Kessel Run: The Digital Battlefield

Ever since the Vietnam War, if not World War II, the acquisition process for new goods or services used by the U.S. Armed Forces has been the same. It has involved as much paperwork, and taken as long, to acquire a new software program as it takes to acquire a new aircraft carrier. A service's needs were more likely than not to change between the time the bids were let and the date upon which the product was delivered. This process may not have drastically changed the configuration of the aircraft carrier, but in the realm of software the specifications and need for output can change by the day. {n response to this impediment, the Air Force undertook a new project, Operation Kessel Run. The Kessel Run Experimentation Lab was opened in downtown Boston. It was a joint venture between the Air Force and private industry. Its mandate was to turn around requests for software programs and apps in a matter of months, if not weeks. The timeliness of their output could well make the difference between victory and defeat in an air war. On February 27th, 2019, contingents of Russian tanks, artillery, and mobile SAM launchers rolled across the Ukrainian border and established encampments in Kiev, Kharkiv, and Odessa, as well as a command and control center in central Ukraine. Their purpose was to occupy Ukraine as a precursor to its annexation by the Russian Federation. Ukraine requested the assistance of the United States. That assistance was provided in the form of support by the Air Force and a Naval Carrier Strike Group. Their success depended upon the responsiveness of Kessel Run.