The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) has unveiled plans to establish a multi-disciplinary Air Force team at the Air Force Research Laboratory to help carry the US Air Force (USAF) to Third Offset by developing the next-generation of operational capabilities.
Based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the new team will comprise of about 10 military and civilian Airmen.
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The new team will function as a key component of a new Air Force strategic development planning effort, in supporting the development of multi-domain capabilities and air-space-cyber approaches to solutions.
AFMC commander general Ellen M Pawlikowski said: "We’re going to use experimentation; we’re going to use modelling and simulation as the tools to allow us to make that marriage, if you will, between what are the gaps, what are the challenges, and what concepts and technologies are we are going to bring to bear.
"Of course cost is always going to be in the calculus.
"Because, affordability is going to be a key element for the Air Force, now and into the future."
A significant element of the US Department of Defense (DoD) strategy, Third Offset will leverage new technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and human-machine networks to equalise advances made by the nations opponents in recent years.
The strategic plan aims at increasing agility of AFMC support to the Air Force enterprise, driving cost-effectiveness into the capabilities.
As part of the strategy, the six centres of AFMC along with the headquarters staff have developed 11 supporting objectives and 35 commitments that will be measured, tracked and assessed throughout this year.
Image: A rendering of advanced layered sensing, command and control and cyber technologies at work. Photo: courtesy of US Air Force graphic.
