Enhancing Dynamic Command and Control of Air Operations Against Time Critical Targets

During the 1990s, U.S. air operations produced disappointing results againstadversary mobile forces that employed camouflage, concealment, and deceptiontechniques and shoot-and-scoot tactics. This report summarizes researchintended to help the Air Force develop enhanced dynamic command and controland battle management (DC2BM) of intelligence, surveillance, andreconnaissance assets and shooter assets in air operations against such timecritical targets (TCTs). It identifies four mission areas in which existingDC2BM capabilities are inadequate: counterair operations against cruisemissiles; theater missile defense counterforce operations against tacticalballistic missile transporter-erector-launchers; suppression of enemy airdefenses in the context of strike missions against targets defended byadvanced air defenses; and interdiction of small-unit ground forcesintermingled with the civilian population. The authors conclude that DC2BMimprovements should focus on (1) refining concepts of operations andtactics, techniques, and procedures and developing an end-to-end, scalablefunctionality for operations against TCTs; (2) building a robust,collaborative, distributed environment; (3) extensively automating theapplications for performing DC2BM functions; and (4) synchronizing the newapplications with a Web-enabled, integrated-software Theater BattleManagement Core System.