Members of the technical community, supporters of submarines, and all of the members of the allied Subma-rine Forces from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway with us tonight, welcome and thank you for traveling such great distances to join us for this year’s Submarine Technology Symposium. I am happy to see all of you here.
Thanks to all of the presenters who provided extremely informative and thought provoking presentations over the last two days. I know your work will bring you and the Submarine Force great success. Just remember what Henry Kissinger said, “Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.”
Special Thanks to ADM Rich Mies, V ADM George Emery, VADM J. Guy Reynolds, and Mr. G. Dan Tyler. These are the men who dedicated numerous hours coordinating and organizing this event which is so very important to the technological advancement of my Submarine Force. And gentlemen, I want to commend your organization for having such an astute and diplomatic Program Chairperson, Erik Johnson. Most program directors tell me they want, “a short speech • a real short speech”. Erik put it in a much more tactful way. He said, “Admiral, your reputation speaks volumes. So you don’t have to.”
Erik, I’ll do my best.
Today is the 16th birthday of the World Wide Web. Starting with military computer experiments in the 1960s, the next two decades saw a rapid increase in technological advancement as universities and research centers also got onto the Internet. In late 1990, the Briton Tim Berners-Lee devised the basic elements of what he named the “World Wide Web.” He developed the basic languages of the Web (HTML and HTTP) and wrote the program for the first Web browser.
On May 16, 1991 Bemers-Lee’s vision of a universal medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange was first activated. ln 1994, he founded the World Wide Web Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, comprismg various companies that were willing to work together to create standards and make recommendations to improve the quality of the Web. As we all know, with the advent of the personal computer its use skyrocketed as people looked for easier and cheaper ways to get their computers to communicate.
The maritime strategy of the future will also require a consortium: An international consortium of naval forces that will work together to build a global information network. This network will be necessary to enhance awareness and provide security on the high seas, into the littorals, and on the landward side of the littorals, because adversaries may use the maritime commons almost anywhere and at any time. Due to geographical, political, legal and capacity limits, the United States will require international cooperation to achieve the necessary domain awareness required to maintain maritime security. As part of Admiral Mullen’s Global Maritime Partnership Initiative-the J,000-Ship Navy, we are working with Submarine Forces from 27 nations, representing more than 224 submarines. Through operations, exercises, mutual agreements, and staff talks with our allies and partners around the globe, we continue to increase our interoperability and strengthen partnerships in the name of U.S. national security and to promote the economic and political stability that secures the benefits of globalization for all maritime nations.
First and foremost in the area of interoperability technological advances is communications. An affordable, secure communication system that allows multi-national interoperability and information exchange is necessary to facilitate the global domain awareness needed in the future.
While as submariners we speak the same technical language, our communication technologies and procedures are significantly different and in many cases behind the times. Even with significant effort and funding, we find ourselves falling further and further behind the above-water naval and military forces, at the risk of becoming obsolete.
I recently observed arctic operations with USS ALEXANDRIA and HMS TIRELESS at Ice Camp. They were able to effectively use digital acoustic communications to communicate with the ice station and, to a limited extent, with each other. However, the communications were slow. Before our arrival but shortly after the ALEXANDRIA surfaced she began to develop a list due to a shift in the surface ice. The list soon reached 19· and ALEXANDRIA needed to submerge quickly. The TIRELESS was still deep and the ships had a difficult time communicating to coordinate safe water-space separation before ALEXANDRIA could dive. We need to continue to improve the interoperability and effectiveness of acoustic modems that will make communications with friendly forces throughout the normal operating limits of speed and depth possible.
As you all know, two British sailors tragically lost their lives during this exercise when an oxygen candle exploded. On behalf of the US Submarine Force, I would like to take this opportunity to voice my condolences to you, RADM Cooke, and your nation.
The allied maritime network of the future will require secure, affordable communications with crypto that allows us to talk with all friendly forces.
To support this, the cryptographic equipment will need to be: Compact-with a significantly reduced footprint than current systems; Interoperable-because multinational cooperation will be required to establish a common operating picture; and Ro-bust-with the ability to easily conduct chat, e-mail, and Voice-Over-IP communications. The Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System, referred to as CENTRIXS, is a baby-step the U.S. military is taking toward this end.
CENTRIXS forms a network backbone of what is envisioned to become a global infrastructure, allowing the U.S. to share information rapidly with coalition partners worldwide, in support of local, regional, and global combined operations.
It provides secure operational and tactical information sharing between U.S. and Coalition maritime forces in the forms of classified e-mail and chat services with a future capability of Voice-Over-lP. The technology is already installed and operating on surface and shore facilities in the U.S. fleet. CENTRIXS has been used in the Pacific and in the Middle East by our coalition partners. I am working to fund this system on my submarines and, combined with new technologies that will allow submarines to communicate while deep and fast, the submarines of the future will be an integral part of the global information network. We will be able to quickly provide the kind of critical information that only a submarine can get, to anyone that needs it.
As I said earlier, communications technology is my first and foremost area of focus, but advances in interoperability can not stop there. By sharing responsibilities and coordinating all areas of technological advancement, we will not only bring critical capabilities to our fleets faster than a unilateral approach, but also at reduced costs, improved efficiencies, and greater effectiveness.
A great example of international cooperation and sharing of technology is the Submarine Combat System and ADCAP CBASS Armaments Cooperative Project between the United States and Australia. We have made great progress to jointly develop, produce and support the MK48 ADCAP CBASS Heavyweight Torpedo and the AN/BYG-1 Submarine Combat System.
Torpedo Maintenance and Analysis Facilities have been constructed and are up and operating in Perth and Adelaide respectively. HMAS WALLER, the first Collins Class submarine with this new capability, will put to sea later this year.
Just four years after the tragic loss of KURSK, ISMERLO, the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office, was established. What began as the NATO Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group, in the last three years ISMERLO has brought together global submarine rescue into a single capability. Each nation represented here today and almost every Submarine Force in the world has joined the Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group. Through international exercises and four rescues or contingencies, most notably the rescue of seven Russia sailors from a Russian deep submergence submarine off Petropavlovsk in August 2005, the global submarine community has demonstrated our ability to work together to communicate effectively and respond quickly to any submarine disaster. ISMERLO is fully aligned with established global protocols developed to respond to civilian search and rescue at sea, codified in numerous treaties and international agreements with members from 3 7 nations around the globe covering all the world’s oceans. Its success requires close and continuous coordination between nations to ensure that compatibility and interoperability are maintained across national rescue assets.
When determining the best method for communicating and coordinating response teams, the architects found a web-based information system to be more efficient and a better alternative than phone line communication. ISMERLO provides a Real-Time system to coordinate sub rescue response via its website. This is just a small step toward the dynamic and robust command and control structure we will need to provide security on the seas.
The United States Submarine Force is dedicated and working hard to increase the sharing of technology with our allies and to leverage each others knowledge. I look forward to exploring new initiatives and sharing ideas that will reduce the time for new technologies to reach our fleets and the cost of modernizing our submarines.
When I graduated from the Naval Academy 32 years ago, I could not have predicted the impact the internet and World Wide Web would have on our society. But in just a few years, it’s become a fundamental part of daily life… providing education, trade, resources and community for the world.
Technology has become one of the great equalizers of our time. We no longer live in just local communities. We live in virtual communities that transcend borders and physical boundaries. We are only bound by two limits: imagination and determination.
Submarines are still at the forefront of technology. They are the platforms our nations will summon to establish and maintain maritime security in the anti-access environment if needed. We must continue to work together now to build the partnership, capabilities and processes necessary to push the limits so that we will be ready when called upon.
