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Speed, Integration Needed To Deter China, Russia
by David Vergun, DOD News
May 14, 2021
Peer competitors China and Russia are modernizing their
militaries at an astonishingly rapid rate, much faster than the
Defense Department, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff
said during a virtual address at the McAleese FY2022 Defense
Programs conference.
"The character of war is changing now in unbelievable ways at an
unbelievable pace. And that speed of change is, I think, one of the
biggest challenges for us because we have to figure out how to put
speed back in everything that we do. And right now the Department of
Defense is not good at speed. What we're good at is executing," Air
Force Gen. John E. Hyten said on May 13, 2021.
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Marines fire an M72A7 light antitank weapon during training in Kuwait, September 3, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew Skiver)
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Acquisition is a particular area that needs more speed, Hyten
added.
With speed comes a certain amount of risk,
Hyten said.
"Many people in our enterprise still like being very deliberate
and taking no risks, and making sure we understand everything before
we move forward. We like to make sure that every test works, and we
don't test until we're sure that it's going to work. We can't do
that kind of business anymore. We have to be able to go forward,
which means we have to give that responsibility to much younger
people in our formation," Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, vice
chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said.
The nature of
warfare is changing in radical ways that create an enormous
challenge and also an enormous opportunity, he said, mentioning
unmanned air, ground and sea vehicles, artificial intelligence and
machine learning.
Americans are the best in the world at
innovation. If DOD leverages industry and academia talent, Hyten
said he's confident that the department will excel in these and
other areas.
Seamless integration of the joint force in all
domains — sea, land, air, space and cyberspace — is also critical to
deterring adversaries and winning wars, if necessary, Hyten said.
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Sailors with the Commander, Task Force 56 retrieve a Mark 18 Mod 2 underwater unmanned vehicle during training aboard a Mark VI patrol boat in the Persian Gulf, May 5, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class William Collins III)
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Improved integration with allies and partners also is critical,
and a lot more work needs to be done in that area, Hyten said.
Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten also mentioned the importance of
modernizing the nuclear triad, meaning submarines, bombers and
intercontinental ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying
nuclear weapons.
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