HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (Feb. 6, 1996) -- Even while the Air Force Mission Support System is being used by C-17 Globemaster IIIs flying into Bosnia, program officials are looking at ways to make the system better.
"We have been studying possible in-flight upgrades to the C-17 system for five months," said Electronic Systems Center's Mission Planning System Program Director Col. Alan Mertz. "Mission planning is an evolutionary system and we will continue to add functionality based on the user's priorities."
The C-17s using the system to support Operation Joint Endeavor come from the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C., the first Air Mobility Command unit to use mission planning operationally.
Aircrews flying the C-17 carrying President Clinton on his tour of Bosnian operations used the system to plan their route of travel. It also supported an earlier visit by Defense Secretary William Perry.
Maj. Steve Feuerbach, chief of information warfare in the Policy Integration Branch at Air Mobility Command Headquarters, Scott AFB, Ill., believes this to be the first time the system was used in direct support of national command authorities.
The Air Force Mission Support System consists of a deployable ground mission planning system, packaged into self-contained shipping cases and a portable mission planning system. "The new acquisition initiatives help us use commercial off-the-shelf items better and get products to the user faster. We use 'COTS' hardware and build strong transport boxes for them that form the work surfaces for the computers," Mertz said.
Using the ground and portable systems, crews plan missions, download the information and load it into the aircraft's onboard computer. Feuerbach said C-17 aircrews are able to cut mission planning time to less than an hour. With the previous manually intensive system some missions took 24 hours or more to plan.
Air Mobility Command has four Air Force Mission Support System ground stations and 32 portable units, which are essentially laptop computers. Even though the system is not fully integrated into other mobility aircraft, crews can use the system's imagery, high and low routes, air refueling tracks, airfield data, charts and inflight log to refine their tactics and missions.
The command's Tanker Airlift Control Center used charts and maps produced by the system to plan the initial route used in the Bosnia airlift operations.
Additional support was given in providing Joint Operations Graphics charts to another Electronic Systems Center program, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. The E-8A and E-8C Joint STARS aircraft are flying night missions from Rhein-Main AB, Germany to support Operation Joint Endeavor.
In addition to the C-17, Air Combat Command's F-15 Eagle and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft use the system as does the mobility command's C-130 Hercules. Coming on line are the A-10 Thunderbolt II and KC-10 Extender. The F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-111 are planned for later this year and the F-117A, B-2 Spirit and B-1 Lancer for 1997.
Core software provides basic information, such as maps, for all of the aircraft types. Specific information for each type of plane is provided for Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
"As we develop new aircraft and weapon systems, we will develop new mission planning software to support them," Mertz said. "We have just received the next upgrade for AFMSS and will deliver it to the users after it checks out. We also are working on tape two plus that will integrate Air Force and special operations forces mission planning."
Looking to the future, Mertz sees good things for the program office. "Our funding is stable and I think (mission planning) is recognized as an important program. That keeps us stable."
The contract with Lockheed Martin, of Nashua, N.H., could see purchases of up to 750 ground and 1,400 portable mission planning systems.
For more information, contact Roy Heitman via email- heitmanr@Radium-VS1.hanscom.af.mil
or at ESC's Office of Public Affairs - (617) 377-4466