The objective of Air Intercept Control is to provide friendly forces with accurate radar information of airborne contacts within their area of responsibility (AOR). This is accomplished by using a standardized method of communicating the locations, and well established contract between fighters and the controller,
Controllers will utilize a standard format to communicate to fighters the location of a contact or group. This radio call will take the following structure:
[Group or Contact], [Location], [Altitude], [Aspect or Track], [Declaration], [Additional Descriptors].
For the purposes of this TTP, an ellipse ... will be utilized to indicate a pause in the transmission, and a period . will be utilized to indicate an end to a transmission.
| CONTACT | An individual radar return |
| GROUP | Any number of CONTACTs within 3 NM in azimuth or range, and 1,000 ft in elevation of each other. |
Control format defines how the location of a group will relayed to the fighters. There are 2 types of control formats: BRAAA and Bullseye.
BRAA is an acronym for Bearing, Range, Altitude, and Aspect. These are referenced from the fighter to the called contact.
| Bearing | The magnetic heading from the fighter to the called contact, this should always be given as a 3 Digit number, and always pronounced as three separate numbers (e.g. ONE SEVEN ZERO, and not ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY). |
| Range | Distance in nautical miles from the fighter to the contact, and should be given as a whole number without digitizing, as is done for bearing information (e.g. use THIRTY MILES, and not THREE ZERO MILES). |
| Altitude | Measured to the nearest thousand feet, and given as Angels or Thousands depending on contact declaration |
| Aspect | Will be given as Hot, Flanking, Beaming, or Dragging |
The purpose of BRAA format is to give a specific fighter(s) faster situational awareness (SA) on a contact or group. BRAA format can be used with tactical or close control, but never in broadcast control.
Bullseye format utilizes a common reference point, such as a specific coordinate or terrain feature, to relay contact/group information. Without accurate information on this common reference point, the information relayed is of little to no use.
Bullseye format will give the location as a magnetic bearing from the reference point to the contact or group, followed by the range and altitude. For Example:
BULLSEYE, 0 4 5 / 22, 18 THOUSAND
Bullseye format can be used with either broadcast or tactical control.
Altitude on a contact or group will be given in ANGELS or THOUSANDS depending on whether a group/contact is friendly or ambiguous, respectively.
TRACK will indicate a direction of travel for a contact to the nearest sub-cardinal direction or use the magnetic bearing of the contact’s flight path.
ASPECT will be used to indicate a relative direction of travel from a referenced fighter.
This portion of the the standard radio call will inform fighters of the Rules of Engagement restrictions on the identified group or contact and can be summarized as follows:
| Hostile | A GROUP that meets the ROE criteria for engagement. Weapons release against this group is implicitly authorized |
| Bandit | A GROUP that is positively identified as an enemy, but does not meet ROE criteria for engagement. |
| Outlaw | A GROUP that meets point of origin criteria to be identified as an enemy, but does not meet ROE criteria for engagement |
| Bogey | A GROUP whose identity is not known or confirmed. |
| White Air | A GROUP positively identified as a non-combatant. |
| Friendly | A GROUP that is positively identified as friendly. |
Controllers may append their call with amplifying information that may include group strength, contact make and model, airspeed, or maneuvers
| Heavy | Group Strength indicator, meaning a group contains 3 or more contacts |
| Fast | Speed of contact or group exceeds Mach 1.0 (600-900 KGAS) |
| Very Fast | Speed of contact is exceeds Mach 1.5 (900+ KGAS) |
| Type | This descriptor will be followed by the contact or group’s NATO designator for the given aircraft type (e.g. FULCRUM) |
The control type forms a contract between the controller and the fighters. There are 3 types of control: Broadcast, Tactical, and Close control.
Broadcast control is a method of communication that meant to be useful to all fighters on the network and will only utilize bullseye format to communicate information about groups. When in broadcast, information of a contact or group will not specify an aspect and instead relay an absolute direction of travel to the nearest sub-cardinal direction. For example:
Group, Bullseye 1 0 0 / 45, 22 Thousand, Track South-West
It is important to note, that when under broadcast control, no group or contact will be LABELED, and AIC accepts responsibility for all groups to be monitored.
Tactical control is communication directed towards a specific fighter, CAP station, division/flight, or section/element. Tactical control is initiated by fighters with the controller by initiating a COMMIT. Information on groups and contacts can remain in Bullseye format, or immediately transition to BRAA depending on the briefed contract between fighters and the controller. Tactical control also initiates the LABELING of a picture, and will switch from using TRACK to ASPECT when communicating a group’s direction.
Other fighters on the network can still use this information to build additional SA. An example of a controller in tactical control can be seen below:
Lead Group, Bullseye 0 7 5 / 55, 30 Thousand, Hot, Hostile, Heavy.
When under tactical control, the controlling agency (AIC) will only accept responsibility for those groups not TARGETED by fighters and monitor their positions. It is the fighter’s responsibility, once TARGETED to maintain radar coverage of their group(s).
Close control is used when a controller must control individual fighters. Fighters should brief controllers on when/if they will require close control prior to mission start if able. During close control AIC may command a commit, target, or flow for fighters to adhere to.
Close control drains the AIC of SA on a larger picture and requires that their attention be focused on the fighters requiring control information.
Upon hearing fighters COMMIT, controllers will initiate tactical control with the fighters who made the commit. This initiates the commit contract between the controller and fighters, and indicates that fighters require labels for the given picture.
TARGETING indicates that a fighter (or fighters) intend to intercept a given group and will assume responsibility of maintaining radar contact of the given group until the conclusion of the intercept/engagement.
When contact and group information is compiled, it is referred to as a PICTURE. A controller will communicate to fighters the locations of all contacts and groups in their assigned area of responsibility. This list of contacts and groups is given in a bullseye format. An example of a PICTURE call is given below:
PLASMA 31, WIZARD 11, PICTURE, 3 GROUPS CHAMPAGNE, THIRTY WIDE, TWENTY-FIVE DEEP... LEAD EAST GROUP, BULLSEYE 0 3 0 / 55... LEAD WEST GROUP, BULLSEYE 3 6 0 / 60... ALL GROUPS 15 THOUSAND, HOT, HOSTILE.
This can be broken down into it’s component parts:
[RECIPIENT], [CONTROLLER], PICTURE, [# OF GROUPS], [WIDTH], [DEPTH]... [BULLSEYE OF HIGHEST THREAT GROUP]... [ANY OTHER GROUPS].
The picture will require at a minimum of one group to be labeled, and a bullseye location given to be complete. This labeled or correlated group is what will “anchor the picture” and can be used to imply the locations of other groups without explicit labels or bullseye locations.
When only one group is present in the picture, the group or contact will default to being labled as SINGLE GROUP.
Shaping the picture is an essential part of building SA for fighters and helps correlate the picture a controller sees, with what the fighters see on their radar displays. It will be stressed that the shape of the picture must be taken in the perspective of the fighters who commit, and not necessarily the shape that the controller sees on their display (which will typically always be oriented North to South). The shape will be described using the following terms:
The groups or contacts will appear to the fighters as 2 or more groups separated horizontally on their radar B-Scopes. The separation between groups or contacts will be given in nautical miles.
If 3 or more groups are present the term WALL will be used and a total width of the wall be used. Controllers should anchor the picture to the highest threat group.
The groups or contacts will appear to fighters as 2 or more groups separated vertically on their radar B-Scopes. Like azimuth, separation will be given in nautical miles.
Ladder will be reserved for pictures containing 3 or more groups, and total depth will be used.
Groups or contacts will appear to fighters displaced in both range and azimuth. Controller will give the overall width and depth regardless of the number of groups in the picture.
Groups or contacts will appear in a “V” shape on the fighter’s radar. The number of groups in this picture can vary, but requires a minimum of 3. Controllers will initally call the shape and then define how wide the formation is, followed by the total depth.
Champagne is essentially the opposite of a vic with the legs of the “V” opening towards the fighters. Controllers will initally call the shape and then define how wide the formation is, followed by the total depth.
This shape is fairly straight forward. A minimum of 4 groups is required to create a “Box”
A picture can be described as weighted when one or more groups shift the picture’s shape towards one direction, or one side of a picture contains more groups. As such, controllers can use the following to describe a picture:
SOL 51, DARKSTAR 11, PICTURE, 3 GROUPS VIC, WEIGHTED NORTH, 25 WIDE, 30 DEEP... LEAD GROUP BULLSEYE X X X / YY...
When two groups are maneuvering within a picture (i.e. not flying parallel flight paths), the picture can be said to be opening or closing. When two groups are maneuvering towards each other, they are CLOSING, and when they are manuvering away from each other they are OPENING.
Labeling is the process of assigning common names to groups, and a shape in a picture after fighters have initiated a COMMIT. Controllers should strive to label the highest threat group to the fighters that initiated the commit first, and then proceed to label the remaining groups in descending order of threat.
Using the above image as reference, a controller can call the picture as follows:
LINER 21, WIZARD 11, PICTURE 3 GROUPS CHAMPAGNE, WIEGHTED SOUTH, 40 WIDE, 40 DEEP... LEAD SOUTH GROUP BULLSEYE 3 1 5 / 45, 30 THOUSAND, TRACK NORTH... LEAD NORTH GROUP BULLSEYE 3 5 0 / 70, 7 THOUSAND, TRACK WEST... TRAIL EAST GROUP BULLSEYE 0 8 0 / 10, 15 THOUSAND, TRACK NORTH-WEST.
The first group labeled in this picture is the leading South group due to it’s proximity, aspect, and altitude relative to the fighters.