The past year has proven to be a year of rapid progress for the Joint Combat Assessment Team (JCAT). Drawing on decades of experience working closely with intelligence communities and aviation units to better understand the changing nature of future conflicts, JCAT Army, Navy, and Air Force members continue to close known gaps and explore new ways to provide timely, accurate, and relevant combat assessment data to both operational commanders and the acquisition community.
Phase I Training
In January, the Army’s Aviation Survivability Development and Tactics (ASDAT) section at Fort Novosel, AL, hosted the largest-ever JCAT Phase I course. With double the usual number of students, this expansion reflects the growing demand for highly trained aviation combat collectors across the Joint force. In addition, the diverse student body, representing all branches of the military and a range of ranks and professional backgrounds, underscores the program’s importance to all Services.
The Phase I course (pictured in Figure 1) equips students with the foundational skills essential for assessing, analyzing, and enhancing combat aircraft survivability. Graduates then advance through Phases II and III and ultimately become certified JCAT assessors, where they will directly impact the development and refinement of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to ensure survivability for future generations of combat aviation.
The success of the expanded course this year was made possible by a collaborative effort involving instructors from ASDAT, aircraft battle damage repair (ABDR) teams, Navy representatives, the Aviation Center of Excellence (Av CoE) G2, and the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC). Special recognition also goes to CW4 Mark Baranowsky, this year’s JCAT Phase I course manager, whose leadership and dedication were instrumental in maintaining the exceptional quality of instruction despite the significant increase in student attendance.
J-Force
While foundational training is critical, JCAT is also focused on evolving its capabilities to address the challenges posed by advanced threats and anti-access/area denial (A2/AD)strategies in future combat scenarios. Accordingly, the Joint Aircraft Survivability Program Office (JASPO) and the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, are leading the charge with the JCAT-Forensic Operations and Remote Collection Evaluation (J-FORCE) initiative. J-FORCE aims to modernize JCAT’s TTPs to enable remote assessments and provide more timely feedback for post-mission analysis and intelligence briefings in support of battle damage forensics, particularly during rapid and high-tempo operations.
This effort brings together JCAT assessors, intelligence subject-matter experts, and industry partners to collaborate on drafting test requirements for the J-FORCE Agile Reaction Test (ART) proposal. Participants will establish new workflows that combine current JCAT processes with Title 50 tools and datasets, as well as physics-based tools such as the Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE) to create a post-mission analysis survivability assessment. The goal is to develop new TTPs and CONOPS that leverage these resources to enhance JCAT’s ability to conduct assessments remotely and provide, through JASPO, actionable intelligence to the survivability community in support of contested environments.
Phase II Training
Members of the Navy Reserve Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NR NAWCAD) continue to refine JCAT’s CONOPS, procedures, and training curriculums to inform combatant commanders and the air vehicle survivability community regarding threats affecting combat aircraft conducting operations against peer or near-pear adversaries in the dispersed maritime environment. Recognizing the challenges associated with obtaining threat evidence from an aircraft loss occurring within A2/AD, where it is unlikely JCAT assessors will have access to physical evidence for analysis, JCAT personnel used the Exercise Northern Edge exercise in June 2023 to initially test new investigative techniques using intelligence tools, evaluate JCAT personnel laydown, and develop an enhanced investigation management process.
In March 2024, NR NAWCAD, China Lake detachment conducted its annual JCAT Phase II training course, where students (pictured in Figure 2) from the U.S. Navy Reserve Program, U.S. Army ASDAT, and U.S. Air Force Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) teams participated in several field training exercise events to collect and analyze threat damage from exhibits in the Weapons Survivability Laboratory boneyard (in both day and night conditions), using forensic principles to inform combatant commanders and the survivability community about threats to multiple types of combat aircraft. In addition, students observed several live fire events, including one that demonstrated threat weapons effects employed against Navy tactical air (TACAIR) maritime aircraft. Using TACAIR exhibits, an enhanced capstone project event was also developed to add additional data collection techniques, a mock intel brief, and an aircrew mission debrief.
Phase III Training
In April 2024, the first JCAT Phase III course was held to ready assessors for potential peer and near-peer environments. The new Phase III course was created to develop the necessary skillsets enabling JCAT assessors to effectively complete threat/weapons assessments on aircraft in operational environments in which it is unlikely that physical evidence will be available for forensic analysis. JCAT assessors were able to practice the skillsets and lessons learned from Northern Edge 2023, focusing on validating procedures, best practices, and identifying actions to baseline the JCAT CONOPS in the Pacific area of responsibility (AOR).
During part one of this advanced training, students (pictured in Figure 3) were introduced to the Strike Leader Attack Training Syllabus (SLATS) course, which gave them training on strike warfare doctrine and situational awareness on current/upcoming threats in AORs of interest, with a basic understanding of TACAIR missions, capabilities, and tactics. Part two of the course provided students with hands-on instruction for the relevant advance assessment tools and included a practical exercise. By completing this course, assessors learned to effectively characterize incidents, perform threat analysis, and develop aircraft damage reports to rapidly inform Combatant Commanders about threat environments and provide the DoD aircraft survivability community with critical data needed to rapidly address aircraft survivability gaps.
Figure 3. Phase III JCAT Training at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
Valiant Shield
In June 2024, Navy JCAT personnel also participated in Valiant Shield (VS24), a multi-nation, biennial field training exercise focused on integrating interoperability in a multi-domain environment. During this exercise, JCAT personnel were able to further mature JCAT CONOPS and further strengthen the relationships with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) intelligence and operational commands, while expanding observation and growth to additional sites for mission execution in future exercises.
Looking Ahead
As described herein, JCAT continues to invest significant time and energy in training new assessors; developing innovative assessment tools, processes, and CONOPS; and coordinating closely with, and sharing knowledge among, stakeholders throughout the Services and industry. In so doing, the team is ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness in addressing new and evolving threats and safeguarding combat aviation survivability both now and in the future.
