Following from the RAAF’s Air Power Development Centre conference last week on technology in a disruptive world, the Sir Richard Williams Foundation debated the requirements for high intensity warfare the following day with a range of local and international speakers.
Williams Foundation chairman and retired Chief of Air Force AIRMSHL Geoff Brown set the scene for the day. “As the world moves rapidly to a more dangerous, multi-polar place after decades of counter insurgency and counter terrorism conflicts, what will be the impact be on the delivery and expectation for 5th Generation systems should the next conflict be high intensity?”
Former RAAF historian Dr Alan Stephens provided an excellent retrospective of where we’ve come from in terms of past high intensity conflicts, how the ADF responded, and the role played by alliances. Dr Ross Babbage, most recently of the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, then built on this theme with the importance of ‘planning and practising whole of alliance strategies’ in such cases.
Dr Babbage was also the bluntest of the speakers on the program when looking at the where and how of potential future threat scenarios. He explained the wider ‘bandwidth’ of diplomatic, espionage, and economic levers that both Russia and China use to achieve their broader strategic aims.
Retiring Rear Admiral Mike Manazir has joined Boeing after a 36-year career with the US Navy, but he spoke of a company-agnostic future in terms of fifth generation technology and the advantages it would bring to a high intensity conflict. Moving from the linear kill chain of find, fix, track, target, engage and assess the ability of a truly fifth generation force (as the ADF, not just Air Force, is well on the way to achieving he asserts), a self-healing kill web can be formed where ‘best sensor, best shooter’ truly is an option.
“We have the chance to overwhelm an adversary with our kill webs,” Manazir said. “It’s not all about how advanced your platforms are any more. It’s about how far your network reaches.”
He also noted the importance of internal champions, explaining the challenges of promoting new thinking against organisational inertia.
The role of AI and manned/unmanned teaming was also explored, which is a theme that is currently close to the heart of Army. “Manned and unmanned teaming can happen inside the OODA loop, with unmanned tech really good at the ‘O and O’ and humans at the ‘D and A’,” Manazir said.
Major General Marcus Thomson, Deputy Chief Information Warfare in Joint Capabilities Group, looked at the role that traditional and non-traditional information warfare played in this space. He recalled that one of the first moves the UK made in WWII was to cut Germany's sea lines of communication, in order to make the point that information warfare has moved from being a largely clandestine effort to one that is now publically discussed. MAJGEN Thomson remarked that the the Prime Minister's acknowledgement of Australia's offensive cyber capabilities in 2016 came as shock for the Australian public.
“But cyberspace for the ADF is still covered by Rules of Engagement,” he said. “It’s not a free for all.”
He also spoke of how partnerships between the ADF and whole of government, science and technology players, defence industry and security partners will be of huge importance as the lines of traditional information warfare blur.
Note: ADM Managing Editor Katherine Ziesing is a Sir Richard Williams Foundation board member.