Fremont, CA: For an extended period, national security agendas have focused on asymmetric and transnational threats such as cybercrime and terrorism. Nevertheless, ongoing instability in the global geopolitical landscape may sometimes lead to competition among peers and near-peers. The situation could increase the need for innovative technologies that enhance resilience and effectiveness, particularly those that support new, disaggregated, and "joint all-domain" approaches.
Disaggregating Capabilities
Force planners can boost the probability of successful operations combining air, land, sea, and space assets by breaking down capabilities into networks of smaller nodes. This could increase resilience and operational coverage. For instance, a coordinated fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles may be preferred over a single human submarine, or a collection of smaller, connected satellites may be preferred over a single high-value satellite.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
Effective Communication Networks
The collective functioning of such disaggregated assets depends on real-time intelligence exchange, made possible by robust and efficient communication networks. Resilient networks also make smooth, responsive operations possible, as they can provide immediate communication between assets (connecting sensors to effectors). Artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, phased-array antennas, and high-density computing are examples of resilient network-enabling technologies that can help shift responsive decision-making to the tactical edge, where it may influence the operation most.
New Technologies
Retrofitting current platforms or creating new architectures (such as AI-powered command-and-control systems that link users across services and collating partners in air, land, sea, and space) is likely necessary to engineer high bandwidth, durable networks. In the foreseeable future, there will probably be a rise in the density of mission systems that are enabled by technology. One of the most commonly mentioned capacity needs is new technologies, such as decentralized cloud computing, data management, edge analysis, autonomy-enabling systems, and various hardware solutions and new materials.
The conventional defense industrial base can help national security customers meet these needs by offering several advantages, such as knowledge of particular missions, in-depth technical know-how in designing for those missions, established security protocols and infrastructure to house classified data, business development, customer relations, and acquisition, program management excellence, and integration opportunities within already-installed platforms.
