Identification of Promising Naval Aviation Science and Technology Opportunities
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. N00014-00-G-0230, DO #25, between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Navy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON IDENTIFICATION OF PROMISING NAVAL AVIATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES
JOSEPH B. REAGAN,
Saratoga, California,
Chair
FRANK ALVIDREZ,
Lockheed Martin Corporation
ALFRED O. AWANI,
Boeing Company
WILLARD R. BOLTON,
Sandia National Laboratories
WILLIAM C. BOWES,
Morro Bay, California
H. LEE BUCHANAN,
Perceptis, LLP
JOHN A. CORDER,
Colleyville, Texas
ROBERT W. DAY,
Raytheon Corporation
EARL H. DOWELL,
Duke University
VALERIE J. GAWRON,
General Dynamics
FRANK A. HORRIGAN,
Bedford, Massachusetts
ARUN R. PALUSAMY,
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
ROBERT J. POLUTCHKO,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
BRUCE POWERS,
George Washington University; Naval Postgraduate School
LYLE H. SCHWARTZ,
Chevy Chase, Maryland
WILLIAM A. SIRIGNANO,
University of California at Irvine
Staff
CHARLES F. DRAPER, Director
JAMES E. KILLIAN, Study Director
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
IAN M. CAMERON, Research Associate
AYANNA N. VEST, Senior Program Assistant (as of June 25, 2005)
SIDNEY G. REED, JR., Consultant
RAYMOND S. WIDMAYER, Consultant
NAVAL STUDIES BOARD
JOHN F. EGAN,
Nashua, New Hampshire,
Chair
MIRIAM E. JOHN,
Sandia National Laboratories,
Vice Chair
ARTHUR B. BAGGEROER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN D. CHRISTIE,
LMI
ANTONIO L. ELIAS,
Orbital Sciences Corporation
BRIG “CHIP” ELLIOTT,
BBN Technologies
KERRIE L. HOLLEY,
IBM Global Services
JOHN W. HUTCHINSON,
Harvard University
HARRY W. JENKINS, JR.,
ITT Industries
DAVID V. KALBAUGH,
Centreville, Maryland
ANNETTE J. KRYGIEL,
Great Falls, Virginia
THOMAS V. McNAMARA,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
L. DAVID MONTAGUE,
Menlo Park, California
WILLIAM B. MORGAN,
Rockville, Maryland
JOHN H. MOXLEY III,
Korn/Ferry International
JOHN S. QUILTY,
Oakton, Virginia
NILS R. SANDELL, JR.,
BAE Systems
WILLIAM D. SMITH,
Fayetteville, Pennsylvania
JOHN P. STENBIT,
Oakton, Virginia
RICHARD L. WADE,
Exponent
DAVID A. WHELAN,
Boeing Company
CINDY WILLIAMS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ELIHU ZIMET,
National Defense University
Navy Liaison Representatives
RADM JOSEPH A. SESTAK, JR.,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81 (through October 1, 2004)
MR. GREG MELCHER,
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Acting N81 (from October 2, 2004, through November 8, 2004)
RADM SAMUEL J. LOCKLEAR III,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81 (from November 8, 2004, through October 13, 2005)
RDML DAN W. DAVENPORT,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81 (as of October 14, 2005)
RADM JAY M. COHEN,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N091 (through January 19, 2006)
RADM WILLIAM E. LANDAY III,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N091 (as of January 20, 2006)
Marine Corps Liaison Representative
LTGEN EDWARD HANLON, JR.,
USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (through September 30, 2004)
LTGEN JAMES N. MATTIS,
USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (as of October 1, 2004)
Staff
CHARLES F. DRAPER, Director
ARUL MOZHI, Senior Program Officer
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
IAN M. CAMERON, Research Associate
AYANNA N. VEST, Senior Program Assistant (as of June 25, 2005)
Preface
The Department of Defense (DOD) seeks to transform the nation’s armed forces to meet the military challenges of the future. The Navy and the Marine Corps have defined their respective Service visions of transformation in Sea Power 211 and Marine Corps Strategy 21,2 and together they form Naval Power 21,3 the vision of how the naval forces of the United States will be equipped, trained, educated, organized, and employed in the 21st century. Joint Vision 20204 is the DOD vision that defines how the various elements of the DOD, including the naval forces, will operate in global conflicts as a single, integrated war-fighting entity. Many new war-fighting concepts are expressed in Naval Power 21, such as sea basing and network-centric operations, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), in accordance with its mission to foster innovation in fields relevant to the Naval Services, requested that the National Research Council’s Naval Studies Board conduct a study to identify new science and technology opportunities that might lead to new capabilities in naval aviation to support and enable these new war-fighting concepts.
The charge to the Committee on Identification of Promising Naval Aviation Science and Technology Opportunities specified related tasks that can be paraphrased as follows: (1) recognize what the Navy leadership has pronounced as the most important operational concepts of the future (e.g., the Naval Power 21 vision); (2) determine what capabilities are critical for implementing those operational concepts, especially as they apply to naval aviation; and (3) identify the technologies required to best enable those critical capabilities (i.e., assess the ONR science and technology (S&T) portfolio to enable capabilities and fill capability gaps). The terms of reference are given in full in Appendix A.
The complete process of constructing and implementing a research and development portfolio also includes other important tasks that were beyond the committee’s charter of investigation: (4) an assessment of the state of maturity of each of the technologies to be developed, (5) prioritization of the work to be done and allocation of resources, and (6) the design of a transfer plan for the transition of each technology to a user. All of these tasks are, of course, interrelated, and they must be organized and prioritized in what is usually referred to as a strategic plan. The committee found no such plan at ONR to review. Although it did consider building a full naval aviation strategic S&T plan of its own to use as a template for its deliberations, the committee decided that such an activity was both well beyond its resources and would preempt the Navy’s own process.
To illustrate the value of the strategic planning process, the committee first studied the concepts described in Naval Power 21 and considered the thoughts of some influential thinkers to gain insight into what these concepts imply for naval aviation; drew from its members’ own experience and expertise to specifiy some capabilities that, if developed, would make a significant difference in naval aviation’s future capabilities; and finally, sought to identify key technologies in which ONR could invest to achieve these capabilities. This report discusses the results of those efforts.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
MajGen Charles F. Bolden, Jr., USMC (retired), Houston, Texas,
Eugene E. Covert, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Jose B. Cruz, Jr., Ohio State University,
Alan H. Epstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
RADM Robert H. Gormley, USN (retired), The Oceanus Company,
James D. Lang, La Jolla, California,
Alton D. Romig, Jr., Sandia National Laboratories, and
Robert E. Whitehead, Henrico, North Carolina.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of
this report was overseen by Lee M. Hunt of Alexandria, Virginia. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.