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

74 AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL FALL 2006cruise, but just as sophisticated electroniccountermeasures and enhanced tactics replacedearly performance-based threat-avoidance techniques,so can the Nighthawk offset its moderateperformance with advanced mission simulationand planning. Autorouting softwarecreates minimum-risk routing and links it toan accurate autopilot, allowing the jet to wormdeeply into IADS-protected territory. Linkingthe F-117’s ability to shrink threat envelopesintelligently with its larger payload of more diverseordnance (mostly true precision weapons)produces a useful addition to the GSTF.Enhancing the Nighthawk’s GSTF contributioneven further would require incorporatinga second facet of General Jumper’s GSTFvision. Specifically, this involves “horizontallyintegrated command, control, intelligence,surveillance, and reconnaissance (C 2 ISR),” inwhich a host of space assets, unmanned aerialvehicles, and wide-body platforms collects anddisseminates information on the order of battle.We would then run this information throughpredictive-analysis tools to develop predictivebattlespace awareness (PBA) with the goal ofnot only gaining a detailed understanding ofthe current battlespace but also predictinghow it will change with respect to threats andtargets: “Machine-level coordination with spacebasedplatforms will fill gaps in the airborneplatforms’ coverage.” 20 A couple of technologicalenhancements to the Nighthawk canleverage data available in the PBA concept toenhance the aircraft’s value in upcoming conflicts.Now is the time to adapt the Nighthawkto ensure that it fits future war-fighting concepts.To fill the current stealth gap and enhancethe long-term GSTF concept, we shouldretain the F-117.What the F-117 NeedsIn order to access data resident in the C 2 ISRnetwork, the F-117 must have a data gateway—a data link. The architecture of the system isunimportant as long as it allows reception—and perhaps minimal input to the network. Byleveraging threat and target information collectedby ISR assets, the Nighthawk can increaseits lethality and use its own predictivetools to enhance survivability. This capabilityrepresents a step beyond “real time in thecockpit” by providing imagery and text for targetingas well as route and threat information.Before this can happen, the Nighthawk requiresairborne access to planning resourcesresident in the existing F-117 mission-planningsystem. To minimize threat exposure, the aircraftpresently uses computer-calculated routing(autorouting)—a ground-based system thatutilizes threat data available before launch. 21Thus, in certain cases, the information used toplan the mission could be outdated; ideally, ofcourse, routing data would draw on real-timethreat information. If an airborne autorouter(threat data from the C 2 ISR network accessedvia the aforementioned data-link gateway)were incorporated into the Nighthawk, the jetcould worm its way through enemy defensesintelligently, based on current threat information.Alternatively, routing data could be generatedon the ground, with information fromthe C 2 ISR network, and passed via the datalinkgateway to an airborne force of F-117s.Though timely, the airborne version wouldlikely offer only a simplified solution that mightnot wholly account for the routing of otheraircraft. The ground-based version would takeadvantage of larger processors, dedicated missionplanners, and knowledge of multiple,conflicting routes. In either case, airborne accessto autoroute planning would greatly enhanceadvanced IADS penetration.This approach differs fundamentally fromthe supersonic, high-altitude penetration solutionoffered by the F-22—but it is no lessvalid. Potentially, in fact, it offers more flexibilitysince threat avoidance through autoroutingremains valid at both high and lowaltitude. Long-distance, supersonic flight becomesrealistic only at high altitude, and, asGeneral Jumper correctly stipulated, we needboth high-altitude and supersonic flight toshrink late-technology SAM envelopes. Intelligentlyworming by means of a precalculatedroute at low altitude enables the Nighthawk tocapitalize on direct as well as indirect terrainmasking. Stealth, intelligent routing, andmedium- or low-altitude operations will per-