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

During the 1990s, U.S. air operations produced disappointing results against adversary mobile forces that employed camouflage, concealment, and deception techniques and shoot-and-scoot tactics. This report summarizes research intended to help the Air Force develop enhanced dynamic command and control and battle management (DC2BM) of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and shooter assets in air operations against such time critical targets (TCTs). It identifies four mission areas in which existing DC2BM capabilities are inadequate: counterair operations against cruise missiles; theater missile defense counterforce operations against tactical ballistic missile transporter-erector-launchers; suppression of enemy air defenses in the context of strike missions against targets defended by advanced air defenses; and interdiction of small-unit ground forces intermingled with the civilian population. The authors conclude that DC2BM improvements should focus on (1) refining concepts of operations and tactics, techniques, and procedures and developing an end-to-end, scalable functionality for operations against TCTs; (2) building a robust,collaborative, distributed environment; (3) extensively automating the applications for performing DC2BM functions; and (4) synchronizing the new applications with a Web-enabled, integrated-software Theater BattleManagement Core System.