Multi-domain operations first for Dutch Air Force

The Dutch Air Force has achieved a major milestone on its path to multi-domain operations during the Ramstein Flag 2025 exercise that was held from 31st March to the 11th April. During that exercise, ground target data was passed from an F-35 to a PULS guided rocket launcher leading to a successful engagement, according to a Dutch MoD press release from the 9th April. 

The F-35 passed the target data to the Air Force’s Keystone battle management system, which automatically forwarded that data onto a unit in the Dutch Army equipped with a PULS guided rocket launcher. The PULS launcher then engaged the target in a process that took “just a few minutes,” according to the press release.  The exercise was supported by Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force indicating that there may have been assistance in integrating the various systems into Keystone.

Project Keystone was initiated by the Dutch Air Force Command in 2024 through a contract signed with KPN, a Dutch telecommunications company. It offers a range of network and IT solutions and was contracted to build the battle management system for delivery in Q1 of this year. It was established to contribute to what the Dutch armed forces call ‘Main Task 1’ (Hoofdtaak 1), protecting the country’s own territory and that of its allies. 

Main Task 1 emphasises multi-domain operations through the lens of effects rather than means. “We must first look at the effect we want to achieve with our actions and only then with which means we can achieve that. That sounds very logical, but to this day we often do it the other way around,” Colonel Peter Loukes, programme manager of the Operational Headquarters said in a 2024 interview. 

An initial search has returned very little on the Keystone Programme or its results, an MoD paper from 2024 states that the resultant battle management system is designed to share information from a multitude of aerial sensors as well as the country’s growing array of satellites. This indicates that Keystone is designed to collect, assess, and fuze data from multiple domains, before passing that data off to the relevant effector. Other forces refer to this type of capability variously as ‘any sensor, any shooter,’ or ‘any sensor, the right shooter.’ It also tends to be known, although less publicly, as a kill web. 

The result from Ramstein Flag is important because a typical targeting procedure in that scenario might take tens of minutes. A key element would be the level of automation between the F-35 and Keystone: If the data sharing is highly automated, then an F-35 would be able to very quickly pass masses of data through the system for the army – which might have more available effectors – to engage. 

Calibre comment

Multi-domain operations seek to further enhance and integrate the different services and elements of an armed force, breaking down silos to enhance the efficiency and impact of reconnaissance and effects. This is key for western forces which would likely deploy with a relative lack of complex weapons – especially on an individual basis – which means that they have to ensure the greatest probability of success for each munition. This concept broadly applies to a variety of operations from air defence to close air support and precision strike at strategic depths. The guiding solution is broadly the same, however; take targeting data from a system that is normally used in a silo, and pass it to a system in another silo for it to engage in the shortest time possible. 

In air defence, this might mean a radar on a ship helping a land-based missile launcher to engage an enemy aircraft. Or it might involve passing satellite data directly to the commander of a land-based missile unit for a long-range engagement. Multi-domain operations therefore promise more effective engagements through improved data and data-sharing, however, it is not necessarily relevant to every aspect of warfare. There is some consensus that it is only useful to set up multi-domain capabilities at a brigade or divisional level, with little further value coming from its use at lower tactical levels. It is also not relevant to all use cases; the example demonstrated by the Dutch Air Force is interesting, as it may have represented an engagement against an enemy air defence system, which an F-35 strike package might bypass in the interests of another mission.