Air Power 2017

21 ST CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS AIR POWER 2017 71

21 ST CENTURY CAPABILITIES

A P-8A Poseidon flies
over USS Zumwalt
as the ship travels
to its new home
port of San Diego,
California (PHOTO: US
NAVY ERIK HILDEBRANDT)

altitude ASW capability and weapons delivery.

• Maritime ASUW provider. With long-range,
  long-endurance and large-payload capacity,
  the P-8A Poseidon will give combatant
  commanders a credible ASUW capability that
  is tactically agile, can self-designate targets at
  range, can reposition quickly and do so nearly
  anywhere in the maritime environment.


• Maritime ISR provider. The Navy’s first MQ-4C
  Triton Unmanned Aircraft System squadron,
  VUP-19, is up and running in Jacksonville, Florida.
  The Triton will bring a persistent maritime ISR
  capability unmatched anywhere in the world.
  Flying at altitude with incredible endurance,
  the Triton completes our MPRF Family of
  Systems concept of operations by augmenting
  and extending the eyes and ears of the P-8A.
  The Triton’s persistent “long-stare” capability
  will enhance the operational picture of the
  battlespace for the afloat commander and
  allow the manned P-8A to prosecute targets
  more accurately and meet other priority
  tasking. VUP-19, or Big Red, will receive its first
  baseline Triton during its detachment at NAS
  Ventura County, California in summer 2017, and
  VUP-19 crews and maintainers have already
  begun fly-as-you-fight training alongside VX-1
  testers at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.


• Command and control provider. Perhaps
  nowhere else in the realm of joint and
  combined maritime operations is the value

of interoperability at the platform and unit

level more critical than in MPRF interfaces. The

Tactical Operations Centre (TOC) and Mobile

TOC (M-TOC) will support both P-8A and allied

MPA platforms when global interests of bilateral

and multilateral commitments press for joint

operations. With six brick-and-mortar TOCs and

12 fully manned M-TOCs, we can cover all our

training, homeland defence, and “hub-and-two-

spokes” deployed operations. Our M-TOCs will

also be outfitted with the capability to dispatch

self-contained media fly-away kits (FAKs) in

support of short duration P-8A detachments.

On a personal front, it has been an honour to

lead the US Navy Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance

community during a critical time in which we’ve

invested in furthering our relationships with key

MPRA partners around the globe. I remain

confident that we will succeed in our efforts for

greater interoperability – in line with the USN’s

Chief of Naval Operations’ intent as expressed in

a Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority.

The MPRA community is at the forefront of “A Naval

Force that produces leaders and teams who learn and

adapt to achieve maximum possible performance,

and who achieve and maintain high standards to be

ready for decisive operations and combat.” One way

we will achieve this combat effectiveness is through

strong partnerships, enabled by greater interoperability

with our closest allies, including the UK’s RAF.