JEFX team demonstrates seamless data sharing

  • Published
  • By Bob Keeter
  • 644th Electronic Systems Squadron
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  The Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008 third quarter event, which ran April 14 through April 25, demonstrated an unprecedented level of success in terms of distributed operations.

"The Herculean efforts of my 644th ELSS team contributed immensely to the success of the experiment," said Col. Jeff Hodgdon, 653 Electronic Systems Wing Enterprise Integration director. "Never before have we attempted to operate in such a distributed environment. Data passed seamlessly across the major nodes, enabling decision makers to take appropriate action."

Many lessons were learned and several initiatives showed promise, he said. "Now it is up to the entire JEFX enterprise to assess overall performance and work towards transitioning value-added tools along with tactics, techniques and procedures to warfighters."

JEFX is an Air Force run, Air Force Chief of Staff-sanctioned experiment that is supported by sister services, coalition nations, combatant commands and government agencies. Its primary function is to assess initiatives in their ability to fulfill identified warfighter capability gaps.

The 644th Electronic Systems Squadron, a component of ESC's 653rd Electronics Systems Wing's Enterprise Integration Division at Hanscom, is the JEFX lead integrator and is responsible for building the infrastructure and systems to support experimentation with the initiatives.

JEFX 08-3 infrastructure and systems included over 130 software applications and more than 400 workstations and servers spread across 21 sites. This massive system of systems supported JEFX's Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) spanning Langley AFB, the main CAOC, Barksdale AFB, the forward CAOC, and Nellis AFB, which hosted the airborne network and live-fly assets. Navy participants included the Maritime Operations Center, 2nd Fleet at Norfolk, Va., and units from China Lake Naval Weapons Station, Calif.

JEFX 08-3 specifically focused on linking the geographically separated command centers and weapon systems on the battlefield. During the experiment, an F-22A flying a mock combat mission over the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) at Nellis Air Force Base was able to collect the image of an enemy fighter and pass that image to a Bombardier BD-700 business jet that was equipped with a specialized datalink called BIS.

BIS allowed the Bombardier to translate and pass information from the Raptor's Intra-Flight Data Link to other weapon systems. This will allow other planes and ground personnel to access and use the data that the F-22A's sensors are collecting, the colonel said. 

The business jet translated the Raptor's imaging data. It then reformatted and passed the data via Link-16 to a ground unit that relayed the data onto the Defense Department's Secure Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNET), where it was sent to the experiment's main air operations center at Langley AFB, Va. 

At the same time, the BIS-equipped Bombardier passed targeting data to a "friendly" strike aircraft by using Link-16. The "friendly" F-16 then engaged the enemy, aided by the imagery provided by the F-22A. 

A total of 33 aircraft flew in the JEFX 08-3 event, which featured a live-fly scenario including USAF Senior Scout, JSTARS, AWACS, B-52, B-1, F-22, F-15, and F-16 aircraft; Army AH-64 and UH-1 aircraft; as well as US Navy F/A-18s, EA-6Bs and EA-18Gs. The NTTR supported flight operations and logged 162 sorties over the two-week period.

The US Army also brought its Future Combat System (FCS) Program to JEFX 08-3. The FCS Soldiers provided the ground element portion of the JEFX C4ISR network on NTTR while Army command components participated from Ft. Monmouth, NJ, and Hurlburt AFB, Fla. 

According to Major Troy Crosby, assistant project manager (Joint) FCS Network Systems Integration, "by using portions of the FCS network during a real operational setting, joint service staff were enabled to share situational awareness between ground and air assets." 

This near real time awareness between Army and Air Force assets is not available on today's battlefield, he said. 

"JEFX 08-3 showcased the value of Army and Air Force information sharing," Colonel Hodgdon said.

This event marks the 10-year anniversary of JEFX. ESC has supported JEFX from a systems engineering perspective since its inception. The future focus of JEFX is transforming into quarterly events with a yearly live-fly portion each spring.

Colonel Hodgdon's 644th ELSS team "will remain heavily involved to ensure success," he said.

"The 644th ELSS, along with other ESC organizations, has the core expertise required to architect, build and sustain the future airborne network. Our decades of experience are essential and non-replaceable when it comes to present and future networking capability. ESC is making a difference to the warfighter."