Air Force Scientist Explains Bomb in Flight Data Collaboration – New Methods of Attack

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) The Navy Tomahawk cruise missile and Air Force Stormbreaker are weapons which can operate with a two-way data link connecting flight trajectory and guidance with human decision makers performing command and control, a technology which continues to introduce new tactical possibilities, improve lethality and streamline attack operations.

This technology continues to be refined and improved at a rapid pace, enabling weapons to alter course in-flight to destroy emerging or maneuvering targets. Now, the Air Force is breaking through to yet another level by achieving in flight weapons “collaboration” wherein bombs themselves exchange information in flight to track and hit new targets, adjust to enemy movements and vastly expand the operational scope of air attack.

Bomb “Collaboration” & Data Sharing

The Air Force Research Laboratory program, called Golden Horde, is moving beyond its successful demonstration of Small Diameter Bombs in flight and increasing the numbers and kinds of weapons “collaborating” in flight.

“We really wanted to broaden the approach to not just one specific weapon system. Let’s open it up and see longer ranges and different scenarios. I think it’s a total game changer to enable our weapons to be interconnected, be able to share information across the team, because we’re so limited in terms of processing capability on board, that if they can leverage the strength of the swarm, imagine the wealth of information that the weapons can collect, as they ingress,” Emily Doucette, Aerospace Engineer, Air Force Research Laboratory, told Warrior in an interview at the 2022 Air Force Association Symposium.

The tactical implications associated with this kind of weapons ability cannot be underestimated, as Golden Horde not only enables greater precision, an ability to shift course in flight to hit targets on the move and weapon to weapon data sharing, but also greatly improves survivability by streamlining missions to reduce risk of exposure to enemy fire.

“You could potentially decrease the number of aircraft that are required or the number of weapons that are required to defeat the same target. That would really decrease the amount of time and potentially the amount of funding it would be required to defeat a target,” Doucette said.

Advanced sensors built into the weapons themselves can surveil the surrounding combat environment and, using artificial intelligence, bounce specific incoming data off of a vast database of known, cataloged information to make instant identifications, perform analyses and recommend optimal courses of action. For instance, perhaps one sensor built into one Small Diameter Bomb picks up the electronic signature of an enemy jammer and is then able to transmit organized and identified data to the other bomb in flight, thus enabling it to change course and or adjust its flight trajectory and targeting accordingly.