The US Air Force (USAF) is progressing its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) Internet of Things (IoT) programme, with the service announcing on 21 May that it is pushing the concept “into a new and more operational phase”.
Concept art showing an ABMS-equipped KC-46A tanker connecting with F-22 and F-35 combat aircraft. (US Air Force)
The transition to the operational phase follows an 18-month development phase and sees the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker selected as the first platform to be fitted with the ABMS pod for enhanced connectivity with Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft for more ‘real world' testing.
“Nearly two years of rigorous development and experimentation have shown beyond doubt the promise of ABMS,” Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Brown Jr was quoted as saying. “We've demonstrated that our ABMS efforts can collect vast amounts of data from air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains, process that information and share it in a way that allows for faster and better decisions.”
According to Janes C4ISR & Mission Systems: Joint & Common Equipment , the ABMS IoT will be designed to allow the USAF to co-ordinate with and direct joint operations with the US Navy (USN), US Marine Corps (USMC), and US Army. The ABMS is a ‘family of systems' that includes both hardware and software, enabling the USAF to contribute to and link with their older Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). The ABMS is a C4ISR maximiser and is designed to improve the military's anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) management.
News of the transition comes about six months after Janes
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