The Department of the Air Force has announced that its Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management, or C3BM, is adopting an Integrated Product Team construct to run the DAF Battle Network.
Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey, PEO head for C3BM and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, said the new team construct addresses the complicated and broad challenges in integrating the network designed to link the service branch’s sensors, effectors and logistics systems for sharper situational awareness and faster operational decision-making.
Broadened Team Mindset
He described the team’s new approach as a shift “away from a mindset of ‘my program, my system’ and toward a mindset of ‘our system, our mission.’”
Horizontal integration is one of the specific challenges that the IPT construct will address through the creation of a mechanism for a DBN system-of-systems integration. The DAF network integration spans some 50 programs of record kept across the department to help provide decision and information advantage to the Air Force, Space Force and allied forces.
Knowledge-Sharing Across Various Domains
With the new team framework, IPT will also seek to maximize the DAF network potential through consistent venues for sharing knowledge in organization, training and equipment. C3BM showed its capability in this battle network area during the Emerald Flag 24-3 exercise in October wherein DBN tested a new aerial networking system.
The IPT leads under the new construct are expected to be named later this February, with appointees drawn from those already within the C3BM office and other PEOs supporting the DAF Battle Network.
