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DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
HOW TO BEST LEVERAGE 5TH GEN ORGANISATIONALLY
JULIAN KERR | CANBERRA
DIFFERENCES in character and potential gaps in how the ADF must equip and organise for multi-domain operations in a rapidly changing strategic environment have been ad- dressed in a Sir Richard Wil- liams Foundation seminar on the Requirements of Fifth Generation Manoeuvre.
Chief of Air Force Air Mar- shal Mel Hupfeld noted the Australian approach to com- mand and control was under- pinned by mission command, where the commander’s intent was known and subordinate commanders were encouraged to use initiative and freedom of action to make decisions.
Fifth generation command
and control would enhance the
reach of a winning warfight-
ing organisation to the limits of networked connectivity, commu-
nicating data and signals across
the network at machine speeds.
It would also provide common,
shared situational awareness
across the vertical and horizon-
tal dimensions of the warfighting organisation with machine-augmented deci- sion-makers able to provide faster decisions.
“On the other hand, fifth-generation command and control has the potential to create problems when it becomes overly re- liant on automation, including decreased situational awareness and challenges with developing an appropriate level of trust,” AIRMSHL Hupfeld cautioned.
“And we need to factor in the inher- ent difficulties in operating at the edge of technological advancement, including in creating autonomous software that is robust enough to function without hu- man intervention and oversight, alongside the opposing need for strong protection against cyber-attacked, but with open stan-
that there was no need to stockpile fuel because of Australia’s confidence that the global system would continue to provide supply during a crisis.
A further assumption was that Australia could continue with a boutique defence industry and just-in-time logistics systems which were an outreach of larger global systems into which they were integrated.
Given that the rules-based order was undergoing profound change, Australia needed to be far more flexible and prag- matic in its understanding and manage- ment of the alliance relationship, Prof Sargeant stated.
“I think this means that we need a stra- tegic policy culture that is more improvi- sional, pragmatic, with a more ruthless sense of our national interests in a world that will not necessarily want to support those interests,” he said.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology growth was leading to a greater array of more complex sensors and shooters, dispersed across the battlefield, said Air Commodore Leon Phillips of the Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG).
“We face the threat of faster, more agile hypersonic threats and the proliferation of disruptive technology offered by cheaper drones as well as attacks on our network.
“For us to be effective we need to ensure our systems are well connected, though ro- bust, multi-pathed networks and that we are capable of operations despite degraded networks. Data exchange between tactical and strategic networks offers us competi- tive advantage and we need to recognise the merging and synergistic nature of both.”
Creating a 5th generation Information Management Environment CONOPS needed more investment in modelling and simulation so technology choices and their costs could be compared with a range of 5th generation scenarios in both free and contested network conditions. ■
ABOVE: Fifth gen is more than just platforms, it’s a way of thinking.
dards to facilitate systems integration.” Assessing the implications of global strategic developments for assured ac- cess for the ADF in the Asia-Pacific, ANU Professor Brendan Sargeant noted Australia could no longer trade sover- eignty for security with the same confi-
dence as in the past.
Some of the assumptions that under-
pinned defence policy and planning were no longer as robust as they might have seemed. For example – that global sup- ply chains would continue to deliver what Australia needed during a crisis; that Australia could assume privileged access to technology and war stocks through the operation of the alliance system; and
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The latest in air program updates including helicopter programs.