The Navy is working to digitize its infrastructure and operations. (Graphic by Breaking Defense, original images via Getty and DVIDS)
WEST 2025 — The way the US will beat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in a near-term Indo-Pacific conflict won’t be with new ships, but with a focus on cutting-edge software and artificial intelligence that will help close the kill chain, according to a Navy tech officer.
The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) “has tasked us with being able to close that kill chain against the PRC, our peer competitor in the western Pacific, no later than Jan. 1, 2027,” Chief Technology Officer of Task Force Hopper, Lt. Artem Sherbinin, said during a panel discussion here at the West naval conference.
“New warships … are not coming. New aircraft are not coming in that timeline. … But software is,” he said. “Software delivery to ships is impacting the Red Sea fight today. We are updating those ships at sea and making them more lethal.”
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Sherbinin is in a key position for any focus on software, as the task force he’s on is primarily aimed at enabling AI and machine learning integration across the service.
His mention of 2027 is likely a reference to what’s known as the Davidson Window, the time at which the US says Chinese leader Xi Jingping has told his military he wants the capability to invade Taiwan, should he decide to. (Xi reportedly told US officials he never made such a mandate.) US Navy CNO Adm. Lisa Franchetti highlighted the 2027 deadline in her 2024 navigation plan, dubbed Project 33 [PDF].
Closing the kill chain refers to the process of using a myriad of sensors to detect, locate, identify and track targets before attacking them with the most effective measure available. Better software, updated constantly, can keep the US ahead of its enemies, Sherbinin suggested.
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“Software closes the kill chain faster and tightens that OODA (observe, orient, decide, act) Loop, because software cycle times and software production times and software deployment and delivery times are much faster. So, the rate of change is faster in the world of software and AI, as opposed to the world of large platform-centric warfare,” he said.
Addressing an audience including sailors, government officials and industry — many of whom are involved in the use, purchase or production of physical armaments — Sherbinin was sure to say software isn’t the whole ballgame.
“Artillery shells still matter. Tomahawk still matters. Standard Missile Twos and Sixes still matter,” he said.
