The Navy League's 2018 Sea-Air-Space Exposition continued, April 10, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Events for day two of the exposition included panels on rapid innovation, innovation in shipbuilding, and cross domain integration.

Panelists for the Rapid Innovation Panel included Vice Adm. William R. Merz, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems; Coast Guard Vice Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, deputy commandant for mission support; Lt. Gen. Robert S. Walsh, commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant, combat development and integration; and Ronald O'Rourke, specialist in naval affairs, defense policy and arms control section, Congressional Research Service.

During the panel, Merz discussed how speed of innovation is critical in today's Navy, and how getting the most effective warfighting capabilities to Sailors in a timely manner is paramount to the fleet's success.

"This year's theme in Sea-Air-Space [is] 'Learn, Compete, Win,'" said Merz. "Those things were specifically chosen by the CNO (chief of naval operations) because those are the enablers for the Navy the Nation Needs as we're going forward. Each one of those is steeped in innovation as an enabler, and collectively, together they're going to get us where we need to go."

He mentioned that current threats are advancing more quickly than ever before, and the ways in which the Navy is working harder than ever to compete with, deter, and win against those threats. By advancing efforts in contracting, acquisition, and testing and evaluation of new technology, Merz said the fleet is becoming more agile and is increasing its lethality as a result.

He also spoke on how the Navy is working to balance the speed of innovation with building a bigger fleet, all while maintaining current shipboard and airborne readiness. By referencing the CNO's Navy the Nation Needs Strategy, Merz expanded on the need to keep ships, submarines and aircraft operating effectively in a more competitive environment, while still making advancements in technology and increasing the number of platforms and personnel.

"It's clear that readiness, capability and capacity can no longer be handled individually, or stove-piped," he said. "They all have to be linked. They all have to be coordinated together."

For the Innovation in Shipbuilding Panel, panelists included Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Rear Adm. William J. Galinis, program executive officer, ships; Rear Adm. John P. Neagley, program executive officer, littoral combat ships; Coast Guard Rear Adm. Michael J. Haycock, assistant commandant for acquisitions, chief acquisition officer; and Allison Stiller, principal civilian deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

During the panel, Moore discussed many of the ways in which modern ships are becoming more technologically advanced and operationally diverse than in the past. In his remarks, he spoke particularly about how living in a "digital age" is positively impacting the Navy's shipbuilding programs.

"We're going to have to think differently about how we build ships, going forward, if we're going to go match the pace of technology in this age of acceleration," Moore said. "So, this concept of building ships with a lot of space and weight and power on them, I think, is really going to mark where we're heading in shipbuilding today. It allows [the] ships to be able to be agile to face future threats, and by providing that additional space, weight and power on board, we can face the future threat going forward."

Moore likened today's innovations in shipbuilding to what the defense industry learned, especially from the automotive industry, during World War II to manufacture enough ships, aircraft, and equipment to aid in the Allied effort. He said the industrialization and rapid advancements in manufacturing at that time are very akin to the current development in leveraging technology during the shipbuilding process.

During his remarks, Neagley also spoke about how digitization is contributing to shipbuilding innovation, and how user feedback and modularity are aiding in both manned and unmanned platforms as well.

"One of the keys, particularly in the unmanned domain, to going quickly is to get user feedback [in] real time," said Galinis. "We can learn quickly to inform the design, so we can start delivering those to speed and scale. It flattens our decision-making process, and allows us to learn quickly and accelerate the acquisition process by getting that fleet-user input quickly. Like the shipbuilding program, modularity is important ... [and] having things like standard interfaces that are available for industry to understand, so when we bring a new payload on board those vehicles, we can make sure that capability remains relevant for longer periods of time."

To round out the day's discussions, Sea-Air-Space Exposition attendees had the opportunity to attend a panel on cross domain integration.

Panelists included Rear Adm. David J. Hahn, chief of naval research; Rear Adm. James W. Kilby, director, warfare integration, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Adm. John W. Tammen, director, undersea warfare division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Adm. Ronald A. Boxall, director, surface warfare; Rear Adm. Scott D. Conn, director, air warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Maj. Gen. David W. Coffman, deputy commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force; and Mark Andress, assistant deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare.

During the panel, talks centered on linking warfighting capabilities across all communities of both the Navy and Marine Corps. Panelists discussed how fighting a war on the ground, from the air, from the sea, and across cyberspace must be a synchronized, networked effort; and how interdependency plays a vital role in maintaining the lethality necessary to fight well and win.

"Over time, we looked at the rise of different threats out there, and we realized that it's not about us, surface warfare; it's about us, the entire Navy," said Boxall. "I've been here longer than anybody in the requirements job ... and I look and I say, 'How are we using surface ships to maximize the capability of our force?' And conversely, 'What is it that I need submarines, aircraft and the network to do to improve what I can do with my ships?' That's what's different [about cross domain integration]."

By examining and restructuring factors such as research and development, shipbuilding and maintenance, manpower and training, and science and technology, each panelist highlighted different ways in which today's Navy is working to become a more integrated force capable of meeting the challenges of the present and future.

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