Page 10 - Williams Foundation Air-Sea Integration Seminar

Shaping an Integrated Force in the Extended Battlespace

FIGURE 3 REAR ADMIRAL MANAZIR DURING HIS PRESENTATION AT THE SEMINAR.

Later in the seminar, both the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Barrett, and Rear Admiral Mayer, Commander
Australian Fleet, underscored similar approaches to the one introduced by Rear Admiral Manazir. In his
presentation at the conference, Vice Admiral Barrett underscored that “we are not building an interoperable
navy; we are building an integrated force for the Australian Defence Force.”

He drove home the point that ADF integration was crucial in order for the ADF to support government
objectives in the region and beyond and to provide for a force capable of decisive lethality. By so doing,
Australia would have a force equally useful in coalition operations in which distributed lethality was the
operational objective.

Vice Admiral Barrett noted that it is not about massing force in a classic sense; it is about shaping a force,
which can maximize the adversary’s vulnerabilities while reducing our own.

Rear Admiral Mayer focused specifically on the networking aspect of the kill web and how to make it work.
He highlighted that the Navy was returning to a task force concept but one, which was 21st century in
character, whereby Navy was tapping into ground and air assets as “part” of the task force, rather than
simply focusing on Navy operated assets.

This evolution of the task force, clearly in the mode of what the US Navy is referring to as the “kill web,” will
require the evolution of capabilities, both in terms of connectivity, and training. During the seminar he
characterized as the network as a weapon system with “no single master.”

It was important to shape a way ahead for the joint force to work within the evolving networks in order to
effectively operate in a distributed task force sense. “Each service is underpinning its platforms with elements
of a common network. There is increased overlap thereby for the air and sea forces. How should we best
develop our joint concepts of operations and joint capability?”

And later in the seminar the perspective of the Royal Navy was provided by Captain Nick Walker, Royal
Navy, with regard to the coming impact of the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers.

His presentation highlighted that the impact of the new carriers was joint through and through and was about
empowering the British defense force to operate throughout the spectrum of conflict.

It was about not simply adding a new ship, but shaping a networked enabled capability able to operate to
serve national interests or to support coalition operations.

Second Line of Defense

Page 9