Page 63 - F-35B and USMC

The Integration of the F-35B into USMC Operations

As the core platforms are replaced by an all software upgradeable fleet, the possibility could exist to put the
platforms in competition with one another for modernization upgrades.

“Which upgrade gets the priority for which platform to make the greatest contribution to the integrated ISTAR
capability are the sort of decisions that should lie with the ISTAR Force in the future – it is at Force level, not
within individual programmes and projects that the overall capability benefit can be seen and prioritized.”

We then discussed the notion of transformation as a process, not an outcome.
The Air Commodore was very keen to stress again the need for “cultural change, where the aperture is opened for
the team and they can embrace greater integration”

“We have the iPhone 6 generation in the Force now, yesterday’s analogue approach to our business is no longer
appropriate.

“With the aperture fully open, the individual platforms and capabilities become the apps that enable the
integrated Force ‘iPhone’.

“Thinking of it in this way, will allow us to tap this new generation of warriors.”

http://www.sldinfo.com/transforming-the-royal-air-forces-istar-force-a-discussion-with-air-commodore-dean-
andrew/

Fourth, the platforms function in networks but it is not about some giant global network, which
can be disrupted; it is about force packages operating as modules working together to achieve
objectives and their power extended as they are connected with other force packages.

In effect, the senior commander’s roles, which shift to assembling, deploying, evaluation and augmenting or
withdrawing force packages as dynamic tasks, are achieved. It is not about managing the tactical details of
forward deployed operations.

For example, work at 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade is focused on shaping such a capability.

2d MEB is clearly focused on working international naval relationships, which played a key role in Bold Alligator
2014 and Exercise African Lion 2014, the largest exercise on the African continent.

In Bold Alligator (2014), the Marines worked an interwoven C2 relationship with the Dutch, who also commanded
the USS Arlington, a new US Navy LPD, and worked for and adjacent to the Navy-Marine Corps construct.

Coalition participation required installing CENTRIXS, an allied communication system, on the USS Kearsarge,
which improved the forces’ readiness for future crisis and contingency operations.
Throughout the exercise, 2d MEB experimented with various configurations of MAGTF C2 support for operations
by leveraging the enhanced US and allied seabase.

In order to facilitate C2 aboard limited amphibious ships, 2d MEB experimented with a robust reachback
capability.

Reachback capability allowed 2d MEB to deploy a small part of the staff on ships but employ the whole staff
using modern communications technology from a land-based structure given the ships’ space constraints.

2d MEB is a standing operational HQ with no forces assigned.

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