What’s Next…You DECIDE
By CAPT Richard "Chip" Whitfield USN
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here are changes afoot in Naval Aviation, and many NHA members are concerned about what the future holds for our communities. In the case of HSM and HSC, we are experiencing contractions in the CVW world and expansions in other areas. Still, when I look around and see what our JO’s have been working on, I quickly become a “glass half full” old timer.
seems to be something wrong with the Link 16 architecture… you can see your ship, but you can’t see anyone else. Fortunately for you, prior to deployment, 707 was outfitted with an IOC (Initial Operational Capability) roll-on kit that includes MINOTAUR. Your pre-cruise briefs explained that MINOTAUR uses an onboard mission processor to present tracks and sensor data from around the globe using a satellite downlink from the Integrated Broadcast Service. The system also benefits from inputs from the Intelligence Community to provide an accurate and comprehensive representation of the battlespace. The data from MINOTAUR means that you can tap into the entire national database of tracks to point your team in the right direction.
It would be easy to lament the reduced footprint of MH60R and MH-60S on the CVN as part of Air Wing of the Future. We know what we bring to the fight. Some might even argue it’s debatable if our CSG could fight and win without HSC and HSM, but theory and conjecture won’t change current circumstances. So, what do we do? We look to the future and get ahead of the game. In 1939, there were a bunch of newly winged aviators screaming about the value of Naval Aviation as our Navy continued to focus most major investments on bigger guns for battleships. Where did that get us? Today is no different. Those who wish us harm are, no doubt, students of our naval theory and the history of our CSG since December 8th, 1941. We can either sit and wait for the next December 7th, or we can look for the creative solutions for looming problems. Great Power Competition is back, and that’s our focus.
The greatest benefit is being able to see tips from Fleet and national assets to narrow your search area. Coordinating with the ship’s combat team, and with MINOTAUR, you’ve located and identified the surface combatants by the end of day one. It’s just a matter of time before you get an ESM sniff to corner the annoyingly elusive sub. Even crazier than these new capabilities is how fast they got onto a deployed aircraft! You remember as an FRP that there was no mention of MINOTAUR, and news articles are constantly talking about delays and overruns in weapon system contracts. Something must be working...
Insert B-movie dream-sequence fade-in…
And the B-movie dream-sequence fades back to reality…
It is 2022, and you’re the MO on a two-aircraft Combat Element participating in a joint exercise in the Northern Atlantic while surrounded by icebergs. Your ship-air team is trying to track red force combatants several hundred miles away and locate a submarine that’s been elusive. The rest of your strike group is farther south in warmer waters, and there
…except we never really left reality because this is the kind of stuff your communities are working on! In 2020, HSM created a Fleet Experimentation and Innovation (FLEX) Cell that was born out of 2020’s pandemic cancellation of multiple Large Force Exercises. It was the brainchild of some truly gifted and committed patriots. The HSM Weapons Schools’ “Reach21
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