The following is Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson’s new long-range guidance for the U.S. Navy: A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority 2.0.
From the Document
The United States Navy will be ready to conduct prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea. Our Navy will protect America from attack, promote American prosperity, and preserve America’s strategic influence. U.S. naval operations—from the seafloor to space, from the blue water to the littorals, and in the information domain—will deter aggression and enable resolution of crises on terms acceptable to the United States and our allies and partners. If deterrence fails, the Navy will conduct decisive combat operations to defeat any enemy.
Why Design 2.0? What’s Changed?
A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority, Version 1.0, released in January 2016 (Design 1.0), was explicitly intended to be assessed and, if necessary, revised to stay relevant.
This update reflects the first reevaluation. There were three reasons we undertook this assessment. The first reason was to ensure our plans were aligned with updated strategic guidance. President Trump issued a new National Security Strategy (NSS) in December 2017, and Secretary of Defense Mattis issued a supporting National Defense Strategy (NDS) in January 2018. A new National Military Strategy (NMS) will follow. These documents orient national security objectives more firmly toward great power competition. While Design 1.0 highlighted that competition, these new strategies demand that we reevaluate our current heading to ensure it maximizes the Navy’s contribution to the objectives they set forth. The second factor driving our assessment was to account for progress that has been made since Design 1.0 was issued. We have accomplished many of the tasks it articulated, and have advanced many more—it’s now time to define what comes next.
The third motivation was to validate Design 1.0’s characterization of the strategic environment, to check our assumptions.”
Design 2.0 reflects the results of this assessment. Overall, the structure of Design 1.0 proved sound: the characterization of the security environment, the Core Attributes, and the Lines of Effort (LOEs) remain valid and relevant. Readers should recognize the new version as a continuation of Design 1.0; a major course change was not required.
There are, however, some adjustments. Design 2.0 provides updated operational guidance to link strategy with execution. The “Achieve High Velocity Learning” Green LOE has been tightened, focusing on outcomes rather than processes. The tasks supporting all of the LOEs have been updated to establish new and ambitious goals that will spur us to accelerate our progress. This is an all-hands effort. Like Design 1.0, Design 2.0 establishes the framework to guide our behaviors and investments this year and in the years to come. More specific details about programs and funding adjustments will be reflected in our annual budget documents.
Download the document here.
