Large Scale Exercise 2023 Was Custom Built to Push Fleet to the Limit, Say Planners

Airman Steven Wilcoxson, from Visalia, California, pulls a refueling hose aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 2023. U.S. Navy Photo

ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER – Fresh from a training exercise off the coast of Virginia, the Navy’s second oldest carrier is getting minor repairs while moored at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. But just below the flight deck of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the staff of...

https://news.usni.org/2023/08/16/large-scale-exercise-2023-was-custom-built-to-push-fleet-to-the-limit-say-planners

25,000 Sailors, Marines to Prepare for Global Conflict in Large Scale Exercise 2023

Operations Specialist 2nd Class Jeffery Barton, from San Diego, updates a status in the combat information center (CIC) onboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) on June 30, 2023. US Navy Photo

The Navy and Marines are taking a second crack at an exercise that will simulate a massive global conflict and connect the actions from a single sailor at a radar console up through the decisions made by the Secretary of Defense, service officials announced on Monday.

Larg...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/24/25000-sailors-marines-to-prepare-for-global-conflict-in-large-scale-exercise-2023

Navy’s Force Design 2045 Plans for 373 Ship Fleet, 150 Unmanned Vessels

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) sails alongside amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA-7) during a photo exercise for Valiant Shield 2022 on June 12, 2022. US Navy Photo

The latest plan to design a future force calls for a fleet of 373 manned ships, buttressed by about 150 unmanned surface and underwater vehicles by 2045, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s update to his Navigation Plan for the Navy.

“In the 2040s and beyond, we envision this hybrid fleet to require more...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/26/navys-force-design-2045-plans-for-373-ship-fleet-150-unmanned-vessels

Large Scale Exercise 2021 Tests How Navy, Marines Could Fight a Future Global Battle

Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Jaimez, left, and Fire Controlman 2nd Class Hector Wimmer control a close-in weapons system during a tracking-and-firing exercise aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on Aug. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo

ABOARD GUIDED MISSILE CRUISER USS SAN JACINTO – The Navy and Marine Corps have bet big that they have locked into a workable vision on how they’ll fight in the future, kicking off a massive exercise last week to prove their concepts.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/09/large-scale-exercise-2021-tests-how-navy-marines-could-fight-a-future-global-battle

INDO-PACOM Used Ground-based Aegis Combat System Prototype to Target Missile Threats, Surface Targets

Overview of Valiant Shield 2020 experiment that paired a ground-based Aegis combat system with Army units. Lockheed Martin Image

Last year, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command quietly packed the combat system from a guided-missile destroyer into about the size of a footlocker, took it ashore and hooked it up to an Army artillery unit, an Air Force command node and an F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter.

Last September, INDO-PACOM used the Virtualized Aegis Weapon System (VAWS) in an experiment to see if...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/29/indo-pacom-used-ground-based-aegis-combat-system-prototype-to-target-missile-threats-surface-targets

Navy to Experiment with Information Warfare Commanders Operating from Maritime Operations Centers

Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Alexander Hess, from Ft. Wayne, Ind., stands watch in the combat information center aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65). US Navy Photo

After seeing how effective it is for an information warfare commander to operate within a carrier strike group, the Navy will now experiment with placing an IWC in its Maritime Operations Centers.

Speaking at the virtual C4ISRNET conference on Wednesday, Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, the deputy chief...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/22/navy-to-experiment-with-information-warfare-commanders-operating-from-maritime-operations-centers

Report to Congress on Command and Control

The following is the April 8, 2021 Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Defense Primer: What Is Command and Control?

From the report

The Department of Defense (DOD) defines command and control (C2) as “[t]he exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned forces in the accomplishment of the mission.” At its most fundamental level, C2 represents how DOD makes operational decisions. One can view C2 through the context of five variables: who, what,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/13/report-to-congress-on-command-and-control

Navy Software Factory, The Forge, Wants to Reshape How Ships Get Upgraded

The Forge software factory was set up in Riverdale, Md. — just off the University of Maryland College Park campus — in March 2021 to begin using a rapid software development and testing approach to bring maintenance fixes and new capabilities to the fleet. USNI News photo.

RIVERDALE, Md. – The Navy’s potential enemies are quickly increasing the size and sophistication of their fleets, which means the Navy needs to move faster too in bringing in new capabilities.

The sea service envisions a new...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/12/navy-software-factory-the-forge-wants-to-reshape-how-ships-get-upgraded

Panel: Many U.S. Defense Spending Trends Based on What’s Happening in China, Russia

The launch of the Type 75 big-deck amphib in Shanghai. PLAN Photo

Questions about China’s defense spending, programs and systems – and the Pentagon’s response – dominated a Wednesday House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing on future U.S. defense spending trends.

Thomas Mahnken, chief executive officer of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told the subcommittee that, when it comes to Beijing’s current security spending, “the majority of their spending is actually on...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/26/panel-many-u-s-defense-spending-trends-based-on-whats-happening-in-china-russia

Navy’s ‘Project Overmatch’ Structure Aims to Accelerate Creating Naval Battle Network

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) steams in the Gulf of Oman at night on Sept. 8, 2020. Sterett is part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. US Navy photo.

As the Navy pursues a blueprint for its tactical data network to connect weapons and sensors across the battlefield, the service hopes the structure of its Project Overmatch initiative will help develop requirements for the new effort.

Speaking at a...