ARLINGTON, Virginia -- The Air Force continues to advance its efforts to modernize command and control systems through the development of a transformational model for decision advantage, which reveals opportunities to improve warfighters’ ability to make better decisions faster than their adversary.
The transformational model, originally created by the Department of the Air Force Advanced Battle Management System Cross Functional Team, plays a crucial role in optimizing processes that are part the DAF BATTLE NETWORK, or DBN. The DBN is the integrated system-of-systems aimed at providing better situational awareness, faster operational decisions, and decisive direction to the force.
The DAF BATTLE NETWORK is the Air Force’s contribution to the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative and overseen by the Department of the Air Force’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management.
According to Col. Jonathan Zall, a member of ABMS CFT, the transformational model is designed to tackle the long-standing challenges associated with modernizing C2 systems and decision-making, which have traditionally been viewed as intricate, difficult to define, and exclusively reliant on human expertise and intuition. Decision advantage, enabled through the convergence of human ingenuity with advanced technologies and data-driven insights, is crucial for CJADC2 as it empowers commanders and warfighters to make informed, timely, and effective decisions that drive strategic superiority and operational success in rapidly evolving environments.
“We’re adding science to a process that had long been considered an ‘art,’” Zall said. “While there is no ‘mathematical solution for war’, statements such as ‘battle management is an art’ end up stopping a conversation to which science and technology can make pivotal contributions. The transformational model deconstructs command and control processes into their core elements, enabling the identification of tasks best suited for our machine teammates, and those that require human intervention.”
The model’s framework, which has been under development for approximately three years, aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of decision advantage through the application of model-based systems engineering, artificial intelligence, and machine teaming. Zall explained the objective is to leverage cutting-edge solutions to enhance decision-making processes.
The TM has shown promising results during multiple experiments. The ABMS CFT and the Air Force Research Laboratory conducted a “sprint” experiment hosted by the Air Force’s lead battle lab, the Shadow Operations Center-Nellis, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in September 2024.
The experiment involved the participation of Airmen and industry partners, promoting collaboration and demonstrating their ability to use the TM to generate battle courses of action that add automation to human machine teams’ decision quality and speed capabilities.
“Developers can utilize the TM to pinpoint areas where machines can take on decision-making roles, freeing up human operators to focus on making informed, high-level decisions that require moral judgement,” Zall said. “This approach drives the DAF BATTLE NETWORK to deliver on its primary purpose, decision advantage through C2 modernization, while engineers and architects ensure the network is scalable, adaptable, resilient, and able to handle future warfare complexities.”
While machines can assume decision-making roles in specific areas, human operators remain integral to the decision-making process. For example, machine teammates in the form of software microservices of various types can analyze vast amounts of data and provide recommendations to human operators, who then make the final decisions that involve complex moral judgements, strategic consideration, and nuanced contextual understanding. This collaborative approach ensures that machines handle routine and data intensive tasks, freeing up human operators to focus on high-level decision-making.
The ABMS CFT is organized under Headquarters Air Force A5/7 (Air Force Futures), driving the development of systems to enable networked, autonomous, and agile operations. The team is working on ways to effectively convey its needs to the acquisitions enterprise and industry by providing operational requirements on the architecture, digital infrastructure, and software for the DAF BATTLE NETWORK.
The Air Force is dedicated to modernizing its C2 systems to stay ahead of emerging threats and enhance decision-making capabilities across all levels. Prior ShOC-N experiments proved it was possible to quantify, observe, and measure command and control. Those experiments were expanded upon during a capstone event in 2024, in which data analysis measured the speed, scale, and accuracy of the kill chain, providing insights into the effectiveness of TM-driven decision advantage in real-world scenarios, and involved the participation of Guardians, Airmen, joint, coalition and industry partners.
“By leveraging human-machine teaming, quantifying decision-making processes, and promoting integration and collaboration, the TM is enabling the Department of the Air Force to build a more agile, resilient, and effective DAF BATTLE NETWORK, which is vital for maintaining air and space dominance in a rapidly evolving threat environment,” he said.
These experiments demonstrate the potential of the TM to enhance decision advantage through the development of advanced software.
“Ultimately, the TM is about providing the decision advantage that we think is going to make a difference,” said Maj. Gen. Bob Claude, Mobilization Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations, and ABMS CFT lead. “Its continued development and implementation, through experiments and collaboration with partners, is paramount for achieving decision advantage in future conflicts. Efforts like these will determine the outcome of future conflicts - will we win or lose? - and I’m confident that the CFT is working diligently to navigate the complexities of battle management to ensure our success.”