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1 1 (June 29, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedvd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ress at Resesrob Service InfofrnhjLJ the Iegi~iat&~ &bate s~n >e 1914 9 June 29, 2021 Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) The Advanced Battle Management System(ABMS) is the U.S. Air Force's latest effort to create a next-generation command and control (C2) system. ABMS proposes using cloud environments and new communications methods to allow Air Force and Space Force systems to share data seamles sly using artificial intelligence to enable faster decisionmaking. The Air Force describes ABMS as its effort to create an internet of things, which would allow for sensors and C2systems tobe dis aggregated fromone another (counter to how the Air Force has traditionally performed C2). This programis the Air Force's contribution to the DOD's Joint All Domain Command and Control(JADC2) effort focused on modernizing DOD decis ionmaking processes for combat operations. ABMS was originally envisioned to replace the E-3 Airborne Warning andControl Sys tem(AWACS) (Figure 1), which currently directs air combat operations, but later took on a broader scope. Former As sis tant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Will Roper directed that the programbecome less focused on command centers and aircraft, and to instead create digital technologies, like secure cloud environments, to share data across multiple weapons systems. Dr. Roper s tated the contested environment envisioned by the 2018 National Defense Strategy forced the Air Force to restructure the ABMS program In May 2021, General David Allvin, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force in a DefenseOne article stated, What exactly is ABMS? Is it software? Hardware? Infrastructure? Policy?The answer is yes to all. In other words, the Air Force envisions ABMS as an acquisition programthat will both procure things andimplement other nondevelopmental efforts that the service views as equally important: new techniques to command and control airborne forces. Figure I. E-3 AWACS Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wikVBoeing_E-3_Sentry4#/media/ File:E-3_Sent ryexerc ise_Green_Flag_20 12_(Cropped).jpg. Since ABMS's inception, Congress has expressed interest in the development ofnext-generation C2 systems. The Air Force states that ABMS is a nontraditional acquisition program As a result, Congress has questioned theAir Force's approach to replacing older systems and its approach to experimenting with emerging technologies. ABMS Development Efforts The Air Force has performed five events to date to demons trate the new C2 capabilities it hopes to eventually field. In December 2019 the Air Force, in its first ABMS on-ramp-thetermthe Air Force uses to denote a demonstration-showed the ability to transmit data from Army radars and Navy destroyers to both F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft. This event also demonstrated the Space Force's Unified Data Library (UDL), which is a cloud environment combining space-based and ground-based sensors to tracks atellites. In September2020, ABMS performed its secondon-ramp. This second on-ramp demonstrated detecting and defeating a simulated cruis e mis sile bound for the United States using hypervelocity weapons as defenses. In addition, ABMS exhibited capabilities to detect and defeat efforts to disrupt U.S. operations in space. According to an Air Force press release 70 industry teams and 65 government teams participatedin the event. The Air Force held a third on-ramp event in late September 2020, in support of exercise Valiant Shield at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. During this event, the Air Force demonstrated using a KC-46 tanker aircraft to perform tactical C2 by relaying data fromolder, fourth-generation fighters to newer, fifth-generation aircraft like the F-22. In May 2021, the Air Force stated thatprocuring a communications pod for the KC-46 will be the first capability release for the ABMS nromram. The AirForce s aid, In a fight, the tankers will need to be flying near the action anyway, supporting fighters, so using themas a command-and-control system. either as the primary or a resilient backup,just makes sense. A fourth on-ramp was held in Europe in February 2021. According to press releases, the Air Force curtailed this event due to budget constraints. This fourth on-ramp linked allied nations including the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdominto combined air operations. According to General Harrigan, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe, this fourth event tested U.S. and allied capabilities to performlong -range strike mis sions with F-15E aircraft launching AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Mis sile (JASSM) (see Figure 2), while simultaneously utilizing U.S. and allied F-35s for airbase defense missions. https://crs reports.congress.gov

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