The service began deploying CBC2 as a replacement for legacy command-and-control systems used in air defense missions in October 2023, beginning with NORAD’s Eastern air defense sector. The Air Force has since finished fielding the capability to all of the air defense sectors across the United States and Canada, Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey, program executive officer for command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM), told reporters Wednesday at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber conference 

Now, Cropsey said he’s been tasked by Air Combat Command — the Air Force’s lead major command for C2 — to scale the capability from a tactical level up to the operational level.

“When you look at a DAF Battle Network, end-to-end perspective and you look at where and how you need to build out that resilient decision advantage, you quickly realize that the historical echelons that we’ve created between tactical, operational and strategic are getting blurred more and more as the speed and the scale of conflict accelerates,” he said.

CBC2 integrates hundreds of critical air defense radar and data feeds under a single cloud-based interface, allowing operators to develop courses of actions from which leaders can quickly make decisions. Multiple companies have been contracted for the effort, with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) serving as the program’s prime integrator and operator.

The capability is a key component of the Air Force’s DAF Battle Network, which is the service’s contribution to the Pentagon-wide initiative known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2). The new warfighting concept seeks to connect the sensors and shooters from across the U.S. military and international partners under a single network, enabling faster and more effective decision-making and employment of forces.

Scaling CBC2 to the operational layer involves extending its core, cloud-based capabilities up into additional systems, such as those at air operations centers, controlled reporting centers and other elements of the Air Force’s larger command-and-control architecture, Cropsey said.

“When we start talking about what that looks like as we’re moving forward into the future, now we start talking about a common battle management interface capability that’s taking that core UI/UX that’s been built inside CBC2, and now starts to extend it into that operational layer,” he added.

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The announcement comes three years after Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Sev1Tech a $46.5 million pathfinder contract to develop a prototype of the capability — known as meshONE-T — at 17 locations around the world. Under the follow-on agreement, Sev1Tech will now scale the terrestrial network over 85 fixed sites and enhance its capabilities “with 24/7/365 managed transport services and enterprise-wide upgrades,” according to an SSC news release.

MeshONE-T is a ground-based architecture that serves as a “data-transport-as-a-service” for other customers within the Defense Department, Col. Peter Mastro, senior materiel leader for the tactical command, control and communication delta within SSC’s battle management command, control and communications (BMC3) program executive office, previously told DefenseScoop.

“You can buy into what we have, and in doing so you join an integrated network,” Mastro said during a meeting with reporters in April. “When you join the meshONE network — and even if you just get one node at your location — you now are connected to every other node in the mesh network.”

The network of data transport nodes allows different programs and military services to securely share data with one another, breaking down antiquated technical and procedural barriers in order to enable interoperability.

Specifically, meshONE-T is ideal for moving large capacity, big bandwidth and high-performance data over long distances, according to the Space Force.

The capability is one of the service’s key efforts related to the Pentagon-wide effort initiative known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), which seeks to deploy technologies that connect platforms and weapons from all the services and key foreign partners under a single network to provide faster and more effective decision-making.

Since Sev1Tech began prototyping meshONE-T in 2021, the capability has supported a number of programs for the DAF Battle Network — the Department of the Air Force contribution to CJADC2. Demonstrations have been done for the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) and the cloud-based command and control capability (CBC2), as well as the Space Force’s Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program for missile warning and tracking.

Along with adding dozens of new sites, the follow-on contract will also allow the Space Force to enhance meshONE-T’s overall capability. Mastro previously said those improvements would include connecting the network to commercial and military-specific satellite communications networks in low-Earth orbit.

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In 2021, Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded a $46.5 million pathfinder contract to Sev1Tech to prototype meshONE-T, a terrestrial network of data transport nodes that facilitates secure and rapid communications between sites located around the world. 

Now, the service intends to issue a production contract to the company by the end of fiscal 2024 that will expand the scope and capabilities of the system, according to Col. Peter Mastro, senior materiel leader for the tactical command, control and communication delta within SSC’s battle management command, control and communications (BMC3) program executive office.

“It is a data-transport-as-a-service, where it provides a long-haul terrestrial fiber network to other programs that need it,” Mastro told a small group of reporters April 11 during the annual Space Symposium. “When a customer comes in and uses meshOne, it is a multi-path, resilient terrestrial comms to add that proliferated terrestrial path.”

The program is supporting the Pentagon-wide effort known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2). The warfighting concept seeks to deploy technologies that help connect platforms and weapons from all the services and key foreign partners under a single network, enabling faster and more effective decision-making and force employment.

Programs today often set up and accredit their own closed, mission-specific networks through their prime contractor in order to move data around — creating technical and procedural barriers to efficiently sharing data with other services and mission areas, Mastro explained. Even when two different networks use the same data repository, they each need to get an authority to connect to access that information, he added.

The meshONE-T network looks to break down those siloes by creating an integrated, ground-based network that can fit into the Department of the Air Force’s larger CJADC2 effort known as the DAF Battle Network. Specifically, the system is ideal for moving large capacity, big bandwidth and high-performance data between two sites, according to Mastro.

“You can buy into what we have, and in doing so you join an integrated network,” he said. “When you join the meshONE network — and even if you just get one node at your location — you now are connected to every other node in the mesh network.”

The meshONE-T technology also offers users cybersecurity capabilities based on zero trust, Mastro noted. The framework assumes networks are compromised by adversaries, requiring users to be constantly monitored and authenticated as they move through a network. 

Not only does that mean the architecture is protected, it also allows users to track data as it moves through the meshONE-T network and keep an eye on its performance in real time, he said.

“It’s that same type of visibility and insight that also gives cyber operators the ability to be on the system and to be monitoring who is in there to make sure that we understand what is going on,” he explained.

Since awarding the initial contract in 2021, SSC has deployed 17 meshONE-T nodes in and outside of the continental United States, according to Mastro.

The network has already supported a number of CJADC2-related programs — including demonstrations for the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) and the cloud-based command and control capability (CBC2) — as well as the Space Force’s Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program for missile warning and tracking.

In its budget request for fiscal 2025, the Space Force is looking for $42.1 million in research-and-development funding to support the follow-on contract for meshONE-T that will increase the number of nodes to expand the network. Mastro said while there isn’t a planned number of nodes they want to scale to, SSC has a list of programs touching “just about every part of the Space Force” that are interested in joining the network.

The service is also looking to enhance the overall capability of meshONE-T, such as becoming federated into other space-based networks, including systems in low-Earth orbit.

“We are going to be connected to [satellite communications] — both traditional military SATCOM, as well as commercial proliferated LEO [and] government proliferated LEO,” Mastro said.

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The service’s integrated program executive office for command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM) issued a sources-sought notice Monday on Sam.gov for an “artificial intelligence and machine learning toolkit” that could improve reaction times.

Specifically, the service wants to apply the so-called toolkit to its cloud-based command and control (CBC2) effort. The Air Force is casting a broad net for capabilities that could be included in the toolkit, underscoring that AI and ML technologies can be used for different applications and problems, according to the request for information.

“This effort shall be a collection of tools and technologies that improve tactical C2 software applications under development within multiple programs (e.g., Cloud-Based Command and Control) and reduce operational workflow timelines for C2,” the RFI stated.

CBC2 is a key component of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System initiative and the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) effort. The warfighting concept aims to connect sensors and shooters from across the U.S. military and international partners under a single network, enabling faster and more effective decision-making and employment of forces.

The Air Force delivered an initial operating capability of CBC2 to the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Eastern and Canadian air defense sector in October 2023. The service plans to continue scaling that capability to other air defense sectors throughout this year.

The platform integrates hundreds of critical air defense radar and data feeds under one cloud-based interface, then develops courses of action from which leaders can quickly make high-quality decisions. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are used to assist commanders in the decision-making process and help maintain situational awareness

Now, the RFI indicates that the Air Force is interested in incorporating other advanced and commercialized AI and ML technologies — including data collection and curation; machine-to-machine operations; large language models; and continuous and reinforced learning training models.

A full statement of objectives was not publicly available on Sam.gov because some of the information related to the notice was “controlled” access.

Responses to the RFI are due April 26.

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CBC2 is slated to reach initial operating capability before the end of fiscal 2023, and over the next two to three quarters of fiscal 2024 the Air Force will deliver the capability to Northcom and NORAD at three different locations, Brig. Gen. Luke Cropsey, program executive officer for command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM), said Sept. 11 at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber conference.

Although he couldn’t name the exact locations where CBC2 would be delivered, Cropsey told reporters during a media roundtable at the event that the initial capability would remain focused on the air defense mission for the time being.

“I think part of the reason that the CBC2 team has been as successful as it has been over the last 15 months is because we actually did agile [development] as opposed to just talking about it — and we’re pretty good at just talking about things in this context,” he said.

A ‘global view’ of air defense

The new cloud-based capability is intended to replace a legacy command-and-control system while also merging critical data feeds from three other separate systems. More than 750 radar feeds will be available under a single user interface, allowing operators to “create machine-generated courses of action to help shorten the tactical C2 kill chain and send a desired effect via machine-to-machine connections,” according to the Air Force.

The capability’s delivery is a key milestone for the service’s Advanced Battle Management System efforts, which serve as one of the Air Force’s contributions to the Pentagon-wide initiative known as Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). The new warfighting concept seeks to connect the sensors and shooters from across the U.S. military and international partners under a single network, enabling faster and more effective decision-making and employment of forces.

Although the Air Force has contracted multiple companies to provide microservices — ranging from mapping to data analytics — for CBC2, it awarded Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) a $112 million contract to serve as the prime integrator and operator for the capability.

“It used to be that you had five separate sectors that all had their own radars and their own views, and then they were connected by networks,” Joe Sublousky, vice president of SAIC’s JADC2 businesses, told DefenseScoop in an interview on the sidelines of the conference. “Now, they’re all connected in a cloud-based command and control, which means for the first time you have a global view of air defense sector inputs.”

When asked by DefenseScoop what made CBC2’s rapid development a success, Cropsey pointed to the organizational structure of the team working on its delivery.

He explained that both Northcom and his office each designated an operational person for each microservice offered by CBC2, generating the iterative user-and-development cycle that agile processes call for.

“That may be the single biggest reason why CBC2 is moving as well as it’s moving, because of that teaming arrangement,” Cropsey said.

Cropsey also highlighted the Air Force’s contract approach to CBC2, which “thin-sliced” the capability into multiple microservices that allowed the program executive office to contract for each individual layer — as opposed to awarding one giant contract for the entire capability. It’s a contracting method Cropsey has previously said will be critical in getting JADC2-related technologies across the finish line. 

In order to bring all of those microservices together, SAIC focused immediately on laying down a foundational digital architecture that allowed the 15 different capability providers to integrate all of their data in a common language format, Sublousky said. That allows the varying microservices to come together and provide a more comprehensive picture of what’s happening in the air defense sectors using “dots on a screen,” but also provide recommended courses of action, he noted.

“One capability provider might be getting the radar feeds and putting it up, but the other one is ingesting those dots or those lat logs and then doing some analytics on it to say whether it is off course or not off course,” Sublousky said. “While another capability provider can say, ‘Okay, here’s all the aircraft that are in the region, and here’s the ones that are close enough to get to it in time to make a decision.’”

Next steps

As the Air Force delivers CBC2 over the next couple of months, Cropsey told DefenseScoop that whether or not they’re able to scale the capability to other locations or combatant commands remains an open question for now. Some locations they’re considering include U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. European Command and other places, he noted.

Those scaling efforts will depend on how well the service can replicate the teaming structure focused on the current CBC2 capability, Cropsey said.

“I think that in order to make CBC2 to scale in terms of the results that we got, it’s not about growing the team. It’s about actually replicating the team in other instances,” he said. “I need to keep the existing CBC2 team very focused around the specific problems and operational outcomes NORAD/Northcom uses. They can’t get diluted in that focus.”

There are other factors to consider when scaling a deployable capability, as well. Not only do future locations need the proper digital infrastructure so that CBC2 can connect back to the enterprise, the Air Force would also need additional hardware components for processing and compute, he noted.

But Cropsey said the actual number of locations the Air Force could deploy CBC2 at would be impacted if Congress fails to pass its annual defense spending bill, forcing the Pentagon and other federal agencies to operate under a continuing resolution. 

His office plans to prioritize delivering CBC2 to the initial three locations at Northcom and NORAD, even in the event funding for fiscal 2024 is stalled. Still, his office wouldn’t be able to expand the infrastructure to additional locations as quickly as he would want without additional funding.

“What it will mean is we’ll have to delay how we roll in the additional scale and scope — particularly on the digital infrastructure end of it, because those were where the primary cost drivers come in as a function of time and deployment,” Cropsey said. “We’ll keep the coding going. We’ll keep that development basically at speed, and it’ll turn more into a conversation about how fast and how many.”

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