JULY 11, 2025 – The 805th Combat Training Squadron, or Shadow Operations Center-Nellis, completed another major experiment of 2025, advancing key priorities in human-machine teaming, data convergence, and emerging technologies to sharpen U.S. Air Force and command and control capabilities, Nellis Air Force Base, June 4 – 13, 2025.
Every experiment we conduct drives the DAF BATTLE NETWORK forward; we’re not waiting for the future, we’re building it now, one iteration at a time.” Lt. Col. Shawn Finney, 805th Combat Training Squadron/Shadow Operations Center-Nellis commander
Experiment 3 was designed to accelerate decision advantage through the development of a resilient, data-driven, and automated kill chain across operational and tactical levels of C2. It also evaluated workflows from Air Combat Command’s Project NEXUS and integrated multiple tactical C2 nodes, while reducing risk for high-technology readiness level prototype capabilities through exposure to a complex, combat-representative scenario.
“Experiment 3 is a clear example of what happens when we put warfighters in the loop early—at the point where concepts meet code,” said Lt. Col. Shawn Finney, 805th CTS/ShOC-N commander. “We’re not just testing software, we’re challenging assumptions, validating tactics and shaping the operational architecture the Air Force and our allies will rely on in future conflicts. This was a proving ground for the kill chain of tomorrow.”
This event was a key milestone in the ShOC-N’s 2025 campaign plan, with outputs already shaping future planning for large-scale exercises like Bamboo Eagle 25-3 and informing capability integration across the Department of the Air Force and with joint partners.
Innovative Planning Shapes Tactical Simulations
Inspired by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center’s Bamboo Eagle exercise series, Experiment 3 introduced a novel planning and execution methodology, one never before executed by the ShOC-N. This approach enabled realistic stress testing of emerging technologies in a dynamic, combat-representative environment.
“By replicating this novel methodology, we allowed tactical-level participants to explore how tools and workflows could shape kill chain execution for the future of warfighting,” said Lt. Col. Wesley Schultz, 805th CTS/ShOC-N director of operations. “It wasn’t just about tech; it was about how that tech integrates into an operational fight and informs future iterations of Bamboo Eagle.”
A central component of the experiment was a dedicated “Structured Demonstration” period, where stakeholders from ACC, the USAFWC, and other defense organizations observed hands-on technology showcases and provided operator feedback to inform acquisition and integration.
Human-Machine Teaming Accelerates Kill-Chain Decisions
At the heart of Experiment 3 was an artificial intelligence-enabled application developed under the Maven Smart System. This application offered real-time recommendations to dynamic targeting teams, enabling side-by-side comparisons between AI-suggested and operator-derived courses of action without reliance on the AI tool.
“Our goal was to measure how the machine could support, not replace, the human in the decision loop,” said Capt. Abby Brown, 805th CTS/ShOC-N Experiment 3 lead planner. “We scaled the scenario to focus less on quantity and more on the accuracy of recommendations.”
The intent of this application is to reduce cognitive load and speed up elements of the Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, Assess, or F2T2EA, process. Differences between machine-generated recommendations and operator decisions highlighted the complementary strengths of human judgment, such as intuition, experience and situational awareness, in time-sensitive targeting.
Observer teams documented these interactions to better refine AI/machine algorithms supporting C2.
Project NEXUS Demonstrates Distributed Data Convergence
A major milestone of the experiment was stress-testing components of ACC’s Project NEXUS, for the DAF’s initiative to create a resilient/survivable and fully integrated operational C2, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and targeting capability designed to generate effects at speed and scale enabling ability to conduct adaptive operations in a contested environment in support of combatant command mission requirements.
For the first time, the ShOC-N enabled two geographically separated intelligence teams using different toolsets to feed data into a shared pipeline.
“This proved that future operations can rely on distributed nodes while maintaining a common operational picture, one of the core premises of NEXUS,” said Brown.
Emerging Technologies Get Real-Time Warfighter Feedback
Structured Demonstration sessions served as a proving ground for commercial and dual-use technologies. Four industry partners demonstrated tools ranging from remote collaborative operations center, ISR strategy and planning automation tools and dynamic mission replanning and refueling tools.
Over four days, operators and stakeholders assessed these technologies in live synthetic environments, offering insights to guide further development and potential acquisition.
“These demonstrations exposed operators to new capabilities for future implementation and integration into the warfighting community,” said Brown.
Building Realism: Advancing the Simulated Battlespace
This experiment pushed the limits of the ShOC-N’s synthetic environment to better reflect the complexities of modern combat.
“Replicating a combat-representative simulated environment becomes more difficult as new warfighting methodologies, TTPs [tactics, techniques, and procedures] and technologies emerge,” said Schultz. “This experiment was instrumental in forecasting the realism needed for future experiments, and we expect continued improvements in future experiments and our culminating capstone event.”
By testing advanced workflows and C2 decision points in realistic simulations, the ShOC-N continues to refine the architecture required for next-generation operations.
Strategic Impact and the Road Ahead
This experiment generated the highest number of user observations in the ShOC-N’s history. Insights from the event will be compiled into a quick-look summary and a full after-action report for ACC, Headquarters Air Force, and USAFWC leadership.
“The experiment’s influence is already shaping future planning,” said Finney. “Tools and processes validated during this event are being considered for Bamboo Eagle 25-3 and potentially Project Convergence as we mature joint and coalition C2 constructs.”
Finney emphasized the ShOC-N’s continued role as a proving ground for operationally relevant, warfighter-focused innovation.
“The ShOC enables a ‘drive-before-you-buy’ approach, ensuring the tools we field are effective, intuitive and ready for the fight,” he said. “This experiment brought us one step closer to the future of command and control.”
As the DAF’s lead battle lab for the Advanced Battle Management System, the ShOC-N remains at the intersection of operational C2, software development and allied integration. The team will continue its 2025 experimentation series with a fourth event throughout late summer, followed by a capstone in the fall bringing together validated technologies, TTPs and coalition partners in a comprehensive kill chain exercise.
“Every experiment we conduct drives the DAF BATTLE NETWORK forward,” said Finney. “We’re not waiting for the future, we’re building it now, one iteration at a time.”
By Deb Henley, 505th Command and Control Wing Public Affairs
805th Combat Training Squadron