Thread by @Missile_Defense

The CSIS Maritime Security Dialogue with @tomkarako and Rear Admiral Tom Druggan is starting! Look forward to a fascinating conversation on Aegis.

@tomkarako LINK TO JOIN: csis.org/events/maritim…

RADM Druggan, PEO Aegis BMD: Introduces the Aegis system and its missile defense mission. Summarizes the threat: "Today's fight at sea is a missile fight."

Druggan presents "the coloring book": the 1973 document describing the foundational systems engineering principles behind Aegis. He notes DDG-108, the 100th Aegis destroyer, is named for Wayne E. Meyer, "Father of Aegis"

Druggan: reducing Aegis system latency is key. "what you see on your radar...when you see on your screen, a representation [of the target], it's not there...it's moved." There's a limited error budget for error that adds up in the radar beam, missile flight, ship nav, etc.

Druggan: There's "very significant magic in radar tracking" and in the weapons system to reduce latency in every step of the system's operation. Error and latency in each step adds up.

Druggan: "what's our capability against a raid of these threats...or against a mixed raid [of ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles]."
"Firepower, it's why we need so many VLS cells folks...it's why we need firepower."
Ability to "attrite the raid" via layered defense.

Druggan's summary of the "cornerstones" of Aegis:
1) Environmental performance (natural and manmade)
2) Reaction time
3) Firepower
4) System availability/operational availability
5) Area coverage

@tomkarako asks about "Wayne Meyerisms" relevant today. Druggan: "build a little, test a little, learn a lot." Meyer's approach predated agile software development, but it's the same philosophy.
"We've done model-based systems [digital] engineering from the beginning."

Druggan now discussing lasers on ships. In maritime environment, there's an evaporative duct: "a layer of heavy, dense, humid air" Current requirements being tailored to scale with these conditions in mind.

Druggan: "We had about 13 baselines [versions]" of the Aegis system. This was unaffordable. After concerted effort, simplified and upgraded forces down to Baselines 5, 7, and 9. At MDA Director Hill's prompting, focus on deploying open architecture design starting B8 and 9.

Wants fleet composition to go from Baselines 5, 7, 9 to 5, 9, and 10. Future baselines will all draw from same codebase with Aegis' Common Source Library. "It is paying dividends today, and it will pay dividends in the future." 13 software versions down to 3.

Druggan discusses deployment of NIFC-CA sensor integration protocol: Aegis ship can now get sensor data from aircraft, other assets to shoot missiles further. Was difficult software and standards effort: "Timing matters, quality matters, end-to-end latency matters."

Oftentimes the range of Aegis' interceptors can exceed the ship's own sensor range. NIFC-CA extends range by allowing ship to "see" the target further out, or behind the horizon, with other sensors with sufficiently low latency. These types of shots are called "engage-on-remote"

MDP diagram of the engage-on-remote intercept.

Don't forget to ask Rear Adm. Druggan questions! Link here to audience submission form:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

"Why do the radars change, why do we have so many variants?" Druggan: Often times radar is expensive to change wholesale, but the backend and signal processing can be changed, or deckhouse can be reduced from 2 to 1, without changing other hardware.

SPY-1DV: upgraded for clutter, SPY-1DB, changed deckhouse. SPY-6—move to all digital, solid-state components. Major upgrades for SPY-1D currently being contemplated after study done after 2018 NDS. Low-Noise Amplifier, a sensitivity upgrade. For Baseline 9, a Digital LNA.

Druggan details the finer points of extracting more radar performance: "polarization diversity really opens up doors to new capability" that became available in only 2015, 2016.

Asked about AI/ML, Druggan notes that Aegis has had automation built into the system from the beginning. Aegis operators "are comfortable with and use daily" automation in every aspect of fire control.

Druggan: AI/ML useful in a few ways:
1) "under the hood": reviewing TBs of target data (datamining). Already used in BMD discrimination algorithms. Also used for evaluating potential engagement scenarios, training off of datasets of simulated engagements

2) Decision aids. Notes in studies how human-machine teams outperformed purely human or machine approaches. Example: in air traffic control, machine helpful for inferring which aircraft might be hostile, neutral, or friendlies. Helping cue the human and reduce info overload.

Druggan details the interceptor portfolio. Notes SM-3 IIA expands battlespace so much when linked with engage-on-remote.

missilethreat.csis.org/defsys/sm-3/

Druggan: C-RAM and CIWS useful for small boat threat. Variants of the CIWS for the land mission have also been used to defend U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Druggan, asked by audience about lessons from Aegis for fulfilling the defense of Guam. Aegis already does hypersonic and cruise missile defense, at 360 degrees, and already has engage-on-remote/launch-on-remote capability.

Ongoing debate: "do you want to disperse" the Aegis deckhouse? "Or do you want it mobile?" "where would we put launchers on Guam," and need to study if naval interceptors qualified for overwater intercept can intercept over land, esp. for cruise missiles.

Druggan: "we really need" hypersonic missile defense for Guam.