Arlington, Va.— Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral William E. Landay III has unveiled a new Naval science and technology strategic plan that outlines in detail how the Department of the Navy will enable the Navy and Marine Corps of the future—and shape how Sailors and Marines will fight years and even decades down the road.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is the science and technology provider for the Department of the Navy. From GPS to unmanned aerial and undersea vehicles to language translators to countless other advances in use on the battlefield and in everyday life, ONR has been cultivating basic science and providing advanced technology to the sea services and the nation since 1946.
The Naval Science and Technology Corporate Board—composed of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; the Vice Chief of Naval Operations; and the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps—directed the Chief of Naval Research and ONR to develop a Naval science and technology strategy. This strategy will ensure that the investments of ONR and the Naval research enterprise support future innovative operational concepts as well as fulfill the needs of today’s warfighters.
The science and technology strategic plan has three principal goals: to ensure alignment of Naval science and technology with Naval missions and future capability needs; to balance and manage the science and technology portfolio; and to communicate the science and technology vision to decision makers, stakeholders, partners, and customers.
The strategy is divided into thirteen focus areas:
•Power & Energy
•Distributed Operations
•Operational Environments
•Naval Warrior Performance & Protection
•Maritime Domain Awareness
•Survivability & Self-Defense
•Asymmetric & Irregular Warfare
•Platform Mobility
•Information, Analysis and Communication
•Fleet/Force Sustainment
•Power Projection
•Affordability, Maintainability and Reliability
•Assure Access and Hold at Risk
Investments in these focus areas will result in a Navy and Marine Corps that will have:
•Domination of the electromagnetic spectrum and cyber space
•Implemented directed energy—fighting at the speed of light
•Achieved persistent, distributed surveillance in all domains
•Achieved comprehensive maritime domain awareness with large vessel stopping and weapon of mass destruction detection for enhanced maritime intercept operations
•Incorporated affordability into platform design and construction
•Adaptive wireless communications networks
•Decision tools to give commanders tactical advantage
•Determination of threat intent through social and cultural understanding
•Lighter, faster, more lethal Marine forces
•Accelerated team training and skill development
•Increased operational effectiveness through more efficient power and fuels
•Responsive and visible logistics to enable distributed forces
•Greater tactical advantage through superior knowledge and use of operational environments