The Targeting Meeting is a DIscord Voice Call that will take place on Sundays (flexible to Mondays) after an operation with the CAOC.
The JFC will provide their new Intent & Guidance.
The JFC will explain the new Overall Situation.
Squadron Representatives will brief:
#operations-room thread.The JFACC will elect the next targets based on the Targeting Hierarchy and JFC’s Intent & Guidance.
For the selected targets, the CAOC will determine:
For each package, the CAOC will determine:
After quantifying the force needed, a preliminary ATO will be created.
From the preliminary ATO, it will be fragmented into Events within the ATO cycle. There are four Events per Campaign Day with start times of:
a. Each Event may have cyclical operations with two launch events.
The JFACC, with input from Squadron Representatives, will assign packages to Events.
Any target package that does not fit within the ATO cycle will be removed. Negative effects could occur if a Dynamic Target is not prosecuted in a timely manner.
The Joint Strike Target List (JSTL) is a continuously updated list of prioritized, intelligence-validated, fixed compounds or facilities for kinetic strikes by tasked fighters. Targets are prioritized by their contribution to achieving the End Game in the JFC’s overall CONOPs.
The Dynamic Targeting List (DTL is a continiously updated list of prioritized, intelligence-driven, mobile targets of the Adversary AND prioritized, intelligence-validated, fixed compounds or facilities that must be targeted within a time limit to a) avoid a negative effect on Joint Forces or b) avoid the invocation of Loss Conditions from the CONOPs. Targets are prioritized based on several factors:
Location Accuracy is the current assessed intel level of the target’s location in the theater
Intel Reliability is the current assessed reliability of the reported location. Reliability is a function of the tracking method and quality of fix used to track the target, the frequency with which the track has been reported, and mobility of the assessed target type.
★★★★★ (Very Reliable)
★★★★☆ (Reliable)
★★★☆☆
★★☆☆☆ (Somewhat Reliable)
★☆☆☆☆ (Marginally Reliable)
☆☆☆☆☆ (Unreliable)
All targets on the JTL have a General Classification that explains why they are on the JTL. These are:
A Time Sensitive Target (TST) is a target where the Joint Force’s ability to accurately execute the desired fire on the target is directly and severely impacted by the accuracy and reliability of the intelligence of the target’s position, and the location accuracy will degrade over time. TSTs must possess importance to the Adversary, and generally warrant immediate engagement from the Joint Task Force.
A Compontent Critical Target (CCT) is a target whose prosecution is considered critical to a friendly component commander’s mission or integrity. CCTs have a generally higher priority tha TSTs, as they are either actively countering joint operations or are in a position to decisively destroy, attrit, neutralize, or degrade joint forces.
A JFC - Critical Target (JFC-CT) is a JFC hand picked target, which the JFC believes is necessary to prosecute either immediately or as soon as the target’s strike factor meets criteria for ATO inclusion, in support of the CONOPs. These possess a higher priority than TSTs generally, but not necesarily CCTs. The JFACC must carefully weigh the effects of prosecuting one target over another if both cannot be engaged.
Strike Factor is the sum of a target’s Priority,** Location Accuracy**, and Intel Reliability and is used by the JFC to provide default authorization to include a target from the JTL in the current ATO cycle.
At a basic level, Strike Factor encourages the CAOC to select targets that are likely to be successfully prosecuted, or at least not unsuccessfully prosecuted due to insufficient intelligence.
For Operation Steel Claw, the JFC has determined that a target will need a Strike Factor of 8 to provide default authorization for inclusion of the target on the ATO. The JFC can override a particular target’s strike authorization as they see fit to support their CONOPs.
Battlespace Shaping Manuevers are fighter taskings within the ATO cycle that support battlespace shaping of the theater. Battlefield shaping is simply altering Adversary forces, the current theater situation, or air, land, sea, cyber, or space domains within the theater to support the execution of the CONOPs, by either degrading, disrupting, or neutralizing the Adversary’s capability to fight, enhancing the effect of joint fires, or decreasing overall risk to the Joint Task Force’s operations.
For tactical aircraft, this will include establishing and maintaining Minimum Risk Routes within the theater airspace, pruning enemy air defenses with DEAD, enforcing No Fly Zones and other control measures in the SPINS, altering transportation infrastructure within the theater, restricting Adversary airpower by manning CAP stations, and enforcing blockades against naval assets.
It is the final determination of the JFACC which, if any battlspace shaping manuevers need to be executed within an ATO cycle, pursuant to the directives laid out in the CONOPs.
The JFC has selected the following Targeting Hierarchy for use by the JFACC and CAOC in Operation Steel Claw. The targeting hierarchy provides a default method for sorting and prioritizing targets in a manner that reduces risk to joint forces, while maximizing joint fire effects against the Adversary as a whole.
First highest priority CCT or CTs are prosecuted from the DTL, as these targets need immmediate attention. Then, Battlespace Shaping Manuevers are executed as necessary per the CONOPs.
Then, dynamic targets with a very high likelihood of success prosecuting are selected, as these are targets that are most likely to be harder engage accurately in a future ATO cycle.
Having cleared the highest priority dynamic targets, and shaping the battlefield as per the CONOPs, the CAOC may use remaining available forces to hit fixed targets on the JSTL, starting with the highest priority targets which the task force will have been tasked with explicitly prosecuting.
Then the next tier of dynamic targets can be engaged, followed by high priority JSTL targets.
If no high priority targets exist, or the JFACC is forced to task a marginal strength flight with an ‘easier’ objective, lower priority targets will be prosecuted.
It is unreasonable to assume that the JFACC can accurately target every Priority 5 TST and JSTL entry within the first ATO cycle. It is unreasonable to suggest that tactical aircraft can effectively engage every Priority 5 JSTL or TST, especially at the beginning of the operation. When the JFACC is unable to effectively target any Priority 5 JSTL targets or TSTs, they should allocate the necessary and practical amount of forces to conduct BSM, allowing the highest priority targets to be engaged in a future ATO cycle. However, this does not mean it is prudent or practical to assign an entire ATO cycle’s worth of taskings to BSM. There will surely be additional flights available where additional BSM taskings do not make the most sense for the flight. In those situations, the JFACC should exercise their decision-making authority to target lower priority JSTL and TST targets to maximize the effect of all fires on that ATO cycle.
The following task definitions will be supported in this campaign:
In the event you believe that a flight should be tasked with something more specific, coerce that tasking into one of the above and provide execution notes in the ATO.
Air operations conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy’s military potential and conducted at such distance from friendly forces that detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of friendly forces is not required.
Example Problem:
3 * 12 * 0.4 = 14.4 expected fighters
ceiling(14.4/8) = 2 Minimum Required FTR SWEEP flights
Example Problem:
ceiling(1/1 + 3/2) = 3 Minimum Required SEAD Flights
Additional considerations:
1. If SEAD is being tasked with localized suppression over a period of time to open a Strike Window, and suppression is the primary goal:
Air action by fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to friendly forces and requires detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of those forces.
A mission flown for the purpose of detecting targets and coordinating or performing attack or reconnaissance on those targets.
SCAR missions are flown in a specific geographic area and are an element of the command and control interface to coordinate multiple flights, detect and attack targets, neutralize enemy air defenses, and provide physical and functional damage assessment.