What’s Next…You DECIDE CAPT Richard "Chip" Whitfield USN

Commodore's Corner: What’s Next…You DECIDE

By CAPT Richard "Chip" Whitfield USN

There 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.

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.

Insert B-movie dream-sequence fade-in…

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 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.

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...

And the B-movie dream-sequence fades back to reality…

…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’ “Reach-Back Cell” provides quick data analysis, sensor recommendations, and troubleshooting help to deployed units around the world. Meanwhile, HSC is, writ large, reinventing itself with some of the best leadership I’ve seen in my career. In my humble opinion, EABO expansion will make Personnel Recovery (or CSAR) more relevant than it has ever been. Perhaps even more important, combat logistics will likely be the deciding factor if there is a “next” fight, and no community is better positioned than HSC to deliver those capabilities in austere environments. Once you add VRM into the mix, we have material solutions that are just waiting for JO imagination and creativity. Add a 60R Det to the 60S EABO Dets, and the USMC, properly placed, could cover just about any chokepoint in the world.

The next step is to accelerate and expand “idea generation” from the Fleet to feed traditional and non-traditional acquisition processes. This is our bottleneck. The Navy takes far too long to envision, develop, test, and field new capabilities. Meanwhile, our adversaries are eating our lunch. Within the last year (since we stood up the FLEX Cell), a small group of EW experts in HSMWL has had an oversized impact on the community by developing a new SIGINT system called Electric EMU (ELINT Modernization Update)—a cutting-edge carry-on kit that every single platform in the Navy could use. Seeing a capability in need of improvement, local experts from the Innovation Cell briefed and pitched their idea, ultimately securing over $1 million to make their vision a reality.

The EEMU Project is not just a “pipe dream” or a niche solution. Taking ownership of how we fight with our platforms has given us a megaphone to shape the helicopter’s systems and capabilities. Committing resources to Fleet experimentation, while simultaneously gaining readiness, demonstrates to Program Offices and industry partners that we are devoted to bringing the best capabilities to the fight…and helping develop them!

NHA and Rotor Review do a great job of keeping the family in touch and on the same page. The message I’d like to send is for our Fleet Aviators and Aircrewmen to share their ideas with the family. Don’t let a game changing innovation that feels impossibly out-of-reach die on the vine. Find opportunities in the change around you. This family has the resources and desire to cultivate good ideas that make us better warfighters. Speak up and be heard!

U.S. Navy Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Robert Class, left, signals the crew of an MH60R Seahawk helicopter assigned to HSM-51 during night flight operations aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) in the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. Navy photo by Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Fidel C. Hart.

An MH-60R Seahawk, attached to the "Easy Riders" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37, prepares to deliver a payload to the the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN 730). U.S. Navy

An unmanned aerial vehicle delivers a payload to the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN 730) around the Hawaiian Islands. U.S.