Photo By Robert Fluegel | Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach, commander of Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR) and the...... read more read more
Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach, commander of Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR) and the Navy’s IBoss; and Ms. Liz Nashold, NAVIFOR deputy commander, took the stage at the AFCEA Hampton Roads Maritime IT Summit - DON IT EAST, June 4-5.
With a focus on the critical role data plays in warfighting, the summit connected DoD leaders with industry partners to deliver capabilities to warfighters.
During the event, Aeschbach delivered a keynote address underscoring the essential role of information warfare (IW) across all domains.
“We are not only just our own warfighting area, but we impact every other warfighting area in the high-end fight. You can't do anything without a piece of us. If you're involved in aviation, you're driving a ship, you're in a submarine under the water – information warfare has to be integrated for you to be successful,” said Aeschbach,
Aeschbach also elaborated on the multifaceted role of IW and how IW capabilities enable all naval operations.
“Information warfare is more relevant and critical than ever. And if you want to be able to defeat an adversary, frankly, just want to be able to stay in competition, you must do that through our three pillars. You need assured command and control, and that involves the movement of vital data. You need enhanced battlespace awareness; that's both an understanding of the threat but also an understanding of how to capitalize on the environment that you're operating in, and essentially knowing whether your systems are going to work as intended. And then if you're going to integrate fires, kinetic or non-kinetic, you need a piece of us. We are the lifeblood of maneuver.”
Aeschbach also emphasized the critical role of data in staying in competition.
“Data is our lifeblood – everything we do is about data,” said Aeschbach. “We need data at the right time. We need to ensure battlespace awareness and enable warfighters and commanders at every level to anticipate the challenges they're going to have, and data is fundamental to that. Data brings decision advantage. And so we need to put thought into how we eliminate data silos, how we improve data transparency and accessibility, how we promote collaboration and innovation, and how we ensure data is flowing to all decision makers as swiftly as possible.”
Aeschbach also delved into the critical significance of the electromagnetic spectrum in modern warfare, noting, “Spectrum is already vital to our daily mission and vital to national security, but as we continue to operate in a more information dominant environment, how we use the electromagnetic spectrum and our access to it across all domains for all operations is absolutely vital. We need to be focused on how we retain appropriate access, how we can operate, and how we continue to develop our capabilities so we have the most agility to maximize maneuver throughout the spectrum.”
On day two of the summit, Nashold participated in a panel alongside Navy and Marine Corps leaders and discussed the broader implications of data and its maneuverability to warfighting.
"Warfighters who can sense, make sense and act on information faster are going to win. And that's what we want to do - we want to win. And data is central to winning. Data is central to information warfare. Data is central to battlespace awareness, for assured command and control and integrated fires. And those three pillars of information warfare underpin every single other warfare area in the Navy. And so when we think about data and data maneuverability from a type command perspective, it's essential to what we do,” Nashold explained.
In the same vein, Nashold also highlighted the unique training challenges faced by IW professionals, emphasizing an area where having the right data is critical: in Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) training environments.
"One of the things that is unique to information warfare when we talk about training is that we have a lot of limitations. We can't tip our hand to our adversary. The things that we need to train to from an information warfare perspective we can't actually demonstrate in an open environment. We may not actually have the authorities to do what we need to do – things like being able to work in the electromagnetic spectrum. So IW in the LVC environment is critical."
This week’s summit brought together military leaders, industry experts, and academic scholars to discuss the evolving landscape of information warfare and its critical role in ensuring naval superiority. Aeschbach and Nashold’s insights provided a comprehensive overview of the current and future challenges and opportunities across the IW domain, emphasizing the need for integrated, data-driven approaches to maintain a competitive edge.
NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our leadership of the IW Enterprise, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready IW forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.
For more information on NAVIFOR, visit the command Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavalInformationForces/ or the public web page at https://www.navifor.usff.navy.mil.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2024 12:02 |
| Story ID: | 473243 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 145 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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