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Air Force Ready to Begin Its ‘Internet of Military Things’

December 7, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Jared Serbu November 25, 2020 (federalnewsnetwork.com)

• Air Force acquisitions has confirmed that the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), also known as an “internet of military things”, is ready to move into a “steady-state demonstration-deployment phase” and start delivering real-world capabilities on existing military platforms as soon as next year.

• Will Roper, in the department of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office, told reporters, “This will be something new (and) needs a new construct for how we manage and execute.” “[T]he reality of this business that we are handed a budget that we don’t make, and we have to do our best job executing it.”

• AMBS is the Air Force’s main contribution to the DoD’s broader vision of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) – born in 2008 – when the service decided not to build a replacement for the Joint Surveillance Target and Attack Radar System, an aging aircraft that tracks targets and sends that information to ground forces. Instead, the Air Force shifted to a plan to connect all of its systems through an “internet” of military platforms.

• The Air Force used the same architectural underpinnings as the AMBS system when it created new data links between F-35, F-22, AC-130 aircraft and commercial satellites last December. In September, the Air Force demonstrated new abilities to use AI and cloud technologies to track and destroy a simulated cruise missile.

• “Air Mobility Command, for example, is one of most forward-leaning commands we have…and they are ready to go put [ABMS capabilities] on mobility platforms so they can act as data relays,” said Roper. “We’ve got tankers that top you up with gas – [so] the vision of topping you up with data makes a lot of sense: You’re going to be there anyway to get fuel. And then that tanker standing off also can act as a battlefield relay and a network node. So they’ve got the right thinking.”

• “ABMS has been something we have put in front of…every program office and said, ‘you are part of this, you must figure out how to integrate with this, and we’ve made it personal for them. …[I]f someone ever walked into my office and said ABMS doesn’t have anything to do with me, that would be a long mentoring discussion that we would have.”

The Advanced Battle Management System, a future system-of-systems that the Air Force likes to think of as an “internet of military things” is likely to start delivering real-world capabilities on existing military platforms as soon as next year, the Air Force’s top acquisition official said Tuesday.

ABMS crossed a significant milestone this week when Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, signed a memo saying the construct is ready to move into a “steady-state demonstration-deployment phase” and assigning a program executive office to manage future developments.

The Department of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office, Roper said, will serve as an “integrating” PEO — a recognition that since every part of the Air Force and Space Force will have a hand in building ABMS, no single PEO can tackle the entire project.

“This will be something new, and something that’s new like ABMS probably needs a new construct for how we manage and execute,” he told reporters during a virtual roundtable Tuesday. “The RCO will gain the components that do not have a natural home within the Department of the Air Force, but they will also be responsible for providing the consolidated work breakdown structure, the consolidated baselines and most importantly, making funding trades when there’s not enough funding to do everything. That is something our program executive offices are accustomed to doing, and it’s the reality of this business that we are handed a budget that we don’t make, and we have to do our best job executing it.”

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Officials Hail Rome NY Lab’s Foray Into Quantum Technology

June 29, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Dave Gymburch June 17, 2020 (romesentinel.com)

• On June 15-16th , the Air Force Research Laboratory headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio sponsored a 2-day event in Rome, New York wherein small tech businesses could make a 20-minute pitch to senior Air Force officials as to novel approaches to advance quantum-enabling technology and applications. The program ultimately awarded 36 contracts to 23 companies from nine states, amounting to $5.4 million to small businesses.

• Rome Lab, the Air Force’s ‘super laboratory’ for science and technology, was praised by a Pentagon official for its key role in quantum technology research. Assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, Will Roper, said during a keynote session that Quantum technology is “one of those potential game-changers.” “What we hope to do… with Rome Lab leading the way, (is to) get that quantum technology over the goal line and into the warfighter’s hands,” said Roper.

• Roper praised New York Congressman Anthony Brindisi for the work being done at Rome Lab, formally known as the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate, and spoke about the importance of research for quantum development and the funding to support it.

• Quantum technology is considered an emerging field of physics and engineering, which relies on principles of quantum physics. Among potential impacts of quantum technology include GPS-like precision in locations where there is no GPS signal or it is severely degraded; ultra-secure global communication networks; high-precision sensors linked together with a quantum network; new computing paradigms for optimization of asset and resource allocations, discovery of new materials, and novel applications of artificial intelligence.

• Congressman Brindisi expressed the importance to bring together small business, industry, and academia with Department of Defense labs for “faster and more efficient development of quantum technology.”

• Rome Lab Director Colonel Timothy Lawrence said the event will hopefully be a “step in the right direction” for giving the Air Force, Space Force and the nation what is needed regarding quantum development.

Rome Lab’s key role in quantum technology research was praised by a Pentagon official during a two-day event aimed at enhancing small businesses’ involvement in the initiative.

Quantum technology is “one of those potential game-changers,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, during a keynote session Monday for the virtual quantum collider pitch event.

“What we hope to do…the Air Force and the Space Force, with Rome Lab leading the way, is put year-after-year routine demand, routine challenges…routine funding to

bring Q-Day, the day we get that quantum technology over the goal line and into the warfighter’s hands…where we bring that early,” said Roper.

Earlier in the session after Congressman Anthony Brindisi spoke about the importance of research for quantum development and the funding to support it, Roper said “I applaud you for thinking ahead and making sure that all quantum roads lead to Rome…and really appreciate all the work the lab is doing in your district.” Rome Lab, based at Griffiss Park, is formally known as the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate.

Roper was among several speakers at the event, which included small businesses in private 20-minute pitch sessions with senior officials for novel approaches to advance quantum-enabling technology and/or applications. The AFRL program called for awarding up to 36 contracts and up to $5.4 million to small businesses in this phase of the initiative.

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