US Air Force trials portable command centres for collaborative combat aircraft

The United States Air Force has successfully concluded prototype evaluations for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Portable Command and Control Enclave, or C2E.

This is a portable ground station for commanding and controlling semi-autonomous CCAs.

The Air Force said the development marks a pivotal milestone in advancing the tactical control of CCAs and that it heralds a “major win for acquisition transformation.” The statement did not specify the contractors, although Anduril has already spoken of its Menace-T system to control its FY-44A.

Next stages of the C2E selection process

This initial evaluation phase is a critical first step to selecting the C2E integrator, and the demonstration was hosted by the Ohio Air National Guard’s 178th Wing at Springfield Air National Guard Base.

Col. Eric Reagan, Director of the Agile Development Office, said, “Getting prototypes into the hands of our operational and acquisitions warfighters for a swift, combined evaluation is a direct embodiment of acquisition transformation.”

It says that insights and data gathered from these demonstrations will inform the next stages of the C2E selection process. The second prototype phase is expected to begin soon, “challenging vendors to refine and demonstrate their C2E cloud capabilities.”

When will Increment 1 be in service?

The Air Force is currently working to bring the Increment 1 CCAs into service by around 2029. It has selected Anduril’s FQ-44 and General Atomics FQ-42 for this effort to field the initial CCA capability.

From there, the Air Force is pursuing the much more ambitious, longer-range, and capable Increment 2 CCAs. These will have a combat radius of 700+ nautical miles.

Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics, Hermeus, Shield AI, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin are all among the companies competing for Increment 2.

Breaking Defense reports that the US plans to hold a down-select next year (2027) to winnow its current pool of nine concept-refinement vendors down to as many as six for Increment 2. Beyond that, it hasn’t released dates for awarding contracts or the targeted entry of Increment 2 into service.

C2E and CCA to support Air Force’s ACE doctrine

The C2Es are described as highly portable command-and-control systems that can be rapidly deployed and operated anywhere in the world, including austere environments.

In its statement, the Air Force expressly said these portable systems will help to support its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations at the Experimental Operations Unit.

The destruction of a rare E-3G Sentry AEW&CS on the ground in Saudi Arabia by Iran highlighted the importance of ACE. The incident may have also highlighted a potential failure to implement ACE, as the aircraft had remained parked at the same location for an extended period, allowing Iran to identify and target it.