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Air Force stands up UAV Center of Excellence
Posted 3/17/2005
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3/17/2005 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Major General Stephen Goldfein, Air Warfare Center commander here, held a telephone press conference March 16 to announce the standup of the Air Force's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Center for Excellence at Indian Springs Auxiliary Air Field, Nev.
The UAV Center of Excellence will coordinate UAV activities at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels, working to provide a common structure for UAV command and control systems. The center will improve the interoperability among the various systems and develop the common operating systems, standards, requirements, concept of operations, and training necessary to provide the joint warfighters the information they need.
General Goldfein: Good morning or afternoon, depending on where you're sitting, everybody. Thanks for making time for us.
I'm honored to be representing our Air Force today in an announcement that you're familiar with and I believe you have a copy on that we intend to stand up an Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Center of Excellence out here at Indian Springs Auxiliary Field right here in Nellis Air Force Base. The statement I believe you all have in front of you is very clear with regard to the intent to coordinate UAV activities at all levels of war -- tactical, operational and strategic -- and working to provide a common structure for our command and control systems.
We have a wide range of things we want to do within the Center including improving interoperability among the systems, developing common operating systems, and then all of the standards, requirements, concept of operations and the training necessary to provide joint warfighters the very best process to integrate and leverage what we get from the unique capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles.
This all has come to pass over a good bit of time and discussion on this. Our Air Force leaders, for sure, recognize the incredible value of UAVs and the contributions that, of the ones we currently have in the global war on terror, and I think that it's most appropriate and prudent to recognize not only the value of what we do have, but where we're going. The idea would be then to have one place, one center, that would in turn carry us forward with not only what we do have but what we will be acquiring as we move on.
We want to obviously exploit the full potential and the capabilities and we feel that Indian Springs is a very, very logical location to do that for a host of reasons. We've got an experienced cadre. We have the infrastructure here, as you all know, all the Predators are already operating out here. We have a real national treasure in terms of the ranges that we have, the Nellis Test and Training Range, and we're also connected very well with our friends in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps via Fallon, Fort Irwin, the National Training Center, Fort Huachuca, 29 Palms. We've got a lot of wonderful events that already occur out here including the various Flag exercises, the Air Warrior Connection for the National Training Center, the Naval Strike Warfare training, Army and Marine Corps training. I didn't mention Yuma, I should have earlier. A close connection with the MOPS folks over there. And lots of great infrastructure not the least of which is Indian Springs sits right next to, literally, our ranges. And the arrangement with the Federal Aviation Administration, the ability to operate UAVs here, to shoot weapons from them when we do that, et cetera, are all already in place. So it seemed to make eminent sense to take advantage of all of that, bring all the experts here and press on.
So we are delighted, I'm honored to assume initial command of this activity. Obviously we have a lot of work to do to put it together in terms of details, but that would be my opening comments.
I'm happy to take any questions.
AVWK -- Q: General Goldfein, Dave Fulghum here, Aviation Week.
General Goldfein: Hi, Dave.
AVWK -- Q: I'm trying to figure out how to ask this question so you can answer it. But if the Air Force were named executive agent for UAVs, would this somehow play into that complex, that structure?
General Goldfein: I think it would, Dave. Executive agency, as you know, has some very sort of specific rules and processes associated with it. No matter what, an executive agent to do his or her job best would need to have great advice and I would think that a Center of Excellence within our Air Force would be a great place to help provide that advice. So it seems to me to be a logical connection between the two.
AVWK -- Q: Is there also an operational content to the Center of Excellence? Or does that belong to one of the other UAV structures?
General Goldfein: Yes, I think there definitely will be an operational content, but I want to make sure I understand your question. Are you talking about people within the Center who would actually operate equipment?
AVWK -- Q: No, I was thinking more in terms of lessons learned out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and as you try to develop UAV as a weapon for such things as the IED hunt or for convoy patrol or the other things that you might do with UAVs. Do you have a way of -- Is this part of the organization that allows you to develop those kind of tactics and scenarios?
General Goldfein: Dave, I think you have that exactly right. The end game, when it's all said and done is that the Joint Force Commander, whoever that is, can create the effects on the battlefield that they want or that they need. And with regard to UAVs, I believe that this Center of Excellence will be the place to look at systems of systems, concepts of employment, and to integrate and leverage in a way, make recommendations to them about the very best way to use them to achieve their effects. So I believe you're all over it. I think that's exactly the connection that we're searching for here.
AVWK -- Q: Last thing from me, I promise. UCAVs. When the UCAVs come on line, will that be folded into the UAV Center of Excellence or will that belong to someone else?
General Goldfein: I believe it would be folded in, Dave. I think it would be an obvious continuation of the initial work that we would start with what we have. In fact I believe that the Center of Excellence will probably become an important player in the development of UCAVs and in the design and types of operating structures we would have so that it will make sense in creating the effects. Not that it wouldn't have otherwise, but by bringing them all together we're continuing to leverage our knowledge and our expertise in that way.
So the short answer is absolutely. I think as JUCAS and others come on line there's going to be a very logical fit and I expect that the Center will begin to get involved in that virtually immediately along with all the other activities they do.
AVWK -- Q: As in UCAVs coming to Indian Springs?
General Goldfein: In terms of bed down, obviously, I would have no idea. That's way out in front of us on a timetable there. If they operated here, fine, if they operated somewhere else, fine. Either way I think we would be involved in the system of systems view in integrating and leveraging the force.
LVS -- Q: General, this is Jace Ridue with the Las Vegas Sun. You mentioned a timetable there. I understand you're standing up the Center today, but what's the timetable to actually have this up and running out at Indian Springs?
General Goldfein: Jace, to be honest I'm not exactly sure. I think today what we're making is a clear, strong statement that this is something that we need. The immediate steps are the same that any of you would take in an organizational work and that is define the product, sort out the processes we have in mind and then an organization develops from that. I intend to aggressively pursue that. I'd be I think remiss to try to pick a date for you because I just don't know what it will be. I will tell you that this is very important to us so we're going to put plenty of energy and time into getting it done.
AFT -- Q: General, this is Laura from Air Force Times. Are you talking about a matter of weeks, a matter of months?
General Goldfein: Laura I would say probably, we have the UAV BattleLab in place here now which is really our core group of folks who are doing at least portions of this work already. We also have the full structure of the Predator operation that's already here and some of the other things that I already told you.
So I think I'm going to answer your question by saying both. By that I mean in a matter of sort of no time at all we already have a strong core structure of people who are already working on elements of this, and that would be sort of your weeks type of thing. And then I would say more in the terms of months, in terms of getting the complete formal structure, having all the right people in place and sort of declaring that yep, we've got everything we need now to move out.
Then I'll just throw in a final point that we were already moving out on a number of these elements, and have been for some time, via the BattleLab and our other structures.
So I guess what I'd say is it will be sort of a merging of what we have that we can do in weeks and what we need to sort out in a little bit longer term.
LVRJ -- Q: General, hi. Keith Rogers with Review-Journal. What are some of the other type of UAVs that will be brought here or tested here or involved in the Center?
General Goldfein: Keith, within our Air Force we have kind of what we currently call three levels of UAVs. You're familiar with the MQ4, the Global Hawk which we only have obviously one operating and a few coming forward in development.
We have a good number of the Predators, somewhere in the 60 sort of category.
Then we have what we call kind of small and miniatures. You're familiar with the Pointer Raven, Desert Hawk, and those. Collectively our Air Force is operating about 300, give or take, in that range.
So I think right off the bat obviously those are our players. Then should the other services wish to join in with us. The Army operates some of the same, but they're up in the sort of 600 category; and the Marines have about 150 or so of various types as well. Marines and Navy.
So you could add them all up and say there's about a thousand total out there that we're operating. Several hundred in theater right now. I can see that all of them can participate in some way. Whether or not that's right here for various activities is another story, but our potential to sort of absorb that and work with the various types I think is pretty high here for the reasons I've stated earlier.
LVRJ -- Q: Is it likely that the other services will bring personnel here to participate in the Center?
General Goldfein: Actually from my perch, and you're familiar with this obviously locally, we do -- There's hardly anything we do here at Nellis and on this great Nellis training range that we have that's not joint. That's the double negative. I guess the positive is just about everything we do is joint here. We have a joint element to virtually all of the things. And I think it would be immensely exciting to have the other services join in with us and would certainly welcome them and have them be a part of all of this. I think it makes great sense for our nation to provide the joint effects to the joint force commander. That's it. At least from my perspective, I don't care who gets it done as long as the job gets done, so working together on this particular subject makes great sense to me.
AFT -- Q: General, this is Laura from Air Force Times again. Have any of the other services actually expressed interest in that?
General Goldfein: Laura at sort of my level out here, yes. Definitely. We chat with a lot of our friends in the other services. I can't speak for our higher levels just because I don't know for a fact, but I'm fairly certain they have talked and I think the other services are in fact quite interested in being involved.
I would just caveat that by saying I think involved in the subject matter, which is coordinating and leveraging these assets. Whether or not the services are interested in specifically joining this exact organization, I'd be beyond myself to guess at.
AFT -- Q: But you suggest that that could happen whether or not the Air Force is named as executive agent?
General Goldfein: Yes, I think so. I think the executive agency; again, it's a higher order issue. It has some specific responsibilities that the Center of Excellence will be one of many contributions to, I believe, so I don't know that the two need to be tethered. In other words, other services could be here and be involved in this part of the business regardless of executive agency.
AFM -- Q: General, this is Adam Hebert with Air Force Magazine. What is the relationship of the Center of Excellence going to be to the UAV BattleLab once they're both up and running?
General Goldfein: Hi, Adam. I don't know exactly yet, but I think in the beginning the BattleLab really becomes the core to help us develop and expand out to a Center of Excellence. Then I think we take a look at the BattleLab's specific mission, which involves rapid innovation and bringing capability forward very quickly, and then implementing it or employing it into the warfight. I think that element of innovation and rapid turnover will want to be a part of our Center of Excellence, at least in my sense of things.
Whether or not we continue to call it a BattleLab or it becomes a different term, the mission that they have will definitely stay alive.
So I guess the short answer, a little bit more time will tell as we get our arms around this, but my gut feeling is the BattleLab and what they do will remain a core part of our business.
AD -- Q: General, this is Mark Selinger at Aerospace Daily. I just came from, you mentioned the number of UAVs that the Army has and I just came from a congressional hearing where a member of the House Armed Service Committee, Congressman Everitt, expressed concern about this idea of a UAV Center. Not so much about the Center concept but the fact that tactical and strategic would both be in one center. He suggested maybe there should be an Army center for tactical UAVs. I was wondering if that issue has come up in any of your discussions.
General Goldfein: The specific issue has not come up. Not asked in that way. So I'll just give you my opinion, and I don't have the facts or context behind the congressman's point so I certainly wouldn't even begin to try to guess at sort of what it was he was talking about.
My opinion would be, I'll just fall back on something I said earlier. We're trying to create effects on the battlefield. We have learned over time in our Air Force that calling bombers strategic bombers doesn't make a lot more sense. They have the ability to make strategic effects; they can also have what we used to sort of call tactical effects. As you all know, they have been very successful, right down to the close air support role.
So I really think the key here is why do we value and what value does a UAV bring, and most certainly one of the main ones is persistence. Then there's a survivability nature. So if you're trying to bring systems forward to create effects, if we don't tag words to it like strategic and tactical, in my opinion we're probably better off because then we're just looking at how the joint warfighting commander wants to get the job done and bringing forward everything we have to help him do that.
AVWK -- Q: So you're essentially saying they should stay lumped in sort of one continuum rather than being parceled out by mission?
General Goldfein: In my opinion when we're looking at it from a Center of Excellence wide approach we ought to be looking at the whole lump. How they might be operated by the various services and their command structures would be a different story, but I think the ability to consider how to leverage all of it for the best use, it makes sense to me to keep them all together. Again, from my perch. I can't speak for our Air Force senior leadership on this, but from my perch that's the way I view it.
LVRJ -- Q: General, Keith Rogers again at the Review-Journal in Las Vegas. I'm just wondering, is there going to be any cost involved with establishing this Center? Is it going to be just a stroke of the pen paperwork thing?
General Goldfein: Keith, initially none. As I've already stated, we have a lot of players who are sitting here. I do believe there will be some. I think it's highly likely that we're going to what to have a few more people than we currently have and probably a few more resources than we currently have. Whether or not that extends all the way to some of the larger cost like military construction and all, I just don't know. You're well aware that Indian Springs is quite busy and there's already an established expansion associated, particularly with Predator. So I suspect there will be some in terms of manpower, resources, budgets to do the types of analysis modeling and simulation, the sort of things that all go with this type of a construct.
LVRJ -- Q: Thank you.
General Goldfein: You're welcome.
IAF -- Q: General, this is Martin Matishak from Inside the Air Force. I'm just wondering what the relationship of the Center will be with the Joint UAV Planning Task Force.
General Goldfein: A very good question. I think one of our early tasks here will be to head down the path of figuring out who's out there. On the one hand I think we probably know. Somewhere here I have a list of a number of the activities that are going on and right away I think we're going to want to be able to leverage. In fact in our initial sense of how we're going to operate here is I'm going to need an advisory council of some type associated with the Center that is wider than the command structure that I'm currently privileged to command. By that I would, as an example, I would mean folks [from the] laboratory, folks from the financial side of the business, folks from the acquisition side of the business. And as we reach out, it would make imminent sense to me that we also reach out to other established activities that are working on this subject, at least in some fashion.
So it would make sense to me that we would look to liaise early on a lot of these folks to gain knowledge and experience and share and press on. Which takes me back to my earlier point, that joint just makes sense to me here.
IAF -- Q: I have another question, General; will the Center eventually have any sort of budget authority or procurement authority?
General Goldfein: I think it's a very good question, it's a logical question, and I honestly don't know the answer to that. But if I take the way that I take the rest of the operation for which I'm responsible here, we don't have those authorities along the lines I think you're thinking of, like for example being the decider to acquire something and having the money to do so. I think more likely we're going to be recommending the very best way to do that, certainly through our Air Force chain, and then those kinds of decisions would tend to happen on high and probably aligned with, if an executive agent falls into place given the way executive agents have worked other issues, that would probably be the sort of place those types of decisions would happen.
So that was the long answer. The short answer is no, I don't think so. But it's one of those maybe we have to wait and see.
IAF -- Q: Another question is what role will the new Center play in helping the Pentagon design the Joint Strike Enabler?
General Goldfein: It's something that I have to admit I just haven't thought about yet. I believe that as we take a look, and it goes back to my point and the earlier question about do we lump these together. I think as we view the entire family of these systems, not only what we have but where we're going, and we think about how to optimize their use. The output from the Center will end up going to more and more and more places because it will be contributory to the overall kind of continuing planning for our strategy and our operational game plans around the world. So I guess my sense would be we probably will contribute to that activity. Exactly how is probably too soon to tell.
IAF -- Q: Thank you, General.
General Goldfein: You're quite welcome.
AD -- Q: General, this is Mark Selinger again. The media advisory said that the Center's mission will be to improve interoperability. Can you, I'm just trying to sort of visualize what the problem or problems are today and how you're going to fix those. Can you paint a picture of the key challenges you're facing and how that's going to be resolved with the Center?
General Goldfein: Sure, Mark. I think a very good question. As you all know, there are several hundred of these operating over in the AOR right now, and each of them, it ties back to an earlier question about the various levels, the tactical or strategic. They're each operated by certain people, they're being tasked in a certain way. They have different control mechanisms with them. They have different communications mechanisms. They have different products. The products that they produce are used by different people in different ways.
One of the things that we see is, for example with our Predator, a Predator will be requested in support of a particular mission. On some days that product which might be, and likely is, full motion video capability, might be collected and brought back and analyzed later. Other days is might be used right on the spot. There could have possibly been another way to get that same effect with one of the different systems. But people a lot of times tend to be connected to a system they want. You ask somebody what they want, they'll say I want a Predator. The real answer to the question is I want full motion video for ten hours over this spot. Then if you look at the entire force, we might have wanted to go about that in a different way and optimize the use of these systems, and to control and track them in the battlespace and all of those things. This is what we mean by interoperability.
We have introduced them into combat and operated them very successfully, but I think there's a clear realization that first, their value is huge; and second of all, therefore, how do you better optimize that? So that's kind of the picture I would paint. They're over there, they're operating, they're doing very well, but it's not perfect. And so what we want to try to do is get to sort of a smarter way of communicating between them, taking the products that we're after, getting them to the right spot to make combat decisions, creating the kinds of joint effects that we're after.
I realize those are slightly broad terms, Mark, but that's kind of what we have in mind.
AD -- Q: How are you going to, after you determine that certain standards need to be applied, how are you going to enforce those to make sure that they're carried out, especially the other services?
General Goldfein: What we do, I'll use our Air Force example, and this is sort of the rest of the mission of our Air Warfare Center here. We will take initial issues, intelligence analysis or whatever that sort of leads us to needing some, let's say a new piece of equipment. We take that piece of equipment and we ring it out and test it. While we're doing that, a part of that process is developing the tactics, the techniques and procedures to operate it. We do that for a number of reasons, but the main one is the standardization of the force so that whenever folks get to a fight its not pickup game. You don't have to guess at what they bring. You know how they'll operate. And we can set up very rapidly in an expeditionary way anywhere in the world.
What we do is we produce documents here. For example, our tactics manuals. Each of the systems that we operate gets a little more mature, like the F-15 that I fly right now has established tactics manuals. I know what those tactics are. I fly to those tactics standards every day. I know that I can go fly with any F-15 squadron in the world, certainly the U.S. forces, and fit right in because I know how they're going to operate.
So we have really a very straightforward methodology to turn new thought into a standardized way to operate and I would envision doing exactly the same thing within our Air Force, and a good portion of that has been done already with regard to, for example, the Predator. We've established those kinds of tactics.
Now what we want to do is integrate them across all of these systems and in turn, the follow-on for the joint would be the same thing. Here at the Joint Air and Space Tactics Center which I'm privileged to command, we write the tactics manuals for all aircraft, not only U.S. Air Force but also Navy and Marine Corps, and we're hopeful that the Army will come on board with us as well. Those are all written jointly. They're joint teams that develop those. So that now when I go fly in my F-15 and I'm paired up with a couple of F-18s with the Navy, I know what they're going to do and they know what I'm going to do.
So I'm just sort of telling you what we do in that process and we're going to end up doing I think exactly the same thing as we move forward with this operation.
AVWK -- Q: Can I do a follow-up to Mark's question? That would seem to make you then a key player in the development of high powered microwave, for example, particularly since unmanned aircraft are going to be the platforms to carry those particular devices. You would also then be involved in studying the effects and developing the tactics on how to use that directed energy weapon?
General Goldfein: I would say that the music sheet is sort of open to be written on in that regard. The systems themselves are there for a reason and the reason is the payload they bring, whatever that might be. And the payload is there to produce a product to help create the effects.
So if a future payload includes high power microwave, directed energy, you pick it, and it's going to be an important factor in the utilization of these systems in terms of a concept of employment, system of system operations, and yes, I think we probably will be involved. Whether or not we have a very directed role in the development of how to use a microwave is one thing, or the development of the microwave process, for example, is unlikely. However, if it's going to be a payload on a UAV we're probably going to get involved in the concepts of ops.
AVWK -- Q: But that's necessarily currently on your horizon?
General Goldfein: No, not specifically. I guess again, I'd leave the sheet wide open here. I believe, going back to an earlier question. We start reaching out and touching all the folks that have been engaged on this subject and continue to gain knowledge and organize ourselves on a path. I suspect we'll find out there's all sorts of potential and then we'll just try to be able to stack those up in the right order and get after them.
Colonel Ford (from the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs media desk): Any other questions?
I think that's it then, sir, unless you have any wrap-up comments.
General Goldfein: Just one. It's great to hear voices of many friends. I wish you all well, and we thank you for your interest.
Our Air Force, for sure, is out in the middle of this. We're doing a great job of I believe creating effects over there. There are 30,000-some airmen deployed. We've got young airmen right here, I was chatting with one just the other day who just got done driving in a convoy and got shot at just about, well, several times. If I said just about every other day I'd be a little facetious, but they got shot at a lot. One of our young airmen did so well with the Army team he was with that they made him the gunner on the vehicle. That's a real testimony to how great they are. Plus obviously, a lot of wonderful work going on in the air.
So we're just really proud of them. We're proud to be a part of standardizing tactics and developing better ways out here, and I will extend what is always to each of you an open invitation to come visit us at Nellis. We'd be happy to show you around a little bit. A lot of good things going on out here. I just thank you for your time.
Colonel Ford: Thank you sir. Appreciate it.
General Goldfein: Take care.
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