General Focuses on Mission, Future of AWACS

US Air Force, HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass: The E-3 Sentry Airborne Early Warning And Control System aircraft and its crews have led the way into battle many times in the past and are achieving combat excellence today, the commander of the nation's only AWACS flying wing said Nov. 27. 
 
The focus now, however, is on the future, Brig. Gen. Lori Robinson told members of Electronic Systems Center's 551st Electronic Systems Group here during an all-hands call. The 551st ELSG is responsible for sustaining and modernizing both the domestic and international E-3 fleets. 
 
General Robinson, who commands the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., spoke of harnessing today's “environment of technology and innovation.” She said her wing, along with the 551st ELSG and prime contractor Boeing, enjoy a “huge partnership,” which seeks to bring about a new era of airborne command and control. “That's the big stuff. That's the stuff that I think is important for all of us,” the general said. 
 
Speaking specifically of the work being done at Hanscom AFB, General Robinson said it will enable AWACS to remain “a robust command and control battle management platform well into the 21st century.” 
 
“Everything that you guys do, every single day, is important to that long-range goal,” she said. “I thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart.” 
 
Following her selection for her current job, General Robinson said she immediately began to reflect on the mission and vision of “America's only AWACS wing.” That wing, she noted, is fully expeditionary, responsible for generating the sorties, commanding and controlling air power and connecting air wings anywhere in the world. 
 
“If we're not able to do that, then we're not able to do our jobs, whether it's at home or overseas,” she said. 
 
Today's AWACS aircraft is far more than just an air-to-air sensor platform, she said. With its unique ability to “see the entire theater,” the E-3 is in fact a critical battle management and command and control asset that accelerates many parts of the so-called kill chain. 
 
“We like to think of ourselves as in charge of the entire theater, not just over that next hill, not just as far as the eye can see, but the whole theater,” she said. 
 
Moving toward the future, E-3s, fully linked into a comprehensive airborne network, will be able to do even more, “because of what we can see,” General Robinson said. 
 
The Air Force, heavily constrained by budgetary shortages, cancelled the E-10 Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft program last year. The E-10 would have added a highly advanced airborne battle management command and control asset to the Air Force fleet. Its cancellation reinforced the need for AWACS to continue performing at the highest possible level, and for those working on it to keep expanding its capabilities, General Robinson said. 
 
“The E-3 is what we've got,” she said, optimistically adding that she considers its future potential almost limitless. 
 
“It's great that you people here have the time and the energy to think about what it is we can do in the future, and where we can go with this jet and where we can go with this capability.”