In early 2018, the Donald Trump administration promulgated a new (and inherently naval)
National Defense Strategy (NDS) aimed at peer competition with China and Russia. A key assumption of the NDS was that after two decades of fighting terrorism, the U.S. military’s advantage over peer adversaries has eroded. The Department of Defense sees itself operating in a new “Cognitive Age” where artificial intelligence, cyber, and remote-controlled weapon systems make warfare in the air, on land, or at sea more complex and dangerous than ever before. To reverse the effects of this erosion, service members will have to be highly trained to survive and succeed in this environment. Education is also needed, however, to best prepare officers and enlisted for the challenges of the 21st century.
After spending a short amount of time with Lt. Cmdr. Joshua Turner, it is obvious this naval officer places country – as well as his shipmates and family – always before himself.
Many of his loved ones and those who work alongside him at the Navy base in Poland and at previous duty stations would quickly agree with this characterization of Turner. Even to those who are only getting to know him, this trait of selflessness is apparent.
How so?
For starters, the public works officer of Naval Support Facility (NSF) Redzikowo is not one to talk about himself. Even giving it a go for this news article was not an easy task for the Navy submariner-turned-engineer.
By JOSEPH DITZLER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: April 19, 2021 TOKYO The White House has nominated a naval officer with command experience in the Western Pacific to lead the 7th Fleet as it aims to keep pace with its Chinese competition. Rear Adm. Karl O. Thomas, the assistant deputy chief for naval operations, plans and strategy at the Pentagon, would return to Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, to command the largest of America’s overseas naval fleets, the Defense Department announced Wednesday. Thomas previously served as commander of Task Force 70 and Carrier Strike Group 5, centered on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, homeported in Yokosuka.
By Dr. Peter Layton
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is suddenly important to military forces. Not yet an arms race, today’s competition is more in terms of an experimentation race with many AI systems being tested and new research centers established. There may be a considerable first-mover advantage to the country that first understands AI adequately enough to change its existing human-centered force structures and embrace AI warfighting.
In a new Joint Studies Paper, I explore sea, land and air operational concepts appropriate to fighting near-to-medium term future AI-enabled wars. With much of the underlying narrow AI technology already developed in the commercial sector, this is less of a speculative exercise than might be assumed. Moreover, the contemporary AI’s general-purpose nature means its initial employment will be within existing operational level constructs, not wholly new ones.
How Could the U.S. Military Already Have a Sixth Generation Fighter?
A massive and still largely unknown technology breakthrough may be upon us, by virtue of the apparent Air Force decision to not only fast-track a new 6th-Gen fighter platform but actually fly it.
A massive and still largely unknown technology breakthrough may be upon us, by virtue of the apparent Air Force decision to not only fast-track a new 6th-Gen fighter platform but actually fly it.
While of course technical details and specifics regarding the kinds of 6th-Gen platforms which have been in development are closely held or not public for security reasons, that fact that one is here now seems to suggest that sufficient technological breakthroughs have occurred to inspire a decision to actually “build and fly” a new stealth fighter jet platform.