Courtesy Photo | Three aquatic environmental sensing drones operate during training on Oct. 30, 2024,...... read more read more
The 5th Combat Weather Group (CWG) is developing and experimenting with new weather detection and processing capabilities to infuse forward-edge environmental data into combat operations planning at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
As part of a new innovation cell, the 3rd Combat Weather Squadron (3rd CWS) is applying emerging technology to experiment with how environmental information can be collected and processed through the use of underwater drone technology, inexpensive 3D-printed weather sensors, environmental detection buoys, and small-scale weather models assisted by artificial intelligence.
“We are preparing to operate in any phase of conflict supporting any joint force partner,” said Master Sgt. Michael Cobb, 93d Air Ground Operations Wing A3 Operations Superintendent. “We don’t know where or when the next conflict will take place, so we need to continue to expand our capabilities and processes beyond what we have been doing to get where we need to go.”
Combat Weather’s mission is to collect, analyze, and integrate environmental data into multi-domain operations to provide decision-makers with timely and accurate information on how to best operate in any battlespace. This includes space weather and the effects on the electromagnetic spectrum which impact how military technologies function. These weather professionals aim to maximize friendly battlefield capabilities while analyzing an adversary’s ability to conduct combat operations.
“We can provide data that decreases risk and provides commanders with a more holistic idea of what’s going on in the environment in order to make the most efficient and effectives decisions for the conflict at hand,” said Maj. Justin Leo, 3rd CWS Operations Officer.
Printed Modular Environmental (PRIME) Sensors
The 3rd CWS has been developing 3D Printed Modular Environmental, or PRIME, sensors that cost less than $500 each and collect various environmental parameters. The team anticipates that these sensors can be dispersed throughout a battlefield to provide invaluable data necessary for large scale combat operations supporting both tactical and resupply movements.
“We’re going to be able to put a ton of these out into the battlespace to give a commander much higher fidelity and higher resolution weather data than we could with our sensors that we only place at airfields,” Leo explained. “I see us increasing the density of sensors at the cost of accuracy. That may sound counterintuitive, but in a future conflict, I think we’re going to need a lot more agility, and it’s going to require a lot of sensors that will probably be less accurate but provide a much greater sight picture for the whole operating environment.”
These PRIME sensors could provide information to recommend routes for friendly forces to traverse hazardous terrain and enable unimpeded ground resupply and combat operations. The Combat Weather community is working toward packaging and moving the materials necessary for building these PRIME sensors to the forward-edge, enabling them to rapidly repair, replace, and expand the sensing network without a cumbersome logistical tail.
Autonomous Underwater Environmental Detection Drones and Environmental Sensing Buoys
To better support joint force aquatic-based operations, the 3rd CWS is procuring and testing how underwater drones can be used to measure depth, drift rate, wave height, salinity, and water temperature and how this information translates to more informed battlefield decision-making.
“We should be able to make better decisions on how to move around the battlespace and provide the information necessary for commanders to make decisions,” Leo said. “We need to look at all avenues of asymmetrical battlefield advantage to stay ahead of the power curve.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Micro Scale Weather Models
Combat Weather Airmen are posturing themselves to leverage advanced computer technology for micro-scale weather modeling. In anticipation of denied and degraded lines of communication in future conflicts, the 3rd CWS is working with industry to utilize their new PRIME sensors to run weather models in contested environments without a reach-back capability.
These micro models ingest local data and utilize AI and ML to aggregate environmental data to fill in information gaps for a specific operating area, potentially allowing Combat Weather Airmen to continue providing environmental intelligence in technologically contested environments.
The goal of these models is to provide a real-time picture of the operating environment that is resistant to external adversary interference.
“We can help tailor the timing of an operation to maximize lethality or whatever the intended output is,” Leo said. “Then provide real-time weather data throughout an operation for commanders to be able to make decisions based on evolving conditions.”
In a future conflict, where air superiority may be temporary or non-existent, operations can integrate weather prediction and intelligence to ensure combat effectiveness.
“We need to be able to maximize our periods of air superiority in future conflicts by providing commanders with very accurate, timely weather data,” Leo explained. “Allow us to show what we’re capable of, because I think we are barely scratching the surface of what Combat Weather can provide.”
To achieve environmental decision-making advantages, the organization looks to its forces on the front lines to identify and solve potential future conflict challenges.
“As a wing, we encourage the warfighters at the tactical level to get after the problems they see with their own eyes,” Cobb said. “They are in the best position to develop solutions, because they see the problem firsthand.”
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2024 14:15 |
| Story ID: | 486731 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 5th Combat Weather Group: Increasing Agility through Innovation, by Capt. Christian Little, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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