In order to keep a single AWACS aircraft airborne twenty-four hours a day, the 366th plans to deploy with a three-aircraft AWACS detachment in the event of a crisis. The trick is to integrate the Sentry aircraft of the 552nd wing into the operations of the 366th wing, a task the two units have practiced extensively. This practice has included exercises to develop tactical procedures for the use of the 390th FS's F-15Cs with their new JTIDS data links, which makes them even more deadly, thanks to the 'God's-eye view' of the E-3 radar and other sensors.
27th Fighter Wing, Cannon AFB, New Mexico
Another planned reinforcement for the 366th in a crisis deployment would be a detachment of four EF-111A Raven standoff jamming aircraft, currently based with the 27th Fighter Wing at Cannon AFB, Oklahoma. These powerful EW aircraft (using versions of the Hughes ALQ-99 jamming system) are the most capable tactical jamming aircraft in the USAF inventory. The USAF has used standoff jamming aircraft in raid packages since World War II, and no sane American strike force would care to enter hostile airspace without them. Unfortunately, the current Administration is planning to retire the Spark 'Varks (as they are called), along with the remaining force of F-111F fighter bombers, in FY-1997 and -98, with no planned replacement. This leaves ACC and the 366th in a world of hurt, and still requiring a standoff jammer of some kind. As an interim and very imperfect solution to this problem, Colonel Hopper and his creative folks at the 34th BS are working out tactics and techniques for using the B1-B as a standoff jammer. Meanwhile, the Ravens of the 27th FW are still available for deployments, and continue to support operations overseas in Iraq, Bosnia, and Haiti.
355th Electronic Combat Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
Buried in the depths of Colonel Scott's briefing charts on the 366th CONOPS plan is a note about a pair of aircraft known as EC-130H Compass Calls that will deploy with the Gunfighters. Festooned with an array of antennas, these odd-looking variants of the Lockheed Hercules are Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) platforms, with powerful jamming packages aboard. They act as virtual electronic vacuum cleaners, sucking up almost everything in the electromagnetic spectrum. After analyzing it to provide real-time targeting data on enemy command posts, SAM and AAA radar sites, and other electronic emitters, they pass them along via a JTIDS data link to other aircraft. They can also conduct standoff jamming of SAM and AAA radars, as well as communications jamming. Though there are only a handful of these valuable birds (residing in two squadrons, the 41st ECS and 43rd ECS of the 355th Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson, Arizona) and their availability will always be limited, several of them with their highly skilled technicians would be assigned to the 366th in the event of an overseas deployment. Should the entire fleet be unavailable, ACC can also turn to a clip-on system known as Senior Scout, which can be installed as a package in any C-130 transport.
Joint Surveillance and Targeting System (Joint STARS)
While there is no active unit currently flying the E-8C Joint Surveillance and Targeting System (Joint STARS) radar aircraft, such a wing of these aircraft
Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO)
When armies finally began to operate aircraft in the early 1900s, the first mission important to ground commanders was taking photos of enemy positions. Reconnaissance imagery is vital to a JFACC staff, because you have to be able to see a target before you can hit it. Then you need more pictures of the targets you have hit so that you can evaluate the damage. Unless a JFACC has photo-reconnaissance assets under his direct control, the whole process of planning, striking, and bomb damage assessment (BDA) starts breaking down. The bad news is that the USAF has just a few dozen aging RF-4C Phantom II tactical photo-reconnaissance aircraft in two Air National Guard squadrons. During Desert Storm, the lack of U.S. military tactical photo-reconnaissance forced the CENTAF staff to improvise, with a combination of aircraft and satellite systems controlled by different agencies, making effective BDA almost impossible. Following the war, Secretary of Defense William Perry took the lesson to heart, and created the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO) to coordinate all reconnaissance within the earth's atmosphere. DARO shares space in the Pentagon with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO — the agency that controls the Earth-orbiting reconnaissance satellites), and is run by Major General Kenneth Israel. DA- RO'S charter is to take over all U.S. aerial recon programs and bring some order out of the chaos.
While many programs run by DARO remain highly classified, we do know that the staff in the Pentagon has initiated a series of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or pilotless drone) programs designed to replace or augment existing manned tactical systems. Since they are unencumbered by the weight and life-support requirements of a crew, or the need to return them safely in the event of a hostile response, UAVs will be more effective than manned aircraft in acquiring photo-reconnaissance data. UAVs can also loiter over an area of interest and study it, instead of just flying by at 'the speed of heat' and snapping a single picture. At the same time, users of imagery products will need to develop some new attitudes and techniques. For example, rather than taking pictures of a particular target or Direct Mean Point of Impact (DMPI or 'dimpy,' as it is called), UAVs will monitor large areas, such as all of Kuwait or Bosnia, updating the situation map several times a day (and night). This means that while a JFACC staff may not see specific targets right before or right after a strike, they will be obtaining more and better information over time. In the long run, this big picture will provide better data for operational-level planning, especially when combined with high-quality post-strike videotape from FLIR systems. During Desert Storm, these short video clips, when properly cross-referenced with other data, proved to be invaluable for BDA.
So far, none of the new UAV systems are operational, and only a few flying prototypes have seen any action. One of these, the Predator-series UAV manufactured by General Atomics Corporation of San Diego, California, is reported to have flown CIA-sponsored surveillance missions over Bosnia from a base in Albania and the Predators appear to have done well. These new systems, as well as the remnants of our older capabilities, should provide strike planners with adequate targeting data, as long as the satellite systems hold up. Nevertheless, airborne reconnaissance assets are going to be thin for at least a decade.
