USAF B-52 Conducts Hypersonic Kill Chain Sensor Test in Indo-Pacific Command Exercise

A B-52 bomber conducted a simulated hypersonic kill chain employment sensor to shooter test during Northern Edge 21 (NE21) exercise on May 5, 2021.

The B52 Stratofortress from the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, flew more than 13-hour sortie from Barksdale AFB, La. to Alaska and back. NE21 is a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercise designed to provided realistic war fighter training, develop and improve joint interoperability, and enhance the combat readiness of participating forces, a USAF release said Friday.

The B-52 was able to receive target data from sensors via the All-Domain Operations Capability experiment (ADOC-E), more than 1,000 nautical miles away miles away at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Once it received the data from the ADOC-E, the bomber then was able to successfully take a simulated shot of the target from 600 nautical miles away using an AGM-183 Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon.

“We were really exercising the data links that we needed in order to complete that kill chain loop, and then get the feedback to the players in the airspace that the simulated hypersonic missile was fired and effective,” said Lt. Col. Joe Little, 53rd Test Management Group deputy commander.

This was a successful showcase of Beyond Line of Sight Kill Chain employment, and notably, was a success in the highly contested and realistic threat environment that Northern Edge (exercise) provides.

The ADOC-E is a joint team represents the operational-level “blue” training audience designed to experiment with synchronizing joint functions in forward locations. The ADOC-E design allows the synchronization of joint functions in forward, contested environment when traditional C2 structure effectiveness is degraded or denied.

ADOC-E personnel have coordination authority capable of facilitating long-range joint fires and further hosting future capability provided through and advanced battle management system approach.