A Method for Studying Air Force Air-Ground Data Transmission Requirements

This paper describes a research approach to the development of requirements for airborne communication systems. It is not proposed as an operational method to be used by the various commands. The procedure involves the pulling together in a rigorous and systematic way, the best judgments of people with considerable and diverse operational experience. The frailties of judgment are minimized by: 1) working with small units, i.e., with judgments about the operating characteristics of messages to be transmitted between sender and receiver in a particular phase of a sortie of a specific type of weapon system used for a particular mission by each of the major commands. 2) defining terms and making these definitions always available. 3) developing a rationale for future operations in which assumptions about the future are specified and made known to all respondents. 4) identifying discrepancies and challenging judgments. 5) obtaining command concurrence on the basic data. The product was nine reports, eight classified and one unclassified. Only the unclassified findings can be referred to here.