Orrock LXXXVI XLVIIFrom #NextGov The U.S. planes that have gone down in the Middle East since the launch of Operation Epic Fury all lacked the same thing: a common operating picture that includes relevant intelligence and data. The Defense Innovation Unit announced Monday it’s looking for a fix. The request: an open-architecture software suite to fuse real-time data into a credible picture of moving objects, threats, and conditions. The idea is to give pilots a broader understanding of reality in a way that is unremarkable to American motorists with easy access to data about ever-changing conditions but aspirational for air crews flying planes outfitted with antique computer hardware. U.S. Air Force officials have warned of a lack of a common operating picture among airframes, particularly transport planes like C-130s, for years. But the loss of seven aircraft in just over a month, due mostly to communication errors and friendly fire, has exposed a big gap in how U.S. planes communicate with one another and with ground forces🧵
During the rescue effort that followed an Iranian shootdown of an F-15E Strike Eagle and an A-10 Thunderbolt on April 3, the U.S. destroyed two MC-130J transport planes when the planes were unable to take off from their makeshift runway, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a press conference on Monday.
“It was sandy, wet sand, so we thought there may a problem taking off because of the weight of the plane… And then we also had all the men jumping back onto the planes, and they got pretty well bogged down.”
It’s the sort of problem that access to real-time data on terrain, weather, and other factors could have solved. But most older transport planes lack up-to-date maps or terrain data, forcing crews to “rely heavily on pre-mission planning products, voice updates, and aging platform-specific displays,” according to DIU’s ask./2
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