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December 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace

The Hornet Jumps

Marc Cook

December 21, 2020

Boeing has demonstrated yet another capability of the ever-young F/A-18 Super Hornet by proving it can “operate from a ‘ski jump' ramp, demonstrating the aircraft's suitability for India's aircraft carriers,” according to the company. India uses something called STOBAR, for Short Takeoff But Arrested Recovery, that uses a ramp-assisted takeoff relying only on the aircraft's thrust and benefiting from the ship's forward motion, combined with more conventional arresting methods for landing. It's said that STOBAR carriers are cheaper to build than those with powered catapults.

“The first successful and safe launch of the F/A-18 Super Hornet from a ski jump begins the validation process to operate effectively from Indian Navy aircraft carriers,” said Ankur Kanaglekar, India Fighter Sales lead for Boeing. “The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet will not only provide superior war fighting capability to the Indian Navy but also create opportunities for cooperation in naval aviation between the United States and India.”

“This milestone further positions the Block III Super Hornet as a versatile next-generation frontline fighter for decades to come,” said Thom Breckenridge, vice president of International Sales for Strike, Surveillance and Mobility with Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “With its proven capabilities, affordable acquisition price, known low documented life-cycle costs and guaranteed delivery schedule, the Block III Super Hornet is ideally suited to meet fighter aircraft requirements of customers in India, North America and Europe.”

The demonstration is part of Boeing's sales pitch to the Indian navy, which has not chosen which fighter to purchase. It will be looking to add to its fleet of MiG-29K fighters and is considering both the F/A-18 and the Dassault Rafale. Also part of the pitch: “Boeing has strengthened its supply chain with 225 partners in India and a joint venture to manufacture fuselages for Apache helicopters. Annual sourcing from India stands at $1 billion. Boeing currently employs 3,000 people in India, and more than 7,000 people work with its supply chain partners.”

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/the-hornet-jumps/

On the same subject

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 23, 2019

    September 24, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 23, 2019

    MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Woburn, Massachusetts, is being awarded a modification on indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HQ0147-18-D-0002. The value of this contract modification is $500,615,405, which increases the total ceiling value from $461,492,695 to $962,108,100. The contractor will continue to perform research and development support for the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance Control Model-2 and Sea-Based X-Band radar. The modification also includes continued product improvement, warfighter support, engineering services, Ballistic Missile Defense System test subject matter experts (SME) support, modeling and simulation SME support, and cybersecurity. No task orders are being issued at this time. The work will continue to be performed in Woburn, Massachusetts. The period of performance remains the same, which is from Nov. 1, 2017, through Oct. 31, 2022, with a one year option. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, has been awarded a maximum $375,792,189 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-E31N) against a five year basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) for Multi Function Active Sensor Radar Systems for the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a six-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with a Dec. 31, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2025 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. American Water Operations and Maintenance Inc., Voorhees, New Jersey, has been awarded a $15,934,838 modification (P00116) to a 50-year utilities privatization contract (SP0600-07-C-8254) with no option periods incorporating an increase to the operations, maintenance, renewal and replacement charges for water and wastewater utility service systems. This is a fixed-price prospective redetermination contract. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Dec. 20, 2057, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Crane Electronics Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Florida, has been awarded an estimated $9,283,185 fixed-price, requirements contract for AN/ALR-56C radar warning receiver low voltage power supplies in support of the F-15 aircraft. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Florida, with a Sept. 18, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is the Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Warner Robins, Georgia (SPRWA1-19-D-0010). Twigg Corp., Martinsville, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $9,270,251 firm-fixed-price contract for T404 support turbine assemblies. This was a competitive acquisition with two offers received. This is an 11-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Indiana, with a June 19, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPRPA1-19-C-Z059). NAVY Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $352,672,006 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-19-D-0015). This modification increases the ceiling and scope of the contract to include the procurement of Lot 12-14 Generation 3 helmet mounted displays in support of the F-35 Lightning II program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in December 2020. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded $227,000,000 for ceiling-priced delivery order N00383-19-F-A34Y under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-A301 for the procurement of main and nose landing gear assemblies in support of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircrafts. The period of performance for this delivery order begins October 2019 and will be completed by March 2023 with no option periods. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $111,230,000 will be will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this sole sourced requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. General Electric Co., Lynn, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $219,407,194 modification (PZ0002) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-18-C-1061) to procure 48 F414-GE-400 install engines and engine devices for Lot 23 F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in Lynn, Massachusetts (59%); Hooksett, New Hampshire (18%); Rutland, Vermont (12%); and Madisonville, Kentucky (11%), and is expected to be completed in August 2021. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount $219,407,194 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Largo, Florida, is being awarded a $52,857,202 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5200 to exercise options for design agent and engineering services to support the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) program. This option exercise is for design agent and engineering services to perform advanced studies and integration efforts as well as software sustainment and support. The CEC program provides a sensor network with integrated fire control capability that significantly improves strike force air and missile defense capabilities by coordinating measurement data from strike force air search sensors on CEC-equipped units into a single, integrated real-time, composite track air picture. CEC improves battle force effectiveness by improving overall situational awareness and by enabling longer range, cooperative, multiple, or layered engagement strategies. Work will be performed in Largo, Florida, and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $7,130,069 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $984,939 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Robertson Fuel Systems LLC, Tempe, Arizona, is being awarded a $31,101,308 firm-fixed-price contract to manufacture and deliver eight V-22 mission auxiliary tank systems for extended range of flight requirements in support of V-22 aircraft for the Navy (3); Marine Corps (2); Air Force (1); and the government of Japan (2). Work will be performed in Tempe, Arizona, and is expected to be completed in November 2021. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement (Air Force and Navy); and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $31,101,308 will be obligated at time of award, $14,729,731 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Marine Corps and Navy ($20,702,984; 66%); Air Force ($1,213,255; 4 %); and the government of Japan ($9,185,069; 30%) under the FMS program. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-19-C-0042). Proaim Americas LLC, Grover, Missouri, is being awarded a $19,979,089 firm-fixed-price contract for Enterprise Ocular Picture Archiving and Communication System (OPACS) on behalf of multiple Department of Defense medical treatment facilities, within and outside the contiguous U.S. This is a five-year single award contract and work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2024. 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This contract provides technical services in support of development of electronic Consolidated Automated Support System (eCASS) compatibility reports and the associated technical data for AN/APY-9 radar avionics LRM. In addition, this contract provides for technical services for development system specifications that define the functional performance requirements for the operational test program sets to test the LRMs on the eCASS. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York (45%); El Segundo, California (25%); Melbourne, Florida (24%); and Baltimore, Maryland (6%); and is expected to be completed in August 2021. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,202,359 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-19-C-0248). 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Work will be performed in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and work is expected to be completed by September 2020; if all options on the contract are exercised, work will be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance funds (Navy) in the full amount of $10,144,531will be obligated once the modification to exercise option year one is awarded, and funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities and Navy Electronic Commerce Online websites, with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Sealift Inc., Oyster Bay, New York, is being awarded an $8,688,118 modification under a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price contract (N3220515C3201) to fund the fifth one-year option period. The option will continue to provide one U.S. flagged vessel (M/V LTC John D. 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Gilbane Federal, Concord, California, is being awarded an $8,644,506 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the maximum dollar value of task order N6247318F5305 under an environmental multiple award contract for radiological confirmation sampling and surveying at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The work to be performed is to provide radiological confirmation investigation, survey, and reporting activities within Parcel C, at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The contractor shall provide all labor, supervision, engineering, materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies and transportation to perform all work described in the request for proposal. After award of this modification, the total cumulative task order value will be $21,002,538. Work will be performed in San Francisco, California, and is expected to be completed by December 2023. 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Simmonds Precision Products Inc., Vergennes, Vermont, was awarded a $10,155,178 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance and overhaul. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 22, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-D-0128). CEMS-RS & H JV,* Summerville, South Carolina, was awarded a $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for investigation, construction, renovation, planning and design services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 23, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-19-D-0007). Colby Co. LLC,* Portland, Maine, was awarded a $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 23, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-19-D-0012). Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., Kansas City, Missouri, was awarded a $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 23, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-19-D-0011). Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $9,725,000 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Iraq) contract for procurement of Mobile M1A1 Situational Awareness Platoon Mobile Advanced Gunnery training system, mobile pre-brief, after action review capability, spare parts package, installation, on-site testing, training, design, development, test, management, documentation, hardware, software, and spares. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 22, 2021. Fiscal 2010 counter-ISIS train and equip funds in the amount of $9,725,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-19-C-0057). Oracle America Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $7,577,868 firm-fixed-price contract for the Army Corps of Engineers Financial Management System. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Reston, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 22, 2024. Fiscal 2019 revolving; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $7,577,868 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W912HQ-19-F-0136). AIR FORCE Herrick Technology Laboratories Inc.,* Manchester, New Hampshire, has been awarded a $40,712,166 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract for Spectrum-Agile, Location Aware, Enhanced Electromagnetic Kit (SLEEK) hardware and software. This contract provides for research, develop, integrate, prototype, demonstrate, validate and verify new software capabilities for a software-defined and reprogrammable transceiver that has broad applicability to military-relevant missions. Work will be performed at Germantown, Maryland; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by October 2022. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0530). Cornerstone Construction Services LLC, Woburn, Massachusetts (FA2835-19-D-0007); Maron Construction Co. Inc., Providence, Rhode Island (FA2835-19-D-0008); and Tantara Corp., Worcester, Massachusetts (FA2835-19-D-0009), have been awarded an aggregate, total maximum program/contract ceiling of a $20,000,000 multiple award construction indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. This contract will provide for complex construction projects involving multiple trades that may require detailed engineering design to be performed by registered/licensed engineers and architects. The contractors shall provide all management, labor, material, equipment, transportation, supervision, and architectural engineering services to accomplish simultaneous maintenance, sustainment, repair, and minor construction projects. Work will be performed at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; Hanscom Air Force Base Family Campground, Bedford, Massachusetts; Patriot Golf Course, Bedford, Massachusetts; Sagamore Hill Solar Observatory, Hamilton, Massachusetts; Fourth Cliff Recreation Annex, Humarock, Massachusetts; Cape Cod Air Force Station, Massachusetts; and New Boston Air Force Station, New Hampshire. These awards were the result of a competitive 100% Small Business Set Aside acquisition and 16 offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance in the amount of $5,000 funds to each awardees are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co. Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $16,289,702 agreement for one prototype Phaser high power microwave system. This agreement provides for outside continental U.S. (OCONUS) field assessment for purposes of experimentation. Experimentation includes, but is not limited to 12 months of in-field operation by Air Force personnel against unmanned aerial systems threats. In addition, experimentation includes but is not limited to operator training, in theater maintenance of systems while collecting availability (full mission capable, partial mission capable, non-mission capable), reliability, maintainability and supportability data, and system operation against real-world or simulated hostile vignettes without disrupting other necessary installation operations. The location of performance is OCONUS and is expected to be completed by Dec. 20, 2020. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $16,289,702 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-9-9325). Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $10,942,488 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Technologies for the Mixed-mode Ultra Scaled Integrated Circuits (T-MUSIC) effort. This effort will develop advanced mixed-mode RF components and sub-systems leveraging the T-MUSIC platform. T-MUSIC technology combines advanced silicon-germanium with advanced CMOS to enable ultra-wide bandwidth, high spurious free dynamic range and fine data converter resolution with high effective number of bits beyond current state-of-the-art. Work will be performed at El Segundo, California; Andover, Maryland; and Thousand Oaks, California, and is expected to be completed Dec. 20, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 18 compliant offers were received. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,318,325 is being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-7934). BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, has been awarded an $8,076,227 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Technologies for Mixed-mode Ultra Scaled Integrated Circuits (T-MUSIC) and the Disruptive SiGe Circuits fabricated Onshore (DiSCO) effort. This effort will develop advanced mixed-mode RF components and sub-systems leveraging the T-MUSIC platform. T-MUSIC technology combines advanced silicon-germanium with advanced CMOS to enable ultra-wide bandwidth, high spurious free dynamic range and fine data converter resolution with high effective number of bits beyond current state-of-the-art. Toward that end, DiSCO will develop critical Department of Defense components and sub-systems to assess advancements derived from T-MUSIC technology. These circuits include Phase-locked Loop, ultra-high speed Divider (200GHz final goal), and high speed, high resolution Analog-to-Digital Converter. In addition, the option phase will develop high speed Direct Digital Synthesis for next generation transmitter technology. Work will be performed at Nashua, New Hampshire and is expected to be completed by Dec. 19, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 18 offers were received. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $364,723 is being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-7935). Communications & Power Industries LLC, Palo Alto, California, has been awarded an $8,058,269 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for Twystron Electron Tube Repair program. This contract provides for teardown, test, evaluation and repair of Twystron electron tubes in support of Unmanned Threat Emitter weapons system. Work will be performed at Palo Alto, California, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2025. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 working capital funds in the amount of $1,623,488 are obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8250-19-D-0001). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1968631/source/GovDelivery/

  • Space Force awards $88 million in contracts for launch system prototyping

    September 29, 2021 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Space Force awards $88 million in contracts for launch system prototyping

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  • Moving further into the information age with Joint All-Domain Command and Control

    July 10, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Moving further into the information age with Joint All-Domain Command and Control

    Lt. Gen. David Deptula (ret.) The United States' comparative military advantage has eroded significantly as the technologies that helped sustain its primacy since the Cold War have proliferated to great power and regional competitors such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. They have evolved their capabilities and operational approaches to negate and otherwise avoid traditional American warfighting strengths. The United States is highly unlikely to regain its competitive advantage through like-for-like replacements of its legacy platforms with incremental improvements while remaining beholden to industrial age notions of warfare focused on individual weapon systems focused on inflicting attrition. Instead, future success demands that the U.S. military embrace a new approach. Advancements in computing and information technology hold the potential to radically transform how military forces attain desired effects, where success depends foremost on the speed and integration of information. By harnessing information technologies to promote the rapid and seamless exchange of information across platforms, domains, services, and even coalition partners, commanders can make faster decisions and better integrate actions across domains. In such a manner, we can enable friendly forces to operate inside the adversary's decision-making cycle and impose multiple, simultaneous dilemmas that collectively confound and paralyze an adversary's ability to respond. To put it simply — it comes down to understanding the battlespace to know when and where to position forces to maximize their effectiveness, while minimizing vulnerabilities. Realizing this future vision of combat, however, faces challenges given legacy command and control (C2) systems and processes currently in use that were not designed for the speed and complexity that information age all-domain operations demand. Overcoming these constraints will require not just material changes involving technology, but also a shift in how the role of networks and information systems are perceived relative to weapons and platforms. Recognizing this, military leaders are pursuing joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) as the guiding construct to address these challenges. Undeniably an ambitious undertaking, the success of JADC2 will ultimately depend upon having a champion at the top of the Department of Defense that will guide the modernization of related policy, acquisition, and concepts of operations toward a common goal that all relevant stakeholders can understand and accept as the desired way forward. Progress to date Although U.S. forces can presently conduct multi-domain operations, current practices are far from what will be required when facing advanced adversaries. Each service branch and coalition partner organize, train, and equip their own forces, which joint force commanders then stitch together in a federated “joint and combined” employment construct. This ensures that military personnel and their communications and weapon systems can work together in a synchronized fashion. In other words, the services tend to develop their capabilities in a stand-alone manner focused around their primary operating domain without an overarching construct to ensure joint or allied partner interoperability. This often leads to strategies focused on deconfliction versus collaborative partnership or the interdependence required to achieve force multiplying effects with available resources. As a result, the employment of these capabilities is at best additive, rather than complementary where each one enhances the effectiveness of the whole, while compensating for the vulnerabilities of other assets, optimizing the force's overall capacity for dynamic exploitation of opportunities. The good news is the services agree that data is the principal currency of future warfare and that leveraging data through a network that connects forces across both domains and services to seamlessly collect, process, and share data will provide an asymmetric advantage in future conflicts. The bad news is that the services are pursuing a number of individual, stove-piped efforts aligned with their own distinct requirements. The development of concepts such as Multi-Domain Operations, Multi-Domain Command and Control, Distributed Maritime Operations, and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, as well as their associated capabilities such as the Cooperative Engagement Capability and the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, have been sporadic and uncoordinated, consisting of dozens of programs being developed independently and lacking a coherent vision to align mission requirements and reconcile gaps or redundancies. To better streamline and synchronize these efforts under the JADC2 banner, the joint staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense created a joint cross-functional team including representatives from the offices of the DOD Chief Information Officer, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment. This body is charged with bringing the services together to develop the JADC2 construct by identifying gaps and requirements, enhancing experimentation collaboration, and recommending resource allocation for both materiel and non-materiel C2 capability improvements, while also being mindful of the distinct capabilities inherent in each service and government security organization. At the same time, the Secretary of Defense has tasked the joint staff to deliver a warfighting concept that outlines how the U.S. military plans to fight in the future — a much needed update to existing joint concepts that are becoming increasingly outdated. By describing the capabilities and attributes necessary to fight effectively in the future operating environment—including for JADC2 — this concept will inform the requirements that are produced by the joint requirements oversight council and pushed out to the services. This top-down guidance is critical to help inform bottom-up technological development and experimentation. Although each of the services has been active developing related technologies, the Air Force has taken the rare step of volunteering to lead JADC2′s development as a joint function. Currently, these efforts center on the Advanced Battle Management System — essentially a “combat cloud” to connect any sensor with any shooter across all domains—that the Air Force is using as its technical engine for enabling JADC2. To help field new capabilities as fast as possible and cultivate broader buy-in, the Air Force is partnering with the other services to conduct small-scale field demonstrations scheduled for every four months. The first experiment was completed in December 2019, which connected Air Force aircraft, Space Force sensors, Navy surface vessels and aircraft, Army air defense and fire units, and a Special Operations Team with incompatible data and communications systems to defeat a simulated cruise missile. These efforts are intended to develop both the architecture and the technologies required to implement JADC2. As currently envisioned, ABMS includes six key “product categories” and 28 specific “product lines” the Air Force intends to develop over time. Underpinning all these efforts is digital engineering, open architecture, and data standards that allow all the disparate elements to ‘snap' together. Obstacles remain Despite encouraging progress and widespread agreement of the necessity for JADC2 across the services and other relevant defense agencies in the DOD, significant obstacles remain before its full potential can be realized. Foremost among these challenges, current organizational structures and service cultures do not align well with JADC2′s emphasis on employing assets in service- and domain-agnostic ways that entail dynamically connecting sensors and shooters across domains and enabling multiple, rapid shifts in supporting/supported relationships. Specifically, JADC2 raises difficult questions regarding who has decision authority and risk acceptance. Although joint force commanders exercise operational control over joint forces and are tasked to maintain conditions for joint force success, the subordinate command structure tends to exacerbate military service and domain stovepipes that are resistant to ceding control over their assets. Similar frictions are likely to extend beyond a single combatant command, particularly in terms of integrating space and cyberspace capabilities, which have their own functional combatant commands. Of course, this assumes U.S. forces eventually reach a level of integration that makes resolving such relevant operational authorities necessary. The current service-based model for systems development and acquisition is not optimal for achieving the level of interdependency that JADC2 envisions. Given the complexity and number of programs likely to be affected by ABMS, the Air Force created the position of chief architect to ensure it acquires the right mix of capabilities in a coherent manner. However, the authority of that position does not extend to the other services, which are likely to focus on their own specific operating requirements as they fund and develop their components of JADC2′s technical architecture. Furthermore, ABMS technical demonstrations focused on connectivity have thus far outpaced development of the operational concepts it is intended to support. Consequently, JADC2 risks over-emphasizing communications and ubiquitous connectivity at the expense of effective battle management. This could have several deleterious implications for future operations. First, it could exacerbate the tendency of senior commanders to centralize control, usurping tactical level decisions. Second, the desire to push as much information as possible forward to the tactical edge could overwhelm warfighters, resulting in operational paralysis or chaos. Third, it could result in unrealistic communications demands, particularly in a conflict with China or Russia or their proxies where the United States' exploitation of the electromagnetic spectrum will be fiercely contested. Lastly, given the enormous financial investment JADC2 entails, maintaining stable funding will present a continual challenge due to both the likely downward pressure on the defense budget resulting from the COVID-19 epidemic and because it is challenging to cultivate a constituency on Capitol Hill for ethereal “connections” and “data” compared to more tangible platforms, some of which the Air Force defunded in its latest budget proposal in part to fund further development of ABMS. Furthermore, JADC2 is likely to face ongoing scrutiny because the nature of the program does not lend itself to traditional methods of evaluation, as evidenced by the Government Accountability Office's recent report that was highly critical of ABMS. The path forward Navigating these challenges requires the highest level of direction from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and centralized, OSD-level management along the lines of the recently formed joint cross-functional team to champion overall JADC2 development. Using a DOTMILPF-P (doctrine, organization, training, materiel, interoperability, logistics, personnel, facilities, & policy) approach, the primary goal of this group should be to define a “template” to guide modernization policy, acquisition, and concepts of operation. The United States requires the distinct capabilities inherent in its separate military services and other defense agencies. However, they must be bound by a common vision for employing joint and combined forces, as well as an overarching strategy to realize the JADC2 concept. The United States cannot risk boutique solutions that do not integrate in a seamless, mutually reinforcing fashion. To achieve this, the OSD-level group must pursue four critical lines of effort: 1) establish standards and continuity so individual programs integrate within the greater JADC2 enterprise and secure desired outcomes in a timely fashion; 2) support effective programs and help them to maintain momentum and protection from competing bureaucratic interests; 3) engage across the military services and DOD agencies to respond to combatant command warfighting requirements, while also holding participating entities accountable; and 4) ensure industry is fully integrated into appropriate JADC2 development. If properly executed, JADC2 promises to provide commanders with “decision advantage” by allowing them to gather, process, exploit, and share information at the speed and scale required to defeat potential adversaries. At the same time, allowing joint and combined forces to distribute access to relevant information more widely, JADC2 must also enable new, more flexible command and control techniques that empower subordinate elements to effectively act when they become isolated. The ability to leverage capabilities across a network through the seamless and ubiquitous sharing of information could also ease requirements for systems that are currently expected to operate independently. The complexity inherent to this approach of overloading requirements on a given program drives lengthy development cycles, time and cost overruns, and delays in capability. Instead, by leveraging numerous redundant function options through a combat cloud, individual systems could focus on narrower requirements where their capability can be maximized while also minimizing cost and technical risk. Change will not come easy, particularly given how successful the United States has been using the traditional combined arms approach. However, such complacency could be disastrous, given that critical information technology advances are often measured in days, potentially enabling competitors with less dominant industrial combat means to leapfrog past legacy military concepts by investing in newer information technologies and capabilities. The United States' efforts to harness information are not being pursued in a vacuum—America's adversaries are pursuing similar concepts. JADC2 may be ambitious, but it is also imperative to gain a competitive advantage to deter and, if necessary, defeat those potential adversaries. https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2020/07/09/moving-further-into-the-information-age-with-joint-all-domain-command-and-control/

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