As the Pentagon moves resources to address the new era of strategic competition, uncrewed systems – in the air, in the sea, and on land – will be the tip of the sword for our sailors, marines, soldiers and airmen. This era is evolving to one that is multi-domain, features rising peer and near-peer adversaries, and is driven by industry innovation.
 
For the U.S. to maintain its security advantage in a multi-domain battlespace where force overmatch is no longer an absolute, a strategic shift needs to take place from a reliance on large and expensive traditional military assets to a distributed warfare and force structure.
 
Wahid Nawabi, President, Chairman and CEO of AeroVironment, a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, spoke with AUVSI about how a transition to distributed warfare, supported by unmanned systems, will maintain U.S. competitiveness this new era.
 

Distributed Warfare and Unmanned Systems Support U.S. Competitiveness

Nawabi described AeroVironment’s support for a distributed warfare construct, which prioritizes small unit resiliency, flexibility and interoperability. This concept would be supported by organic, connected and intelligent unmanned or robotic systems that are capable of executing multi-domain operations in contested environments.
 
As Nawabi explained, “We can’t be competitive if we invest too much into one platform.” Instead, the U.S. military and defense apparatus must conceptualize and architect a system of systems, end-to-end solution.
 
Nawabi shared an example of how the U.S. military currently procures piecemeal solutions by deploying drones to inspect operating bases. Within a system of systems solution, leaders would instead procure the best integrated solution to ensure complete security, which would include unmanned systems that autonomously survey facilities, are programmed to alert personnel to situational changes and can seamlessly execute responsive actions as directed.
 
“While the United States still remains the strongest force in the world, its ability to maintain military supremacy— especially against these formidable peer and near-peer competitors— has eroded. The challenge we face today is to find new, more effective and affordable ways to achieve force overmatch,” Nawabi said.
 

Changes Needed to Evolve to a Distributed Warfare Construct

To implement this concept, the U.S. military needs to take advantage of opportunities to further integrate uncrewed systems and automated technologies. Leveraging innovations from the commercial sector to the fullest requires internal and external stakeholders – from Congressional appropriators to DoD procurement officers and end-users downrange – to learn from each other and build trust in these capabilities.
 
As stakeholders increasingly understand that U.S. competitiveness in the new era of strategic competition cannot be maintained only through superiority in conventional weapons systems, there is a growing emphasis on innovation in development and speed in delivery of advanced technologies.
 
However, obstacles remain for small and mid-sized companies in the defense industrial base. Nawabi described how Congress must fund distributed systems and DoD must change its mindset about the acquisition process, with both increasing support for companies that are nimble, competitive and understand the high caliber required to do business with the Pentagon. Nawabi explained how the innovative commercial sector can invent new categories of systems that perfectly meet mission needs. These systems would require only a fraction of the amount of funding currently allocated to large, traditional systems.
 
“Companies like AeroVironment are at the forefront and at the heart of making those capabilities possible. That is our strategy, our focus, and in our DNA.” Nawabi said, adding: “The Pentagon isn’t moving quickly enough on these types of solutions.”
 

The Future of Strategic Competition Within a Distributed Warfare Construct

Implementing distributed warfare construct, with flexible and resilient systems, will achieve key DoD goals of greater impacts, decreased costs and U.S.-driven innovation.
 
“Something like the internet and software revolution will happen to the unmanned systems and autonomous technologies industry too,” said Nawabi. “When industry is able to lead and demonstrate concepts, we see innovations that best achieve the end mission goals.”
 
In the new era of strategic competition, AUVSI and its defense industry members – including small and mid-sized companies – are dedicated to supporting changes to the program design and acquisition process so that unmanned systems can become the primary tools relied on by the U.S. military to maintain its competitive advantage around the world.
 
Learn more about AeroVironment’s defense solutions here.