Book Description
In the past four decades, the United States has been the predominant force in peacekeeping, peacemaking, and combat operations in which it has participated. Two changes are now being experienced. First, post-Cold War contingencies and the Global War on Terrorism have illustrated the increasing importance of constructive coalition relations. Second, as U.S. forces become more network-centric, effective integrated operations with coalition partners are becoming increasingly difficult and dependent upon the ability to share information electronically. In particular, the dynamic nature of air operations demands rapid transfer of data among the forces. However, security concerns prevent full (and often, even partial) access to our networks by others. While workarounds have been implemented, sometimes with excellent combat results, this limited access has impaired the ability of U.S. Forces to truly exploit the diverse capabilities of coalition partners and perhaps reduce our Operations Tempo. This Study addresses the issue of networking for coalition air operations from policy, operational, and technical viewpoints and concludes that improvements in all three areas are essential to effective coalition air operations. The Air Force can take unilateral action to further developments, designate the CAOC as a weapon system, foster demonstrations and experiments to explore CAOC solutions, and improve training and exercises. It can also encourage OSD and Joint levels to review and revise national disclosure policies.
