Page 37 - Maritime Services and the Kill Web

The Maritime Services, the Allies and Shaping the Kill Web

FIGURE 4 SLIDE FROM PRESENTATION BY CAPTAIN WALKER, ROYAL NAVY, AT WILLIAMS FOUNDAITON AIR-SEA INTEGRATION CONFERENCE,
AUGUST 10, 2016
But it is the carrier strike focus, which is definitional for the new carrier.

The ship has been designed from the ground up to support F-35B, in terms of weapons, C2, and ISR
integration.

“We have also built from the ground up interoperability, and have worked closely with the USN and USMC
with regard to this capability. And we are working on a broader approach to NATO interoperability as
well.”

He provided an overview of the timing of the build out of the ship and the process of marrying it with the
movement of the UK F-35Bs being prepared and trained in the United States to its permanent location in the
UK at RAF Marham.

The initial carrier IOC is projected to be December 2020 with the fully integrated F-35 and carrier having full
operational capability by 2025.

Much like the leadership of the Royal Australian Navy focused on in their presentations at the seminar,
Walker emphasized new approaches to task forces as key part of their transformation approach.
Clearly, the UK is looking at the evolving impact of introducing carrier strike upon the overall change in the
RAF and Royal Navy as well. And a key aspect of this transformation is working the evolving integration of
fifth gen upon legacy capabilities.

Captain Walker highlighted the shift from a legacy mindset, which focused on thinking of maritime versus air
environments to an integrated information dominance environment.

“A key cultural change is that we are looking at air and maritime as an integrated domain; and we are
looking at the interaction among the environmental seams of our forces driven by a kill web approach and
capability.”

A clear challenge is reworking C2.
“We need to shape a more mission order vice a directive Air Tasking Order approach to the use of an
integrated air-maritime force.”

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