The 325th Air Control Squadron and
43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB has been making significant
advances integrating F-22 Raptor fighter tactics with command and
control operations, enhancing the capabilities of both.
One of the new advances is the ability to send free text
messages from command and control platforms to the Raptor's pilot
using high-speed digital data-link technology, called Link-16.
"Integrating command and control with the F-22 enhances our air
dominance capability as an Air Force," said Lt. Col. Ted Davis,
325th ACS commander. "The benefit of integration comes from the
fact that we are creating a synergy of force that is a quantum leap
above what any one particular air platform might be able to do on
its own."
An F-22 pilot can leave his home base, locate, cue in on and
destroy all of his targets, receive the locations of all possible
threats, receive landing instructions and come home safely without
being seen or heard. This capability is possible through the use of
communication links that allow air battle managers to send text
messages to the pilot without using the radio.
Building a three-dimensional picture of targets and threats for
F-22 pilots is the job of air battle managers who fly in command
and control platforms such as the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control
System and E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or
who operate from ground based control and reporting centers.
Advances in communication and targeting are enhancing both the
F-22's stealth capabilities, and the accuracy of the information
provided by command and control, making the F-22 even more lethal,
according to pilots.
"(Text messaging) minimizes the amount of time on the radio,"
said Maj. Clayton Bartels, 43rd FS F-22 instructor pilot. "Once you
get the information, you have it, and then all you have to do
inside your jet is get that information to the weapon."
Integration advances at Tyndall led to the first successful drop
of a joint direct attack munition by an operational F-22 at the
Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., range in December.
Tyndall is the first base in the Air Force to develop command
and control and F-22 integration tactics, and is using the new
capabilities to train all new F-22 pilot and air battle manager
students. The ABM student syllabus is beginning to see more and
more missions with the F-22 every day.
"The mission capabilities we are executing daily with C2 and the
F-22s here at Tyndall are paying dividends out in the (Combat Air
Forces) right now," Colonel Davis said. "Everything we do here is a
direct reflection on what's done out in the CAF as we graduate our
students. We train to those missions that the CAF is doing using C2
and F-22 integration, and our graduates in both systems carry those
skills out with them to their next assignment."
F-22 pilot training is also enhanced through command and control
integration allowing F-22 student pilots to train as they
fight.
"It significantly improves our training to be able to work with
a controller anytime, particularly important when you are doing
dynamic targeting because its all about shortening the kill chain
and if you never practice with an actual command and control entity
you are really missing a big piece of the puzzle," Major Bartels
said.
Current command and control and F-22 integration is just the
start as pilots and air battle managers realize that the advantages
of the data link environment can be incorporated in all new Air
Force platforms.
"I think (command and control integration) won't just be used
with the F-22 and currently fielded strike platforms, but rather it
will continue with the F-35 Lightning II," said Maj. Chris Hoskins,
325th ACS assistant director of operations, who led the integration
efforts for the ACS.
"The sky is the limit," he said. "The same tactics we have
developed here in the last six months will continue to be refined
to the point that the F-22 and the F-35 are complete data-link
contributors to the single integrated air picture." [ANN Salutes
1st Lt. Jon Quinlan, 325th Air Control Squadron]