Page 21 - Williams Foundation Air-Sea Integration Seminar

Shaping an Integrated Force in the Extended Battlespace

Could you talk to that approach?

Rear Admiral Mead: “We do and we call it the “Ship Zero” approach.

“As we build our new ships, we are going to do so around a common structure, which brings together the
sustainment, the training, command and management, land-based test bed, simulation the software
development and importantly industry, into a common facility in order to provide the horsepower and genius
necessary to support the capability at sea..

“We are trying to bring all the key elements into a building wherein that building is located close to where
the platforms we’ll be operating from.

“This is a new concept for us.

“It’s about shaping an approach to proper asset management, maximizing the capability the ships can get
through 30 to 40 year life.”

SHAPING A SUSTAINABLE AND UPGRADEABLE JOINT FORCE: THE
PERSPECTIVE OF REAR ADMIRAL TONY DALTON

Prior to the latest Williams Seminar on shaping a 21st century joint force, there was a chance to meet and
discuss the challenges with Rear Admiral Tony Dalton.

He is the head of the Joint Systems Division of the ADF’s acquisition and sustainment group and has come to
that position having managed the acquisition and sustainment of the helicopter force of the ADF from a joint
perspective.

The Joint Systems Division contains five branches, two of which the Rear Admiral referred to as the outliers,
namely explosive ordnance (including guided weapons) and electronic and associated types of what we call
tron warfare.

“From a divisional perspective, these two outliers do largely independent things across all three of our service
domains. Guided weapons include everything from fast jet missiles to solider-based GBAD through to
submarine torpedoes.

“At the other end, we have all of the intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems.
Rather than being platform-centric, we’ve put them all into one spot so we can leverage the limited number of
“pointy heads” that we have in that space. We cover the whole spectrum of electromagnetic warfare.

“Across the middle are three more closely related branches, namely air and space surveillance and control,
communications and critical systems. The latter handles all the software applications of the forces we send on
operations.”

Having two of the more dynamic areas of warfare as positioned as “outliers” can allow his team to position
itself from cross-domain innovation as well.

Another opportunity comes from sorting out how equipment acquired from FMS or foreign sources can be
reconfigured to operate as integrated assets.

He pointed out that although, for example, the RAAF has bought the latest US Navy systems such as Growler
and P-8, they don’t have seamless interconnectivity built in, something, which the ADF views as crucial to
achieve.

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