JULY/AUGUST AIRFORCEMAG.COM Photo: xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xx xxx xx Photo: SrA. Jacob SkovoO utt’s ISR Planes Prep
for Evolving Threats
By Rachel S. Cohen
An RC-135W Rivet Joint takes o from O utt AFB, Neb. An “expeditionary mindset” has kept ISR aircraft on point, but new
challenges in the Middle East and the Pacific will require training refreshers.
OFFUTT AFB, Neb.—
G
reat power competition may be the focus of the Penta-
gon’s latest strategy, but the 55th Wing here has been
ying the coasts of China and Russia for decades.
e wing’s intelligence, surveillance, and recon-
naissance jets routinely y 12 miles o the coast of
Russia and China in international airspace, so they don’t expect
their planes’ unique electronic signals, missile launch, and
radioactivity recon roles to change much in the coming years.
“Honestly, this wing’s been doing that since the ’60s,” 55th
Operations Group Commander Col. Eric C. Paulson said in a
June 4 interview here. “We’ve spiraled our technology to meet
adversary technology and kept up with it, but this is what we’ve
been doing.”
A longtime “expeditionary” mindset—being able to deploy
quickly from spots around the globe—has helped Rivet Joints,
Cobra Balls, Combat Sents, and Constant Phoenixes keep pace
with the government’s demand for their intelligence data.
But training also should evolve as geopolitical situations
change, Paulson said, particularly if the RC-135 variants have
to balance missions in the Middle East while taking on more
in the Paci c. at will entail being aware of di erent threats,
learning to use current capabilities in new ways, or using up-
graded tools altogether.
He doesn’t expect facing more advanced militaries will call for
new crew positions aboard their jets, saying they can top o
training instead. Everyone needs to focus more on cyber threats
and how to stay relevant in increasingly digital warfare, Paulson
said. And even as technology and training evolve, he acknowl-
edged they may have to fall back on old practices for tasks like
navigation if their systems are jammed in a ght.
“We’ll do whatever’s asked, and it’s up to our national lead-
ership to determine, ‘Here’s what I’ve got. What can I put here
and there?’ ” Paulson said. “Once we know those [priorities],
we’ll work to make sure that those are met.”
e real competition is in each nation’s ability to collect, see,
and understand what adversaries’ intentions are and how their
tools are changing, former 55th Wing Commander Col. Mike
Manion said. Emerging technologies like arti cial intelligence,
machine learning, and autonomy will o er powerful boosts to
the 55th Wing’s ability to continue its work in an increasingly
complicated, gray battle space, he noted.
New creations underway at the Air Force Research Laboratory
and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency can dove-
tail with routine aircraft upgrades at Big Safari, which manages
the Air Force’s secretive big-wing ISR platforms. Each jet leaves
Big Safari’s depot every few months a little more advanced than
its companions, and injecting AI tech on this rolling basis, rather
than waiting for a block upgrade, could help 55th Wing eet
software stay on the cutting edge.
After the Air Force decided last year to abandon its E-8C
Joint STARS replacement program, saying a new big-wing
battle management jet wouldn’t stand up against enemy air
defenses, the same question has arisen about whether C-135s
could survive in the future.
Paulson said improved air defenses haven’t changed how
the wing operates, but “should a war kick o , absolutely, that’ll
change some positioning.”