Page 18 - Leverage and Learn

Leverage Allied Investments and Combat Learning Experience in Modernizing the U.S. Military

capabilities. At this is not an add on, but built from the ground up.

Flying the same ISR/C2/strike aircraft, will pose a central challenge with regard to how best to share combat
data in a fluid situation demanding timely and effective decision-making?

The UK is clearly a key player in shaping the way ahead on both the P-8 and F-35 enterprises, not just by
investing in both platforms, but building the infrastructure and training a new generation of operators and
maintainers as well. At the heart of this learning process are the solid working relationships among the
professional military in working towards innovative concepts of operations. This is a work in progress that
requires infrastructure, platforms, training and openness in shaping evolving working relationships.

Having visited Norway earlier this year and having discussed among other things, the coming of the P-8 and
the F-35 in Norway, it is clear that what happens on the other side of the North Sea (i.e., the UK) is of keen
interest to Norway. And talking with the RAF and Royal Navy, the changes in Norway are also part of
broader UK considerations when it comes to the reshaping of NATO defense capabilities in a dynamic region.

In my interview with the new Chief of Staff of the Norwegian Air Force, Major General Skinnarland, she
underscored how important she saw the collaborative from the ground up approach of operating new systems
together.

Referring to the F-35, she argued that “With the UK, the US, the Danes and the Dutch operating the same
combat aircraft, there are clear opportunities to shape new common operational capabilities… And with the
P-8s operating from the UK, Iceland, and Norway can shape a maritime domain awareness data capability
which can inform our forces effectively as well but again, this requires work to share the data and to shape
common concepts of operations.
Second Line of Defense

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