U.S. Marine Corps shows CAC2S air command system

The U.S. Marine Corps has shown off a smaller, lighter version of the system its aviation units use to control airspace and manage air operations, the Common Aviation Command and Control System, or CAC2S.

The new Small Form Factor variant was put through an operational demonstration last week, the Marine Corps’ acquisition office, Portfolio Acquisition Executive Marine Corps, said in a post.

Specialists from Program Manager Marine Air Ground Task Force Command and Control, the office that runs the program, presented the system. Photos from the event show the equipment fitted to Polaris light tactical vehicles, the open-frame all-terrain vehicles Marines use to move small teams quickly over rough ground.

The Marine Corps described CAC2S SFF as a lightweight, portable alternative to the original system, designed for mobility and rapid deployment. A display board at the demonstration said the small version gives aviation command and control units “a distributed network of rapidly maneuverable, low-signature, task-adaptive C2 nodes purpose-built to operate in a denied and degraded environment.”

CAC2S is the backbone of Marine aviation command and control. It pulls in radar tracks, data links and communications so Marines can build a single air picture, direct aircraft, coordinate air support for troops on the ground and manage the airspace over a fight. It works alongside sensors such as the G/ATOR radar, which in one test was used when the G/ATOR radar detected cruise missiles during a live-fire test.

The Marine Corps finished fielding it in 2020, after General Dynamics reworked the equipment so that it fit on a single Humvee instead of a Humvee and a trailer. Even then, a CAC2S site is a sizable target with a heavy logistics footprint, and the Marine Corps flagged a smaller form-factor version as a future goal when it completed fielding.

The push for a smaller system comes from the way the Marine Corps now plans to fight in the Pacific. Under Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, or EABO, small Marine units are expected to spread out across islands and coastlines inside the range of enemy missiles, set up temporary positions and move often to avoid being found and hit. The display board said the SFF version is meant to support that concept by giving the Marine Air-Ground Task Force a flexible and maneuverable command and control capability.

Low signature matters in that setting. Large command posts give off radio and radar emissions and heat that an adversary can detect, and a fixed site full of equipment is easier to target with drones and long-range fires. A system small enough to ride on a light vehicle can relocate quickly after it transmits.

General Dynamics Mission Systems, which builds CAC2S, has marketed a related Small Form Factor command and control node based on the CAC2S design. The company says that node fits in a 129-pound (59 kg) transit case and can fuse air and ground radar and sensor data into a common operating picture. Marines have tested it in exercises including Island Marauder 21 and a U.S. 7th Fleet sinking exercise.