On Leadership "On Leadership” is a feature column in which Rotary Wing Flag Officers are able to submit articles on leadership topics of their choosing.
On Leadership - Force of the Future
By RDML Eric C. Ruttenberg, USN NAVWAR CHENG
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his year’s NHA Symposium focused on the Force of the Future. There is no better time than now to define what the future of the Aviation Enterprise needs to be, and how Future Vertical Lift (FVL) capabilities enable our Naval Forces to maintain our competitive advantage and win in a high-end fight. With the October 2021 release of SECNAV’s Strategic Guidance, our north star continues to be aligned with our TriService Maritime Strategy, the CNO’s Navigation Plan, and the CMC’s Planning Guidance. As VADM Ken Whitesell (CNAF) and VADM Jeff Hughes (OPNAV Force of the Future Panel at the NHA 2021 Symposium N7) stated, the rotary mission isn’t going away. In fact, FVL will continue to play a significant role in the shaping and utilization of our assets shape tactics to insure we maintain this superiority, while to maintain maritime superiority. Additionally, RDML denying the adversary of the same. Admiral Hayward wrote Max McCoy (NAWDC) has requested enduring support in the first edition of Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations that from the helicopter community in order to support further “tactical elements must fight as a cohesive team… and that development of the Air Wing’s expeditionary mission. the future will include land and space-based assets.”1 In the The Rotary Community has been the leading force behind Third Edition, Captain Wayne Hughes (Ret.) collaborated integrating unmanned capabilities and plays a critical role in with RADM Robert Girrier (Ret.) and other authors and in connecting sensors, shooters, and enabling Command and addressed how information and now decision superiority are Control (C2). The right mix of manned and unmanned will enabled when the naval networks connect ashore, afloat, and continue to evolve over the next several years as we evaluate disaggregated forces, increasing the rate of decision making capability, capacity, and affordability. The importance of while degrading the adversaries' ability to make decisions.2 In extending the field of view or scouting will remain critical to recent months, we have seen senior leaders across the DoD and understanding the adversary’s intentions as well as the location DON prioritize our “ability to sense, make sense, and act” as of their fleet of fishing vessels and AGIs as part of their an imperative to winning the fight in Strategic Competition. intelligence network collection. Future Manned-Unmanned Teaming will need to happen at scale and must focus on Limited resources across the Aviation Enterprise and the Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) scenarios where we are able to modernization of our Strategic Deterrent Force have made it couple and decouple controlled and autonomously controlled a challenge to modernize our Vertical Lift capability and keep unmanned systems (UxS). The use of MQ-8 Firescout and pace with the advancement of technology. Both commercial future unmanned vehicles will not only provide us important and Warfare Center focused technology are outpacing our indications and warnings, but will also extend the range ability to integrate new technology onto current platforms. of our offensive cyber capabilities in support of Carrier One element of the modernization is in our communication and Expeditionary Strike Groups conducting Distributed capabilities. Our ability to have resilient and redundant Maritime Operations. These capabilities will support the communications will depend on the success of Project appropriate tactics that will enable our ability to operate in Overmatch. Overmatch will provide the Fleet with the contested environments. ability to aggregate data, move data anywhere, and enable Fleet and Global Exercises have demonstrated that today’s fight begins with information superiority and that our cross-domain Warfare Tactics Instructors (WTI) must Rotor Review #154 Fall '21
data driven decisions regardless of the networks or bandwidth available. This system of system approach and highly reliable
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