Coalition Warfare Program
OUSD (AT&L) International Cooperation
The Coalition Warfare Program supports international cooperative development of technological solutions that enable U.S. and friendly armed forces to operate more effectively together across the full spectrum of multinational operations.
|
Templates
********************
FY09/10 Documents
********************
Selection Process Documents for FY10/11
|
Mission:
The CWP is a defense-wide effort to assist the Combatant Commanders, Services, and DoD Agencies in integrating coalition-enabling solutions into existing and planned U.S. programs. The program focuses not only on short-term, interoperability-enhancing solutions, but also on early identification of coalition solutions to long-term interoperability issues (architectures, coalition requirements, major system acquisition) with a broad range of potential coalition partners.
Why the Coalition Warfare Program is needed:
DoD leadership realizes that the U.S. must address coalition interoperability in parallel with its efforts to transform the U.S. military. Capability gaps continue to exist between the U.S. and its Allies. Some argue that the United States needs to fix it’s own joint interoperability problems first and then focus on interoperability with Allies. Working sequentially will further exacerbate the growing capabilities gap between U.S. and coalition partners that might prevent successful coalition campaigns. It also extends the time frames for U.S. legacy system replacement.
DoD strategy, policy, and recent combat operations all point to the criticality of early and continuous planning for more effective coalition operations. The 2008 National Defense Strategy outlines how DoD will support the National Security Strategy, including the need to strengthen alliances and build partnerships. In 1996, the emphasis on coalition warfare programs was outlined in the Secretary of Defense’s International Armaments Cooperation policy guidance. The policy states that cooperative research and development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) programs should achieve deployment and support of interoperable equipment with our potential coalition partners and maintain a focus on leveraging U.S. resources through cost sharing and economies of scale afforded by international cooperative research, development, production, and logistics support programs.
The Coalition Warfare Program approach to project opportunities:
The Coalition Warfare Program provides the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD (AT&L)) with the ability to initiate projects in prioritized capability areas determined by the USD(AT&L) and his counterparts.
As a program, CWP is designed to cut across stovepipes to improve international cooperation and interoperability early in development programs that are expected to lead to fielded systems. CWP takes a multidimensional approach to fostering cooperative projects that enhance interoperability between U.S. forces and coalition partners worldwide.
CWP projects are selected for their emphases on warfighter solutions that offer combatant commanders the capabilities they demand, such as coalition tactical communications, coalition ISR, coalition combat ID, and coalition logistics. In addition, CWP considers candidate projects for their portability and fieldability in developing solutions that are applicable to multiple combatant commands and that will reach warfighters quickly.
Lastly, to maximize the benefit to the US Government, CWP aims to support projects that leverage financial contributions, man-hours, technology, infrastructure and prior investment of both foreign and other DoD partners.
In maintaining this approach, CWP addresses the various challenges that encumber the DoD acquisition process. The Services, for example, focus on Service-unique issues first without assessing either cooperative opportunities or potential coalition interoperability implications of new projects. Secondly, the Combatant Commanders, charged with employing the CJTF, have little discretionary funding to "fix" systems related to Joint and/or coalition interoperability.
CW is helping to realize, in an efficient and cost effective manner, the security cooperation goals to develop coalition capabilities that Combatant Commanders repeatedly ask for (but seldom receive) to create and improve interoperability with allies and friendly countries we operate with in our new and enduring partnerships.
