Page 73 - Maritime Services and the Kill Web

The Maritime Services, the Allies and Shaping the Kill Web

And as off boarding of weapons strike grows in significance and capability sensors onboard the rotorcraft
can be leveraged by other elements of the strike force for the ship defense or perhaps other missions.

With regard to TLAMS, their role has been significant in providing for a land attack capability.

And as a submariner, Lt. Myers is working integration with the CAG as part of the extended reach of the
airwing.

Indeed, a key function of TLAMS for the aviation community has been the destruction of enemy capabilities
threatening the ability of the air wing to operate in contested environments.

“Tomahawk is a very integral part of strike warfare.

“I need to essentially be the day zero weapon that allows for attack air to dominate the air.

“Before that, we need to get rid of certain things in the way.

“Attack air is not going to be able to fly through certain surface to air missile sites without serious investment.

“My job, I feel, is to protect people.

“I want to set the battle space so that all of the aviators out there can fly safely.”
The current TLAMS are GPS enabled and largely focused on fixed targets but the evolution of the systems
onboard the TLAM will allow for greater in flight repositioning and significant improvements against electronic
magnetic threats.

The TLAMs and follow on weapons will form a key part of the enhanced capability of the fleet afloat to fit
and win conflict at sea.

Put in other terms, TLAMS have been about land operations; now with the shift to higher intensity operations
the ability to defeat adversaries at sea is a key part of the way ahead, within which the weapons revolution
needs to evolve to provide enhanced capabilities to the fleet to defeat an adversary afloat or using land and
air assets to threaten the fleet.

Both officers emphasized the need to build up the inventory of weapons in the arsenal and viewed this as
even more important than building new ones.

Building new ones will take time, and although clearly important, the focus on fighting with the fleet you have
now prioritizes an inventory build up for the current operating force.
The officers both highlighted as well that as you add new weapons, there is a time lag as well as the crews
learn the capabilities and would like to see enhanced training capabilities and accelerated acquisition as well
to ensure that new weapons can enter the force more rapidly.

But if presented with a choice between ramping up current weapons or waiting for new ones, the officers
clearly weighed in on the former.

The officers discussed being able to support the fleet at sea if needed with the TTP capabilities at NAWDC.

“We have a fly away team.

“And a flyaway kit, so in the event in which they need subject matter experts to go to a CAOC and say, “Hey,
what is the way that we can integrate TLAM into this fight?” We’re ready to go to provide that support.”

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