The Navy must be willing to accept risk from new systems and technology to avoid getting caught flat-footed like the Russians did in the Black Sea, a panel of experts on disruptive capabilities said Wednesday.
“Speed matters,” said Michael Stewart, executive director of the Navy’s newly-created Disruptive Capabilities Office. The DCO focuses on near-term problems like the Kremlin faced with the Ukrainians’ successful use of unmanned surface vessels.
“How to complement [formations like carrier strike groups] with disruptive technology” to keep an adversary off-balance,” he said speaking at the Defense News conference.
The Russians failed to do this and lost roughly one-third of its Black Sea fleet to Kyiv’s armed unmanned surface systems and missiles.
“What worked since 1945 is not necessarily going to work now,” Stewart added.
Stewart, who led the Navy’s Unmanned Task Force, said in going to fleet commanders his office is asking what problems they need to solve.
“We are being disruptive, bringing technologies out” to the fleet, Capt. Colin Corridan, who recently left command of Task Force 59, said the task force is a test bed in integrating unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations in the 5th Fleet area of operations.
Now in Stewart’s office, he added, “I was seeing software changes in hours, hardware changes in days” because at its Bahrain headquarters industry was side-by-side with Navy operators.
“Software change can occur within 18 to 19 months” for complex systems like aircraft, Dorothy Englehardt, director of unmanned systems DASN Ships. But the Navy’s culture is used to operating with platforms used for 30 years.
Thinking like a venture capitalist about where to put resources by taking risk, vetting quickly, accepting failure and moving on is a direction the Navy should follow, Stewart added“It’s about cycle time,” comparing it to the TV show “Shark Tank.”
That includes bringing in non-traditional industry partners with new ideas to meet requirements and offer new solutions to problems now and future threats.
When he took over Task Force 59 as its second commander, Corridan said he told himself “I’m going to take this start-up to the warehouse.” He added later, “we’re going after a no-kidding problem,” maritime domain awareness from eyes in the sky to persistent presence on the water’s surface, to show what can be done“We call it the Battle Lab” approach.
“Two years, three years ago, I’d say AI is important,” but not explain why, Stewart said. “Task Force 59 shows us the reality of AI,” including its limits.
Englehardt added AI adapts “at the speed of now” and enhances efficiencies from targeting to distribution.
Looking into the future, Corridan saw data being used not only proactively but predicatively by commanders.
“The application of autonomy [for Navy’s systems] is vast” for warfighters, Englehardt said.
“A lot of discourse has to take place” so “in the end the government owns the interface” of these new technologies with its systems, Englehardt said The government is not trying to control private firms’ intellectual property rights; but “if I have only company” to deal with for upgrades or different applications, “I’m in a tough spot.”
That’s the reasoning behind calls for “open architecture,” standards that can interface with other firms’ software. She added intellectual property rights “are the secret sauce” that makes companies profitable.
