LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AFNS) -- In a fast-paced, two-week experiment, the Department of the Air Force continued to demonstrate that human-machine teaming, integrating artificial intelligence to handle heavy data processing so human operators can make faster and smarter decisions, can significantly accelerate the joint kill chain.
The latest Decision Advantage Sprint for Human-Machine Teaming, or DASH, further advanced the Department of the Air Force’s command and control modernization efforts. During the two-week event, an integrated operational crew led by a U.S. Space Force Guardian worked alongside U.S. Air Force battle managers and industry software developers to validate an agile acquisitions model designed to deliver capabilities to the warfighter at speed.
“Our goal is to get the most advanced capabilities into the hands of the joint force at speed,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Corey Ellsworth, Advanced Battle Management System Cross-Functional Team integration lead. “This entire framework was built from the ground up to ensure that once a capability is validated here, we can securely and efficiently transition it to the classified networks where our Airmen and Guardians will actually use it in a high-end fight.”
Hosted at the 805th Combat Training Squadron’s Shadow Operations Center-Nellis, the event was a “whole of lab” effort, co-led by the ABMS CFT and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Driving Multi-Domain Integration
The integrated operational crew, led by a Space Force Guardian, exemplified the joint collaboration required across the services. This leadership, combined with scientific analysis from the 711th Human Performance Wing, validated a core hypothesis: that the fundamental challenges of C2 are the same across all domains.
“As a joint force, we operate as a single, cohesive team focused on the exact same objective. It isn't about the 'Air Force way' or the 'Space Force way'; it is about the 'warfighting way,'” said U.S. Space Force Maj. Erik Murdock, 57th Space Aggressor Squadron Operations Division chief. “Because while our domains are different, our decision-making challenges are identical. This experiment demonstrated that when you give a joint team common objectives and a shared set of tools, the integration happens naturally.”
Dr. Elizabeth Frost, the AFRL DASH lead, echoed that sentiment, explaining that the quantitative data and human-factors analysis supported the operators' conclusions.
“Our data and direct observations confirm that the fundamental cognitive challenges for a battle manager are domain-agnostic,” said Frost. “Both Airmen and Guardians are tasked with synthesizing vast amounts of complex data and prioritizing actions under intense time pressure. This event demonstrated that a well-designed human-machine team can effectively free up an operator's cognitive resources.”
A Realistic Battlespace and an Agile Architecture
To ensure the highest degree of combat realism, the experiment's scenarios were designed by the ShOC-N's own team of veteran operators, leveraging their more than 50 years of collective experience in tactical and operational C2.
“This isn’t a scenario from a video game; it is one crafted to challenge operators and engineers alike,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Wesley Schultz, 805th CTS commander. “We reflect the real-world challenges of geography and logistics, and even real-time changes in the rules of engagement, because that reflects the reality of modern warfare.”
The technical backbone of the experiment was an AFRL-developed "orchestrator," a government-owned software interface that allowed multiple, competing industry applications to be tested in a modular ecosystem.
“Successfully demonstrating this 'plug-and-play' ecosystem was a critical milestone,” said Kevin McFarland, AFRL Advanced Capabilities Directorate project management lead. “Government ownership of the orchestrator significantly decreases integration bottlenecks. We are no longer locked into a single vendor's closed architecture.”
By bringing operators and developers together on the operations floor, the experiment facilitated an immediate and highly effective feedback loop.
“The AFRL Information and Spectrum Warfare Directorate developed software provided real-time assessment of the baseline experimental runs and the baseline runs with vendor solutions,” said Ryan Hilliard, AFRL Information and Spectrum Warfare Directorate C2 Research Area Lead. “This real-time assessment allowed vendors and operators to see process execution metrics associated with each trial to give immediate feedback on the benefits of introducing technology solutions into battle manager’s decision-making process.”
From Experiment to Enterprise: An Agile Model for Acquisitions
This collaborative development process is a key component of a rapid acquisitions model championed by the Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management enterprise.
“The DASH series is a textbook example of what we are trying to accomplish,” said Jeffrey Palumbo, AFRL C3BM Capability Area lead. “This approach of user-producer co-creation allows for proof of concept, energizes the industrial base, and allows for early operator feedback to shape development. It sets us up to deliver chunks of warfighting capability to the operational force in a rapid and repeatable cycle.”
This coordination between technical developers and the operational requirements community is designed to rapidly and securely transition unclassified laboratory trials to classified warfighting networks.
“The integration with AFRL at these experiments has enabled the C3BM Operational Response Team to project transition opportunities with the broader Department of the Air Force Battle Network,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Rowland Cardoni, C3BM ORT chief.
Cognitive Superiority: The Future of Battle Management
For the operators on the floor, the impact of this collaborative approach was undeniable.
“These sprints represent the biggest shift in battle management in my career,” said Schultz. “We’re taking what technology allows for and shaping it in a way that magnifies the skills and training of warfighters to ensure we maintain decisive advantage in conflict.”
With the DASH sprints demonstrating continuous advancements in capability development, the ABMS CFT, the Portfolio Acquisition Executives C3BM, and AFRL are working closely together, looking ahead to the next evolution of battle management.
“The future of battle management isn't just about accelerating our reaction time; it's about fundamentally changing how we make decisions. The experimentation focused on game theory and will continue in future experiments, too,” said U.S. Air Force Col. John Ohlund, ABMS CFT director. “We are moving beyond simple, reactive scenarios and presenting our warfighters with complex, ambiguous problems where they must be proactive, weigh trade-offs, and make decisions when there is no perfect answer. This approach is essential for developing the cognitive superiority our joint force needs to out-think and outmaneuver a peer adversary in a high-end conflict.”
USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)