New ‘Ringleader’ Exercise Series to Test DAF Battle Network

AURORA, Colo.—The Air Force and Space Force are preparing to kick off a series of exercises called “Ringleader” aimed at testing the services’ ability to integrate the troves of data collected by ground, air, and space sensors, and use it to track and engage enemy targets.

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink unveiled the effort Feb. 23 at AFA’s Warfare Symposium here. The goal, he said, is to put the Department of the Air Force’s Battle Network—an integrated network of sensors, processing systems, and shooters—to the test in a simulated environment. 

“A key part of our vision is to fuse sensor data across the entire Department of the War to deliver tracks and targets,” Meink said, referring to the Department of Defense by its secondary title approved by executive order. “Over the last few years, we’ve built out the necessary software, hardware, and network infrastructure. Now it’s time to test them.” 

Ringleader will pull live data from proliferated satellite constellations, ground and air sensors, and even commercial systems, and use it to test both capabilities and tactics, Meink told reporters Feb. 24. Asked whether the effort is meant to inform ongoing work around how the department will integrate air and space sensors to track moving targets—a mission called moving target indication, or MTI—Meink said the mission is “much broader.”

The military services have been working for years to develop the capability and operational concepts to better connect sensor systems and use that data to shorten the time it takes to make real-time operational decisions. All that work is captured under the umbrella of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2. The DAF Battle Network, which grew out of the Advanced Battle Management System, is the Air Force and Space Force’s contribution to that. 

Along with the DAF Battle Network, the Air Force is the lead for the Defense Department’s Joint Fires Network, also focused on sensor fusion and advanced targeting across the Joint Force. The service formally took over management of the effort last fall.

Meink noted that the department already conducts DAF Battle Network exercises on a regular basis, but Ringleader is a more focused effort across all commands aimed at understanding how to do the mission at scale.

“It’s how do you take all that data, fuse all that data at speed and scale,” he said. “It’s fairly easy to track one thing. How do you do this at speed and scale to close the over-the-horizon kill chains we talk a lot about. . . . We need to make sure that we can actually close that entire kill chain.”

Meink didn’t provide a timeline for the first exercise, but a spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that Ringleader experimentation will start sometime this year. The work will be funded, in part, by money provided in last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” as well as through prior appropriations, Meink said.