Fall 2006 - Air & Space Power Chronicle - Air Force Link

32 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006intelligence gathering and communicationsat a lower cost than satellites. Near-space systemsalso have the potential to hover overareas of interest for hours at a time (with solarpower, maybe for days at a time) whereassatellites are available briefly during their orbitalpasses. Hopefully these systems will offerthe same quick-deployment capability asunmanned aerial vehicles. Their operatingaltitude would keep them relatively safe fromenemy fire, and their construction wouldmake them difficult to pick up with radar andinfrared sensors. Furthermore, their ruggednesswould allow them to absorb heavy damagebefore they will be brought down.The AFRL conducted a successful demonstrationcalled Combat SkySat and tested potentialapplications during JFEX ’06. Lt GenMichael Peterson, the Air Force’s chief informationofficer, said that the balloon systemreceived rave reviews during the event. “Assoon as he heard about this: Go. Buy. Now,”Peterson said of one general’s reaction. 11Combat SkySat features a payload that extendsthe range of Army tactical radios fromabout 10 kilometers to about 480 kilometers.Additionally, the AFRL expects to deploy atest platform to OIF in the August or September2006 time frame for operational testing. 12The impact would be to demonstrate theability of near-space systems to solve the lineof-sightand persistence issues associated withensuring Link 16 connectivity throughoutthe battlespace.Publication of Airspace Control Orders and AirspaceControl MeasuresOne innovation resulting from OIF involvedproviding aircrews with a visual depiction ofthe ACOs and ACMs, which could subsequentlybe used for mission planning. TheACO ends up being a stack of pages containinglongitudes and latitudes in text format.Most people can relate to graphical presentationsmuch better than to paper printouts.During OIF, the CAOC staff started pullingthe ACM graphics from Falcon View, part ofthe Air Force Mission Planning Support Systemthat provides user-friendly ability to planmissions with a visual presentation overlayingmap databases. Through their innovation,the staff members started cutting and pastingthe images to e-mails, Secure Internet ProtocolRouter Network (SIPRNET) Web pages,and whatever other methodologies theycould employ to get better information tothe aircrews. 13 This service was very difficultto provide to AMC crews due to the nature oftheir mission, the fact that the crews oftendeparted before the current ATO was published,and the fact that they often originatedfrom locations with difficult or unavailableaccess to the SIPRNET. To help alleviatethese concerns, the JASMAD will offer the capabilityto automate the process of developingthe mission graphics, and the JMPS willoffer the capability to deliver that data.Identification, Friend or FoeJASMAD interoperability and functionalitymust extend to ground and surface forces andtheir receptors as well. For example, extendingJASMAD connectivity and functionalityout to the control and reporting centers(CRC) of the theater air-ground system couldaid in both airspace management and controland help reduce fratricide. Once an objecthas been positively identified by either radaridentification or through the Link 16 network,that object could conceivably be tracked bythe CRCs, emissions free, all the way out tothe last point of positive radar control by continuouslyupdating and comparing the actualflight profile against the planned profile asgenerated by the JMPS. The tracking informationthen would be passed back to the TBONEand ultimately updated into the JASMAD. Usingpredictive analysis and comparing the predictedradar coverage reentry point and timeagainst the actual point and time could aid inthe reidentification of friendly aircraft. Tactics,techniques, and procedures should bedeveloped to enable positive identification ofaircraft reentering positive radar or digitalcontrol without requiring emissions. Anotherexample of how this functionality can aid inpreventing fratricide would be if the properconnectivity were also established with Patriot