|
|
Welcome to the fourth installment of our email series on the funding, technology and mission of the Golden Dome initiative. In this series, we
break down the ambitious space-based military program, from its history to its planned architecture to its budget and the role of AI.
Today, we’ll talk about the digital logistics for Golden Dome: the difficult task of gathering, analyzing and integrating massive quantities of data, as well as the role of automation and artificial intelligence.
|
|
|
|
Experts have repeatedly said Golden Dome will require a vast network of systems: one that must coordinate with elements in orbit as well as on land, at sea and in the air. Command centers, data centers, communications hubs, military personnel, technicians and perhaps even uncrewed, semi-autonomous interceptors will need to be able to communicate and coordinate defensive measures and counterstrikes at high speeds to protect the continental United States (and anywhere else the Pentagon decrees the Golden Dome ought to protect) from the next generation of hypersonic missiles, space-based weaponry and other
attacks.
For Golden Dome’s architects and developers, that means solving the challenge of gathering, consolidating and actually using the incredible amount of data and information the system will need. As an example, one element may be to eventually rely on the hundreds of Joint All Domain Command and Control data transport satellites envisioned for the Space Development Agency’s transport layer. But regardless of the specifics, data management must be at the forefront of all Golden Dome plans.
The role of data has been an item of interest since the program’s announcement. During an industry summit earlier this month in Huntsville, Alabama, automation, AI-enabled decision tools and resilient comms were recurring themes in briefings from the Missile Defense Agency.
Also consider how industry leaders have discussed the program in recent months.
In April, Omni Federal CTO Rob Fordon and Damon Feltman, the Space Development Agency's former chief of the transport cell, wrote an opinion article where they called on the Defense Department to quickly name and hire an independent chief data officer for Golden Dome, who would report directly to the program's director, Gen. Michael Guetlein.
“In an environment with a greatly expanded number of interactions between sensors and shooters,” they wrote, “the likelihood of a gap or security blind spot increases exponentially — unless the supporting data architecture is built to account for it from day one.”
They argued that “at its core, Golden Dome is a data problem” — a problem that requires dedicated focus and preemptive care.
|
|
|
|
Another significant challenge will be determining how to command and control such a complex system of systems, Mark Henrie, vice president and deputy general manager at Amentum, told SpaceNews.
“The concept behind Golden Dome is not to create a literal dome over the country,” Henrie said. “It’s about a global constellation of space-based assets working in concert with robust ground infrastructure and existing missile defense systems.”
Henrie added that this will require “distributed command and control across the world,” wherein ground-based systems will need to rapidly integrate data from satellites, radar and other surveillance systems so that a military unit would be able to target, track and intercept a threat.
Pulling that off will require far better organization of data than what’s available today, Dan Knight, vice president of sensors and data integration at Arcfield, argued during a SpaceNews webinar in July.
“We have the information or we have the data that we need,” Knight said. “It’s just not in the right places. And so going forward, I think it’s going to be essential for us to architect what is currently in place through model based systems engineering, and then build out on that.”
As Rocket Communications CEO Michal Anne Rogondino wrote in a June opinion article, solving the data challenge of Golden Dome means the resulting architecture must include common interfaces and seamless control among the systems that will ultimately form the missile defense architecture.
“Every additional click, every confusing interface, every moment spent translating between incompatible systems reduces our response time when we can least afford it,” she wrote. “In a domain where seconds determine outcomes, system usability becomes a strategic imperative.”
|
|
|
|
Shaving off those seconds will also require automating as much of the process as can reasonably — and responsibly — be done without a human in the loop.
Speaking at the July webinar, Rob Mitrevski, president of Golden Dome strategy and integration at L3 Harris Technologies argued that command and control is “certainly the most complex part” of the Golden Dome architecture and presents an opportunity for AI to speed up the process.
“If you look at some of the missile raids that we’ve seen in actual conflict over the last number of months and few years, you’ll know that the decision support will be of utmost importance, and AI is a very strong application of that — particularly in trying to prioritize which targets with which interceptors at which sequence of events need to happen in a very short time frame,” he said.
And while a preliminary Golden Dome architecture is part of ongoing work, it’s likely to involve some AI enabled integration, said Patrick Biltgen, vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton. As part of the SpaceNews webinar, he added that “the human is the weak point in the loop” when operating at the speeds necessary to intercept a threat, especially a hypersonic missile.
Officials have urged industry to “go fast and think big." Finding the right solutions to network and handle data will be part of that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In two weeks: You’ll receive the latest updates from SpaceNews reporters and contributors on Golden Dome developments.
We wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the more than 4,000 readers who now receive this email series. We’ve appreciated your feedback along the way and hope it remains a trusted source as this project is realized.
Please reply at any time and let us know what questions you have that you’d like to read about in future editions. If you have a colleague who would appreciate receiving this email series from the beginning, let them know to sign up here.
Thanks for reading.
|
|
|
|
|
