By Henry Kenyon Future U.S. Air Force pilots will rely on an extensive array of sensors and interconnected platforms to detect and destroy enemy forces. Lessons learned from recent combat operations over Iraq support the service’s network-centric operational concept that envisions shortened sensor-to-shooter cycles, networked weapons and increased information sharing among all echelons.
The Air Force’s efforts to develop a fully enabled network-centric system are one facet of this larger endeavor. According to Maj. Gen. Charles E. Croom Jr., USAF, director for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance infostructure, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration, U.S. Air Force Headquarters, Washington, D.C., the service’s current road map for network-centric operations was established by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper, USAF, in an April 2002 speech. In that statement, Gen. Jumper said the goal for his service is to shorten the kill chain through increased battlespace awareness and machine-to-machine interfaces. Gen. Croom adds that this vision is part of a larger joint plan to share information among all of the services to enable faster reaction on the battlefield.
Last year’s combat operations in Iraq served to reinforce Gen. Jumper’s joint vision, Gen. Croom says. Machine-to-machine interfaces proved critical to shortening decision times, and shared awareness between joint and coalition forces was vital to the success of operation Iraqi Freedom.
Blue force tracking technologies were a major success in operation Iraqi Freedom. The system permitted commanders and pilots flying ground support missions to locate coalition and enemy forces on the ground quickly. Expanding and enhancing this system are high priorities for the services, Gen. Croom says.
Weapons datalinks are another technology the Air Force is developing. The goal is to Internet protocol (IP)-enable weapons such as cruise missiles so that they can communicate with other platforms once they have been launched. In addition, the Air Force is examining the potential of persistent area surveillance by multiple airborne platforms. Gen. Croom notes that in recent war games, the service modeled the capabilities of several future technologies such as persistent surveillance, directed energy weapons and networked operations (
SIGNAL, May, page 31). However, he says, technologies that enable networked operations proved to be the most valuable in these scenarios.
Citing collaborative targeting as a networking example, the general explains that to locate a moving signal, such as a mobile surface-to-air missile emitter, current intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms must triangulate it. Collaborative targeting calls for flying many aircraft over a battlespace. Even if an enemy emitter is on for a few seconds, the number of airborne sensors detecting that emission can quickly triangulate its location.
The general notes that the Air Force has experience with operating data networks on the ground and in the air. However, most of that knowledge is about ground-based systems connected to satellites in circuit-based, bent-pipe networks. The service has three criteria to define a fully network-centric system: It must have IP-based routing, shared awareness and assured service. Gen. Croom notes that the Air Force is not currently network-centric by these standards because it uses little or no IP-based routing in its airborne and space systems.
However, the service does have a growing airborne network that is based on the Link-16 datalink. It plans to expand use of this datalink across various platforms until more capable systems become available. Just as JTRS will transform all the service’s aircraft into nodes in a larger network, this web also will extend into space. Scheduled for deployment in 2012, the Transformational Communications MILSATCOM program (
SIGNAL, April, page 59), will place routers in orbit and use laser-based communications to move large packets of data among air, sea, land and space platforms. “By bringing JTRS systems into our aircraft and turning our satellites into an IP routing capability, you see the substantiation of a self-forming, self-healing network in the sky and space that is seamless with the ground,” he says.
But this new capability also presents challenges such as how to operate this large network. Security is another concern. “A lot has been said against our stovepipe systems. But in essence, they provided us with some security. No one hacked into an AUTODIN. They were stovepiped, and they were isolated,” Gen. Croom observes.
While these challenges remain, the Air Force is making strides in the way wireless data networks are operated. The general notes that many tools exist to help manage the visibility and control of the service’s systems. This software can be in the form of network configuration and management packages, virus scanning and protection systems, and architecture planning and reporting tools.
Hardware such as JTRS will provide the service with increased network flexibility. The radio’s software allows the use of new waveforms capable of moving significantly more data than could previous systems. Gen. Croom notes that Link-16 currently operates in the range of 256 kilobits per second or less. “We are now talking about moving an average of 2 megabits per second from airplane to airplane in the wideband network waveform, and much higher speeds for specific battlespace awareness and command aircraft, up to maybe 274 megabits per second,” he says.
The Air Force also is exploring the use of wireless data networks for flightline personnel. But rapidly changing technology needs create challenges for training. The general explains that the service is still grappling with finding the right balance between training and readiness.
Network-centric technology also affects Air Force culture. Gen. Croom observes that information does not flow up a chain of command hierarchically any more. Instead, it moves horizontally. He adds that kill chain speed is not just about the network; it involves the organization that is using the information. The Air Force’s leadership recently established rules for information sharing and decision making to promote horizontal decision making and empower personnel to take the best course of action.
The full version of this article is in the July 2004 issue of
SIGNAL, in the mail to
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