The Evolving Future for Naval Aviation By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Second Line of Defense November 2014 http://www.sldinfo.com h The Evolving Future of Naval Aviation 1 Table of Contents LESSONS LEARNED AT FALLON: THE USN TRAINS FOR FORWARD LEANING STRIKE INTEGRATION .......................................................................................................................... 2 REAR ADMIRAL MANAZIR, DIRECTOR OF AIR WARFARE (OPNAV N98) ..................................... 7 THE ROLE OF LIVE VIRTUAL TRAINING ................................................................................................. 8 THE IMPACT OF 5TH GEN ON FIGHTING IN THE EXPANDED BATTLESPACE .................................................. 12 RE-THINKING THE SEA BASE ............................................................................................................ 13 THE CARRIER AND JOINT AND COALITION OPERATIONS: SHAPING INVESTMENTS FOR THE FUTURE ............... 14 VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM MORAN, DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, (N1), FORMER DIRECTOR OF AIR WARFARE (OPNAV N98) ............................................................................. 15 THE TRANSITION ............................................................................................................................ 15 SHAPING INNOVATION .................................................................................................................... 16 THE COMING OF THE F-35 .............................................................................................................. 17 THE FUTURE OF UAVS .................................................................................................................... 17 THE COMING OF THE USS FORD ....................................................................................................... 18 REAR ADMIRAL SCOTT CONN, COMMANDER, NAVAL STRIKE AND AIR WARFARE CENTER ..... 20 LEARNING LESSONS FROM COMBAT CHALLENGES ................................................................................ 20 TRAINING TO FIGHT IN THE EXTENDED BATTLESPACE: THE ENHANCED ROLE OF VIRTUAL TRAINING ............. 21 ANTICIPATING AND DEALING WITH THE THREAT ENVIRONMENT ............................................................ 22 TRAINING INCLUDES SUPPORTING DEPLOYED CARRIER WINGS .............................................................. 22 TRAINING IS THE CRUCIAL GLUE ....................................................................................................... 23 WHY FALLON? .............................................................................................................................. 24 TRAINING FOR THE JOINT ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................... 24 OPERATING IN AN EXPANDED BATTLESPACE ....................................................................................... 25 KEY OBJECTIVE MOVING FORWARD .................................................................................................. 26 VISITING FALLON NAVAL AIR STATION: INTERVIEWS WITH THE NAVAL STRIKE AND AIR WARFARE CENTER ................................................................................................................. 27 STRIKE INTEGRATION AT FALLON: PREPARING FOR TODAY AND POSITIONING FOR THE FUTURE ................... 27 CAPT (S) Kevin “Proton” McLaughlin: Outgoing STRIKE CO ................................................... 27 CDR James “Cruiser” Christie: Incoming STRIKE CO ............................................................... 30 THE USN COMBAT LEARNING CYCLE: PREPARE AN AIR WING FOR DEPLOYMENT WHILE SUPPORTING ONE DEPLOYED .................................................................................................................................... 35 TRAINING FOR 21ST CENTURY OPERATIONS: SHAPING EFFECTIVE SEA-BASED COMBAT OPERATIONS ........... 40 TRAINING FOR FORWARD LEANING INTEGRATION ................................................................................ 43 THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING FOR COMBAT PROFICIENCY .................................................................. 45 THE ROTORCRAFT, THE CARRIER AND TRAINING FOR STRIKE INTEGRATION .............................................. 47 TRAINING FOR ELECTRONIC WARFARE: SHAPING A COMBINED ARMS APPROACH ..................................... 52 Second Line of Defense The Evolving Future of Naval Aviation 2 Lessons Learned At Fallon: The USN Trains for Forward Leaning Strike Integration The USN both in its carriers and its amphibious fleet provides a significant expeditionary capability. The USMC-USN team has been reshaping amphibious assault forces under the influence of the Osprey, the coming of the F-35B, the addition of new ships such as the T-AKE and USNS Montford Point, the USS Arlington, and the USS America. Less visible have been the coming of the USS Ford and the reworking of the strike fleet. The USS Ford is less about operating as a traditional carrier than as a key C2 and strike enabler for an entire sea-base force, surface, subsurface, joint and coalition. As Admiral Moran, then the head of Naval Warfare in the Pentagon noted in an interview which we did with him in 2013: The Ford will be very flexible and can suPPort force concentration or distribution. And it can operate as a flagship for a distributed force as well and tailored to the mission set. When combined with the Potential of the F-35, Ford will be able to handle information and communications at a level much greater than the Nimitz class carriers. PeoPle will be able to share information across nations, and this is crucial. We call it maritime domain awareness, but now you’ve included the air space that’s part of that maritime domain. To get an update on how the USN aviation leadership is preparing for the coming of the F-35 and other new strike assets as well as for the USS Ford pairing with these strike assets, we have travelled to Fallon Naval Air Station to understand how the USN trains for forward leaning strike integration. And we followed up that visit with a discussion with the current head of Naval Air Warfare, Rear Admiral Manazir. The two visits function as two parts of the same puzzle: • How is the Navy preparing for current strike integration as it anticipates the future? • And how is the Navy shaping concepts of operations for the future and providing that approach to those who are preparing strike integration? Fallon Naval Air Station is in the desert of Nevada. It is where the Navy trains for the advanced tactics for core air platforms but most importantly shapes its integration of the air wing prior to going to sea for final preparation for combat. Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) is known in the Navy as “strike university.” Strike U was set up to deal with combat failures of naval aviation, and to shape better tactics, training and concepts of operations to prevail going forward. As the head of NSAWC, Admiral Scott Conn, told us: “The mission we have here started with TOPGUN, 45 years ago. TOPGUN was founded out of failures in combat during the Vietnam War. Second Line of Defense The Evolving Future of Naval Aviation 3 TOPGUN training led to measurable improvements in Air-to-Air kill ratios. Through the years, other communities have mirrored the TOPGUN model including the EA-18G HAVOC course, the E-2 CAEWWS course, and the H- 60S/R SEAWOLF course. These courses target advanced training at the individual level. Additionally, as a result of failures in combat in Lebanon, STRIKE University, now call simply Strike, was stood up in 1984 to target training at the integrated warfighting level. We have learned a lot of lessons at Fallon and we have Photo of Part of the Air Wing at had a lot of time to shape an effective combat learning Fallon. Credit: Second Line of Defense environment. Bottom line: My job here is to prepare our forward deployed air wings to fight and win in a wide variety of missions across the globe.” The first lesson learned from a visit to Fallon is how the Navy is doing strike integration as part of the deployed fleet. That is, it is not a process of integration focused on the past, but it is part of support for the currently deployed air wings. Training encompasses not simply preparation for integration; but “consulting services” to the deployed fleet. As Captain Kevin “Proton” McLaughlin: Outgoing STRIKE CO put it: “We support the Combatant Commanders as well as prepare strike integration ashore so to speak. For example, we have had daily contact with the USS BUSH via email, phone calls and VTCs. This is an aspect of connectivity, which folds nicely into reshaping the impact and meaning of the training function.” Admiral Conn provided us with a concrete example of the approach: “An historical example of how NSAWC provided reach back support to the forward deployed warfighter was in the early stages of Afghanistan operations. Ground commanders needed aircraft to strafe at night. To do this strafing mission at night, aircrew needed to put an airplane below mountaintops, perhaps in a valley, provide bullets precisely and then pull off target, and not fly into the terrain. When NSAWC got this request, in a matter of weeks because it wasn’t overnight, a couple weeks, we came up with the tactics, techniques, and procedures for the fleet to execute that mission. We then folded those Training, Tactics and Procedures (TTPs) into our training for follow on deployers. And the connectivity we have with the fleet through modern