Swift intuition

With due allowance for context, the RAAF of 2015 is the best it has ever been in its almost 100-year history. Its people are first class, and its force structure is exceptional.

As demonstrated by the lamentable combat performance of the wellequipped air forces of Egypt (1967, 1973), Syria (1967, 1982) and Iraq (1991, 2003), technology without the right people and ideas will never win the war in the air.

By the same token, all else being equal, the protagonist with the best technology is likely to win. And today, no other country except the US (which has four air forces) has the quality or balance inherent in the RAAF’s evolving force structure of F-35As, F/A-18Fs, F/A-18A/Bs, EA-18Gs, E-7As, JORN, Vigilare, KC-30As, P-8As, AP-3Cs, MQ‑4Cs, C-17As, C-130Js, C-27Js and Herons.

In addition to its primary purpose of strike, electronic attack, air defence, manoeuvre, and so on, each of those systems represents a response to the information age, with the end result constituting a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

The 5th generation F-35 in particular is distinguished by its revolutionary integrated networking systems and sensors. The speed with which it collects, processes and disseminates information is unparalleled, to the extent that it is a transformative capability.

In truth, it should be designated the F/A/ISR-35.

The RAAF’s transformational force structure can be the enabler of Douhet’s “swift intuition” – a networked, real-time system that allows the RAAF and the ADF to know sooner than their opponents what’s happening, make the right decisions, and take decisive action. It can provide the formula for winning at any level of warfare.

But for this to be fully realised, institutional stovepipes will have to be broken down and a common organisational and intellectual purpose accepted. Which is where Plan Jericho comes in.

Launched earlier this year by (now-retired) Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown, Plan Jericho provides the essential link between people and platforms. It is a strategy-led plan intended to guide the RAAF’s transformation into a fully integrated force by 2025.

Jericho has three main themes: harnessing the combat potential of an integrated force; fostering an innovative and empowered workforce; and working with government and industry to regularly refresh systems in keeping with evolving technology. The goal is for the RAAF to become a “system of systems”. Ecosystems provide an analogy: with effectiveintegration, the Air Force will become a mutually reinforcing entity within which each platform enhances the effectiveness of all of the others. As Air Marshal Brown has stated, the aspiration is for no airman and no platform ever to fight alone.

The benefits of networked systems include vastly improved situational awareness, the ability to operate as an integrated team and, importantly, the ability to respond more quickly and effectively to changing circumstances. Those qualities are invaluable at any level of warfighting, from asymmetric conflicts against terrorists or other non-state actors to major conventional wars against powerful national defence forces. The same qualities also enhance the RAAF’s capacity to deliver aid and respond to humanitarian disasters.

Integration will not be limited to the RAAF. It must also extend to the ADF command and control system, to Navy and Army combat forces, and to coalition partners, with the objective of providing the entire force with a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of what is happening across the battlespace.

The nature of this ambition is so radical that it will demand an entirely new approach to training. Future training will require a systems approach incorporating multiple platforms, sensors, systems and networks, and hundreds of people, all available simultaneously on a daily basis. The sheer extent and complexity of this implies unsustainable costs – unless a high degree of simulation is used.

The answer is likely to be found in live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training, a concept which will facilitate integration by enabling regular, inexpensive simulations that can be designed to challenge personnel in realistic, replayable scenarios.

Another of Jericho’s goals is to reconcile the RAAF’s top-down design with bottom-up innovation. By providing a supportive framework for junior staff, including excellent professional development and flexible career management, Air Force leaders hope to promote a culture of innovation. The planned establishment of an Air Warfare Centre to act as an incubator for ideas on new ways to use air power will promote this objective.

By harnessing the full potential of 5th generation platforms, Plan Jericho will facilitate “swift intuition” and enable the RAAF to win in the information age.