Open Architectures and the Future of Manned-Unmanned Teaming

Presented by HII Mission Technologies

John Bell, Chief Technology Officer for HII Mission Technologies, says autonomous and unmanned systems are among the most important developments shaping the future of defense technology. But Bell’s focus is not on autonomy as a stand-alone category. He is more interested in how autonomous systems can work alongside manned platforms and extend the effectiveness of the force.

Bell says the conversation has moved well beyond drones that simply go out and collect imagery. Autonomous systems are now emerging across every domain: air, surface, and subsurface. Their value comes from their ability to do dangerous, dirty, or repetitive jobs that would otherwise consume people, put them at risk, or limit how commanders use manned forces. In that sense, autonomy is not replacing the warfighter. It is changing the way the warfighter commands, supervises, and coordinates the fight.

A central shift Bell describes is the movement from “human in the loop” to “human on the loop.” In the older model, a human operator may be involved in every action or decision. In the emerging model, the human provides commander’s intent, monitors execution, and allows autonomous systems some degree of freedom to achieve objectives. That shift requires trust, but it also requires architecture. Autonomous systems cannot deliver value if they cannot connect, communicate, and interoperate with the rest of the force.

Bell says integration is one of the hardest problems the department faces. The government increasingly wants to buy commercial products and adopt off-the-shelf capabilities. That can help with speed, but it also creates complexity. Many commercial systems were not designed for Department of Defense missions, and they were not built from the beginning to work with existing military platforms or other commercial tools.

For Bell, modular open systems architecture, or MOSA, is a foundational answer. He explains MOSA as breaking systems into pieces and defining how each piece interfaces with the others. Companies can still protect their proprietary technology inside the component, but the way that component connects to the broader system must be open and understandable. That allows systems from different vendors to work together, gives the government more flexibility, and reduces the risk of being locked into a single supplier.

Bell says the defense community has gained momentum on MOSA because leaders have seen examples of it working. He points to HII’s work on the Army’s Enduring High Energy Laser program, where open systems architecture was part of the approach from the beginning. By sharing interface specifications with the government and component vendors, HII can help create a system that is flexible, competitive, and mission-focused.

The result is a different model for defense technology integration. The future force will not be built around one closed system or one vendor’s complete solution. It will depend on architectures that allow new capabilities to plug in, evolve, and work together. Bell’s message is that autonomy and AI will only move at the speed the architecture allows. Open systems are not just a technical preference. They are a requirement for speed to the warfighter.