The dot-com bubble may have burst, but the U.S. Navy is still in the market for entrepreneurs with promising innovations. It has revamped an office within the Office of Naval Research to seek out solutions then move them rapidly to the fleet. As the Navy sees it, this is a win-win proposition. Warfighters get cutting-edge tools that meet their requirements, and companies have the opportunity to get a piece of a $28 billion pie-the service's acquisition budget.

Decisions that the U.S. Navy makes in key areas during the next several years could shape not only the sea service itself, but also the way U.S. and foreign militaries fight in the future. Ships and aircraft under development, next-generation weaponry, unmanned systems and joint concepts are among the issues that experts believe the Department of the Navy must address today so that alternative strategies can be analyzed well in advance of the need to take action.

As with the weather, the ongoing rollout of the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet is sometimes sunshine and sometimes storms. Now entering its fourth year of work, the program has experienced smooth sailing and unexpected squalls in its adaptation of commercial processes. Despite some grumbling in the ranks and the underestimation of the magnitude of issues such as legacy applications, the U.S. Navy not only is making steady progress but also is discovering unforeseen benefits from its decision to tackle information technology acquisition in an innovative way.

At the end of this decade, warfighters will begin using an advanced satellite system to maintain on-the-move connectivity with small handheld and vehicle-mounted radios. The planned constellation will provide U.S. military and civilian government agencies with a mobile communications capability that currently is not available. New waveforms and algorithms will permit cellular telephone-size devices to receive signals through dense jungle canopies and bad weather.

An advanced wireless communications system soon will allow military and civilian users to access spectrum more efficiently than does current equipment. Radios using this spectrum allocation technology will sense their local electromagnetic environment and transmit messages through available areas of spectrum. Designed for global use, these intelligent devices will store nations' spectrum protocols on microchips for automatic, seamless operation without the need for lengthy frequency allocation negotiations.

A recently adopted international standard protects military radar and scientific satellite transmissions against potential interference from wireless local area networks. It provides a toolkit and guidelines for manufacturers to modify their products to switch automatically to alternate channels when these signals are detected.

A great deal has been written about how information technologies represent a new industrial revolution, and many of the changes of that revolution have reached into virtually every corner of our lives. Yet, that two-decade-old transformation is now being changed by a revolution emerging from within: the advent of ubiquitous wireless connectivity.

Many of the same concerns that vex civilian and commercial users of the Internet confront the Atlantic alliance as its militaries embrace Web-based technologies in their ongoing transformations. Yet, the technological changes that are underway offer so many advantages that NATO members must find ways to incorporate them into their military operations.

The ability of the United States to detect and track moving targets and strike with precision using stealthy platforms now is well-known. This operational advantage incorporates numerous cutting-edge technologies and has revolutionized the way the nation prosecutes the fight, shifting the national security paradigm and fueling our drive for the next steps in transformation. U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper, USAF, recently stated, "The day is coming when prompt global strike will be a reality, when the kill chain will be reliably and consistently compressed to minutes instead of hours or days." The nation will provide even quicker and more lethal response when called to action, enabled by technology and our ability to execute an essential Air Force core competency: technology to warfighting.

Network-centric warfare is widely acclaimed to be the centerpiece of military transformation. It has been embraced enthusiastically by the United States and some allied armed forces. However, critics question whether this nascent philosophy is yet fully deserving of star billing. They urge more thoughtful analysis, extensive operational experimentation and testing, and firm budget and procurement commitments before its precepts become frozen into doctrine, organization and strategy.