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In this role, the common ISR airplane would be pivotal in the Global
Strike Task Force concept, which
calls for Air Force aircraft to kick
down the door into a future theater
of war by swiftly destroying enemy
anti-access capabilities. These in-
NEW
Pivotal Element
The MC2A would fly into the theater as part of the Global Strike Task
Force air armada, controlling not only
strike and fighter aircraft but also
unmanned combat and sensor vehiclessuch as Global Hawks and
Predators.
This common widebody would
be able to see the ground situation
in fine-toothed detail and superimpose on it the unfolding aerial
battle, overlaying threats and automatically highlighting time-critical targets. It would be connected
to space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance assets as well as ground units and
build a comprehensive picture of
the war in near real time.
Further, the MC2A would translate the operational-level orders of
the Joint Force Air Component Commander into tactical delegation of
targets to aircraft.
Plans currently call for a fleet of
as many as 55 of the Multisensor
Command and Control Aircraft,
though production numbers are at
this point highly speculative. A great
deal of conceptual and technological work must first be done to assess
whether a two- or three-in-one airplane is even feasible.
The common widebody answers
The E-3 AWACS is beginning to suffer from age and component obsolescence
but is still one of USAFs most crucial assets. The MC2A program seeks to
increase the number and capability of AWACSlike aircraft in the inventory.
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USAF photo
The RC-135 Rivet Joint is probably in the best shape, structurally, of all the
big ISR platforms, one reason its mission would be the last to be migrated to
the MC2A.
A Jump Start
Maj. Gen. Robert F. Behler, commander of the Aerospace Command
and Control and ISR Center at Langley AFB, Va., said, The idea was to
use Paul Revere to jump-start the
MC2A program, to look at the Paul
Revere from the point of view of the
operators, the testers, scientists, engineers, technicians, concept development people, the acquisition
people, all together, to ... look at
where were going with the common ISR aircraft.
Cobbled together from an empty
707 belonging to MITs Lincoln
Laboratories, the Paul Revere used
an assortment of existing equipment
and new systems provided by contractors that, with the government,
wanted to see what kinds of off-theshelf equipment might work.
About $13 million worth of gear
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that the ability to see and track moving air targets, as well as ground
targets, will be integrated, Smart
said.
There could also be a Spiral 3 that
would add a signals collection and
intelligence function to the MC2A.
If so, Raytheon would lead this successor to the Rivet Joint, but Smart
cautioned that Spiral 3 is not nearly
as clear and its not nearly as defined as Spiral 1 and 2.
The Paul Revere aircraft participated in this summers live-fly Joint
Expeditionary Force Experiment at
Nellis AFB, Nev. Roche last year
ordered the experiment planners to
include exploration of the MC2A
concept.
The MC2A would not just be an information collector. It would also be a battle
manager, directing combat aircraft as well as unmanned sensor platforms.
Predator UAV controllers, such as these, would be aboard the MC2A.
How Many?
Smart declined to say how many
Multisensor Command and Control
Aircraft orbits the Air Force would
need, either to reproduce current Joint
STARS capabilities or replace them
altogether. Such decisions are to be
defined, he said.
A senior Air Force official conceded that the new common aircraft
is by no means a done deal, since
the average age of the E-8 aircraft
first platform slated to be replaced
is only a few years and will only be
an average of about 12 years when
the first orbit is required. There is
more understanding, said the offi-
Platforms such as the U-2 shown here would feed the MC2A, which would fly
into battle along with the Global Strike Task Force. The MC2A would integrate
data from many sources to create a seamless picture of the unfolding fight.
AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2002
LD [asset].
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