Long Range Kill Chains

Long Range Kill Chains is a research and development effort within the Air Force's Budget Activity 7: Operational Systems Development. The specific goal of this program is to develop and deploy a space-based Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) system to provide actionable information on adversary surface targets to the warfighter through the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) as part of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept. This program involves collaboration between the U.S. Space Force, the Air Force, and the Intelligence Community to design, develop, and deploy the space-based GMTI systems.

The program includes two projects: Project 671112, Moving Target Indicator, and Project 671113, Auxiliary Payloads. Project 671112 aims to replace a portion of the aging E-8C JSTARS sensing capability with a space-based GMTI system. The program's objective is to ensure that this system is in place to support the warfighter before all of the JSTARS aircraft retire. Project 671113 focuses on developing and fielding auxiliary payloads for the GMTI system. Both projects are critical for tracking surface targets in Competition, Crisis, and Conflict environments from space instead of from JSTARS aircraft.

The acquisition strategy for this program involves partnering with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to define roles and responsibilities within Title 10 and Title 50 constraints. The U.S. Space Force will work with other services and the Intelligence Community to understand joint tactical-level ISR and warfighting/targeting requirements and determine the best way to meet those requirements. This program emphasizes maximizing the use of mature commercial technologies to accelerate the acquisition timeline and meet the GMTI needs of the warfighter.