US Air Force’s Cloud-Based Command and Control System Nears Completion

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Luke Cropsey, program executive officer for command, control, communications and battle management, said a cloud-based command and control system will attain initial operating capability by the end of fiscal year 2023.

Speaking to reporters at the recent Air, Space and Cyber conference, he shared that the service aims to deliver CBC2 to the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command at three locations, DefenseScoop reported Thursday.

CBC2 is meant to consolidate data feeds from three other systems and provide a single interface for over 750 radar feeds. Operators are expected to use the interface to create machine-generated courses of action to streamline the tactical C2 kill chain.

Science Applications International Corp. holds a $112 million contract to serve as the capability’s prime integrator.

Cropsey noted that the Air Force used Agile development principles during CBC2’s development. He attributed its success to an arrangement where his office and NORTHCOM each designated a point person for each CBC2 microservice, including data analytics and mapping.

According to Cropsey, the organizational structure established the iterative development cycle that Agile processes need.