Network-Centric Warfare Technology

No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) developed a small, low-cost, disaggregated naval platform to demonstrate the ability to perform persistent power projection and force application combat missions currently conducted from large, high-value capital ships. The NOMARS program designed a ship that can operate autonomously for long durations at sea, enabling a ship design process that eliminates considerations associated with crew. NOMARS focused on exploring novel approaches to the design of the sea frame (the ship without mission systems) while accommodating representative payload size, weight, and power. The goal of the program was to demonstrate the feasibility of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) that operate autonomously for months to years without human intervention, in large numbers, with only periodic, depot-based maintenance. This capability will enable disaggregated persistent USVs, allowing the surface fleet to credibly threaten peer adversaries and negate their investments in high-cost weapon systems designed to counter large naval targets such as aircraft carriers. The NOMARS program was successful and proves the feasibility of a small, unmanned ship with significantly improved reliability and functional performance over current USVs providing a pathway to allow a distributed lethality concept to become viable: small ships, in large numbers, each of which is individually low-cost and low value, but in aggregate presents a significant deterrent. The transition partner is the Navy.

The Willow program is developing innovative payloads to conduct Acoustic Warfare (AW) to counter active surface sonars using a unique combination of acoustic hardware and waveforms provided by advanced sonar signal processing algorithms. Willow will provide a robust capability to help the Navy respond to active sonar threats. No current method exists to challenge adversary active sonars. Willow will use advanced hardware-in-the-loop simulations, Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), and stressing at-sea testing to create this capability. Technology developed under this program will transition to the Navy. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

The Scorpionfish program will design and test novel undersea weapon technologies. Successful execution of the program will be a revolutionary step in the execution of missions in the undersea domain. The anticipated transition is to the Navy. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

The Pulling Guard program will revolutionize Freedom of Navigation escort operations. The program will create semi-autonomous, modular, point-defense overwatch/escort systems, and an ecosystem that commercially delivers these escort services in partnership with the DoD. Pulling Guard will dramatically reduce risk and insurance costs for logistics platforms in peacetime (piracy and terror) and wartime (blockades), while increasing large combatant availability for other critical missions. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

Current submarine propulsor and propeller designs have reached the technical limits of achieving significant improvements, constrain ship layouts and maneuvering capabilities. The Advanced Propulsor, Experimental (APEX) program is developing and demonstrating a new generation of submarine propulsor designs enabling revolutionary improvements in submarine design, maneuverability, speed, and quieting that will transform future submarine designs. The anticipated transition is to the Navy. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

As the Services develop new Joint Multi-Domain Battle warfighting concepts, there is a strong demand for innovative ways to assess architectures, advance technology, and support operators developing advanced multi-domain tactics. The Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program applied technologies and principles of distributed autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI) to aerial within-visual-range (WVR) maneuvering, colloquially known as a dogfight, in modeling and simulation (M&S), surrogate, and ultimately full-scale vehicles. The program delivered an initial instantiation of a scalable AI controller enabling aircraft autonomy at levels ranging from an advanced tactical autopilot for dynamic maneuver to a form of multi-domain mosaic battle management controller. Experiments explored both augmentation of existing manned platforms and enhanced future unmanned systems. ACE provided an early opportunity to build operator trust in combat autonomy and demonstrate adaptive human-machine teaming tools and architectures.

Assault Breaker II (ABII) sought to change the current warfighting paradigm of reliance on a Service-specific and platform centric force that executes prescribed kill chains to a highly adaptable and capability-based force. This new paradigm operated as a disaggregated kill web able to execute rapidly composable, joint, and all domain kill chains. ABII exploited both existing and emerging technologies across the Services to address known capability gaps, opportunities, and threats. ABII conducted mission-centric, multi-Service and multi-domain analyses, modeling & simulation (M&S), and experimentation to inform research and development and program of record recommendations. ABII built an enduring, multi-service M&S environment to support complex mission level kill web analysis. ABII also designed and developed a Vanguard Force DevOps Environment (VFDE) and battle management enclave with physical nodes that enabled the transition of ABII technologies, concepts and architectures to the Services. ABII completed development and transitioned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

FLexible networking Using Intelligent Dialecting (FLUID) will enable command and control (C2) under extremely challenged internet protocol (IP) networking environments, including those networks with capacities in the 100s to 10s of bits per second. To do this, FLUID will research technologies that reduce network and user communications with semantically correct but condensed data, application, and/or protocol information. Like many elements of information related technologies, the power of software is impacting the ability to customize design. However, not much focus has been given to adapting application, transport, and network layers in the protocol stack holistically to meet the capacity constraints of their operating environment. FLUID will apply intelligent mechanisms to reduce the capacity required for C2 applications to operate at scale. FLUID research will focus on extracting and communicating only the operationally relevant data from user data, application messages, and network protocol messages to fit within the network capacity constraints; thus, creating the potential for greatly increased efficiency at and across the tactical edge. Software developed under the program will transition to the Services. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

The Autonomy Standards and Ideals with Military Operational Values (ASIMOV) program will develop autonomy benchmarks to objectively and quantitatively measure the ethical readiness of future autonomous systems and the ethical difficulty of proposed use-cases in support of military operational values (e.g., international humanitarian law, rules of engagement, etc.) in increasingly complex and changing scenarios. In order to accelerate the development and eventual use of ethical autonomous systems, an implementable measurement and benchmarking framework of military autonomy must be developed. ASIMOV's benchmark will enable future autonomous systems that undergo the intensive testing to be evaluated and scored with autonomy readiness levels (ARL) much like how technology readiness levels (TRL) and manufacturing readiness levels (MRL) are used to describe the maturity of technology and manufacturing processes, respectively. ASIMOV will decompose the five Department of Defense's Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethical Principles (Responsibility, Equitability, Reliability, Traceability, and Governability) in a structured, observable, and independently verifiable manner to measure the readiness of specific autonomous systems to perform ethically within those scenarios. Technology developed under ASIMOV will be transitioned to the demonstration and operational testing (DT/OT) community, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) and the Services. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

As an outgrowth from the success of Awareness in Joint Warfighting Technology, the Time-definite Capability Delivery effort will plan, research, and execute activities designed to field capabilities based on proven technologies on relevant timelines and at sufficient quantities. The effort will achieve this objective by planning and coordinating virtual, live, constructive modelling and simulation in conjunction with in-theater demonstrations and experimentation to help orient programs on acute warfighting problems. Additionally, the effort will establish industry and policy-oriented working groups, host technical exchanges and exercises, conduct research, and develop analytic tools that will explore systemic options to speed time to field and ramp production to relevant volumes to support national security objectives. The effort will probe the boundaries of the current institutional processes through rapid experimentation, novel transition frameworks, and technology analysis to provide proof points that rationally challenge existing process boundaries and identify ways to complement, adapt, or replace institutional processes in order to deliver operationally relevant capabilities on strategically relevant timescales. Time-definite Capability Delivery will create frameworks to evaluate technology investment, policy changes, and other government levers to generate competitive advantage. Beginning in FY 2026, this program will be funded in PE 0603467E, Project DAT-01.

Integration of undersea elements for joint cross-domain operations is critical for developing the most effective distributed kill webs. The Timely Information for Maritime Engagements (TIMEly) program created a heterogeneous underwater network architecture that spanned the ocean and bridges to other operating domains. TIMEly provided an adaptive, heterogeneous, scalable communications capability to link undersea and cross-domain assets together into kill webs with minimal operator burden. The program focused on developing architectures with the capability to transfer the right information to its intended recipient. TIMEly worked within commonly understood limitations, with a focus on protocols, quality of service, and information exchange. The program leveraged developments demonstrating short-range and long-range acoustic communications at higher bandwidth and greater reliability, while minimizing detectability. The program also leveraged recent developments in network interoperability to manage heterogeneous undersea and cross-domain networks. Technology developed by this program transitioned to the Navy.

The Sea Train program supported the delivery of masses of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) into theater, without reliance on large, manned capital assets. The Sea Train program developed and demonstrated approaches to exploit the efficiencies of longer slender hulls, while enabling a distributed fleet of tactical USVs. The Sea Train concept enables vessels that are efficient for transoceanic transport while enabling dispersed operations as individual vessels. The Sea Train program also developed and demonstrated connectors and approaches to couple the vessels, the control laws required to drive the vessel in open ocean conditions, sensor approaches to understand the wave environment to efficiently navigate the vessel, and the autonomy required to connect and disconnect the vessels without human intervention. The goal of the effort was to improve transport efficiency over what can be achieved with current monohull designs.

The Trenton program will enable the production of a wide range of structural objects and underwater repairs through the optimization of three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP) formulations and fabrications at depth. Building on technologies developed in the Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors program (budgeted in PE 0602715E, Project MBT-02), Trenton will enable the development of the first underwater 3DCP (U3DCP) formulations utilizing in-situ materials to support various marine engineering needs. Current technologies rely on land-based techniques that require forming on land then deployment by barge or ship. Trenton will overcome this challenge by developing the formulations and fabrication technologies necessary for U3DCP. Technology developed under this program will transition to the Services and commercial partners.

The Manta Ray program developed and demonstrated a new class of long-duration, long-range unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) at an acquisition and lifecycle cost significantly less than current payload-capable UUVs. This new class of UUV gives the combatant commander an amplification of capacity without disrupting current operations by remaining independent of manned vessels and ports once deployed. The primary goal of the Manta Ray program was to open a design space for future UUVs capable of both long-duration missions and large payload capacity. A secondary goal of the program was to advance key technologies benefiting other naval designs such as low lifecycle cost UUV operations, energy management technologies to enable long-duration operations, biofouling reduction technologies, and long-duration navigational enablers. The transition partner is the Navy.

The undersea domain has significant importance to national security and military operations, but manned missions are restricted in their operational ranges. The Goblin program will enhance U.S. autonomous capabilities in the challenging undersea domain by developing and demonstrating complex underwater systems able to search, locate, and execute mission objectives without the need for human control. Navigation approaches will focus on the use of commercial, low-cost navigation hardware combined with environmental feature-based algorithm approaches to eliminate reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for long-duration missions. Key Goblin technical challenges include sensing techniques that provide high-resolution navigation without GPS, perception and effector strategies for objects with unknown parameters, long-duration autonomy approaches to support mission execution, and autonomy approaches that do not rely on human interaction. The anticipated transition is to the Navy.