Mapping Artifi cial Intelligence to the
Naval Tactical Kill Chain
Dr. Bonnie Johnson
1
, Dr. John M. Green
1
, Gregory Burns
1
, Todd Collier
1
, Richard Cornish
1
,
Kyle Curley
1
, Allan Freeman
1
, Jared Spears
1
1
Naval Postgraduate School, Systems Engineering Department
Abstract
is work explores the use of arti cial intelligence (AI) for
enhancing the naval tactical kill chain. Naval operations
place high demands on sailors to maintain situation
awareness, conduct missions, and be prepared for con ict
while operating a variety of warfare systems in concert with
the eet command structure. Naval operations become more
complex as they involve the use of weapons. e series of
tactical processes and decisions involving weapons use is
referred to as a kill chain. An e ective kill chain requires
identifying and understanding threats, determining courses
of action, executing selected actions, and assessing their
e ects. Kill chains are a particularly stressing category
of tactical operations as they must be implemented with
limited and uncertain knowledge, within critical and
demanding timelines, relying on a variety of advanced
technology systems, within highly dynamic and changing
environments, and with grave consequences. e Navy is
studying AI as an emerging technology for improving kill
chain operations by reducing uncertainty, increasing the
speed of decision-making, enhancing decision assessments.
is paper presents an evaluation of AI methods for their
e cacy in supporting the speci c functions of the naval
tactical kill chain.
Introduction
Naval operations are dynamic, and during con ict, they
become highly complex. Operating a variety of advanced tech-
nology systems (including ships, aircra , sensors, communi-
cation systems, and weapons) with teams of war ghters in the
maritime environment establishes a baseline of challenging op-
erations. In a con ict or crisis situation, the pace of operations
increases and can become highly volatile; uncertainty abounds
in situation awareness and knowledge of the battlespace; and
e ective decisions are critical to mission success and carry
weighty consequences.
A naval tragedy involving a weapon engagement, was the
tragic surface-to-air missile shot by the USS Vincennes cruiser
that shot down the commercial aircra , Airbus A300 in 1998,
killing all 290 occupants on board (Pasley, 2020) (shown in
Figure 1). is tragedy involved time-critical decision-making
under stress (Johnston et al, 1998).
is incident represents the decision complexity involved
in naval operations and speci cally highlights challenges
within the observe-orient-decide-act (OODA) loop, a model
TECHNICAL PAPER
FIGURE 1. USS Vincennes launching missile from its deck.
Source: CBS News (n.d.).
NAVAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL March 2023 | No. 135-1 | 155
