Page 53 - Leverage and Learn

Leverage Allied Investments and Combat Learning Experience in Modernizing the U.S. Military

The platforms and technology is crucial but training to where we need to go and cross learning to evolve the
combat force is absolutely essential for shaping the air force we need to deploy.

We see our new Air Warfare Centre as a key opportunity to do just that. One evolving aspect is that our Air
Force used to conduct Fighter Combat Instructor courses; and we would send a ground controller to the course
to participate.

Now the focus is on the evolution of holistic air combat capabilities and as part of that, we have a Wedgetail
team participating in the Air Warfare Instructor course.

We've got several participants involved from the Wedgetail side: an electronic systems officer, a couple of
the air battle managers, we have a pilot, and they're all working as a team in the airborne early warning
and control space.
During the course they will evolve AEW&C tactics which are complementary to the overall Air combat domain
and they will all graduate from the course as Air Warfare Instructors.

They are working that quarterback space, to understand the needs and opportunities of that network of
operators and how we can change our TTPs to make them more effective.

More broadly, we are focused on being an enabler not just for the air combat force but the joint force.
For example, we are working with the Navy and the Army with regard to supporting expeditionary blue
water operations and operating in concert with the new LHD and its evolving concepts of operations in the
littoral space.

The enabler function is the key Wedgetail strength in terms of supporting the joint and combined combat
force more generally.

Question: Wedgetail is a software upgradeable aircraft and is undergoing modernization along existing lines
but you have some expanded capabilities in mind as well?

Group Captain Bellingham: We are modernizing the aircraft to enhance current C2 capabilities but we are
looking at ways to exploit its extraordinary radar (via its scalability) to expand into the non-kinetic warfare
space.

And we will do that as well through the cross learning we talked about earlier.

We are working really hard at the moment in collaboration with our allies to get a team approach to
accelerate our learning.

We are looking to build from the achievements we've done so far and build on that cooperatively with our
allies.

We're working to get to the next level, and we're looking at the next generation of E-7, based on our
operational experience and leveraging the collaborative networks we have established with allies moving
into the fifth generation enabled air combat force.
Question: A final thought suggests itself.

Without the global engagement of Wedgetail in operations and exercises, the entire development process
you described would not be possible.

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