In this month’s issue:
1) Air Force, Lockheed Martin Lay Out Plan For Modernizing Air Operations Centers
2) New AF-Navy JCTD to integrate ISR constellation with shooters
3) ISR aircraft 'breaking ground' to provide data in
4) Navy Details New Super Hornet Capabilities
5) Enough bandwidth for now, but ISR will boost need: Fallon
6) JSTARS Upgrade Allows for JDAM Retargeting Inflight
7) Raytheon Reports Successful Test of JSOW-ER Engine
8) Raptor to use TTNT communications
9) Navy alters plan to deploy new carrier warfare center
10) Targeting pods enhance battlefield awareness
1) Air Force, Lockheed Martin Lay Out Plan For Modernizing Air Operations Centers
C4I News 02/01/2007 Author: Michael Sirak
Envisioned is a 10-year plan to transform each facility--the nerve centers that plan and execute joint and coalition air operations in a theater--from a collection of disparate tools with limited interoperability to a truly integrated systems of systems that allows planners to direct air, space and cyberspace campaigns dynamically, they said.
In addition to creating seamless operations within each AOC, the Air Force wants to create a homogeneous, network-centric enterprise of its 23 AOCs, making them more efficient, with reduced equipment and manpower requirements and less ownership costs, they said.
"It will not do us any good, especially in this global [environment] that we operate in now, if one [AOC] has got this kind of standard and one has another," Lt. Gen. Charles Johnson, commander of the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., said during a presentation on Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C.
Lockheed Martin will carry out enterprise-wide upgrades to the AOCs in large-scale increments, smaller scale spirals as well as out-of-cycle and emergency modifications as needed, John Mengucci, vice president and general manager of the Mission & Combat Support Solutions Group within Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions, said at the same briefing.
Increments will occur anywhere from every year to two years and will entail major capability additions, he said. Spirals will be added in cycles of weeks for functions "more urgently needed that cannot be part of a traditional block upgrade," he said. The out-of-cycle improvements, scheduled over days, and emergency updates, needing only hours to implement, will address "critical functionality that needs to be rushed to the AOC," he said.
"The trick in all of this, whether it is to do a two-year complete upgrade of the air operations center or [there is] a critical emergency capability being added, is to a have rigorous configuration-managed process and that we do all of the right testing," he said.
The current version of equipment and software going into the AOCs is increment 10.1x, which is dubbed Continuous Planning and Execution. Among its enhancements is to incorporate time-critical-targeting capabilities, according to Mengucci's briefing charts.
The next version, increment 10.2, the Network-Centric Infrastructure, will feature effects-based operations and machine-assisted courses of action, the charts showed. Increment 10.3, the Net-Ready AOC, will add effects-based assessment and a multi-source common operational picture, while increment 10.4, the Advanced Technology AOC, will incorporate predictive battlespace awareness and cursor-over-target capability.
It is the cursor-over-target capability that is the ultimate vision of the AOCs, Mengucci said. With it, operators will be able to place the cursor over the object of interest on the control screen and have the center's systems automatically generate all of the options for the planners and executers in the center, he said.
A system-of-systems engineering approach is critical in modernizing and sustaining the AOCs, Mengucci said. Today there are a total of 48 systems used in the centers, each of which is currently on its own upgrade path, he said.
"It is very important for us to take the 48 systems that are out there today and make them operate as one," he said.
To support its activities, Lockheed Martin has erected a CSISR "wind tunnel" at its Center for Innovation in
The Air Force fielded its first AOC in 2001. The 23 centers serve various roles.
Five of them, designated AN/USQ-163 Falconeers, are located in places like South Korea and the Middle East to support the U.S. military's regional warfighting commands (Defense Daily, May, 23, 2006). Six AOCs serve specialized missions like supporting homeland defense, air mobility and space operations. The remaining 12 centers fill support roles and are used for training, testing and technical support, while several serve as backups.
The service treats the AOC as a weapon system, meaning that it wants to establish a standardized manner for how the centers are equipped and used and for how personnel are trained and rated to work within them. However, to date, while there has been standardization with the Falconeers, the AOCs still employ different systems and operating procedures and have diverging personal requirements.
"Now our path is to maintain that configuration [of the Falconeers] as well as bring the other AOCs up to that standard configuration," Johnson said.
Accordingly the Air Force brought on Lockheed Martin last September to oversee these efforts. The company, which beat out rival bids by General Dynamics [GD] and Northrop Grumman [NOC], is operating under a three-year, $579 million weapons system integrator (WSI) contract with additional options that give the deal a potential total value of $2 billion over 10 years (Defense Daily, Sept. 14, 2006).
The Bethesda, Md.-based company's AOC WSI team includes Computer Sciences Corporation [CSC], Dynamics Research Corporation,Gestalt, IBM [IBM], Intelligent Software Solutions, L-3 Communications [LLL], Raytheon [RTN] and SAIC [SAI].
Johnson said the process of standardization, while modernizing, and then sustaining the homogeneity of the AOCs is no easy task. Factors like the speed of technology advancement, the dispersion of the centers around the globe, and the need to factor the input of the other services and coalition partners, increase the challenges, he said.
"As I speak here right now, somebody out there is about to change to a new version of something and somebody else has another new version of something," he said.
The process of upgrade must be such that a change is made to all AOCs at once, he said. The process must be flexible enough to incorporate simple changes quickly, he said, adding "get it in, get it out, just like you do at Jiffy Lube," referring to the chain of quick oil-change stops for cars across the United States. Yet the process must have the rigor to ensure that the modifications are thoroughly tested, he said.
Nearer term goals, Johnson said, are to increase the level of machine-to-machine interfaces within the AOCs for fusing and passing information more quickly, and to add more open architectures as well as develop new software-driven means of encryption and make more intelligence data discoverable in searches.
The Air Force must also determine how the service-wide changes it is instituting to place more emphasis on cyberwarfare will impact the manning and operations of the AOCs, he said.
There is talk, he noted, of consolidating some of the AOCs that perform support functions, potentially reducing the total from 23.
2) New AF-Navy JCTD to integrate ISR constellation with shooters
Jefferson Morris - Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 02/05/2007
The Department of Defense is proceeding with a new joint concept technology demonstration (JCTD) led by the U.S. Air Force and Navy that will allow nodes in an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) network to take over and direct datalink-equipped weapons to their targets. The JCTD just received approval from Congress and will have its first demonstration in two months, according to John Wilcox, JCTD program director at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
An example of this concept in action would be a littoral radar surveillance targeting system guiding a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) to a target following launch from a B-1 bomber, Wilcox said during the Precision Strike Association's Winter Roundtable in
The technology will expand the targeting chain, allow for moving target engagement, and layer in combat identification, according to Wilcox. But this capability will require changes in concepts of operation and solid intelligence, he said. If, for example, a weapon in flight is taken over and redirected to another target by special forces on the ground, "it highlights the importance of no-kidding getting the knowledge right," he said.
Future weapons such as the Small Diameter Bomb II will be equipped with datalinks allowing them to communicate in flight. The new JCTD builds on the 2005 Weapon Data Link advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) program and will complement the Joint Network-Enabled Weapons (JNEW) JCTD, Wilcox said.
3) ISR aircraft 'breaking ground' to provide data in
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 02/19/2007
4) Navy Details New Super Hornet Capabilities
Author: David A. Fulghum
The U.S. Navy's "Advanced Super Hornet" will tie together an electronic attack system with a powerful new radar that would allow the aircraft to find, deceive and, perhaps, disable sophisticated, radar-guided air-to-air, surface-to-air and cruise missiles. Moreover, it could do so at ranges greater than that of new
Silence about these key features of the Super Hornet's advanced radar and integrated sensor package is being broken by U.S. Navy and aerospace industry officials just as the President's budget faces scrutiny by Congress. Supporters of the design say it will give the Block II Boeing-built Navy aircraft a fifth-generation capability similar to that of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Hornet's electronic attack capability could become even more sophisticated with additional modifications, says Capt. Donald Gaddis, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program manager.
Radar-guided, air-to-air missiles that worry U.S. planners are the Chinese PL-12, which is on the brink of entering service; the Russian R-77 (AA-12 Adder); the R-27R/ER (AA-10 Alamo) family, and possibly the AA-10's R-27P/EP passive receiver variants. In the world of antiship cruise missiles, the Russians have developed RF-seeker-based antiship systems that include the Novator 3M-54 (SS-N-27) family and NPO Mashinostroenia 3M-55 (SS-NX-26), which is also the basis of the Russo-Indian Brahmos. The YJ-63 is a Chinese antiship cruise missile;
Many Navy and industry planners hope that the merits of the F/A-18E/F's advanced systems, which can detect, identify and attack new classes of very small targets, will help it survive any congressional predilection to trim upgrades that are crucial to the program. Moreover, the Super Hornet equipped with a fifth-generation radar and integrated sensor suite is expected to be a tough competitor for international fighter sales. The advanced package has already resulted in a likely sale of 24 aircraft to
The newest version of the Boeing Super Hornet, equipped with an advanced, Raytheon-built APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, can spot small targets--even stealthy cruise missiles--at ranges great enough to allow an effective defense. Navy officials are loath to talk with any detail about the metrics of electronic attacks and admit only to "extremely significant tactical ranges" for EA effects against air-to-air and surface-to-air radars, Gaddis says. However, other Pentagon and aerospace industry officials say that while air-to-air missiles are struggling to reach the 60-100-mi.-range mark, some sophisticated electronic attack effects can reach well beyond that.
"That's at least 100 mi.," says a long-time Pentagon radar specialist. "There are different forms of electronic attack, and they include putting false targets or altered ranges, speeds and positions of real targets into the enemy's radars. Those are effects that require less power than jamming and therefore are effective at longer ranges."
An industry official with insight into AESA development says that the ability to affect a foe is limited by the enemy radar's range because the signal has to be captured, manipulated and returned. Therefore, long-range ground-based radars and even AWACS radars could be electronically attacked at ranges well over 100 mi. For air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, the techniques would be the same but the effective ranges would be shorter.
The U.S. Navy's first AESA-equipped squadron has been developing combat procedures as the unit works up to its first deployment. VFA-213, flying all two-seat F/A-18F models, already has been through training cycles at NAS Fallon,
The Navy's concept of operations is to use combinations of EA-18 Growler electronic attack and the advanced Block 2 F/A-18E/F strike aircraft to offer self-protection, almost instantaneous location and identification of targets, and a variety of forms of electronic and conventional missile attack. That entity will be part of the advanced air wing in the Carrier Strike Group of 2024.
Critics from within the electronic warfare community are concerned that jamming capabilities in fighter-size AESA radars have been over-sold on two counts. First, they contend that the radar's frequency band is small, so the target it affects would be limited. Second, concerns have been voiced that liquid cooling of the arrays isn't sufficient for creating a sustained, high-power jamming signal for more than a second without damaging the radar.
"The F-22's radar is already up against its duty cycle [sustained emission] limits with just finding targets," says a senior Air Force official. However, industry officials with knowledge of the Northrop Grumman radar say overheating problems with early versions of the sensor have been overcome with redesign of transmitter/receiver modules.
Critical for development of the "next generation," or Block II, Super Hornet and the ability to keep it militarily relevant as a "first day of the war" warplane beyond 2024 are a number of items in the President's budget now before the U.S. Congress, Gaddis says.
Three years of warfighting analyses by the Navy have produced a system of updates called "The Flight Plan," he says. Segments include upgrading the aircraft with a distributed targeting processor, integrating the sensors, and improving communication links for network-centric operations.
Once the AESA radar's operational evaluation is officially ended, the only other system needing op eval will be the ALE-55 fiber-optic towed decoy. Other systems are completed and in full-rate production, including the ALQ-214 jammer, ALE-47 chaff/flare dispenser and the advanced crew station in the cockpit's decoupled back seat. The weapon systems officer has the mission of maintaining situational awareness in the battlespace with user-friendly controls for the aircraft's advanced displays and sensors. The next step for the Super Hornet program is to integrate those systems and make the collected sensor information available to those in the battlespace through a common operational tactical picture.
"For example, our ALR-67(v)3 radar warning receiver is going to be delivered with a digitally cued receiver," Gaddis says. "We'll be able to pick up some different waveforms that we've not been able to capture before." Industry specialists say that means finding combinations of frequencies and pulse structures that allow identification of specific radar and aircraft threats.
"More importantly, we're going to marry the digitally cued receiver to single-ship geolocation algorithms [for precision location] and specific emitter ID algorithms with the AESA radar," says Gaddis. Also, the radar warning receiver and ALQ-214 jammers will be integrated to produce "high-gain electronic attack and high-gain electronic surveillance measures," he adds. "We would use them as a survivability upgrade against advanced air-to-air and a certain spectrum of the surface-to-air threat.
"We're going to create a high-speed data bus so that [electronic attack] techniques generated by the ALQ-214 will be sent through the AESA radar with much more power and effect," Gaddis says. "Rather than wait for a threat to develop some electronic countermeasure, we plan to attack him [at long range] through the radar."
The associated long-range, high-resolution electronic surveillance capability of the Super Hornet is making it popular with the intelligence community. The real-time data make the aircraft important for updating the electronic order of battle--what's emitting and from where.
"It's going to duplicate what the radars on the F-22 and F-35 can do in integrating and analyzing what's happening in the battlespace," Gaddis says. "It's all tied to advanced architectures and mission computers, open architecture principles, high-order software languages and the way you integrate all these sensors that give you a fifth-generation capability."
Cruise missile defense with conventional weapons is a primary task of the Block II Super Hornet. "That is one of our assigned mission areas, and AESA does that very well," Gaddis says.
Part of the secret of the radar's ability to spot small targets and track them is a combination of power (for range and discrimination) and processing speeds that permit better ways of using radar information. Early radar designs could use a variety of waveforms with high, medium and low pulse-repetition frequencies. High PRF offers unambiguous, nose-on speed resolution and clutter rejection; medium PRF gives good low-speed resolution but low detection range, and low PRF provides unambiguous target ranges but poor clutter rejection.
"If you're looking for cruise missiles, often you have to pick them out of clutter, at low altitude and often at high speed," says an Air Force pilot with AESA radar experience. "With mechanically scanned radars, you would have to take six sweeps looking in high PRF, six in medium and six in low to cover different target sets. With an AESA radar, you can assign different parts of the radar to do each function so you don't have any gaps in your surveillance. If PRFs are suitably chosen, targets within a span of interest can be kept continuously in the clear."
Changing PRF radically affects both the radar's signal processing requirement and its performance. But a high-speed processor can simultaneously extract the best information from each category of PRF observations.
Operators of each aircraft type (F-22, F-35, F-15C, F/A-18E/F and EA-18G) with AESA radars are so far independently developing their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for how to fight cruise missiles.
"I would describe that as still in its nascent stages," Gaddis says. "If you ask about interoperability between those platforms, I think that's under development and will be driven by the combatant commanders. There's an acute realization that [joint interoperability TTPs] are absolutely required."
There's also a lag in developing new missile variants and warheads to cope with both subsonic and supersonic cruise and sea-skimming missiles.
"We have a very powerful radar that can detect cruise missiles," Gaddis says. "Now we need a missile to kill them. There are programs in the Amraam portfolio for taking out that target set."
Air Force researchers at Eglin AFB, Fla., and Raytheon engineers are working on the AIM-120C-6, which has a warhead specialized for head-on attack of small, slow-flying targets; the AIM-120C-7 that adds the ability to anticipate a cruise missile's flight path for a more efficient intercept, and the AIM-120D with longer range and the ability to maneuver vigorously at the end of its flight (AW&ST Feb. 12, p. 24).
Gaddis, who flew F-14s carrying the
"Some flew very high and very fast," he says. "If [your aircraft's nose] wasn't within 10 degrees of the [cruise] missile,
Significant reductions can be made in the time it takes to locate and strike a target. Navy officials plan to install a precision targeting-like workstation on the F/A-18E/F called the distributed targeting processor. It will take an AESA-generated synthetic aperture radar map, compare it with an onboard SAR map that has every pixel geo-registered, then match the two images to generate a mensurated target coordinate and transfer it to a GPS-guided weapon, an anti-radiation missile or to direct an electronic attack.
5) Enough bandwidth for now, but ISR will boost need: Fallon
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 02/12/2007
BANDWIDTH NEEDED: The incoming chief of the U.S. Central Command, U.S. Navy Adm. William Fallon, believes that one of his top challenges in the Middle East and
capabilities.
What military leaders have access to now is "sufficient," but the shortfalls are in sight. "As the requirement for additional full-motion video ISR assets and other bandwidth intensive systems come online, the current bandwidth could become a limiting factor," he tells lawmakers. Fallon promised to push hard for increased efficiency of utilization.
6) JSTARS Upgrade Allows for JDAM Retargeting Inflight
From Air Force Times - Jan 16, 2007
Satellite-guided bombs will be able to strike moving targets thanks to an upgrade to the Air Force’s E-8 Joint STARS reconnaissance airplanes.
The upgrade from Northrop Grumman enables the Joint STARS to update automatically target coordinates sent to satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions that are in flight.
The concept was tried out in 2003 at Air Force and Navy test ranges and in 2004 when a B-52H released seven 2,000-pound JDAMs, striking the decommissioned USS Schenectady as it was towed in the
JDAMs use Global Positioning System satellites signals to guide themselves to a target. In the past, the target coordinates were programmed into the JDAM before the bomb was released from a fighter or bomber. This new capability allows the updating of JDAMs’ target coordinates by the Joint STARS after the bomb is released, a critical need when the target is moving.
The Joint STARS uses onboard ground-tracking radars and sensors to located and identify targets. The $56.2 million contract to Northrop pays for upgrading the electronics on the Air Force’s 17 Joint STARS.
The effort started as the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement program, overseen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
7) Raytheon Reports Successful Test of JSOW-ER Engine
Defense Daily 02/21/2007
The engine ground test of JSOW ER successfully evaluated a flush inlet design and overall engine performance and showed that engine performance matched simulation results, according to Raytheon. The inlet will maintain the missile's excellent low observable characteristics, the company added.
Continued prototype design and testing will continue in 2007, and a free flight is planned in 2008 with the potential for production in 2011, according to Raytheon.
"The objective of the JSOW ER program is to provide United States and international warfighters with a low-cost, extended-range missile," Harry Schulte, vice president of Strike Weapons at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, said. "We plan to offer the warfighter a 300 nautical mile (approximately 345 statute miles) weapon with a price goal of $350,000, far less expensive than similar capability weapons currently in the warfighter's inventory."
JSOW ER will enable additional mission areas than possible with the current JSOW range of up to 70 nautical miles (approximately 80.5 statute miles), and additional payload options will also be considered with JSOW ER, Raytheon said.
The development of a Block III variant of JSOW has begun, according to the company. Improvements will be included in the JSOW ER design. A weapons data link will be added to provide a moving target capability and the capability of in-flight communications. Missile health, status and position can be transmitted by the weapon up to the time of impact.
The weapon can also receive in-flight target updates. The JSOW Block III, which will be designated AGM-154C-1, is scheduled for production in 2009, Raytheon said.
8) Raptor to use TTNT communications
Michael Fabey - Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 02/19/2007
The F-22 Raptor will use Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) to transmit data and other information that can be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), said Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, service chief of warfighting integration and chief information officer. Speaking about the Raptor on Feb. 16 at an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association luncheon, Peterson said, "You cannot imagine the exquisite ISR platform it is."
The problem, according to Peterson and other Air Force and Raptor program officials, is getting that ISR data off the aircraft. “The Raptor still hasn't been able to share some of the most detailed information through its communication links,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Shawn "Rage" Anger during an interview last fall.
“Pilots can't offload the symbology and other screen information that gives the complete battlespace picture, said Anger,” a Raptor officer with the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, whose job is to train Raptor pilots. "We can't get off the parametrics yet," he said.
One future possibility, he acknowledged, would be to use the radar as a high-bandwidth communications link to transmit more data. Gen. Ronald Keys, the commander of Air Combat Command, acknowledged the
shortcoming during a Nov. 1 interview and said the Air Force is considering other waveforms and networks to help the Raptor share that kind of information. "We're looking at using TTNT," he said.
TTNT is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based, high-speed, dynamic ad hoc network designed to enable the
locating time-critical targets. Peter says, “TTNT is now part of the F-22 package.”
Using a combat jet for such an ISR role has been something the Air Force has been striving for. Keys pointed out that the service had hoped to use the F-15 for such a role, but the technology, or lack of it, thwarted those plans. The Raptor's advanced avionics and sensors should make it possible to perform different missions, he said.
9) Navy alters plan to deploy new carrier warfare center
Michael Fabey - Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 02/22/2007
The Navy has "changed its acquisition model" to reconfigure, develop and deploy a new warfare center for its proposed next generation carrier, the CVN-21 or CVN-78, said William Deligne, acting executive director of the Navy aircraft carrier program executive office. The warfare center is essentially the combat brains for the carrier. Previous efforts to make the center more efficient and lethal for the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush had failed.
The reason for the failure was because the different program offices involved in developing and fielding the different subsystems for the carrier warfare center each had their own ideas for operations and
integration, Deligne said last week during an interview at Aviation Week's Defense Technology &
Requirements Conference 2007 in
Other factors played into the inability to develop the warfare center. At the time, the prime contractor - Northrop Grumman Newport News - was an independent company and had hired Lockheed Martin to do the warfare center work. After Northrop bought Newport News Shipbuilding, Lockheed no longer had the job.
Also, some of the money meant for the warfare center, according to Navy records,
was spent on a new communications network. The service-centric issues - especially those concerning the disparate program offices - have been resolved, according to Deligne. "Now," he said, "everyone's in."
And the carrier program is leveraging other Navy development efforts for the warfare center operation. For example, Deligne said, the next-generation carrier will have the same radar system as the DDG-1000 Destroyer vessels. Some issues do remain, though, according to the recently released annual Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) report. "The current CVN-21 program TEMP (Test & Evaluation Master Plan) does not adequately address the evaluation of the entire combat system other than what is being addressed in the Navy's Capstone Ship Self Defense Air Warfare TEMP," the DOT&E report said. The Navy Capstone Ship Self Defense Air Warfare TEMP is an air defense plan against airborne attacks. The carrier warfare center promises a more robust capability.
10) Targeting pods enhance battlefield awareness
by Staff Sgt. Melissa Koskovich
U.S. Central Command Air Forces-Forward Public Affairs
3/29/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- An armed F-16 Fighting Falcon is “watching” the road below for the convoys rolling through a dangerous land.
The concept of using fighter aircraft equipped with targeting pods to monitor the battlespace is known as non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or NTISR.
Air Force NTISR operations began only four years ago and are the result of increased demand for complete battlespace awareness.
With the production and development of traditional ISR capabilities struggling to keep pace, leveraging fighters, bombers, and air mobility aircraft in a similar role is helping ensure information dominance.
“Before NTISR, we had fighter aircraft with surveillance capabilities burning holes in the sky, just waiting to be tasked by ground commanders,” said Maj. Marco Fiorito, deputy chief of collections management at the Combined Air Operations Center. “Instead of wasting these resources, we’ve begun to use them to fill some of the gaps in our traditional ISR operations.”
NTISR multiplies the commander’s capability, without the logistical and financial implications of creating more forces, but that is not its only benefit.
“NTISR increases the cross-talk between the Army and the Air Force in joint operations,” Major Fiorito said. “The majority of the time NTISR aircraft aircrews communicate directly with ground units. This fosters a greater understanding of what ground units are looking for and thinking.”
This understanding enables air and ground units to work in concert toward a variety of mutual operational objectives.
Most recently two F-15E Strike Eagles proved the value of this capability during a mortar attack on Balad Air Base,
The aircraft were called to the scene by the base’s
After following the suspects to a house, the aircraft relayed their location to ground forces. All three individuals were successfully detained.
“This engagement is an exceptional example of how air forces are contributing to the counterinsurgency campaign,” said Royal Air Force Air Commodore Ray Lock,
In addition to these capabilities, NTISR aircraft are a comfort factor for troops in hostile areas, soldiers here said.
“These jets are overhead for them,” Major Fiorito said. “These aircraft can scout ahead of convoys, looking for possible ambush sites or any other threat.”
More importantly, if there is a skirmish or firefight, the aircraft can quickly respond and help the troops on the ground, he said.
NTISR also has the potential to be a player in the fight against improvised explosive devices.
“We’re working around the clock to find a good way of employing NTISR and other assets to the counter-IED fight,” Major Fiorito said. “There are a lot of good people trying to come up with a viable solution.”
While employing this type of technology is now an everyday practice, Major Fiorito said there have been some growing pains.
“We’re in a unique situation because we don’t want to turn the fighter into an intelligence asset; we just want to get the information to the warfighter in a simplified and quick manner,” he said. “Right now we’re developing a streamlined process, from beginning to end, that has a single tasking process.”
The intelligence community, along with ground and operations personnel is working towards this goal, while exploring the effectiveness of NTISR in combat. Admittedly though, it is only one facet of the bigger fight against anti-coalition forces.
“If you concentrate on one aspect of warfare, you lose sight of everything else,” Major Fiorito said. “ There’s no magical solution, you have to hit the enemy at multiple points -- counter-IED, ISR and NTISR, convoy support, direct actions support -- all of these pieces make him reel back so he’s fighting on your terms, instead of his.”
