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CNO Sees Unmanned Systems Integrating Mine, Antisub Warfare

NAVSEA News Wire

May 16, 2003

By Steve Applegate, Coastal Systems Station Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Fla -- In today's dangerous world, America's 'asymmetric advantage' is the brilliance of our people and their ability to apply technology to rapidly changing situations and environments, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark told members of the Mine Warfare Association (MINWARA) here May 5.

"No navy on earth can go toe to toe with us" Clark said, speaking of current and future threats to set the tone of the four-day meeting of industry, Fleet operators and defense department leaders. "Their only recourse: asymmetric warfare, to deny us the operational independence of what our operational construct, Sea Power 21, is about."

"We must be able to take the sovereignty of the United States of America anywhere without a permission slip," Clark said, stressing the importance of continuing to improve the way the sea services find and deal with the mine threat. "We need operational independence."

"We have been talking about challenges for a long time," Clark said, referring to his appearance at the Panama City MINWARA conference in July 2001. "I'm gratified by the nature of the landscape; we are postured to capture victory in the asymmetric areas of mine warfare and antisubmarine warfare. We must create, expose and exploit the technology of unmanned vehicles to dominate the battlespace."

"We need to do everything we can to de-couple the hull of a ship from as many operational systems as we can," the CNO said, challenging the engineers and scientists from government and industry to develop new technology and approach problems in a new way.

"I'm a huge fan of Coastal Systems Station and what goes on in Panama City, and the ideas I've heard from some of our scientists here," Clark said. "If we can find mines with this new technology, we can find subs," the CNO said, stating that he sees increasing integration of the two warfare areas.

Clark gave high marks to the unmanned vehicles used in conflict in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and said that while the next war will be different, the principles we learned will still apply. But his most sincere compliments were saved for the operators.

"Aren't you proud of the way our young men and women got the job done?" Clark said, yielding to applause of the 250 attendees at the dinner. "It's gratifying to me to see young people have vision, and a firm grasp of the task at hand. They like it, and out there on the point, they are executing. It's been such a rewarding experience watching this unfold."

"These young people understand what it's all about-they have a sense of purpose. They want to be part of the solution."

The solution depends on being a rotational force in the future, Clark said, noting that the Navy was ready to send eight of twelve carriers, three-fourths of big deck amphibs, and was able to deploy 70 percent of the Navy's carrier air wings for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"We invested in people and combat readiness. It paid off," the CNO confirmed.

"The leadership of America has made the right decisions to create combat readiness," he continued. "Our task is to give the President of the United States options. We can't do that with stuff that takes six month to get into position."

Clark pointed out how this war demonstrated the importance of positioning and speed to attain near-land battlespace dominance. He said that the Littoral Combat Ship would be a key to attaining these elements in future conflicts. He offered that it will be modular, and will be a "truck" able to carry unmanned vehicles such as the Remote Minehunting System, originally developed at Coastal Systems Station.

The RMS, now officially designated the AN/WLD-1(V)1, is designed to meet the need for beyond line-of-sight mine reconnaissance against bottom and moored mines in deep and shallow water regions. WLD-1 will use a combination of sonar and optical sensors, and will be integral to forces deployed anywhere in the world. Earlier variants have been successfully tested during Fleet exercises battle experiments. Lockheed-Martin is under contract to produce the system, with the first delivery expected in late FY04.

"People like you (operators, scientists, industry) are going to bring technology to bear in record time," Clark said. "In this conference it's your task to figure out how to apply speed and agility to the acquisition process."

"I don't want to have another system that is 'Navy only,'" the admiral warned in closing. "We can't afford it, and our nation deserves a better deal than that. This group is vital to this journey."