One of transformation’s founding fathers, retired Vice Admiral Art Cebrowski, used to end many of his PowerPoint presentations with a cartoon. It showed a soldier finding cover under a barrage a bullets talking on a cellphone. The cartoon bubbled said something to the effect of “With all due respect Sir, I need a little less net-centricity and more bullets!”
Clever take on the cellphone. Evidently you can get a signal anywhere in a net-centric world. Thank you, critical nodes.
Cmdr. Greg Glaros USN (ret.), who used to work in Cebrowski’s Office of Force Transformation, contends that land vehicles need to be more net-centric to get information about those bullets before they are overhead. Although Glaros says the technology is out there, he fails to name names or provide a solution to fix the acquisition noose that stifles quick fielding.
It is an operational desire to prevent the cartoon situation above. But can we talk price here? The tech is out there. We’ve got the platforms to put them on. Will Glaros’ next article talk about cost-overruns on netted systems? Being more net-centric may mean more lives saved and shorter engagements, but how much more will it cost?
To read the article, please click here.
1 comment:
The performance for connectivity mentioned already exists in two platforms: Tacsat 1-4 and Stiletto. The cost came to approximately 10-15% of total project price - in line with the costs necessary for you to post clever titles on this blog - they include your modem, Ethernet, ISP and cell phone services. The next gen connectivity design is being developed by small businesses in West Virginia, Northern VA, and MD. Each system staying within specified cost and being delivered on time - typically less than a year.
Post a Comment