Since its inception nearly three decades ago, the Submarine Technol- ogy Symposium—sponsored by the Naval Submarine League and hosted by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
—has served as a prime platform for collaboration and addressing tech- nology challenges that affect the future of the undersea domain.
A capacity audience of approximately 500 attendees gathered in APL’s Kossiakoff Center on its Laurel, Maryland, campus over three days in May. The attendees learned about and discussed innovative and critical technologies that have the potential to further undersea capabili- ties and mission execution.
In its 29th year, STS focused on a theme of “Delivering a Spectrum of Effects from Under the Sea.” According to the 2015 Commander’s Intent, Submarine Forces, undersea assets enjoy key attributes— stealth, technological advancement, highly trained crews—that “permit opera- tional, deterrent, and combat effects that the Navy and the nation could not otherwise achieve … These effects may be delivered within the un- dersea domain or across domain boundaries; they may be delivered from submarines far-forward or in broad ocean areas; they may be the result of carefully coordinated operations with other forces or achieved by inde- pendent operations; and they may be accomplished in peacetime, a time of tension or during conflict.”
The vision for this year’s STS was to focus on the advances neces- sary to meet this challenging Commander’s Intent; namely, to enable discussion of innovative and critical technologies that expand undersea capabilities to achieve missions across this spectrum of effects, with spe- cific emphasis given to the technology’s relationship to the mission. Ad-dressing this focus helped inform the undersea community regarding the move to domain effects from advanced platform capabilities, advanced payloads and off-board systems.
“Each year, we strive to put together this truly unique opportunity for those in the submarine force and undersea warfare community,” said Lisa Blodgett, head of APL’s Force Projection Sector. “Attendees hear from Submarine Force leadership, Fleet speakers, and subject-matter experts to learn both about operational challenges and about the latest undersea technology advancements. The venue includes technical pre- sentations, hands-on exhibits, and opportunities for networking discus- sions.”
The conference kicked off on May 9 with opening remarks by re- tired Admiral Kirk Donald, Chairman of the Board, Naval Submarine League, followed by a keynote from VADM Joseph Tofalo, Commander, Submarine Forces. Additional keynote speakers during the symposium included Submarine Force leaders RADM Fritz Roegge, Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet; RADM (Sel.) Bill Merz, Director, Un- dersea Warfare Division; VADM Terry Benedict, Director, Strategic Sys- tems Programs; VADM James Foggo, III, Director, Navy Staff; VADM Rick Breckenridge, Deputy Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; RADM Michael Jabaley, Program Executive Officer Submarines; and Ron O’Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs in the Congressional Re- search Service.
Industry, research, academic, government, and military speakers contributed to daily sessions covering a variety of topics, specifically Seabed Warfare, Vital Intelligence, Undersea Based Deterrence, Sea Control, and Effects Ashore.
The technical session on Seabed Warfare, led by Session Chair Pierre Corriveau and Assistant Session Chair Louis DiPalma, both of Raytheon, focused on technologies and future concepts that expand U.S. ability to exploit seabed topography, infrastructure, and obscurity as well as adversary technologies that may challenge that mission.
Session Chair Dave Pistacchio and Assistant Session Chair George Zvara of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center led a technical session on Vital Intelligence. Technical papers were presented on technologies, fu- ture concepts, and processing innovations that improve submarine intel-ligence collection and expand the exquisite understanding of the adver- sary and battlespace, along with technologies that may present potential challenges to this mission.
Session Chair Bob Bacon and Assistant Session Chair Alex Edsall, both of Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, led the Undersea Based De- terrence technical session. Covered during the session were papers dis- cussing technologies, future concepts, and concepts of operations that capitalize on undersea advantages to provide both a survivable strategic deterrent and a robust conventional capability to deter both nuclear and conventional conflict and adversary technologies.
The Sea Control technical session was coordinated by Session Chair Giles Gibson and Assistant Session Chair Justin Morrison of APL. It included four technical papers related to innovative technologies to im- prove submarine search, detection, classification, approach, and engage- ment of adversary submarines and surface ships. Session participants also discussed the need to enhance protection of sea lines of commu- nications and maneuvering space and denial of same to the enemy, in addition to adversary technologies that may present challenges to this mission.
The final technical session of the conference was Effects Ashore, led by Session Chair Karl Hasslinger and Assistant Session Chair Jennifer Panosky, of General Dynamics – Electric Boat. Papers were presented on innovative technologies that improve submarine operations and mis- sion execution in shallow water and close proximity to land.
Attendees also heard from various Fleet representatives – includ- ing CAPT Erik Burian, Director for Training, Tactical Development and Doctrine on the staff of the Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet; CAPT Rob Gaucher, Commander, Submarine Development Squadron 5; CDR Dan Reiss, Commanding Officer, USS New Mexico (SSN 779); and CAPT Brian Humm, former Commander of Submarine Squadron 19 – whose presentations connected the session technology discussions to Fleet challenges and opportunities.
Attendees also had the opportunity to take in 16 exhibits during the three-day symposium. On the last day of the conference, retired RADM Charlie Young, the 2017 STS General Chair, moderated a roundtable discussion with panel members RADM Roegge, RADM (Sel) Merz; RDML Moises Deltoro, III, Deputy Commander, Undersea Warfare; and George Drakeley, III, Executive Director Program Executive Officer Submarines.
“We worked hard to create a program of diverse work, from a di- verse group, with a focus on operational context and utility, to provide our attendees with the most relevant and interesting information related to the undersea domain,” said Angela Sarich, of APL, who served as symposium Program Chair. “We addressed the historic, core missions related to undersea operations, and presented the latest techniques and technologies that can give the Fleet the tools and systems they need to maintain our nation’s superiority.”
The authors and exhibitors at the symposium were selected by ses- sion chairs, and received final approval from the executive committee led by RADM Young, who served as Chair, and Blodgett, STS Co-chair. The first STS was held in 1988 at APL, which has hosted every sym- posium to date. The inaugural symposium was conceived as a classified forum where technologies relevant to capabilities of submarines and re- lated systems could be advanced and examined by experts in various technical fields. Today, STS is considered the premier technical confer-
ence on submarine-related technologies.
The 30th Submarine Technology Symposium will be held at APL on May 15-17, 2018.
