The Road to Multi-Domain Operations

The concept of joint all-domain operations is not new. Since the time of Sun Tzu, commanders have addressed fundamental questions such as: “How is the battle shifting?” “What is the enemy’s next move?” and “How can I capture the element of surprise?”

In the future battlespace, the need for effective command and control will increase tenfold. Commanders must be able to collectively see the battle develop, systematically plan operations and dynamically manage sensors and weapons. This is the challenge we have taken on; how to synchronize operations at all levels for seamless, agile and high velocity command and control. And this requires synchronizing the mission planning cycles for different domains. Further complications arise as each domain has different operational timelines. For example, air operations historically take 72 hours for deliberate target planning.  Cyber operations take significant planning and are “silver bullets” that require significant consideration on when to use the specialized asset. Finally, space operations require significant coordination among numerous space management entities. Real time management and sharing of data will be the Rosetta Stone of JADO.

For the past few years, we have been exploring ways to synchronize these disparate planning and battle management cycles. Since 2016, we have questioned the “art of the possible” by hosting tabletop exercises that use non-traditional concepts to expedite simultaneous operational planning for multi-domain effects. Working with customers, academia, and industry, we have been analyzing ways to  break down barriers and improve decision making across the domains.

Beyond these tabletop exercises, Lockheed Martin has performed a series of incremental demonstrations since 2013 to integrate systems across the battlespace, enabling rapid decision making and effects. These exercises leverage open systems architecture and prove that new capabilities can be added to existing aircraft quickly and affordably using commercial-off-the-shelf components and government owned standards while still meeting rigorous flight safety and information assurance requirements. Not only did we prove that aircraft can be modernized efficiently, we also demonstrated how advanced mission system capabilities can be rapidly fielded to bring additional warfighting capability to the user.

 

To support continuous operational planning, we developed the Multi-Domain Synchronized Effects Toolkit (MDSET). MDSET transforms the command and control of multi-domain assets into a collaborative, cross domain decision-making framework. By creating a comprehensive picture of the integrated plan MDSET enables decisions to be made based on concurrent (vs. serial) situational awareness of activity across all domains.  Further, MDSET enables various courses of action to be readily explored, enabling commanders to choose the plan that delivers the desired effects with the best resource allocation and accepted risk.

By improving the planning, tasking and directing of air, space and cyber forces, we can realize synchronized effects in a faster decision-making cycle than exists today. But more tools don’t necessarily equate to more success. A vision, an understanding of the power of data and an exploration of the processes and policies needed for true, integrated JADO is an essential element of success for next generation of warfare.