AFMC leads ICE Breaker

  • Published
  • By Kathleen A.K. Lopez
  • Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Three Air Force Materiel Command organizations will team up with six other Air Force agencies and three industry partners to participate in an ICE Breaker July 17 to 21.

In this case, the ICE Breaker is not a social event. It refers to the Air Force Integrated Collaborative Environment. The Air Force initiative provides a setting in which the interoperability and network-compliance of systems can be planned, developed, tested and evaluated before they are made available to the warfighter.

The inaugural ICE Breaker will be the first of planned annual events to demonstrate integrated Air Force modeling and simulation capabilities aimed at accelerating acquisition. It will demonstrate the first step in linking computer network capabilities and collaborative software advancements necessary to realize the envisioned AF-ICE capability.

Led by AFMC, it is the only Air Force initiative that provides this type of modeling and simulation environment. The AF-ICE goal is to use modeling and simulation to meet Air Force acquisition and development goals, which in turn will provide the most advanced capabilities to the warfighter on-time and on-cost.

During the ICE Breaker, scenarios will simulate attacks on terrorist camps in the Southwest Asia theater of operations. A VIP showcase is scheduled for July 20 at the Pentagon. All participating organizations will have viewing access to the scenario as it unfolds, with a combination of live and recorded video.

AFMC participating locations are the Aeronautical Systems Center here, the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass. Gen. Bruce Carlson, AFMC commander, will attend the viewing at ASC. Viewing is not open to the public.

"Each site will be able to see a battle management screen as the scenario unfolds in the virtual theater," said Tim Schumacher, chief, AFMC modeling, simulation and analysis. "Ground, space and air assets will work in coordination to achieve the mission goals.

"Our initiative enables the Air Force to take advantage of subject-matter expertise by bringing it together virtually to evaluate evolving network enabled systems," he said.

The AFMC-led initiative is vital to bringing future capabilities to the warfighter, said Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, AFMC intelligence and requirements director.

"The AF-ICE team will solve some of the most critical issues facing the Air Force and joint services acquisition communities," General Weida said.