Editorial: America’s Pacific Force Structure Takes Shape

V-22 Osprey (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

By Robbin F. Laird

Through new capabilities like the Osprey and F-35, the U.S. and its allies are building a 21st century attack and defense enterprise.

The U.S. Navy-U.S. Marine Corps team is at the heart of a strategic evolution of 21^st century U.S. military forces, notably in the Pacific. An inherent characteristic of many of the U.S. military’s new systems is that they are really about presence and putting a grid over an operational area, and therefore they can be used to support offensive strikes or defensive actions within an integrated approach.

In the 20th century, surge was built on the notion of signaling. One would put in a particular combat capability – a Carrier Battle Group, Amphibious Ready Group, or Air Expeditionary Wing – to put down a marker and warn a potential adversary that you were there and ready to be taken seriously. If one needed to, additional forces would be sent in to escalate and build up force.

With the new multi-mission systems, the key is presence and integration able to support offense or defense in a single operational presence capability. What is emerging is a 21^st century attack and defense enterprise.

The strategic thrust of integrating modern systems is to create a grid that can operate in an area as a seamless whole, able to strike or defend simultaneously. This is enabled by the evolution of C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance). By shaping a C5ISR system inextricably intertwined with platforms and assets – which can honeycomb an area of operation – an attack and defense enterprise can operate to deter adversaries or to conduct successful military operations.

Inherent in such an enterprise is scalability and reach-back. By deploying the C5ISR honeycomb, the shooters in the enterprise can reach back to each other to enable the entire grid of operation, for either defense or offense. 

Read the full 2 page story at The Diplomat