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Greater Trust on ...

which is a crucial enabler of exposing junior leaders to the dynamic security
environment. However, the ‘delegation of authority’ continues to be the essence of
modern day concept of ‘Mission Command’. The success of delegation of
authority will depend on the understanding from both bottom-up and top-down in
the competitive decision-making cycle. But a smaller navy’s option for ‘delegation
of authority’ has been traditionally challenged by factors of different dimensions.
Sparing platforms for coast guard roles ultimately creates great difficulty on
the ability of a small navy to fulfill its primary roles. Limited real-time data sharing
capability hinders the maintaining of Recognized Maritime Picture (RMP) at sea
leading to increased fog of war. Heterogeneous equipment source of armed forces
(Army, Navy and Air Force) makes interfacing and interoperability less effective.
Hence, competitive decision-making cycle of target identification and coordinated
attack distinctly lacks jointness which is critical to success in present and future
naval warfare.
Ill-structured narration in OEM supplied operating manuals of weapons,
sensors and equipment remains as a significant hindrance to operational readiness
of the platform. Lack of a culture that takes calculated risks by senior leadership is
a core impediment in delegating greater responsibilities to junior leaders and
subordinates. The most likely reasons for such a centralized approach in
decision-making are the fear of accepting failure by the higher echelon and a lack
of trust in subordinates. Resultantly, subordinate officers and sailors are not
mentally or institutionally encouraged to contribute effectively in a de-centralized
execution environment. However, smaller navies fervently need to orchestrate their
efforts with a view to adopting with the faster and competitive decision-making
cycle of the future naval warfare. In this regard, several core steps are
recommended from this study. First, reduce overreliance on foreign OEMs through
either standardization of procured platforms and or indigenization of the same. It
would ensure better integration of equipment and RMP which in turn would better
facilitate the decision-making process. Secondly, develop a more flexible construct
by building teams through trusting subordinates. Increased responsibility and
promoting initiative should be the underlying concept of entrusting subordinates.
Thirdly, initiate a culture across the institution that encourages decentralization or
delegation of authority to subordinates and expects leaders to take prudent risk.
Tactical leaders need to focus on the art of decision-making to overcome the
disadvantage of geographical depth against sophisticated adversaries.

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