The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the Navy’s primary battlefield technology organization based in San Diego, is now officially known as the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWARSYSCOM).
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced the name change June 3. While the new name was first reported Feb. 13, it was not official until the June 3 announcement at the Information Warfare Senior Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C.
The organization serves as the acquisition authority for the Navy’s command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities as well as business IT and space systems. This includes the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services contract, which provides network services to ships at sea, and the Mobile User Objective System, a satellite program that offers smartphone like capability to ships on the move.
According to a June 3 press release, the name change aligns with the command’s mission and will help reflect the focus and capabilities of the command.
“In this era of great power competition, information is a fundamental element of warfare, an essential concept of the Navy’s strategy, and a warfare area that transcends the traditional domains of air, sea, land and space,” Rear Adm. Christian Becker, the head of the new organization, said in a press release. “This name change underscores the importance of information warfare in providing our fleet with an unfair advantage in today’s complex and increasingly competitive security environment.”
NAVWARSYSCOM has headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina, as well as in San Diego, California. They each received new monikers in February 2019 and are now respectively known as the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic and NIWC Pacific.
This name change is not the first in the organization’s history. In May 1985, the Navy disestablished Naval Material Command and Naval Electronic Systems Command, which then became SPAWAR.
Kelsey Reichmann is a general assignment editorial fellow supporting Defense News, Fifth Domain, C4ISRNET and Federal Times. She attended California State University.
