Join the 155,000+ IMP followers

www.aero-defence.tech
SAIC News

SAIC Empowers Fifth- and Sixth-Generation Warfare

Creating a common data layer is the best solution for the U.S. Air Force to support data interoperability and accelerate decision-making from the enterprise level to the edge.

SAIC Empowers Fifth- and Sixth-Generation Warfare

Fifth- and sixth-generation warfare challenges traditional combat and military strategy. In this era, the U.S. Air Force will never fight alone. The multi-domain nature of modern warfare demands coordinated actions across the armed services and with foreign allies across air, land, sea, cyber and space operations. The more vital joint and combined operations become, the more critical it is for the Air Force to have seamless communications and data interoperability.

However, current Air Force communication networks and mission command-and-control systems were not designed, developed or deployed to enable seamless data sharing across different Air Force aircraft platforms or to support a common operating picture for joint or combined operations. This creates stovepipe challenges, which exist across all the services and at the joint level.

While interconnected warfighting requires a shift from service-specific mindsets and operational norms, it also requires a shift from a network-centric to data-centric paradigm. The right investments in modern technologies can enable this shift. The result is an adaptive ecosystem where partners can share data in real time to support coordinated battle decisions.

Create a common data layer: Connect disparate data with access controls
Creating an enterprise data layer is the best solution for the Air Force to enable this data-centric paradigm and accelerate decision-making from the enterprise level to the edge. In simple terms, a common data layer allows the right data to get to the right decision-maker at the right time—whether they are piloting an F-35A, coordinating a multilateral military exercise or operating an uncrewed vehicle from a remote location.

There are “zero-trust for data” platforms that create a common data layer and are well suited for the DOD environment. With fine-grained, attribute-based access control, these platforms support the integration and analysis of data from federated data sources of varying classification levels. Combined with best-in-class data management services for rapid data transport, ingestion and indexing, these platforms support end-to-end, multi-level security. Data tagging capability safeguards clearance levels, unlocking data that was previously fully restricted due to classification for sharing among authorized personnel. And of particular importance, zero-trust solutions enable a leap ahead in cybersecurity over current or legacy network-centric architectures.

With the right zero-trust for data platform, the Air Force can quickly integrate millions of records per second from structured, unstructured and real-time streaming data sources to prepare data for low-latency ingestion into decision-support applications and analytics. These platforms manage the synchronization and prioritization of data to target information sharing with surgical precision. They enable the resilient data and networking operations required for ubiquitous access to targetable data, even in DDIL (denied, disrupted, intermittent and low-bandwidth) environments.

A common data layer can evolve and adapt. Sustained effectiveness requires ongoing monitoring and optimization, security enhancements and continuous development to ensure the common data layer is optimized for reliability, responsiveness and scalability, all of which are necessary to adapt to shifting operational requirements. Given the speed of technology enhancement, there will always be opportunities to integrate new technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, targeting, intelligence and battlespace awareness to further improve capability.

Empower the edge with actionable intelligence: Integrate AI into C5ISR
The integration of AI into command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) is rapidly transforming the battlefield. In fact, AI makes the common data layer an even more powerful enabler of data interoperability. Moreover, for many command-and-control and intelligence challenges, AI cannot be fully effective when the data is trapped in legacy stovepipes. This is because a single AI application only has access to part of the data needed. The common data layer breaks the legacy stovepipes and makes all the relevant data accessible to the AI application—enabling the joint force to get the best decision support from AI. Commands can increase or connect multiple data layers, deepen analytics capabilities and scale data analysis and interoperability with speed and precision.

AI orchestration tools can be added onto the common data layer to support such capability. Using cutting-edge algorithms and a scalable architecture, these tools sift through vast amounts of data, prioritize information and present actionable intelligence. This is key in Air Force C5ISR environments where the velocity, volume and variety of data exceed human cognitive limits. By effectively managing sensor inputs, intelligence feeds and various communication streams, AI orchestrators direct targeted and timely information to commanders, operators and warfighters.

The best of these orchestration tools are highly adaptable and have robust integration capabilities. In the complex landscape of C5ISR, where systems and platforms are often a mix of legacy and modern technologies, AI orchestrators can be a unifying force. They seamlessly integrate with various data sources and platforms, using AI to harmonize the information collected. This data harmonization improves interoperability and provides the common operating picture that is essential for coordinated action in fifth- and sixth-generation operational landscapes.

By leveraging these tools’ machine learning and predictive analytics capabilities, operators can forecast potential threats and suggest courses of action to mitigate countermeasures. AI algorithms analyze historical and real-time data to identify patterns, anomalies and correlations that might signify emerging threats or opportunities. With this predictive threat analysis, C5ISR operators can share anticipatory intelligence grounded in pre-emptive actions with joint and coalition forces. This anticipatory intelligence is essential for maintaining a tactical edge in complex and dynamic operational theaters.

The most useful orchestration tools for the Air Force support both “high-code, high-customization” and “low-code, no-code” capabilities that allow non-technical users to do meaningful work in secure environments. This ability to meet users where they are in terms of capability is very valuable in operational environments where resources and specialized expertise may be limited.


SAIC Empowers Fifth- and Sixth-Generation Warfare

Multiply impact with network integration: Connect the common data layer with external data
Enriching the common data layer with external data can significantly expand situational awareness for Air Force commands and enrich the value of information shared in coordinated operations. Strategically valuable external data sources include national intelligence data, DOD sensor data, coalition partner data and open-source data.

To facilitate this integration, the underlying architecture must allow for the seamless integration of multiple and adapting battlespace networks to “feed” the common data layer. Once integrated, the networks must be resilient and have the speed, functionality and interoperability to continually push data to the common data layer. When data is government-owned, and the government has all of the data rights, the Air Force can access and utilize any data via the common data layer. Further, this data can be distributed to any authorized user and vendor through customizable applications that are enabled via APIs.

Specific, secure and shared: Data interoperability for modern warfare
Stovepipe communication networks and mission command systems are liabilities for the Air Force in the modern era. By developing a common data layer, integrating AI into C5ISR and connecting the common data layer with external data, Air Force commands can create support data interoperability in new ways, enabling the modern, extensible and agile dynamic targeting capability that is essential for making battlefield decisions with confidence.

www.saic.com

  Ask For More Information…

LinkedIn
Pinterest

Join the 155,000+ IMP followers

International