Air Force Unit Replaces Legacy IT with Kessel Runs New Software
Summary
Kessel Run, a software factory supporting the U.S. Air Force (USAF), shifted the 609th Air Operations Centers (AOC) reliance off its legacy Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS) entirely and replaced it with its own suite of software applications, called KRADOS, after reaching its first minimum viable capability release (MVCR1) milestone in 2022. The 609th AOC, a military base located in Qatar, became the first center ever to plan, monitor, and execute the air tasking and airspace control orders (ATO/ACO) without TBMCS and the Master Air Attack Planning Toolkit (MAAP-TK), using only the Kessel Run All-Domain Operations Suite (KRADOS) for its day-to-day operations. Applications within KRADOS such as the Jigsaw Tanker Planning Tool, which "save[s] time, fuel, and lives," and MaiTai, which allows commanders to see available assets through secure communication, are connected by data streams and supported by hybrid cloud. Providing the exact product the customer wanted and feature prioritization were some of the challenges Kessel Run faced while getting KRADOS off the ground, he added. "But working directly with your customer and making sure that were constantly providing information to them so that theyre aware of whats going on, I think has been one of the key tenants that have helped us be successful."