Electronic Systems Center tests Internet capability on Joint STARS

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HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) --  Every day people use computers to send and receive e-mails and attachments to and from almost anywhere in the world. What if our deployed airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets were able to take advantage of these same capabilities? What if they could e-mail and send attachments with vital enemy target information, coordinates and images to multiple warfighters around the battle space?

Now the warfighter will be able to use interim Internet capability for airborne networking. It is a top-level answer for providing a deployed crew the operational benefits and mission effectiveness of an Internet protocol connection with the air and space operations center and other sites via the worldwide secret Internet protocol router network.

"Just as the Internet has dramatically increased the effectiveness of the business world, soon our military forces will witness the same increase in warfighting effectiveness," said Lt. Col. Chris Jones, chief of battle management command and control for the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System program office.

The new capability is being developed by Electronic Systems Center officials to help overcome a worldwide command and control problem.

It will deliver a much-needed temporary solution for providing global network centric operational capabilities until the joint tactical radio system wideband network is available, Colonel Jones said.

The network capability, which is a follow-on activity to the successful dial-up rate IP over existing radios demonstrated in October 2003, is currently in a proof-of-concept phase on the E-8C.

The network capability will be demonstrated on the Joint STARS test aircraft in a Red Flag exercise Oct. 9 to 23 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

During the exercise, the system will be evaluated for operational use against warfighter requirements by Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center officials at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

"With the expected success at Red Flag, and a favorable evaluation from (the center, the network capability) will be considered for a fleet retrofit in the near future," Colonel Jones said.

The system uses existing radios and operator consoles on the Joint STARS and provides a bridge to the Siprnet. Access to the Siprnet will give aircrews significant amounts of data and access to situational-awareness data.

"This information is valuable for safe and effective Air Force command and control decisions and for synchronizing operations with the Army," Colonel Jones said.

"(The capability can) open the door to almost unlimited command and control possibilities," he said. "This successful demonstration is essential in order to successfully evolve the Joint STARS platform into an airborne network node."

Without this capability, aircraft will remain years behind their terrestrial counterparts, who already rely on network-centric operations to conduct all aspects of waging war, the colonel said.