PSA conference offers program updates. (Precision Strike Association).

The hardware--including tactical aircraft and advanced targeting pods--is in place for precision-strike operations, but a "revolution won't come about until information is moved around the battlefield," according to Rear Adm. Matthew G. Moffit, aviation plans and requirements branch chief of Navy Air Warfare.

In the future, "the NavyUSMC TacAir team may not be platform centric," Moffit told the 2002 Annual Program Review of the Precision Strike Association, an affiliate of the NDIA. "The idea is to move information around the battle group and around the area of responsibility."

Moffit said that he favors more self-targeting weapons in the future, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, which incorporates a terminal seeker. He also anticipates deploying unmanned combat air vehicles from carrier decks. "You can read the writing on the wall," he said.

Operation Enduring Freedom affirmed the need for joint operations, said Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa, Jr., deputy director for regional operations for the Joint Staff "We will never step back to the era of single services. We are joint. We train joint. That's the way we have got to think," he said.

"We've come a long way during my career in terms of weapons accuracy," Rosa said. "We've got some way to go, but I can tell you we've made tremendous progress.

Precision-guided munitions played a prevalent role in Operation Enduring Freedom, according to Tony Palumbo, senior vice president for domestic business development for the Raytheon Company. But U.S. military services need further improvements, including "smarter weapons that take part in the identification tasks, weapons that are compatible on land, sea and air platforms, and weapons that are retargetable in flight," he said.

The Predator unmanned air vehicle performed successfully in Afghanistan as a "birddog" for Air Force AC-130 Spectre gunships, providing target locations, said Ron Mutzelburg, deputy director of air warfare for the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. The Air Force is considering a demonstration in which control of a Predator would be turned over to an operator in a gunship. Some day, he said, small, disposable UAVs might be operated from AC-130s.

In the near term, warfighters will gain by improving the effectiveness of older C3I systems through a "network-centric" approach, in which reliable, secure information becomes available in real time for battlefield decisions, said John Stenbir, assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence.

For example, he noted, the Defense Department is making it a priority to boost the signal from the next-generation Global Positioning System satellite by 10 decibels. Such an increase would help protect GPS from jamming. All precision-strike weapons depend upon GPS for their mid-course and terminal accuracy.

Nationwide Experiment

Joint precision engagement will be evaluated later this year, during Millennium Challenge, a nationwide experiment, involving nearly 14,000 members of the four military branches, said Air Force Brig. Gen. James B. Smith, deputy commander of the Joint Warfighting Center. The experiment will include both computer simulations and live operation, Smith said.

Diane Wright, assistant deputy director for air warfare, described the Pentagon's vision for a system of systems that enables U.S. forces to locate and attack a target, perform battle-damage assessment and re-engage with precision, when required. Wright outlined the recommendations of last year's Defense Science Board Summer Study for improving the precision-targeting process. The services are reviewing recommendations for common accurate target grid, improved sensing and better connectivity, she said.

A panel of program executive officers endorsed the push for more capable precisionstrike systems. The three agreed that systems supporting the operational concepts of precision engagement and dominant maneuver are becoming increasingly dependent on the rapid and concise movement of information to make the kill chain more efficient.

The U.S. defense industry "tends to build monolithic kinds of system solutions, that are not particularly flexible, and take too long to set up," said Kenny Linn, director of business and strategy development for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector. "Operation Enduring Freedom showed how our warriors had to be creative. Our systems must be flexible, responsive and tailorable for the warfighter in all environments.

Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshall Glenn L. Torpy, from the United Kingdom, described his nation's precision-strike weapons, including the current-generation Enhanced Paveway. The UK also is developing a new medium-range cruise missile, known as Storm Shadow, which Torpy called "the most significant offensive capability enhancement that the UK is going to have for quite a bit of time."

Approximately 270 representatives from the office of the secretary of defense, the military departments, industry and the international arena attended the two-day event, which was held in April at the Defense Acquisition University, at Fort Belvoir, Va.

During the event, Wayne Savage, PSA chairman, presented the painting "Pennsylvania Avenue" to Richard Reed, provost of the Defense Systems Management College, in gratitude for the college's support. Ginny Sniegon received the first PSA Outstanding Member Award.