WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Department of the Air Force is establishing a new integrating program executive officer for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management, or C3BM, which will have the authorities required to ensure integration of all C3BM related programs throughout the DAF, as a core contribution to the Department of Defense's broader Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, effort. This new PEO will also have responsibility for the Advanced Battle Management System, or ABMS.
Andrew Hunter, Air Force service acquisition executive, appointed Brig. Gen. Luke Cropsey to serve as the first integrating PEO. Cropsey will report directly to Hunter, and work closely with both Hunter and Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space integration, to ensure DAF systems are aligned and integrated. To stay ahead of our pacing challenges, it is an operational imperative for the Air Force to integrate and modernize C3BM to provide operational forces targeting and decision support with greater speed, adaptability, and resilience. Replacing obsolete legacy systems and harnessing emerging information, communications, and artificial intelligence technologies will help the Air Force do that.
"Luke Cropsey has demonstrated the strong leadership attributes required to lead DAF efforts to integrate and modernize all C3BM systems," Hunter said. "Luke's charge will be to build the organizational infrastructure to solve the complex systems engineering and integration challenge for C3BM across the DAF and externally, and he will be empowered as the leader to make this happen." Cropsey will be the DAF's primary interface to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and to the other military departments for DAF contributions to JADC2 development and fielding.
Hunter will also soon announce the selection of a chief of engineering for the new integrating PEO for C3BM who will lead the detailed C3BM system engineering required to ensure this complex system of systems is integrated effectively. Hunter is aligning the resources of the Air Force Chief Architect's Office under the Integrating PEO, and his Chief of Engineering, to support the required architecture and systems engineering work.
The new integrating PEO is an evolution and natural progression from the strong foundation set by the DAF Rapid Capabilities Office; the DAF RCO will continue to be an essential contributor to the long-term success of key C3BM programs and ABMS, now as a supporting element of the broader Integrating PEO for C3BM organizational construct.
"The high-end fight against today's pacing challenge will be much more complex than any undertaking the DAF has managed to date," said Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. "The DAF must develop and migrate to a C3BM architecture that includes resilient, distributed battle management, as well as the operational ability to disaggregate C3BM execution to reduce or eliminate single points of failure for optimal survivability against emerging threats."
These changes will take effect immediately.