Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday asked Rear Adm. Douglas Small, head of Naval Information Warfare (NAVWAR) Systems Command, to lead an effort called Project Overmatch to develop a network that will link manned ships, submarines and aircraft to unmanned vessels to facilitate targeting information and intelligence sharing, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.
“Your goal is to enable a Navy that swarms the sea, delivering synchronized lethal and non-lethal effects from near-and-far, every axis, and every domain,” Gilday told Small in the Oct. 1 memo obtained by the publication.
“Specifically, you are to develop the networks, infrastructure, data architecture, tools, and analytics that support the operational and developmental environment that will enable our sustained maritime dominance,” the memo reads.
Gilday expects Small to come up with a plan by December 2020. During a virtual discussion, Gilday noted that he expects the Navy’s version of a tactical network to connect to the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) system of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.
The memo comes as the Navy prepares to release a shipbuilding plan, which could include over 200 unmanned ships equipped with sensors and weapons systems.
