Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization
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Satellites and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. In August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. At that time, the US. .Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) had one communications satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO) operating over the Indian Ocean, covering the Middle East. Within the next few weeks, a satellite over the Atlantic Ocean was tilted to access the Persian Gulf. Another satellite in polar orbit was moved to 65 degrees East, and a reserve satellite over the Indian Ocean was activated. Some British satellites were linked-in, and these measures created the first space-based military communications network in history.
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Hypersonic vehicles and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: The U.S., China, and Russia are spending a ton of money on research and development for hypersonic vehicles these days, so it’s time to explore what the aeronautical engineers are doing and why.
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Radar and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: This is a complex topic, broad in applications and deep in technical details. Radar can be studied from several different angles: by the domain covered (land, sea, undersea, air, and space), by the frequencies used (the IEEE, EU/NATO, and ITU all use different frequency band designations, making things even more confusing), by the range of the signal (long range surveillance, intermediate-range theater coverage, and short-range fire control radar), by application (offensive radar vs defensive radar), or by radar types (there are about 13 of them). Each of these approaches spill over into the next, creating a convoluted mess if you’re not careful. So, the safest way to eliminate the confusion in a short article like this is oversimplification. Therefore, we will look at what radar does in the kill web, and a little about how it works.
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Enemy ships and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Since our primary enemies (Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea) have some capacity for naval warfare, it might be instructive to examine how they can confront the kill web at sea. To do that, we need to look at the hull count (total number of warships) and the total tonnage (water displacement of their fleet) for each country. Hull count will tell us how many ships they can deploy in a fight, and tonnage will tell us their range, and how large and deadly those ships are. That will give us the big picture and we can start assessing their capabilities from there.
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Strategic intelligence and the Kill Web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: In previous articles, we explored the technologies and tactics going into the Kill Web, and how they work. Now, we need to look at how strategic intelligence feeds into the Kill Web, and into the order of battle (OB). That's the structure of our troops and weapons, and how they will be deployed against an enemy.
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Problems with the kill web: Moving from C4ISR to SNAI
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: By now, you know the kill web is a dynamic networked "system of systems," that can act (offensively or defensively) at the speed of computers against our enemy's tactics and strategies on the battlefield. There are a number of technical problems to be solved in communications, computer architectures, sensors, and software, but the engineering brainiacs are working on those. The bigger issues are actually on the operational side of the kill web. Decisions involving many variables must be made in milliseconds or microseconds. The human mind cannot possibly handle all the data from the intelligence sources and sensors, assimilate that data, and make critical decisions in those timeframes. So let’s consider some examples, to expose the complications and contradictions in the kill web.
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Future weapons and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Come with me now as we travel to another dimension, a realm far beyond the mundane incremental improvements in traditional military weaponry. It’s a curious domain where warfare is bounded only by our imagination. The technology to implement the weapons you will see is available now, give or take some miniaturization of the components here and there. Not since the invention of gunpowder has mankind experienced such a revolution in the tools of armed conflict. So gear-up, and keep your heads down, as we embark upon this mission. You are now entering the kill web of the future.
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C4ISR systems and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG. In previous articles, we looked at the market research reports and forecasts for fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground combat vehicles. All those platforms contain C4ISR systems (command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance). The openly available data about this market is much foggier than the information on the military platform markets. Making things more complicated, C4ISR is further divided into radar, sonar, signals intelligence (SIGINT), sensors, electronic warfare (EW), cyber warfare (CW), COMM (networked military communications), and administrative systems. Moments of clarity do surface in the reports, but you have to dig for them.
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UAVs and the kill web
UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are already part of the kill web for the U.S. military, forming teams with manned aircraft, dropping bombs, and providing persistent surveillance across the globe and soon will be equipped with lasers to provide even more lethality. UAVs have reshaped warfare in modern times, but you may be surprised to learn that they have actually been around since 1849.
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Helicopters and the kill web
WARFARE EVOLUTION BLOG: Helicopters will have a role in the kill web as they have in the kill chain dating back to their first uses in warfare. Starting with the Korean War, and later in Vietnam, the helicopter became the cavalry. Anyone serving in the Army during the 1960s and 1970s knows about the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam. You could hear their UH-1 Iroquois helicopters (nickname: Huey) coming from miles away. These aircraft carried troops into battle and provided fire support for ground forces in a fight.
Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization
Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization
Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization
Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization
Ray Alderman, VITA Standards Organization