Digitizing Joint Fires

Digitizing Joint Fires

by Chris Thatcher   On the night of April 17, 2002, Major Harry Schmidt, an F-16 fighter jet pilot with the United States Air National Guard, believed he was taking ground fire and mistakenly dropped a laser-guided GBU-12 Paveway II bomb on soldiers from the 3rd...
Airspace deconfliction

Airspace deconfliction

By Ian Coutts   “There’s no such thing as a crowded battlefield.” The words are Alfred M. Gray’s. The former commandant of the United States Marine Corps, Gray was speaking metaphorically (the next words in the quote are, “Battlefields are lonely places”)....
Precision strike: Close air support goes digital

Precision strike: Close air support goes digital

by Chris Thatcher   When Bold Quest 2017, a U.S. Joint Staff-led interoperability demonstration, begins this fall at Fort Stewart, Georgia, one capability likely to attract widespread attention will be a Digitally-Aided Close Air Support (DACAS) system fielded by...