{"id":61322,"date":"2021-07-21T21:55:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T21:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/21\/submarine-leaders-want-to-tap-into-jadc2-network-without-giving-away-their-position\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:36:05","slug":"submarine-leaders-want-to-tap-into-jadc2-network-without-giving-away-their-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2021\/07\/21\/submarine-leaders-want-to-tap-into-jadc2-network-without-giving-away-their-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Submarine leaders want to tap into JADC2 network without giving away their position"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
WASHINGTON \u2013 The Navy\u2019s submarine force of the future will have to balance <\/b>its need to remain stealthy <\/b>against a need for information from the joint force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about the Defense Department\u2019s Joint All Domain Command and Control effort, which would net together forces in all domains from all the services, Rear Adm. Jeffrey Jablon, the commander of submarine forces in the Pacific, said submarines need to be tapped into that network even though they usually prize their silence and ability to operate under the seas without interaction with higher headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important that the submarine force be a part of this. This will provide joint [and] Navy commanders that situational awareness for mission success, that integration of tactical data link capabilities aboard submarines and at the theater undersea warfare commander headquarters. That\u2019s a step in the right direction to integrate the joint force,\u201d he said. Jablon was speaking at the Navy League\u2019s annual Sea Air Space 2021, in a virtual event previewing the live conference next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\nElectronics Technician (Navigation) Seaman Tyler Mcmillen, from Erie, Pennsylvania, stands watch as helmsman aboard the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Chicago (SSN 721) in support of Valiant Shield 2020 on Sept. 14, 2020. Valiant Shield is a U.S.-only, biennial field training exercise (FTX) with a focus on integration of joint training in a blue-water environment among U.S. forces. This training enables real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking, and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace in response to a range of mission areas. MC1 Derek Harkins\/US Navy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Rear Adm. William Houston, the director of undersea warfare on the chief of naval operations\u2019 staff (OPNAV N97), said during the panel that the submarines need stealth as a matter of survival, but in major combat operations, they may also need information from the rest of the joint force to ensure their survival, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you talk about JADC2, a lot of times people are thinking of the submarine force potentially relaying information back to the joint force. In many cases, since we\u2019re the inside force, it\u2019s the rest of the force and the rest of the systems providing us information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to change the paradigm of thinking that the submarine force is there to communicate back information; in some cases, as being the killer inside the enemy\u2019s lines, we\u2019re going to need that information to go ahead and make best use so we can bring the rest of the team to bear. \u2026 When you look at the firepower we bring, it\u2019s very, very powerful because we\u2019re survivable. But in terms of total numbers of munitions, we cannot compare to the rest of the joint force, to the carrier strike group or one of those [cruiser\/destroyer] platforms; we just don\u2019t have the volume. The advantage we have is, due to our stealth, we have no need for a defensive-type weapon [against an] inbound missile type system. We\u2019re all tooth; we are going after the enemy with our weapon systems. And so that\u2019s really our advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, to be useful and effective in the harsh undersea environment, Houston said JADC2 would need to allow for communication at depth and speed and do so in a way that doesn\u2019t give away a sub\u2019s position.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN 786) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled deployment in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility on March 30, 2021. Illinois will perform a full spectrum of operations, including anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, during the Indo-Pacific deployment. MC1 Michael B. Zingaro\/US Navy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Mara, the vice president and director of the systems, tactics, and force development division at the Center for Naval Analyses, said during the panelthat, as robust as JADC2 would be built to be, the submarine community\u2019s history of operating alone under the seas would be a great failsafe in case the joint network were disrupted during combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the things I think the submarine force brings that\u2019s really interesting when you think about JADC2 is that it also provides a really great fallback capability,\u201d he said. \u201cI think our adversaries are going to look to disrupt our communications capabilities, and so while there\u2019s a force-multiplier in linking people together, there\u2019s also kind of a beautiful simplicity in having a force that, if something goes wrong in communications networks, has all the keys it needs to still be an effective fighting force. So I think beyond just linking them together and providing that kind of network value to the battle force, the fact that you have a really effective fallback mode is a really nice feature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ability to design and field this robust network will also affect the submarine community\u2019s ability to integrate unmanned vessels into their operations. Houston said the community is mostly focused on integrating small and medium unmanned underwater vessels with its attack subs \u2013 with the larger UUVs being controlled from ashore rather than from SSNs \u2013 and despite challenges with developing batteries for UUVs and communications systems that work underwater, he said SSNs and UUVs paired together will be very powerful in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery submarine needs to be able to do seabed warfare, so in some cases we\u2019ll use UUVs to deliver mines, for instance, clandestinely delivered mines. In some cases, we\u2019ll use them for a comms relay. In some cases, we\u2019ll use them as a sensor to go forward where we do not necessarily want to put the submarine until we\u2019ve surveyed the area and made sure that we want to operate in that area. In some cases, we may use it to execute missions that a submarine, due to depth, may not be able to. So it\u2019s really a force-multiplier. But we also have to go with a slow measured pace, and we\u2019re not afraid to fail, but we need to do a little, learn a lot, and then do a little and learn a lot more. And so it\u2019s a really measured approach for us. We don\u2019t have time to get this wrong, and it\u2019s just really a balancing act,\u201d Houston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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