AFMC correcting capability shortfalls

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Melanie Streeter
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  The commander of Air Force Materiel Command outlined the findings of the latest Capabilities Review and Risk Assessment at the 2004 Air Force Association Warfare Symposium in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Feb. 12.

Gen. Gregory Martin explained how Air Force leaders meet to take a look at capabilities and shortfalls in an effort to improve air and space power.

The latest CRRA found six key capability shortfalls: base defense and force protection, global information grid, global lift and force projection, battle space management and effects-based planning, fleeting and mobile targets, and effects-based assessment.

The general focused first on base defense and force protection, using recent strikes against three aircraft in Baghdad to illustrate his point.

“The C-17 [Globemaster III] and C-5 [Galaxy] have countermeasures and sensors, but we have to ask ourselves, is there something else we could have done?” General Martin said. “We need to be able to sense these threats before delivery.”

One defensive system already in place is the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure. A sensor on the aircraft assesses an incoming threat and uses directed energy against the weapon to avoid a hit. Defensive systems of the future may employ this same concept by using directed energy as a non-lethal method for dealing with enemy personnel, the general said.

“If we can apply force from the air, we become preemptive instead of reactive,” he said. “We want the guy to wake up in a cold sweat if he even thinks of making a terrorist threat, because we already know about it.”

Another capability shortfall General Martin discussed was global lift and force projection. He said while in many ways the Air Force is doing well in this area, there is room for improvement.

“We need to be able to tell exactly where items are at all times,” he said.

This requires the development of systems to create in-transit visibility for all supplies, he said, and to do this the Air Force is assigning unique identifiers and radio frequency identifiers to all parts and pallets, allowing commanders to track this key information easily.

“Intra-theater distribution is also something we are looking at,” the general said.

The goal is a seamless hand-off from the supplier to the customer, something that is especially difficult when ground forces are on the move, General Martin said.

“And it becomes more imperative with so many more Air Force members on the ground who are widely spread out,” he said.

Giving commanders the ability to track assets is just one of many things AFMC is looking at to make battle space management and effects-based planning easier. By bringing together a variety of existing computer programs, AFMC is aiming at providing quality information to commanders at all levels.

“We need to build a system, working with communications, to give a clear picture of our abilities,” General Martin said. “We need to facilitate the gathering of all the information commanders need without them having to go through all the databases. We want to get that information to their fingertips.”

Martin said these are exciting times to be in the Air Force, as technology opens new doors.

“We’re going to have total battle-space awareness with the touch of a screen,” he said. “We will be able to achieve the desired affects near instantaneously.

“We will break the time barrier,” the general continued, “and create affects in near-real time.”

With the development of new technologies, AFMC’s commander sees Air Force leaders of tomorrow having the ability to know, decide and act as quickly as possible to accomplish the mission.