Online Sponsor: March 31, 2003
With Sense of Urgency, Air Force Addresses BY GAIL KAUFMAN, DEFENSE NEWS MEDIA GROUP
“Just a weapon and an aircraft is still not enough, because there is no use going on a mission if you can’t detect a target,” said Frank Tuck, director of the Air Combat System Program Office at the Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He spoke Monday at a conference in Alexandria, Va., sponsored by Defense News Media Group: Strike Warfare Precision Attack: Compressing the ‘Flash-to-Bang’ Cycle. Since 1999, Tuck and his government team have been trying to determine what long-range strike technologies are best-suited to deal with limited overseas bases. They are also narrowing options to replace the existing bomber fleet by 2040. With more sense of urgency about limited access to enemy territory, the Pentagon leadership in November 2001 ordered that the study address technologies that could be fielded around 2012. As a result, Tuck and his team have narrowed their focus to three areas — subsonic, supersonic and space systems. The Air Force is developing a range of operational scenarios that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of three contractor teams’ proposed solutions. The teams are led by Northrop Grumman Corp., Boeing Co., and Lockheed Martin Corp. By 2006, the service intends to fund a slew of new technology initiatives that would be needed to provide a long-range strike capability by 2012. A primary focus of the study is figuring out how the new airframe and weapons will be part of the overarching command, control, communications and computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance network (C4ISR), Tuck said. “How do we integrate the C4ISR with the weapon and the vehicle we’re going to use?” Tuck said. “If you don’t have a robust, persistent ISR capability, you’re probably not going to be able to attack the enemy. One way for the team to narrow the service’s options is to examine its current capabilities and see how they differ from future needs, Tuck said. For example, most of the service’s current aircraft can fly at speeds of about 0.8 Mach, with a supercruise of nearly 1.3 Mach. To travel 400 miles, it will take that aircraft about 50 minutes to reach its destination. Using supercruise, it takes about 30 minutes. If you include the weapon it could cut that time down to about 20 minutes because the weapon could be launched from a further stand-off distance, Tuck said. The Strike Warfare Precision Attack conference continues through Tuesday. Return to news coverage |
Sponsor: 
Maj. Gen. John L "Jack" Hudson |
