Fleet Experimentation

Abstract

Mission: The Fleet Experimentation (FLEX) program seeks out and examines potential materiel and non-materiel solutions and develops recommendations to enhance the Fleet's ability to execute assigned missions through 12 to 15 major analytic activities annually. The activities include workshops, war-games, and live at-sea events. The activities are integrated into a multi-year experiment campaign aligned to Fleet priority capability gap areas. FLEX is co-led by Commander U.S. Fleet Forces Command (CUSFFC), Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet (CPF), and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe - Africa (CNE-AF) to address priority Fleet warfighting gaps. Commanders' FLEX guidance is directly linked to the January 2021 Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Navigation Plan (NAVPLAN) guidance to continue refinement of concepts and capabilities through experimentation. FLEX priorities are aligned to CNO NAVPLAN Naval Integration Framework (NIF) pillars. FLEX planners collaborate directly with the NAVPLAN Integration Framework (NIF) teams to inform gap closure plans for Long Range Fires (Ca-5), Command and Control Counter-Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (Ca-4), and Navy Operational Architecture (NOA)(Ca-2). Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Unmanned Systems are considered enabling capabilities for FLEX. FLEX planners also collaborate with these NIF teams. FLEX initiatives are tied to CNO-approved Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept capability requirements, Fleet warfighting gaps, and Key Operational Problems (KOP). FLEX is aligned with National Defense Strategy lines of effort 1 and 3 as identified in the FY20-22 Business Operations Plan, which highlights the need to increase experimentation, war-games, and exercises. FLEX also supports the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy. USFFC N8/N9-manages the FLEX investment -- $75M (FY23-FY28) - to support planning, execution, analysis, and reporting for analytically rigorous experiments leveraging small scale Limited Objective Experiments (LOE), scheduled fleet exercises, and high-end operational rehearsals such as Fleet Battle Problems (FBP) and Large Scale Exercises (LSE).

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Document Details

Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2024
Source ID
3319_0606355N_6_1319_PB_2024

Tags

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control

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