'Casey-01' -- Leading the Airborne Information Technology Revolution to Enhance Airpower.

Abstract

On 29 Sep 1995, Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) William Perry departed from Andrews AFB MD aboard an Air Force KC-135. Carrying the call-sign 'Casey-Ol', this KC-135 was one in a small fleet of aircraft configured for executive travel missions supporting senior US civilian and military leaders. Casey-Ol, however, differed from the rest of the fleet for two reasons. The first was an innovative airborne Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C41) prototype system integrated into the aircraft and built around commercially available information technologies (IT). The second was that this C4I system was the brainchild of AF 'outsiders', a group of non- traditional players in the arena of aircraft systems design and installation. Shortly after the trip, Dr. Perry sent the Secretary of the Air Force a letter commenting on the impressive 'C4I capabilities of the aircraft and also the enthusiasm and ingenuity of the crew who designed and installed this complex system using off-the-shelf technology and equipment...improving communications at a low cost and in a short time' (Perry 1). In the same letter, he also asked the AF to present him with a plan incorporating the Casey-Ol design into the E-4B National Airborne Command Post (NAOC) so it can "truly serve as an airborne operations center for future Secretaries of Defense." What was innovative about this airborne C4I concept? How, in one year, could 'outsiders' move it, quite literally, from the drawing board to a fully operational prototype? What IT's generated SECDEF backing for installation on the NAOC? And finally, what are the future implications for the AF and airpower? The answers to these questions offer a vision of how an airborne IT revolution can enhance power.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA331943

Entities

People

  • Michael E. Dehart

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Command Control Communications And Computer Systems
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Complex Systems
  • Computers
  • Information Systems
  • Network Protocols
  • Passenger Aircraft
  • Systems Engineering
  • Video Teleconferencing
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Civilian Systems Systems Program Capability Development and Upgrade Support Activity Expense and Pay Management.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control