ATAC develops proposals to counter rogue small unmanned aircraft

  • Published
  • By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Members of the Advanced Tactical Acquisition Corps (ATAC) Team 10, recently wrapped up their three month-long assignment, after presenting recommendations to senior Air Force leaders, on actionable recommendations to confront threats posed by rogue small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), more commonly referred to as drones.

“Small UAS whether they are launched with hostile intent from an adversary or from an innocent hobbyist, are proving to be a rising and significant security threat,” said Ciara Keller, an ATAC Team 10 member and Chief of Airframe Activations and Partnerships at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in Georgia. “We are seeing how they [UAS] can be easily weaponized or come into unintentional contact with aircraft. So we were tasked to develop a long-term solution.”

Comprised of junior to mid-level civilian and military acquisition professionals from Air Force Materiel Command and the Space and Missile Systems Center, ATAC is designed to groom the next-generation of Air Force and Space Force acquisition leaders, through a combination of academic coursework, leadership development, and teaming and mentorship opportunities with senior Air Force, government, and industry leaders from around the country.

ATAC participants are tasked with finding solutions for difficult Air Force challenges that often have no single answer, which in the past have ranged from acquiring next-generation gaming technology for joint warfighting training, delivering rapid virus screening technology, to the most recent challenge of developing a plan to counter small UAS.

Team 10 researched and evaluated current counter-UAS initiatives within the Air Force and other services, over the course of developing their recommendations.

“There are a lot of very smart people out there working on a number of different [counter-UAS] solutions,” said George Diehl, an ATAC Team 10 member and operations research analyst, with the Air Force Materiel Command’s Financial Management Directorate. “They are considering everything, to include standard kinetic options such as shooting them down, lasers, microwaves, and net launchers.”

“There are a lot of good things going on in the DOD and in the commercial world in regards to countering unmanned aircraft systems, and we wanted to be a part of truly galvanizing the Air Force acquisition community against this emerging threat,” added Capt. Bryan Bartelt, an engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory and ATAC Team 10 member. “Our focus was on getting a good picture of what kind of capabilities would be best for the Air Force and Department of Defense.”

The team determined that an enduring plan to address the counter-UAS problem was crucial and presented the following summarized recommendations for consideration:
 
  1. Development of a decentralized Air Force-wide contracting vehicle for bases to procure counter-UAS solutions
  2. Leveraging of academia to bring workforce talent with small UAS degrees and expertise
  3. Establishment of a small UAS Program Office; integrate efforts on application of small UAS and counter-small UAS
  4. Increase of the Air Force influence in DOD’s Joint counter-UAS Office
  5. Development of a “Market Predictions Team” to monitor the small UAS market ensuring the DOD stays ahead of market-driven threats
  6. Creation of a tailorable acquisition-cycle to flexibly acquire, field, assess, and retire counter small-UAS technologies that are either commercially or organically fabricated
Members of the team said that the past three months were very rewarding.

“This program has been an amazing experience,” said Bartelt. “It has made us better as acquisition leaders, and helped expose us to things outside of our career field. As an engineer, I learned a lot about contracting, logistics, and other things I may not have been exposed to. I can’t think of a better program for company grade officers and mid-grade civilians.”

The following individuals are members of ATAC Team 10:

Capt. Matthew Anderson, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
Capt. Bryan Bartelt, Air Force Research Laboratory
Capt. Mark Berhold, Air Force Research Laboratory
Ms. Amanda Creech, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Ms. Jean Dees, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Mr. George Diehl Jr, HQ Air Force Materiel Command
Capt. Erik Kastmiler, Space and Missile Systems Center
Ms. Ciara Keller, Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex
Capt. William Mead, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Capt. Karah Schneider, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center