Air Force ISR Chief: Modernization Must Be A Priority

摘要

While the Air Force's Distributed Common Ground System is an "exquisite" network designed to ingest and process intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data and make it available to meet warfighter needs, it is also very maintenance-intensive -- an issue that could impair the service's ability to continue to modernize its ISR infrastructure, according to a top Air Force ISR official. Lt. Gen. Robert Otto, deputy chief of staff for ISR, said during a June 9 Air Force Association event that because the DCGS is so complex and capable, it requires constant maintenance and sustainment. The network of data processing systems includes five Air Force sites as well as others maintained by the Air National Guard and international allies. One of those sites - located at Langley Air Force Base, VA - has about 200 people manning the station on a given day, and 50 of those people are performing maintenance on the system. The situation is similar across the DCGS enterprise, Otto said.