a compact footprint and high-strength, lightweight aluminum and steel construction, the platform exceeds workplace safety requirements. The Osprey belongs to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Andy Martinez)
KADENA, Japan (Sept. 24, 2021) Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Veronica Callaway, from Chicago, Ill., inspects a CMV-22B Osprey, assigned to the "Titans" of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30, at Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa air operations hangar on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 24, 2021. VRM-30 is the first operational CMV-22B squadron and this marks the first CMV-22 visit to Kadena Air Base. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners while serving as a ready-response force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David R. Krigbaum)
KADENA, Japan (Sept. 24, 2021) Aviation Structural Mechanic - Safety Equipment 2nd Class Donald Cravin, from Douglasville, Ga., inspects a CMV-22B Osprey, assigned to the "Titans" of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30, at Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa air operations hangar on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 24, 2021. VRM-30 is the first operational CMV-22B squadron and this marks the first CMV-22 visit to Kadena Air Base. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners while serving as a ready-response force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David R. Krigbaum)
PACIFIC OCEAN (July 23, 2022) Routine maintenance is conducted on U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aboard Royal Australian Navy Canberra-class landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra (L02) during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022. Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, three submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (Photo by Royal Australian Navy Petty Officer Christopher Szumlanski)
A combined maritime task group comprised of Australian and Singaporean warships and troops has completed Exercise Trident.
Three warships and over 1600 people were involved in the exercise, a continued commitment to bilateral joint military exercises under the 2015 Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Partnership.
The exercise came to an end with a formal closing ceremony held at Tiger Hill at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland.
During the exercise, troops from the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards, completed land integration training before embarking on Royal Australian Navy landing helicopter dock HMAS Adelaide and Republic of Singapore Navy landing ship tanks RSS Endurance and RSS Persistence.
Trident’s Deputy Director Captain Tim Byles, from the Royal Australian Navy, said the co-led exercise was an opportunity to build on an over 30-year defence partnership between the Australian Defence Force and the Singapore Armed Forces.
“This year we have integrated our staff, tested our operational planning skills and executed the tactical phase of the training, which includes ship to shore operations, and an offensive land manoeuvre as the culminating activity,” Captain Byles said.
This was the eighth iteration of Exercise Trident and the amphibious training component was a first during the bilateral activity.
“We demonstrated the ability to project a ground combat element from the vessels to the beach, with support from rotary wing assets and small boat teams, before the seizure of an inland objective,” Captain Byles said.
Close air support and troop lift was provided by Republic of Singapore Air Force CH-47D helicopters permanently based at Oakey in Queensland.
The troops will continue their training in the area into October, before the Singapore Armed Forces wrap up additional training in Australia later in the year.
Singapore Armed Forces soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards, and Australian Army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, conduct a physical training session on the flight deck of HMAS Adelaide, during Exercise Trident 2022 near Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
Director of Exercise Trident 2022, Singapore Armed Forces Colonel Alan Tan, addresses Australian and Singapore troops during a closing ceremony at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
A Royal Australian Navy Schiebel S-100 camcopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle approaches for landing on HMAS Adelaide during Exercise Trident 2022 near Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
HMAS Adelaide's Head of Air Execution, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Vergelius, watches a Republic of Singapore Air Force CH-47F helicopter land on the Ship's flight deck, during Exercise Trident 2022 near Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
Officer of the Watch, Sub Lieutenant Will Payne receives a radio message during Exercise Trident 2022 near Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
Singapore Armed Forces soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Guards await the arrival of a Republic of Singapore Air Force CH-47F helicopter on HMAS Adelaide during Exercise Trident 2022 near Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.
In his presentation to the Williams Foundation seminar held on September 28, 2022, the head of Force Design in the Australian Department of Defence, MAJGEN Anthony Rawlins, addressed directly the question of how the ADF could realistically and effectively ramp up its capabilities in the mid-term. This is how he put it: “Has the hardening of expensive, exquisite, arguably irreplaceable platforms now reached its logical zenith? This is manifest in the arguments for the cheap or the expendable as a supplement or potentially a replacement for expensive crewed platforms going forward.
“Defence is not just investing in exponential developments in autonomy, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, etc, etc as an R and D line of effort. But defence is doing so with a view to fielding capability in the immediate short term. And it hardly meets the definition of survivability to be investing in platforms and capabilities that are designed to be expendable.”
And at the Williams Foundation seminar on Next Generation Autonomous Systems, April 8, 2021, Professor Jason Scholz, CEO of the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperation Centre, put the challenge and opportunity for the ADF along similar lines. Here is what he emphasized during his presentation to the seminar: “Autonomous systems for air, land, sea, space, cyber, electromagnetic, and information environments offers huge potential to enhance Australia’s critical and scarce manned platforms and soldiers, and realizing this now and into the future requires leadership in defense, in industry, in science and technology and academia with an ambition and an appetite for risk in effecting high-impact and disruptive change.”
Scholz sees autonomous systems as providing mass to the distributed force. This is what he noted in my interview with him conducted after his seminar presentation: “Humans express mission command goals to machines, machines express to the operator what actions they can take to achieve that, and a contract agreement is formed. Within the commander’s intent, machines then subcontract to other machines and so on, dynamically adapting as the battle evolves to build that Mosaic.” In both his presentation and our discussion, he highlighted a capability on which they are working now that can provide for sensors and communications capabilities to support the force which complements manned assets to provide for
In both his presentation and our discussion, he highlighted a capability on which they are working now that can provide for sensors and communications capabilities to support the force which complements manned assets to provide for Information, Reconnaissance, and Intelligence. In other words, autonomous systems can provide for sensor networks, which can be part of the effort to leverage information systems to deliver more timely and effective decisions.
The ADF is already undergoing a transition to shape a distributed integrated force. Next Generation Autonomous Systems can provide a further set of capabilities for a more effective, dense, survivable, and capable ADF as it builds out for operations in the Indo-Pacific region and enhances its defense of the Australian continent.
How software-driven payload to mission systems can accelerate ADF capabilities in the near to mid-term was already highlighted in the work conducted earlier by the Plan Jericho team in their focus on the importance of being able to gain transient software advantage in conflict with adversaries. Where we are headed is in a direction which could yield significant operational advantages whereby code re-writing is driven by operations and operations by training, and training driving development and looping back again into operations.
The graphic below was generated by the Plan Jericho team early in their efforts and captures what transient software advantage means, and is a key capability which can be delivered by the systems which the head of force design suggests are critical to ramping up ADF capabilities in the near to mid-term.
I had a chance to discuss the way ahead with regard to autonomous systems built around rapid software development delivering payloads to missions with the head of Anduril Asia Pacific during my September 2022 visit to Australia.
David Goodrich OAM is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Anduril Asia Pacific. Before Anduril, David advised the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and other Australian and State government entities on dozens of major weapons system acquisition, sustainment and infrastructure contracts (his biography can be viewed at the end of this article along with three elements of the current Anduril approach in defence systems).
(his biography can be viewed at the end of this article along with three elements of the current Anduril approach in defence systems).
Anduril came to my attention after my meeting with the head of the Royal Australian Navy’s autonomous systems programs, Commodore Darron Kavanagh. In that interview, Kavanagh underscored the following: “As soon as I say I’ve got requirements for a combat system, I immediately go into a classical system engineering approach. But that approach doesn’t actually allow for the agility necessary rapidly to change that combat system.
“If I look at classical primes, they are often hardware first companies, software second. And there’s a lot of legacy in the design.
“One of the things we’ve been looking at is how would you take a software first approach to accelerate our maritime autonomous systems capabilities. This is one of the reasons that the sovereign industry players that we’ve selected recently to work with in the autonomous systems areas are software driven in their development rather than platform focused.”
Specifically, Kavanagh and I discussed the partnership between Anduril, Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) and the Royal Australian Navy to build extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles. This is how an article by Edwina Callus published by the Australian Department of Defence published on June 1, 2022 described the partnership:
Defence has partnered with global tech company Anduril to design and develop extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles (XLAUVs).
Under the co-funded arrangement, Defence scientists, Navy personnel and Anduril robotics specialists will produce three prototype XLAUVs over three years, delivering a manufacture-ready vehicle at the end of 2025.
XLAUVs are typically between 10 and 30 metres long and have the capacity to carry various military payloads over long distances.
In addition, a large diameter autonomous undersea vehicle will be delivered to Australia as a testbed vehicle to enable experimentation, testing and validation to commence from the first quarter of next year.
It is expected that extensive industry engagement and ongoing initiatives to broaden Australia’s uncrewed undersea vehicle industry will ensure Australia is at the forefront of robotic autonomous systems.
Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro said the collaboration was significant, not only for the critical capability it would deliver to Defence, but because it demonstrated how innovative new technology could, should, and would be fast-tracked and streamlined to keep pace with a rapidly changing strategic environment.
“We have long recognised in Defence that we need to transition innovative concepts into capability more quickly. That urgency to deliver impact is what shapes our Defence innovation programs, and is the driving force behind More, Together, our 10-year Defence science and technology strategy,” Professor Monro said.
“Our new approach to innovation is all about focus, scale and impact.
“By partnering shoulder to shoulder with our industry and Navy colleagues to co-develop this critical capability, that is exactly what we’ll achieve.”
The ambitious XLAUV development program will establish the foundations of an Australian sovereign XLAUV capability while strengthening Defence’s understanding of the technology associated with operating these platforms.
The project is partly funded by Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund.
“This is a great example of our innovation system in action and exactly the sort of activity that the Next Generation Technologies Fund was designed to enable,’ Professor Monro said.
Head Navy Capability Rear Admiral Peter Quinn said the program would focus on the capability first, and use technology to find solutions to problems.
“We will build a little, test a little and learn a lot,” Rear Admiral Quinn said.
For Anduril Australia, the XLAUV program is the first of many significant investments in Australian industrial capabilities designed to deliver disruptive autonomous capabilities to the ADF and allies.
Executive chairman and CEO of Anduril Australia, David Goodrich, said that through this important partnership, Anduril Australia would become a major player in the thriving defence industrial base in Australia and contribute to Australia becoming a leading exporter of cutting-edge autonomous defence capability to the rest of the world.
The XLAUV program is directly aligned with Defence’s strategic research activity, the Remote Undersea Surveillance STaR Shot, a mission-directed research program aimed at securing Australia’s maritime interests through the provision of persistent and responsive undersea domain awareness.
They have the potential to provide the ADF with an important, stealthy, multi-role, undersea capability, complementing and enhancing the agility and potency of the Navy’s current submarine and surface combatant force in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
What does it mean to be a software first defence company?
Anduril was created by its founder, Palmer Luckey, as a software driven defence company. This is not surprising as Luckey made his fortune by inventing and then commercialising a new generation of virtual reality headset goggles called the Oculus Rift. Software development was at the heart of his ability to shape a new generation of low-cost virtual reality headset googles that then generated rapid growth in the gaming market and in adjacent markets where virtual reality has become a driver for innovation and change.
After he sold his Oculus company to Facebook (now Meta) for several billion dollars, Luckey focused on building a new type of defense company, one driven by software development and the ability to integrate sensor data into the kinds of common operating pictures crucial to the decision superiority which our militaries have set as a key goal for combat dominance. As Goodrich highlighted about Luckey: “he’s always been innovation-driven and had a software first mentality.”
After selling his Oculus company, Luckey focused on the national security market as he felt it was ripe for a new approach and one driven by a software first mentality. This is how Goodrich put it: “Palmer wanted to invest into something associated with national security because he was passionate about it. He looked at all of the defense primes and couldn’t see them adopting a software first mentality or acting at consumer product speed. He didn’t want to put his money into a company that adopted yesterday’s kind of defence industrial approach as he knew this wouldn’t win the next war.
“So he decided that the only way he was going to have an impact on national security in the way that he wanted to was to pull together a group of like-minded individuals and start a company which was a software-first security and defence company. That company is Anduril.”
Goodrich with Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril.
Goodrich then laid out the path followed by Anduril – which has now led to the partnership with the Commonwealth to build XLAUVs. “The founders of Anduril initially saw an opportunity to disrupt and innovate in the border security area in the United States. They worked hard and came up with a software driven technological solution using artificial intelligence, edge computing, and computer vision to create a capability to scan vast areas of the southern border region in the US and be able to automatically categorize via artificial intelligence what was being scanned to precisely identify where an event or item of interest was unfolding and then relay that information on “one pane of glass” using Anduril’s custom operating system called Lattice.
“LatticeOS is a bespoke operating system which fuses together a limitless number of sensors to filter out the important information from the unimportant information and then display that information on one screen which we refer to as a single pane of glass.
“And everything Anduril has done since this time has utilized the same Lattice software platform. Lattice is what really makes Anduril different. We are a first and foremost a defence software company with approximately two thirds of our almost 1,400 people software engineers and only one third hardware engineers. What we’re about is using machine learning, autonomy, edge computing, computer vision and artificial intelligence to continuously update and evolve our Lattice operating system.
“We operate in an open-architecture environment where we have actually integrated more third-party sensors into our Lattice operating system than Anduril sensors. Data from a diversity of sensors can be integrated seamlessly into Lattice and be displayed and filtered and utilized to give the war fighter data that they need to make better strategic decisions.
“From the very beginning, our company has been engineered to be different from a what a legacy defence prime contractor looks like today. We look more like Google, or Amazon or SpaceX or Atlassian than a defence prime contractor like a Lockheed Martin or a Raytheon or a Boeing or a Northrop Grumman.”
And the approach to an ongoing focus on writing code and reshaping the software resident in platforms is driven by working with the combat forces, to know what they need and what they would like to see evolved. Driven by ongoing combat demands, a software driven defence approach can provide for the kind of agile software advantage highlighted by the Plan Jericho team.
This is how Goodrich describes Anduril’s working approach with the warfighters. “We partner with the people who are on the front line and understand the threats. 20% of our employees are veterans who understand the key issues facing the warfighters, having lived that role for most of their careers.
“However we have a mantra in the company that says, “we always take very seriously our defense customer’s understanding of the critical problems they are confronted with every day, however they don’t always have a solid understanding of the range of potential solutions to these problems.”
“Our defense customers don’t have the necessary range of people possessing the range of tech experience or the breadth of knowledge required to understand what the best possible solution is”. To adopt their thinking towards the best, most creative solution is ultimately not in the service of the agile game-changing outcome they deserve and are looking for. This is where Anduril comes in.”
What does software transient advantage mean for the evolution of combat capabilities?
We then discussed Anduril’s engagement in Ukraine. I will not provide excessive details here for obvious reasons, but I will describe the process. Anduril has a UAV called the Ghost.
This is how Anduril describes the Ghost:
“With real-time intelligence, surveillance and multi-mission reconnaissance capabilities, up to 55 minutes of continuous flight and with near-silent acoustics, Ghost is mission ready.”
It is powered by the Lattice Operating System. “Lattice brings indispensable aviation capability without increasing complexity and cognitive load for operators. And it enables point and click mission planning. “Plan missions, flight operations, task sensors and navigate all with the click of a button, enabling safe and effective flight with minimal instruction and training.”
It is an expeditionary system. “Ghost is a man-portable system that can be assembled and readied for flight by a single operator in less than 3 minutes. Ghost is waterproof, weatherproof, and multi-mission capable.”
It is a VTOL system. “Ghost’s single-rotor design enables vertical takeoff and precise landing in confined spaces.”
With a kill web concept of operations, the focus is upon the payload to mission and not the platform as the core focus. “Ghost is designed for easy payload integration and field maintenance. Networked payload bays and quick-release gimbal allow quick module change in the field and safe handling of sensitive components.”
Anduril on their web page provides quotes from users which highlight what Ghost is all about. For example, a UK Royal Marines, 40 Commando is quoted as saying: “What’s different with Ghost is that it’s built for soldiering purposes. It’s always searching, it’s constantly looking. This isn’t just a drone with a camera, it’s AI.”
With the Lattice Operating System at the core of the Ghost mission system, what does rapid software insertion then mean?
According to Goodrich: “We’ve evolved five versions of the Ghost product in five years. We’ve created four versions of the Sentry towers in five years. We are iterating across the entire software stack and product suite to evolve and reshape the capabilities of Ghost, as a platform reflecting the software innovation and hardware capability.”
He then focused on an ADF example. “We have sold Ghost to the Australian special operations command (SOCOMD). And we’re working with this leading customer to rapidly adapt their Ghosts to better meet their evolving CONOPs. The SOCOMD team saw opportunities to tailor the user interface (UI) to be more aligned to their particular use. In response to the customer feedback, we re-engineered the user interface in less than eight weeks. We are about to deploy with them again with the new UI that is exactly what they wanted. It is this kind of rapid turn that we’re able to deliver into an ADF environment.
“Although this kind of approach is not appropriate for every kind of cornerstone defence platform, the obvious need to increase the number of autonomous systems that are partnering with and leveraging the power of our exquisite and extremely expensive systems, to defend our peace and prosperity, and if called upon to win the next war, means that the agility modelled by Anduril needs to become business-as-usual.”
How then did Anduril build the platform which hosts the software?
As Goodrich highlighted: “We don’t vertically integrate for vertical integration’s sake. We’d much prefer to horizontally integrate. Take the case of the Ghost UAV.
“A UAV is not a new or novel concept. We tried initially buy one. That’s what we tried to do, however what was on the shelf couldn’t do what we needed it to do. Nothing met the concept of operations we knew our customers needed.
Now to Ukraine. It is public knowledge that the Anduril has been supporting the Ukraine response. And without disclosing too many details, it is fair to say that our technology has been very effective. We have done live rewrites of the software code to respond to Russian counter-measures in real time. Continuous software updates essentially refreshes our transient advantage on the battle-field. Rapid iteration is the signature of a software first defence prime of the future.
As Goodrich underscored: “whilst it’s absolutely devastating to see what’s going on in the Ukraine at the moment, it does enable the West to understand the speed and agility that is needed to be able to operate if we are going to win and close the kill web.”
Looking Ahead to the XL-AUV
We then discussed the XL-AUV. Obviously, the model for shaping the capability will follow in many ways, the Ghost model as already described using the Lattice OS as the core operating system.
Goodrich explained the way ahead with the program as follows:
“We’re developing three prototypes in three years. Subject to these prototypes meeting the RAN’s capability need and we will be delivering a manufacturing plan to roll XLAUVs out at significant scale. The three prototypes themselves will be rapidly evolving over the contact period using the principle of build a bit, test a bit, learn a lot, then repeat. The team will be constantly be upgrading the subsystems, however the platform itself is going to be mature and reliable.
“With regard to power systems, our focus is upon duration. Our endurance will be significant. We are building with the goal of the platform being able to operate for weeks if not months before it needs a recharge or a refuel. They will be able to go to sleep on the ocean floor for long periods.
“Subject to government approval, we will be able to manufacture the XLAUVs at scale in a few years’ time. And what does it scale mean? We could be talking 20, 50, 100 boats, meaning that the opportunity and challenge for the RAN will be to shape a concept of operations as to how to deploy this incredibly disruptive and powerful capability.”
He concluded: “I am proud to lead such an incredibly talented and driven team here in Australia. Anduril has turned the traditional defence industry on its head at a time when it is needed. Working with the innovation leaders in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and DSTG is a great privilege for all of us at Anduril Australia – the excitement and energy in our office every day is makes it an amazing place to work. It has been a great step for me personally after a decade of commercial advisory work the Department of Defence.”
After the Williams Foundation Seminar held on September 28, 2022, I had a chance to discuss some of the takeaways with regard to the way ahead for Australian defence with my colleague Air Vice-Marshal (Retired) John Blackburn.
We started by focusing on how in reshaping the ADF and the defence ecosystem in Australia to deal with the direct threats to Australia posed in the Indo-Pacific, a much broader focus is required than simply on the ADF and its role as a professional force.
Blackburn underscored that “our defence force is professional and capable but it is small. And it relies on a civilian infrastructure which is fairly limited as well.
“When we focus on ways to ramp up the capabilities of the force, this will not come with simply buying shiny new platforms. As we re-design and reshape the force with increased numbers of personnel, training is a key part of the effort.
“And to manage disruptions as we look in the near to mid-term to add new force enablers, such as robotic systems, is a challenge to be dealt with as well. We need to be able to fight in the near term which means that we cannot simply just reorganise the force to the point of reducing operational capabilities.”
Another key aspect of the focus of attention is upon how to enhance the resilience of Australian society in support of the direct defence of Australia. This requires as well building an enhanced industrial base in Australia and shape mobilization potential to deal with crises.
But how does one build or participate in a wider allied “arsenal of democracy,” when the Western economies are service-oriented and with the challenges to re-industrialization posed by the geopolitical crisis associated with energy production and oft stated goal of dealing with a “climate emergency”?
As Blackburn noted: “When we mobilized in World War 2, we were part of a wider American-led effort to shape an arsenal of democracy. Now we are a services and mineral extraction economy so how do we now build relevant industrial capabilities to support mobilization?”
We then discussed the impact of globalization in obscuring the dependencies the liberal democracies have built with their authoritarian competitors. Clearly, what is needed is an effort to understand and shape reliable and secure supply chains.
This means that governments and the society actually have to understand the security implications of globalized economic actions and how to manage them and with whom. This also means sorting through who specific partners are in specific and discrete supply chain areas of interest and that can be trusted. This could be done in part by government actually building data bases that can support such an effort, and with all the hype about artificial intelligence, perhaps these data bases could provide dynamic input into reliable supply chain decision making approaches and policies.
Blackburn has focused for some time in his work on ways to shape understanding and policies to deal with the resilience challenge associated with fragile supply chains. “We need to target specific areas in terms of key supplies. As a country of 26 million people, we are not going to be sovereign in terms of ownership of a complete capability to defend ourselves. This means that we need to lead an effort with allies to understand what critical supplies we will need and how we are going to build ways to ensure trade flows in times of crisis.”
What is required in the shift to the priority in the direct defence of Australia is a degree of honesty about alliances, partnerships, and vulnerabilities in terms of mobilization potential for Australia on its own. Australia cannot only depend on an ally to show up and protect its interests. It cannot assume that it can engage in extended defence with the existing level of defence supplies or mobilizable in the near term.
How then to shape a more realistic discussion and policy in terms of how Australia can defend itself albeit within an alliance context?
As Blackburn forcefully emphasized: “the very starting point for what we need to do is being really honest about what the situation for Australian defence is and what we can and can’t do when crises come. As a nation, we are not facing that reality. We are not being brutally honest about our risks and vulnerabilities when facing a complex threat posed by the various dimensions of power which China possess and exercises. Business as usual is no longer acceptable. Spending more money on defence systems alone is not going to solve the problems in and of themselves.
“The scale of the potential threats requires a change in the national approach and generating change as well within our broader relationships with allies and partners. The way ahead for defence is not simply to discuss platforms or equipment. It is about how to change the national ecosystem for national resilience and mobilization potential across our alliances and partnerships.”
Looking at the current situation in Ukraine, Blackburn posed this question: “One of the questions we had to look at is how do we think the Australian population would respond to a large-scale mobilisation? One of Australia’s challenges is that we have a complacent culture and the world we have entered does not prioritize complacency.
“What we need to be able to do is not only to project power in our region, but to do so with as much resilient strategic depth as we can muster with an alliance effort where we have allies who are on the same page.”
