1 Excerpts from 2010 Air Force Technology Horizons Report Full Report is Located in the Public Domain at: magazine.com/SiteCollectionDocument s/TheDocumentFile/Strategy%20and% 20Concepts/TechnologyHorizonsVol1_ 2010.pdf Prepared by Andy Berryann for the ETC at Nashville, TN July 27, 2010

2 Executive Summary From its inception, the Air Force has undertaken a major effort roughly once every decade to articulate a vision for the science and technology (S&T) advancements that it should undertake to achieve over the following decade to enable the capabilities that it will need to prevail. Six such S&T visions have been developed, beginning with Toward New Horizons in 1945 led by Theodore von Kármán for Gen Hap Arnold, through New World Vistas conducted in Since completion of the latter, 15 years have passed without an updated Air Force S&T vision. Technology Horizons represents the next in this succession of major vision efforts conducted at the Headquarters Air Force level. In view of the far-reaching strategic changes, rapid global technological advances, and growing resource constraints over the next decade, this is an overdue effort that can help guide S&T investments to maximize their impact for maintaining Air Force technological superiority over potential adversaries. What is Technology Horizons? Technology Horizons is neither a prediction of the future nor a forecast of a set of likely future scenarios. It is a rational assessment of what is credibly achievable from a technical perspective to give the Air Force capabilities that are suited for the strategic, technology, and budget environments of It is visionary, but its view is informed by the strategic context in which these technology-derived capabilities will be used. It is an articulation of the art of the possible, but is grounded in the knowledge that merely being possible is only a prerequisite to being practically useful. It considers the spectrum of technical possibilities, but acknowledges that budget constraints will limit the set of these that can be pursued. It recognizes that increasingly more of the science and technology that provides the basis for future Air Force capabilities is available worldwide to be translated into potential adversary capabilities. It thus has sought to envision not only U.S. Joint and allied opportunities for using technologies, but also ways that adversary capabilities could be derived from them using entirely different concepts of operations or on the basis of entirely different warfighting constructs. It acknowledges that capabilities enabled by new technologies and associated operating concepts often introduce new vulnerabilities not envisioned in the original capability. It thus has also considered potential vulnerabilities and cross-domain interdependences that may be created by second- and third-order effects of these technology-derived capabilities. Technology Horizons Report: What is it?

3 The set of 30 potential capability areas (PCAs) are within reach as new Air Force capabilities by the 2030 target date of Technology Horizons, and are matched to key needs of the strategic environment of this period. Among these PCAs, the following 12 are identified below as being of highest priority: PCA1: Inherently Intrusion-Resilient Cyber Systems PCA2: Automated Cyber Vulnerability Assessments PCA4: Augmentation of Human Performance PCA6: Adaptive Flexibly-Autonomous Systems PCA8: Dominant Spectrum Warfare Operations PCA9: PNT in GPS-Denied Environments PCA12: Processing-Enabled Intelligent ISR Sensors PCA15: Fractionated Survivable Remote-Piloted Systems PCA19: Next-Generation High-Efficiency Turbine Engines PCA24: Directed Energy for Tactical Strike/Defense PCA27: Rapidly Composable Small Satellites PCA30: Persistent Space Situational Awareness Key Potential Capability Areas

4 Example of Key Technology Areas Supporting Potential Capability Areas PCA18: Fuel-Efficient Hybrid Wing-Body Aircraft Advanced aerodynamic configurations Aerodynamic test and evaluation Directed energy effects Directed energy protection Lightweight multi-functional structures Advanced composite fabrication Structural modeling and simulation Multi-scale simulation technologies Coupled multi-physics simulations Validation support to simulations Autonomous systems Embedded diagnostics Health monitoring and prognosis Advanced RF apertures IR signature suppression High-temperature materials Lightweight materials Advanced composites Composites sustainment Metamaterials Self-healing materials Nanomaterials Material-specific manufacturing System-level thermal management M&S Thermal management components Three-stream engine architectures

5 Grand Challenges 1.Inherently Intrusion-Resilient Cyber Networks (by 2015) 2.Trusted Highly-Autonomous Decision-Making Systems (by 2017) 3.Fractionated, Composable, Survivable, Autonomous Systems (by 2018) 4.Hyper-Precision Aerial Delivery in Difficult Environments (by 2018)

6 The strategic context and enduring realities identified in Technology Horizons lead to a set of 12 Overarching Themes to vector S&T in directions that can maximize capability superiority. These shifts in research emphases should be applied judiciously to guide each research area. 1. From … Platforms To … Capabilities 2. From … Manned To … Remote-piloted 3. From … Fixed To … Agile 4. From … Control To … Autonomy 5. From … Integrated To … Fractionated 6. From … Preplanned To … Composable 7. From … Single-domain To … Cross-domain 8. From … Permissive To … Contested 9. From … Sensor To … Information 10. From … Operations To … Dissuasion/Deterrence 11. From … Cyber defense To … Cyber resilience 12. From … Long system life To … Expendable Overarching Themes for Air Force S&T

7 Technology Horizons makes five major Recommendations for guiding Air Force S&T efforts to meet the strategic, technology, and budget challenges over the next decade and beyond: Recommendation #1: Communicate Results from Technology Horizons Recommendation #2: Assess Alignment of S&T Portfolio with Technology Horizons Recommendation #3: Adjust S&T Portfolio Balance as Needed Recommendation #4: Initiate Focused Research on Grand Challenge Problems Recommendation #5: Improve Aspects of Air Force S&T Management Process Recommendations