Future Air Force Jets to Attack With Less “Central” Command & Control

U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Madelyn Brown

— By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

The Air Force is training its fighter jets to attack and destroy enemy air and ground targets without needing to rely upon large centralized ground-based command and control systems, given the quickening pace at which adversaries are developing “jamming,” electronic warfare and cyber attack technologies.

Citing the intensity with which near-peer adversaries are accelerating methods of attacking command and control systems, GPS and other networking technologies, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said air combat operations will need to succeed without connecting to a broader command and control network.

“Airmen of the future will need to get after the mission orders, take their skills and abilities and operate without a lot communication back to central command and control,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told the Air Force News Service recently at an Air Force Association Air War Symposium. “This is not just about the Air Force moving faster in peacetime. It is about the Air Force being prepared to fight in the future of warfare,” Wilson said.

Moving into the 2030s, Wilson’s comments suggest that air attack platforms such as an F-22 or F-35 will need to track enemies, acquire targets and relay intelligence to other air assets such as other fighter jets and drones – without going through a broader centralized network.

Currently, much target data comes from ground-based coordinators or drone video feeds and aerial sensors which first connect to a ground-based command and control node before being transmitted to attack aircraft. Now, the Air Force is accelerating efforts to advance emerging technologies which enable things like more manned-unmanned teaming in the air. Fighter jets, for example, will be able to use computer algorithms to control nearby drones from the cockpit of the aircraft, Air Force scientists say.

Air Force developers recognize that longer-range sensors, weapons and targeting technologies further necessitate the need for “dispersed” command and control, as air attack platforms will need to operate at farther and farther distances.