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Integrated Deterrence: Implications for Maritime Strategy
No full textThis research explores the U.S. Navy’s role in the strategy of integrated deterrence, which is outlined in the 2022 National Defense Strategy of the United States. The strategy involves the effort to integrate traditional (air, land, maritime, nuclear) and emerging (cyber, space) warfare domains to create synergies and efficiencies to bolster deterrence. This research explores how the philosophy animating integrated deterrence might influence nuclearconventional integration at sea, the Navy’s overall role in national defense, and true integration in an emergent joint Army-Navy-Marine setting in the western Pacific. These findings, which highlight a lack of emphasis on deterrence in ongoing debates about future strategy and force structure, can influence ongoing efforts to reshape the Navy as part of Navy Force Design 2045.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Naval Research ProgramOPNAV N7 – Warfighting Developmen
Maximizing Mission Success and Employee Work-Life Balance in Workplace
Get PDFMany Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) employees have a history of working some days in the office and some teleworking. This pattern was supported by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to enhance employee performance, engagement, work-life balance, and overall productivity. However, a recent return-to-office mandate has disrupted that pattern, presenting challenges to employees and managers. As the Navy transitions to in-office work, strategies are needed to maintain productivity, satisfaction, and morale. This study reviews literature related to managing teleworkers, hybrid workforces, and former teleworkers returning to work full-time in employers’ offices. Success factors and best practices are identified, and results of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (July 2024) are reviewed to identify strengths and weaknesses in NETC climate. Results of a subsequent survey indicate that return-to-office requirements have negatively impacted morale and increased intention to leave, but also that managerial support can improve attitudes toward returning to the office. This, in turn, affects individual and team morale. Supervisors and employees had different perspectives on the pros and cons related to requiring everyone to be in the office, but in general both recognize the impact on work-life balance and employees’ well-being. Results of the study inform recommendations to support mission success and employee well-being at NETC.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Naval Education & Training Command (NETC)Naval Research Progra
Advanced Analytics for Emerging Maritime Threat Activity Detection
No full textNPS NRP Executive SummaryCorrectly identifying potential adversary vessels or groups of vessels in the open ocean, or in dense shipping lanes, is a challenge. Difficulties arise when adversary vessels perform repetitive behaviors to condition observers. This can introduce observer bias by reducing apparent anomalous behavior. Big data has been collected for observing maritime traffic, especially activities of adversary fleets and proxy vessels (e.g. coast guard, fishing, civilian, and merchant ships). Our study focused on developing advanced detection algorithms to discriminate indicators of malicious, deceptive, and adversarial behaviors to warn fleet warning officers and focus Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets. Using Variational Autoencoder (VAE), which is a class of self-learning/unsupervised learning algorithms that learn patterns and reconstruct time series using models represented as a series of transformers. We were able to show an improved methodology to greatly filter and identify tracks and events that bear further investigation in areas of concern. Power Spectral Density (PSD) heatmaps were also developed to localize anomalies to space and frequency by performing unsupervised learning. Future efforts could include incorporating distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) as a new source with other sensors for potentially validating and corroborating events for object detection and classification.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFLTFORCOM
Vice Chief, Distinguished Alumnus Adm. James Kilby Celebrates NPS’ Fall Quarter Graduates
No full textVirtual Reality and Augmented Reality Applications
Get PDFNPS NRP Executive SummaryI Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) requested an evaluation the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (XR) applications to identify a common system to enhance training and operational effectiveness for the U.S. Marine Corps. The primary research question focused on how VR/AR/XR technologies, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision (CV), can be utilized across various mission use cases within the Marine Corps. Site visits to research laboratories to evaluate available technologies and systems such as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Perceptually-Enabled Task Guidance (PTG) technology. PTG, using AI and CV, can provide real-time task instructions, significantly improving task performance and training efficiency, particularly in maintenance and combat medicine scenarios. We found that the incorporation of PTG and VR/AR/XR systems would streamline complex tasks, enhance training outcomes, and improve operational efficiency, while also noting the physical and psychological effects of prolonged use.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Marine Corps Forces Command (COMMARFORCOM
Alternative Fuels Enabling Unmanned Concepts of Operations
Get PDFThis project applies a systems engineering process to assess objectives and requirements for in-theater fuel generation to enable future unmanned systems concepts of operation (CONOPS). The Navy is developing new CONOPS that rely on teams of manned and unmanned systems to increase warfighting capability. Implementation of those new CONOPS will place new burdens on the platforms and processes that the Navy employs to fuel and sustain its systems. This project developed a discrete-event simulation that modeled three-day persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations from Arleigh Burke class destroyers using four different classes of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the MQ-35A V-BAT, the RQ-7 Shadow, the RQ-21 Blackjack, and the MQ-27A/B ScanEagle. A commercially available combination of systems is identified to support in-theater hydrogen generation. Results indicate that the RQ-7 Shadow is likely to stress the system beyond its capabilities, negatively impacting operational availability and diesel fuel usage. The fuel capacity of individual UAVs does not have a statistically significant impact on results. The burn rate of hydrogen fuel for individual UAVs needs to be reduced by 25% to realize acceptable performance in operational availability and diesel fuel usage.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research ProgramAssistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment
Achieving Cyber Resilience for Short Industrial Control Systems Using Machine Learning Methods
No full textNPS NRP Executive SummaryThe Building and Utility Controls Systems (BUCS) across Naval installations require robust anomaly detection and forecasting to ensure cyber security and enable conditional maintenance. In this work, we study anomaly detection using various machine learning (ML) algorithms. These algorithms facilitate classification of single and multi-point anomalies that may occur on a BUCS operational technology (OT) system. This study has two facets. The first facet is to provide proof of concept for anomaly detection in a BUCS OT system. The second facet is to build a novel small-scale OT and sensor system into which we introduce four distinct single point faults and anomalies. We use three supervised ML algorithms: Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), State Vector Machine (SVM) and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) to facilitate detection and classification of these various anomalies. Second, we collaborate with the Control Systems Cyber Engineering group at Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) to study the utility of using ML on their BUCS testbed. Specifically, we collaborated on the development and build out of their testbed to include ML platforms, data collection processes and storage. This research fills a critical gap in anomaly detection for BUCS and sets a precedent for future advancements at Naval installations.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)N2/N6 - Information Warfar
Evaluating Choices on Cyber Operations and New Weapon Technologies
No full textNPS NRP Executive SummaryThis report provides the findings of an examination of how the distribution of offensive cyber operations (OCO) and defensive cyber operations (DCO) contributes to the achievement of strategic goals. Drawing on established theories of the relationship of offensive and defensive weaponry in terrestrial conflict domains, the examination develops a methodological framework to examine the relative contributions of OCO and DCO to offensive and defensive cyber strategies and overall multi-domain outcomes. The assessment in this report identifies challenges and opportunities in associating offensive and defensive cyber capabilities with appropriate offensive and defensive strategies. Some challenges are intrinsic to the dynamic effects of specific weapons technologies on conflict outcomes, while other challenges are specific to the conditions of the cyber domain. The report identifies principal complicating factors in associating OCO and DCO selections with strategic outcomes: • the dual-use and indistinguishable nature of some of the most sophisticated cyber weapons, • the opacity of operations incumbent to the cyber domain • the complexities and data acquisition impediments in calculating precise relative costs associated with developing and utilizing offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, • the information paucity exacerbation of motivated analytical biases, and • the sometimes inverted relationship of OCO and DCO to offensive and defensive strategies, respectively. These findings support the importance of developing a precise and empirical evaluation methodology associating objectives achievement in the distribution and balance of OCO and DCO missions to the underlying operational and strategic objectives of those missions. Such development will advance evaluation of U.S. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command (FCC) / U.S. TENTH Fleet (C10F) choices on incorporation and utilization of cyber capabilities in naval operations.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)N2/N6 - Information Warfar
Assessment of Energy Storage and Generation for the Amphibious Assault Ships
No full textThis report addresses the critical challenge of early-stage microgrid planning for directed energy weapon systems, which present significant pulsed power demands on naval vessels. To tackle this, the research employed a two-pronged approach: leveraging existing simulation tools and developing a custom scenario analysis application. Investigations utilized theNaval Postgraduate School Microgrid Planning Tool to model the energy storage requirements for directed energy weapon engagements. Simulations of pulsed power loads revealed the rapid energy depletion experienced by battery energy storage systems, underscoring the potential need for energy storage solutions with high discharge rates, such as hybrid systems incorporating supercapacitors. The project found that a hybrid energy storage system consisting of a battery and a supercapacitor is the best alternative for serving pulsed power loads on the ship. The battery can store the energy and use the supercapacitor to meet the rapid power discharge needs. However, given space and weight considerations, the battery will need to be recharged with onboard generators. Limitations of battery storage will likely limit the number of engagements before recharging the battery is needed.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program; N9 - Warfare System
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF SUPERHYDROPHOBIC STAINLESS STEEL COMPOSITES
No full textAs manufacturing technology continues to improve, the Navy can benefit from the use of novel materials that prevent corrosion, decrease drag on ships, and decrease hydrodynamic noise as platforms move through the water. This research studied the development of materials that achieve these goals by demonstrating superhydrophobic surface behaviors. Composite materials made up of 316L stainless steel powders and various concentrations of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) were mixed and printed via laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED). The additively manufactured surfaces were meant to mimic naturally occurring hydrophobic surfaces. Material characterization was conducted using contact angle analysis of water droplet tests, imaging of the powder and solid coupons in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), and optical profilometry. Although the composites were successfully mixed and printed, it was found that the surfaces remained hydrophilic due to the macroscopic nature of the surface roughness created through the LP-DED printing process. The basis for this research was promising and the continuing development of additive manufacturing technologies can lead to mass production of superhydrophobic surfaces using hierarchically structured geometries in functionally graded materials.Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release: Distribution is unlimited.Ensign, United States Nav