In the wake of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle's new "hedge strategy" fighting concept, companies are working to introduce frameworks aligned with the strategic guidance, including shipbuilder HII.

Caudle’s new fighting instructions contain concepts like tailored forces -- scalable units meant to lessen the workload on the Navy’s general-purpose fleet. Meanwhile, tailored offsets will consist of attritable, unmanned surface and undersea vessels built with the purpose of surveillance, area denial and offensive strike.

“As the needs of the Navy evolve to include new warfighting concepts that integrate a high-low mix of carriers, large and small surface combatants, submarines, aviation and unmanned systems, all synchronized through an enhanced mission command framework, industry must also evolve,” Eric Chewning, executive vice president for maritime systems and corporate strategy at HII, told reporters Friday in advance of next week's annual Sea-Air-Space conference.

To evolve, HII plans to further integrate manned and autonomous unmanned capabilities, bolster command and control for autonomous platforms, implement containerized and modular systems, and use open architecture. The company’s surface combatants, ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels, REMUS unmanned undersea vehicles, Minotaur Mission Management System and Odyssey Autonomous Control System are all a part of this effort.

Through this strategy, HII seeks to embrace the Defense Department’s overall embrace of acquisition reform, company leaders said Friday.

“Acquisition reform is reshaping how the department buys, builds, fields and sustains capability,” Chris Bishop, HII’s chief growth officer, told reporters. “We're seeing a dramatic cultural shift from one that once avoided acquisition risk at all costs to one that now accepts some acquisition risk to reduce operational risk. Speed is a requirement, not a preference. The process is becoming more flexible and modular.”