The Air Force C2ISR Center wants to “institutionalize” the collection and application of non-traditional ISR, said Col. Roger Gant, by utilizing Infrastructure Operations Tools Access. IOTA would incorporate fighter aircraft targeting sensor data with the traditional ISR tools available to the CAOC and put the data directly in the hands of warfighters—quickly. Ultimately, the IOTA enterprise would enable Web-based data discovery, or data tagging technology, and dissemination. If proven, said Gant, the technology could free some ISR platforms from the “high-demand, low-density” cycle.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
