One of the key concepts being aired during JEFX is the Theater Battle Operations Net-centric Environment (TBONE), a concept sprung from the Air Force’s C2 Battlelab. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, the battlelab’s Maj. Pat McAtee called the project a “new engine” for the CAOC—developed in conjunction with a software upgrade for the Theater Battle Management Core Systems version 1.1.4. TBONE is a program that moves “at the speed of warfare,” said McAtee, noting that a total of 20 applications are being melded into one under the TBONE effort. The goal is build a “continuous air tasking cycle” by shifting the CAOC weapon system to a Web-based, PC-capable application environment that uses portal technologies in a more flexible and versatile net-centric environment. The present-day CAOC suffers from difficulties in utilizing ISR data to assess actions and operations—essentially erecting a roadblock preventing expansion of effects-based warfare.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.