The threat of long-range missile launchers in the Russian enclave is driving the Air Force to develop new tactics for multi-domain attack and dispersed defense.

The military will use Silicon Valley’s approach to quickly field imperfect products, then rapidly improve them based on user feedback.

Future soldiers will need to download huge amounts of intelligence data — then disconnect and go dark, like a submarine diving underwater to hunt its prey.

The test was a big achievement for two much-criticized programs: the Joint Strike Fighter and the Army’s IBCS network — and for the services’ struggle to work better together in a future war.

Even with Australia, one of our closest allies, it can be hard to share data. And the Army’s future war plans require seamless network coordination with the other US services and foreign allies.

“The SOF guys are less risk averse than conventional ground forces, so they’re more apt to push the limit,” said Bob Work, father of the AI-driven Third Offset Strategy. “Their commanders also have embraced AI and autonomous ops…. so I think all the conditions are set for SOF to lead the way in the more direct combat applications of AI and autonomy.”

“All the services understand the need to move to Multi-Domain Operations,” Lt. Gen. Wesley said. “Second, we all agree that MDC2 [Multi-Domain Command & Control] is the most important joint problem that we have to solve. After that, the specifics of how you conduct MDO – that’s where the variance is that we’ve got to converge on.”

“AFWIC was told to inform and try to shape the ’20 POM,” Fantini told reporters, but that 2020-2024 budget plan is due out in February and was already largely locked down. “But the ’21 POM,” he said, it’s “game on.”

PENTAGON: For the first time, the Air Force has run a wargame trying to decide how best to build the structure for Multi-Domain Command & Control. A central objective is figuring out how to manage data flows coming from all over the world from every domain: air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace. What could the… Keep reading →

“We’re looking at airframes of the future that will have common cockpits, advanced propulsion systems, (and) signature management,” Miller said. The goal “really is understanding (how) to modify or build an airplane that allows us to operate through that threat environment.”