Photo: U.S. Air Force
For a number of years now, America has been working on a way to improve its defense capabilities against the increasingly modern threats against the homeland. What they came up with is a concept called Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
ABMS is all about technology. Using networked systems, it is supposed to provide members of the various branches of the military with the best of information, in real-time, so that joint operations could be conducted to defeat a threat.
Once ready, and integrated in a new command concept called Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), ABMS should allow the U.S. and its allies “to orchestrate military operations across all domains, such as sea, land, air, space and cyber.“
For that to happen, the military needs hardware, though, and of big importance in today’s day and age are satellites. Sure, the U.S. has a great deal of them circling the Earth, but now that new kids are on the block, the Air Force plans to give them a try.
In May last year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX started launching its Starlink constellation, a means for his company to give the underserved parts of the world access to broadband Internet connectivity. But they could also be used for military purposes.
According to The Drive, citing Air Force acquisition chief William Roper, a massive live fire exercise of the ABMS will take place in April, and it will include the participation of Starlink satellites.
For now, there’s no word as to what role the hardware will play in the exercise, but we do know the drill aims to test how ABMS can be used to shoot down drones and incoming cruise missiles.
"SpaceX has been a great industry partner for us," said Roper according to the source. "They are very excited and we are excited to learn more about their satellites through the demonstration."
More information about the ABMS and JADC2 can be found at this link.
Once ready, and integrated in a new command concept called Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), ABMS should allow the U.S. and its allies “to orchestrate military operations across all domains, such as sea, land, air, space and cyber.“
For that to happen, the military needs hardware, though, and of big importance in today’s day and age are satellites. Sure, the U.S. has a great deal of them circling the Earth, but now that new kids are on the block, the Air Force plans to give them a try.
In May last year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX started launching its Starlink constellation, a means for his company to give the underserved parts of the world access to broadband Internet connectivity. But they could also be used for military purposes.
According to The Drive, citing Air Force acquisition chief William Roper, a massive live fire exercise of the ABMS will take place in April, and it will include the participation of Starlink satellites.
For now, there’s no word as to what role the hardware will play in the exercise, but we do know the drill aims to test how ABMS can be used to shoot down drones and incoming cruise missiles.
"SpaceX has been a great industry partner for us," said Roper according to the source. "They are very excited and we are excited to learn more about their satellites through the demonstration."
More information about the ABMS and JADC2 can be found at this link.
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