Publication:Plan Blue 2006/Navy Strategy to 2025
Contents |
109. To be able to deliver effective response options to Government it is critical that Navy continues to evolve to meet future challenges. To take this evolutionary path, decisions must be made with an eye to where Navy needs to be in the future. Continuous, incremental improvements must be made throughout Navy. The future we desire will be achieved through the leaders of today.
110. The Navy Innovation Strategy (NIS) is integral to the evolution of the Navy. The NIS process is designed to guide capability development efforts and make sure ideas are encouraged, tested and the results analysed. This ensures that the best elements of ideas are adopted and those not suitable are discarded. The starting point is the Future Maritime Operating Concept 2025 (FMOC 2025) endorsed by COSC in December 2005, which describes the way Navy will deliver maritime combat power as part of a joint or combined force in the future. Plan Blue 2006 then provides strategic guidance for development of a Future Navy that is capable of delivering the combat power conceived of in the FMOC. How Navy achieves the goals in Plan Blue 2006 will be articulated in Navy Force Structure Strategic Guidance (NFSSG), Plan Green and a new follow on strategy, The Navy Strategy - Charting the Course to 2025. The NIS is described in Diagram 2.
Maritime Experimentation Program (MEP)
111. The MEP is the Navy's premier experimentation process undertaken in support of Navy's future interests. The focal point of the MEP is the '2 Year Offset Experimentation Cycle'. The experiments in this cycle are known as the Headmark series and are widely known as the Navy's primary experimental program. The testing of the FMOC lies at the core of the Headmark experimentation campaign. Navy Futures is tasked with experimenting against the FMOC in order to validate or otherwise maritime warfighting concepts and inform future capability development. The MEP is conducted by Navy Futures in partnership with DSTOMOD and has strong links to the Army Headline and RAAF Headway series of experiments.
112. While Plan Blue 2006 examines the rationale (the why) for future capabilities (the what), the implementation of this strategy (the how) to achieve the goals in the Plan Blue 2006 vision will be through Plan Green and a new follow on strategy, The Navy Strategy - Charting the Course to 2025.
113. Strategic guidance for the Future Navy must be turned into tasks, resources, timings and responsibilities. This is achieved through Navy Force Structure Strategic Guidance and Plan Green, Navy's medium-term (10 year) capability management plan. Plan Green explains what Navy intends to do to meet capability and command responsibilities. In generating the Navy strategy map and strategic objectives, senior leaders are to remain aware of the guidance in the preceding pages and shape actions and decisions so that Plan Green aligns with both short-term and long-term Navy development goals. Navy Force Structure Strategic Guidance identifies capability gaps across the FICs and serves as the path for implementation of Navy's capability goals. The Navy Strategy - Charting the Course to 2025 will describe in detail the Navy strategy for achieving the goals articulated in Plan Blue 2006.
114. Readers of this document should, where appropriate, now seek out the NFSSG, Plan Green, Navy Strategy 2025 (when published) and the other supporting documents to complete their understanding of, and participation in, the evolution of Navy.
Conclusion
115. Plan Blue 2006 is the Chief of Navy's strategic guidance for the evolution of the Royal Australian Navy and transition to the Future Navy. It has highlighted the significant challenges Navy will face during this transition. The articulation of goals in the areas of people, major systems, supplies, support, facilities, organisation, command and management and collective training will ensure that today's decisions can be informed by a view of Navy's future. This will result in a Navy, as part of a joint force, that continues to deliver effective options to Government for the defence of our nation.
