Navy sees future combat power in information networks.

• Author: Harper, Jon

Concerned about the growing capabilities of potential adversaries, the Navy and Marine Corps see platform networking, automation and multimission payloads as ways to stay ahead of emerging threats. But more technology development and adoption will be required before the vision can be fully realized.

With a limited amount of platforms and dollars at their disposal, the sea services are looking to create "kill webs" --networks of sensors, data links and weapons that would give U.S. forces a more powerful punch, defense officials said at a recent industry conference hosted by the Navy League.

The Navy's aviation component is focused on the idea of "integrated warfare" to project power over and from the sea, said Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. "At the heart of this concept are the F-35, P-8 and other air assets that are critical nodes, which capture and disseminate information in an unprecedented manner, ultimately improving lethality across the battlespace."

Hopes for greater platform linkages are not limited to air assets. The Navy wants to throw ships and submarines into the mix.

"What if I start to draw lines between the sensors, the weapons and the shooters in those different domains?" said Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, the new deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems.

"If we can connect those nodes, now you have a resilient kill web that we can use to target different entities,... share data across advanced networks" and improve information quality, he said.

The Marine Corps also wants in on the action. The service aims to make "every one of our platforms a sensor, a sharer and a shooter," said Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for aviation.

Rear Adm. Jon Hill, program executive officer for integrated warfare systems, said the Navy is "sensor poor" right now but is looking for new capabilities in this area to foster better situational awareness across the battlespace.

The number of platforms in the inventory is less important than how well they are linked, Manazir said. "I don't as much care about, 'Buy me this many [joint strike fighters] or this many Super Hornets or this many littoral combat ships or this many DDG Flight IIs. It's what are we going to do to connect those platforms."

But networking technology components built by different manufacturers is no easy task.

"It is an engineering challenge to take a Boeing product in the front of an F-18 and align it with a Northrop Grumman product in the back of an E-2 so...