OTH | airpower

OODA Point: The Requirement for an Airman’s Approach to Operational Design (Part II)

August 20, 2019August 22, 2019 Over The Horizon 0 Comments air force, airpower, AOC, C2, c4isr, CFACC, command and control, cyber, Design, ISR, MDC2, mdo, MDOS, Multi Domain, multi-domain C2, OODA Loop, planning, technology

The ability to make and execute timely and effective decisions has been the foundation of military success for millennia. In the next decade, however, Combined Force Air Component Commanders (CFACC) planning, decision, and execution (PDE) cycles will be confronted by unprecedented challenges emerging in the constantly evolving digital ecosystem. The era of unrivaled access to the electromagnetic spectrum and dominance in multiple domains is rapidly coming to a close for the US airpower. As more and more state and non-state actors gain access to advanced technology, the CFACC’s PDE cycles will transition from an observe, orient, decide, act (OODA) loop to an OODA point. This phenomenon will also have a significant influence on the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) measures necessary to shape and execute preplanned and emergent decisions in contested operational environments. One way of mitigating these nascent vulnerabilities is to develop a deliberate framework of operational design focused on airpower to provide a proactive form of vision for future CFACCs.

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Feature Multi Domain Operations

A Bomber for the Navy

April 15, 2019April 24, 2019 Over The Horizon 31 Comments acquisition, air force, air-sea battle, airpower, bomber, china, culture, doctrine, innovation, multi-domain operations, national security, navy, risk, strategy

Rather that sending the B-1 Lancer into early retirement, the Department of Defense could transfer it to the Navy for duty as a land-based ship-killer.

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OTH, multi-domain operations, emerging security environment

Vulnerabilities of Multi-Domain Command and Control (Part 2)

March 6, 2019March 26, 2019 Over The Horizon 0 Comments airpower, bandwidth, C2, c4isr, EMS, MDC2, seacables, spacepower

Part 2 of the series focuses on how a peer adversary may leverage cyber, space, and EW threats against command and control capabilities, and how these effects may be mitigated through the distribution of authorities to smaller teams.

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OTH, multi-domain operations, emerging security environment

Vulnerabilities of Multi-Domain Command and Control (Part 1)

March 4, 2019March 26, 2019 Over The Horizon 3 Comments airpower, bandwidth, C2, c4isr, EMS, MDC2, seacables, spacepower

The concept of assured communications enabling an AOC’s continual SA during a peer fight might not be as easy as it sounds.

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Feature Multi Domain Operations

Modernizing C2 of ISR – Part 2: Breaking ISR’s Industrial Age Chains

November 23, 2018December 9, 2018 Over The Horizon 0 Comments aerospace, air and space operations center, air component, air force, airpower, AOC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, Claire Chennault, CMA, collection management authority, collection operations management, collection requirements management, COM, combat cloud, command and control, CRM, data analytics, decision making, Desert Storm, F-22, F-35, Hap Arnold, IC21, indivisibility of ISR, Information Age, intelligence, Intelligence Community in the 21st Century, ISR, ISR Tactical Controller, ITC, Joint Force, multi-domain C2, Norman Schwarzkopf, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, professionalization, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, surveillance, Thomas DeWitt Milling, United States Air Force, usaf

Theater-level ISR C2 must be modernized to ensure the Joint Force is prepared for a complex future and can achieve multi-domain success.

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Feature Multi Domain Operations

Lt Gen Deptula Remarks – OTH Speaker Series – Aerospace Power in an Age of Uncertainty

February 28, 2018September 17, 2018 Over The Horizon 1 Comment ACSC, aerospace, air and space operations center, Air Command and Staff College, air component, air force, Air University, Air War College, airpower, AOC, army, AU, AWC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, combat cloud, command and control, cyber, data analytics, David Deptula, decision making, Deptula, effects based operations, F-22, F-35, Goldfein, goldwaters-nichols, Gulf War, indivisibility of ISR, information, Information Age, intelligence, ISR, Joint Force, Marines, multi-domain C2, nation security, navy, nuclear forces, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, space, surveillance, United States Air Force, usaf

Retired Lt Gen David Deptula shares his thoughts on the future of warfare-in particular, aerospace power in an age of uncertainty.

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DROP ZONE: The Rise of the Machines

February 16, 2018February 15, 2018 Over The Horizon 0 Comments airpower, Alan Turing, autonomy, Billy Mitchell, innovation, machines, Nick Helms, rise, swarming AI, swarms, terminator, Third Offset

Although the machines have not taken over, swarms offer a solution to the problem of accessing contested areas and destroying challenging target sets.

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Napoleon and von Moltke: Ghosts of Airpower, past and future.

December 21, 2017January 1, 2018 Over The Horizon 0 Comments agility warfare, air power, airpower, C2, centralized command, command and control, decentralized execution, grand strategy, HIMARS, SHORAD, war theory, Warfare

By Brandon T. Losacker The Air Force lacks a coherent multi-domain airpower theory. This is a problem. The current doctrine

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Interview with Lt Gen (Ret.) David Deptula: Part 3

November 3, 2017September 17, 2018 Over The Horizon 1 Comment aerospace, air and space operations center, air component, air force, airpower, AOC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, combat cloud, command and control, data analytics, David Deptula, decision making, Deptula, F-22, F-35, Goldfein, Goldwater, goldwaters-nichols, indivisibility of ISR, Information Age, intelligence, ISR, Joint Force, Martin, Mitchell Institute, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Moseley, multi-domain C2, Nichols, O'Shaughnessy, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, surveillance, United States Air Force, usaf

In an interview, Lt Gen David Deptula (Ret) shares his perspective on current and future challenges for USAF leaders and joint operations.

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Interview with Lt Gen (Ret.) David Deptula: Part 2

November 1, 2017September 17, 2018 Over The Horizon 1 Comment aerospace, air and space operations center, air component, air force, airpower, AOC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, combat cloud, command and control, data analytics, David Deptula, decision making, Deptula, F-22, F-35, Goldfein, Goldwater, goldwaters-nichols, indivisibility of ISR, Information Age, intelligence, ISR, Joint Force, Martin, Mitchell Institute, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Mosely, multi-domain C2, Nichols, O'Shaughnessy, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, surveillance, United States Air Force, usaf

Lt Gen David Deptula (Ret) shares his perspective on the Combat Cloud, ISR, and the need for airmen to serve as joint warfighting commanders.

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OTH Interview of Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret): Part 1

October 18, 2017September 17, 2018 Over The Horizon 4 Comments aerospace, air and space operations center, air component, air force, airpower, AOC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, combat cloud, command and control, data analytics, David Deptula, decision making, Deptula, F-22, F-35, Goldfein, Goldwaters, goldwaters-nichols, indivisibility of ISR, Information Age, intelligence, ISR, Joint Force, multi-domain C2, Nichols, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, surveillance, United States Air Force, usaf

In an interview, Lt Gen David Deptula (Ret) shares his perspective on current and future challenges for the USAF leaders and the Joint Force.

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Drop Zone: OTH Interview with Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (Ret.)

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 Over The Horizon 1 Comment aerospace, air and space operations center, air component, air force, airpower, AOC, C2, CAOC, CFACC, combat cloud, command and control, data analytics, David Deptula, decision making, Deptula, F-22, F-35, Goldfein, Goldwater-Nichols, indivisibility of ISR, Information Age, intelligence, ISR, Joint Force, multi-domain C2, OODA Loop, OTH, over the horizon, reconnaissance, sensor, sensor-shooter, surveillance, United States Air Force, usaf

In a candid interview, retired Lt Gen David Deptula, shares his perspective on current and future challenges for USAF leaders and the Joint Force.

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CSAR: A Historical Perspective – Institutional Apathy

September 13, 2017September 24, 2017 Over The Horizon 1 Comment air force, airpower, CSAR

This article visits traceable history of Air Force mismanagement of the combat rescue helicopter forces that are the backbone of the larger joint and coalition personnel recovery enterprise.

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The Problem with “Airpower”

March 8, 2017March 15, 2017 Over The Horizon 0 Comments air power, airpower, army, cyber, doctrine, joint, joint doctrine, MDOS, space, USMC

The United States Air Force’s definition of airpower is merely a description of all Air Force activities and is incorrect.
By Tom Flounders

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