Air Force looking to SATCOM C2 for expanding live-fire test and evaluation

The Air Force is looking to modernize its live-fire test and evaluation systems by incorporating satellite communications, command and control, according to a request for information posted today.

The service’s Aerial Targets Branch wants to expand its Targets Control System -- which runs C2 for aerial targets that hold electronic attack payloads that enable realistic air-to-air and surface-to-air tests for advanced weapon system development -- by integrating a proliferated low-Earth orbit SATCOM.

“The targets C2 system must support future [fifth- and sixth-generation live-fire test and evaluation] requirements and be range agnostic to control and track targets in multiple locations without large amounts of physical infrastructure to be built and maintained,” the request states. “There is a need to modernize the TCS and reduce the reliance on range infrastructure to support the rapidly advancing [Defense Department] weapon systems requirements.”

The TCS can currently track and control up to six unmanned aerial targets as well as track four shooters, four missiles and, when applicable, four airborne platforms and two support aircraft, according to the request.

The Air Force is specifically requesting “current or planned service offerings, not hypothetical possibilities nor services that require substantial investment on the part of the government,” the request states.

Considerations for such a service would include:

• When and where a business will begin offering services.
• Whether the service supports user terminal mobility, both “at the halt” and “on the move.”
• Whether the system can automatically adjust power, modulation and coding to achieve the best data rates.
• The types of terminals would be compatible.
• The target data rate per user terminal.
• The maximum number of users in a given area that the system can support.
• The types and costs of service packages.