Air Force Future War Plans Connect Fighter Jets, Stealth Bombers and Drones for Joint Attack

Video Above: What Role Would 5th Generation Stealthy Fighter Jets Play in a War with China?

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber, 6th-generation fighter jets and even bombs and cruise missiles themselves will no longer solely operate as single warfare systems performing a narrowly configured combat function, but will also function as integrated “nodes” within a larger interconnected “meshed” network.

Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS)

This idea is the conceptual foundation of the Air Force’s evolving Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) network engineered to enable real-time data processing and transmission at the point of collection. 

The foundation of much of this is purely speed, meaning the faster and more efficiently time-sensitive information can get organized, analyzed and transmitted to the point of need, the “sensor-to-shooter” cycle is optimized. Senior Air Force leaders refer to this as warfare at the “speed of relevance,” connecting “any sensor” to “any shooter” across a wide envelope of operations.

Perhaps a forward operating drone sees enemy armored vehicle formations across the other side of a mountain ridge, something which presents an immediate and fast-evolving threat. While the drone may be able to process volumes of information, identify moments of relevance and the targets before then attacking the enemy formations itself under human direction. 

However, with AMBS, which is the Air Force’s contribution to Joint All Domain Command and Control, the same drone can also send real time processed target specifics to nearby fighter jets, helicopters or even ground forces, creating a broad, multi-domain “kill web.”