The Deputy Defense Secretary’s Advisory Working Group (DAWG) may provide the go-ahead within a month to develop the Core Component Jammer, the electronic attack system USAF would like to field on the B-52 bomber. Col. Bob Schwarze, Air Staff chief of electronic warfare, told the Daily Report May 9 that Elaine Simmons of DOD’s Program Acquisition and Evaluation will brief the DAWG either May 23 or June 4 on the latest CCJ analysis. The Air Force canceled its overly ambitious $7 billion B-52 standoff jamming program in 2005, but service officials resurrected the concept. In 2006, “we re-scoped the overall requirements in stand-off jamming, and we came up with the CCJ,” Schwarze explained, noting that this program has better defined requirements, essentially making it more reality-based and, therefore, more useful. USAF still feels the 40-foot-long CCJ would work well on the B-52 bomber. Schwarze estimated a $2.8 billion to $3.7 billion price tag over the life of the program, including 24 sets of jamming pods.
The Pentagon nuclear command, control, and communications enterprise is decades old and desperate for an upgrade, says the head of U.S. Strategic Command, and artificial intelligence could help fortify nuclear C3 for its no-fail mission.