Mr. Bob Shevock, Executive Director, Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, started by stating that putting sensors on new ships that have already been put on existing ships increases commonality and technological maturity and cuts down on technological risks, costs, and a repeat of what happened with the highly complex and over budget Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and the stealthy Zumwalt-class destroyers. By using the same sensor technology, the U.S. Navy can scale it up or down depending on the size and cost of the ship. It is cutting edge technology, Mr. Shevock said, but it is also common parts and common technology. Thus, the Integrated Combat System (ICS) is taking the best of the sensor technology and incorporating it into other ships to have a common sensor and combat system and therefore ICS adds agility. Mr. Shevock said that the ICS interface will look the same across the U.S. Navy’s ships similar to iPhone apps that look the same across different iPhones.
Mr. Shevock addressed a question on if enemy hypersonic missiles will require the use of ship railguns, lasers, and Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS) for defense. Mr. Shevock said not really for railguns, but missiles and lasers (lasers as they mature) will be required for anti-hypersonic missile ship defense, and the U.S. Navy needs to rely on ship sensors and overhead sensors (i.e.: satellites) to provide advance warning to these multitude of weapons (hence the benefits of the Integrated Combat System).
The panel responded to a question on what role Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have in the U.S. Navy. Rear Admiral Casey Moton, USN, replied, “We are not the AI PEO, but it applies to some specific things that we are doing. We have to be careful not to overcontrol it [AI]. I think it is going to permeate throughout the force and it’s going to be a game changer in everything. We have to be careful to find that balance and not control it too much and be careful with ethics and bias.” RDML Moton cited that AI can tie into the design of the systems and Mr. Tom Rivers agreed, alluding that AI can help in ships and ship design such as additive manufacturing. Mr. Bob Shevock mentioned that AI is good for Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) because BMD with AI happens so fast and utilizes multiple sensors. When there are multiple missiles in the air, the Navy wants the allied ships to talk to each other (with AI such as the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC)). “There is a lot of bang-for-the-buck where we can get that integration.” And that is just one ship [so when you have multiple ships, it is a force multiplier]. AI can do things Humans can’t, noted Shevock. VADM William Galinis noted that AI can help with ship design and get more predictive analysis and Fleet sustainment metrics and availability.
The U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Discusses Past Summer Encounters and the Future Force
Rear Admiral (RDML) Chad Jacoby, USCG, Director of Acquisition Programs and Program Executive Officersaid that the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC)Polar Star, America’s only heavy Polar-class icebreaker is 46 years old in January 2022, so getting the new Polar Security Cutter (PSC) class designed, scheduled, managed, and built correctly is important.
“We’re building our tenth and eleventh National Security Cutter. We’re building our 47th through 64th Fast Response Cutter; our first three Offshore Patrol Cutters, and we’re designing a fleet of Polar Security Cutters at about 23,000 tons, [an] ice-capable vessel, and then contracting for waterways commerce cutters for inland operations. We work closely with the [U.S.] Navy on these acquisitions so that means this updated [USCG] fleet is going to carry 49 common systems across Coast Guard assets and Navy assets like gun weapons systems, communication systems, [and] sensors.”
—Rear Admiral Chad Jacoby, USCG, Director of Acquisition Programs and Program Executive Officer