Advanced directed energy weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cyberweapons, and artificial intelligence (AI) powered combat systems have transformed modern warfare.

Moreover, the use of cognitive electronic warfare integrated with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning is also improving warfare capabilities.

These modern warfare technologies have created new challenges and opportunities for military strategists, policymakers, and international relations.

One such technology is being developed by the U.S. Navy, known as the integrated combat system (ICS), which is expected to conquer all the other modes of naval warfare.

In this article, we will explore the development of the ICS and also explore how it is expected to become the ‘nirvana of one combat system.’

What Led to the Development of the Integrated Combat System?

The U.S. Navy launched Project Overmatch, which is its contribution toward all domain command-and-control efforts funded by the Pentagon.

Project Overmatch enables reliable connectivity among forces across land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace and also powers international collaborations with allies.

It is based on software-defined communication as a service framework, where software decides the prioritization of information and the path of distribution of that information to a decision maker.

The project as a service will incorporate unmanned and automated systems, which will act as data-collecting nodes while providing required intel to the naval personnel.

At the core of project Overmatch, the Navy is developing the integrated combat system, which is a single hardware-agnostic software suit that all ships can utilize for missions as a collective or individual force.

Development of an Integrated Combat System

In light of project Overmatch, the Navy is planning to implement a single, integrated combat system that runs on every ship without specified hardware or training for sailors.

An integrated combat system is designed to integrate multiple technologies and platforms, such as artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, and advanced sensors, to create a networked system that is capable of detecting and responding to threats in real time.

The integration of AI in the software would eliminate the need for expensive hardware installations, which would allow the Navy to save billions of dollars.

Moreover, the ICS also relies on advanced machine learning algorithms for modeling and simulation to suggest possible courses of action to users.

The Navy will be able to control all other systems through this all-powerful combat system, which will operate as the central nervous system of the human brain and the center of all activity for operating different parts of the ship.

Rear Admiral Fred Pyle spoke about this technology at a naval conference in Virginia. According to him, “integrated combat system (ICS) will enable a surface action group, a strike group and a fleet — or any combination of Integrated Combat System-equipped ships — to operate as a single system, to become a system of systems.”

For instance, coordination between the weapons systems of the ship and other naval assets, such as aircraft or shore-based command centers, will allow for coordinated operations which maximizes the effectiveness of operations.

This integrated combat system would create a user-friendly multilevel security-protected computing platform by enabling the easier collection of intelligence data or intel in real-time.

Furthermore, the ICS will also control the ship's weapons systems, such as guns, missiles, and torpedoes, provide targeting information to the weapons systems, and automatically engage targets based on predefined rules of engagement.

The ability to pair any sensor to any shooter will enable quick decision-making and effective action during high-risk or low-risk missions.

Future Implications

In the future, this technology will allow for the coordinated use of missiles, directed-energy weapons, and jamming capabilities across the group of ships.

Through ICS, fleet ships would be able to connect and agree on a course of action based on factors such as location and munitions stocks.

The Navy hopes that the ICS will introduce more unpredictability, making it difficult for U.S. adversaries such as China to predict American naval formations.

The Navy plans to integrate traditional combat systems in the ICS, such as the Aegis Combat System for surface combatants and the Ship Self-Defense System for amphibious ships and aircraft carriers.

For instance, Lockheed Martin, an American defense and security multinational corporation, is contributing to the development of the ICS as a containerized and virtualized software that can run on intricate computer servers, allowing ships to pull what they need on demand.

The decoupling of hardware and software allows the Navy to move toward an information-as-a-service model, where ships might extract what is required on demand rather than having to store the entire software library onboard.

In 2022, Lockheed Martin successfully transitioned the Aegis and Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS) into a continuous integration that included tools to pull the right pieces of software needed to conduct a certain mission.

Rear Admiral Fred Pyle also said that efforts like these would “deliver the software to achieve the merger of Aegis, SSDS, and other systems we have out there, so we get to that nirvana of one combat system.”

The U.S. Navy is still in the early stages of developing the ICS, but it plans to make it a program of record in the history of naval warfare within the next two or three years.

Conclusion

The U.S. Navy's Project Overmatch is a testament to the power of advanced networking capabilities and upgraded information-sharing systems in modern naval defense and warfare.

By integrating and optimizing systems such as cognitive electronics, the ICS, and AI, the Navy is improving its ability to gather, process and disseminate information across all levels of command.

This will enable the Navy to operate more effectively in joint and coalition operations, improving the overall effectiveness of the U.S. military.

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