JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS,Va -- When Gen. Ken Wilsbach took command of Air Combat Command last February, he made it clear that ACC would prioritize creating dilemmas for adversaries.
“To create those dilemmas in ACC, we have to work on readiness, modernization, and Agile Combat Employment,” Wilsbach said.
These three focus areas, along with “taking care of Airmen and families,” are the four priorities established for ACC by Wilsbach and Chief Master Sgt. Dave Wolfe, ACC command chief.
In a rapidly evolving global security environment, modernization of the U.S. Air Force is more critical than ever. The complexity of modern warfare, advancements in adversarial capabilities, and the need to maintain global strategic dominance make evolving the force an imperative.
To ensure air dominance in the 21st century, Wilsbach has placed a robust and integrated cyber network at the forefront of ACC’s modernization efforts.
“The first modernization priority for me has to be the network,” Wilsbach said. “When we look forward to the way we will have to fight, it will be with a network-enabled force. We need to have a combined operating picture so we can have situational awareness and complete the kill chain.”
The "kill chain" refers to the sequence of steps required to detect, identify, track, target, engage, and assess threats. It demands coordination across multiple domains — air, space, cyber, and sea — to enable seamless information flow and operational agility. A robust cyber network is essential to achieving this capability.
Wilsbach also highlighted the importance of extending the kill chain to long-range engagements, a crucial capability for countering the highly defended targets of the modern battlefield.
“Throughout my career, most weapons were short-range, relying on aircraft sensors for targeting and guidance,” Wilsbach said. “While we still retain that capability, we now aim to engage targets beyond the horizon, where aircraft sensors cannot reach.”
This “over-the-horizon” kill chain not only extends the Air Force’s operational reach, but also enhances safety for personnel by enabling engagements from greater distances.
In addition to enhancing the Air Force’s cyber network and extending the kill chain, Wilsbach recognized the importance of modernizing an aging fleet of aircraft.
“In the next few years, we'll be delivering some new aircraft, while at the same time modernizing our current fleet with new software and new weapons,” he said. “That will be happening relatively soon with Collaborative Combat Aircraft, which is a way for us to increase the mass of what we can deliver as effects in the battle space, at a relatively inexpensive cost.”
Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, are unmanned systems being developed by ACC to operate alongside manned aircraft. These platforms enhance mission capabilities by providing support for reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and strike operations, facilitating more effective, adaptable, and cost-efficient air combat strategies.
By modernizing existing capabilities and introducing advanced systems like CCA, the Air Force aims to employ a strategy known as “stacking effects,” to create multiple dilemmas for adversaries.
“In the old days, when we would drop a bomb on a target, we'd guide the bomb on the target from our own aircraft sensors to destroy it,” Wilsbach said. “Modern 21st century targets are highly defended and require a strategy of stacking effects, which involves combining space and cyber capabilities, electronic warfare, decoys, and kinetic weapons to increase the likelihood of mission success.”
While modernization is a top priority for ACC, Chief Wolfe acknowledged the challenges ahead and emphasized the importance of maintaining current platforms at peak performance.
“Modernization is extremely complicated, and there are a lot of priorities out there,” Wolfe said. “Not everything is going to come on a timeline that we would like. We must preserve our current capabilities and keep them moving along until we can get across the bridge, to the capability that is just down the road.”
Wilsbach stressed the need for innovation at all levels to bridge the gap between current and future capabilities.
“Jump in, be innovative, make the most of whatever you have,” Wilsbach said. “What we want is to maximize whatever platform you have by making sure they're ready, they're flyable, and we're being innovative with procedures and processes so we can get the most out of every one of those platforms.”
Air Combat Command’s focus on modernization will make sure the Air Force is prepared to confront the challenges ahead and maintain its position as the world’s preeminent air power.