Airpower In The Information Age: Embracing TCP/IP Within Airborne Networks

: Given the challenges posed by the Anti-Access Area Denial (A2/AD) threat, it is crucial for the military to possess agile and adaptive airborne networks. Current legacy airborne communication systems are not sufficient to meet this challenge due to the extreme limitations on the type of information that they can send combined with the lack of dynamic self-forming and adaptive characteristics need to operate in a non-permissive environment. In contrast, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model provides an open and adaptive construct that has proved successful at seamlessly connecting large numbers of users to a vast array of applications. Airborne TCP/IP communication systems within DoD are currently in the infancy with systems like the Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) and the Multi-RoleTactical Common Data Link (MR-TCDL) appearing from the research labs. The U.S. military is now at a critical junction where decisions made today will have an enormous impact on the information sharing capabilities that will be available in the future A2/AD fight. Senior leaders must resist the temptation to be complacent with the current systems and instead forge ahead with a modern information age communications paradigm. Failure to do so will lead to a military paralyzed by the fog a war in the A2/AD environment due to the inability to rapidly and reliably share information.