CAP, who`s responsible ?

[ex81]

I would like to know the name for the office or the guys who would give a CAP new orders while they are in the air.

Example:

A Warthog is patrolling along the border. It gets a new order to intercept. Who would give such an order ?

Hope you get what I mean.

[pyromaniac4002]

I have no military experience or other reason to think I'm not talking out of my ass here, but I would have to guess one of the gents or ladies flying in the nearest convenient AWACS would have a large role to play in that.

 

EDIT: Although, you said "Warthog," so I don't know if you're talking about handing down a CAS mission or still sticking with the CAP idea because obviously a Warthog should never be assigned a CAP.

[Jeepyb]

Don't think your question applies to A-10s, but it would be an AWACS or GCI unit (mobile radar unit or air defense control facility). A controller (Weapons Director or Air Battle Manager) would issue the order to commit on a target over the radio, but that order would probably come from somebody higher up in the chain of command (ie Mission Crew Commander).

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-controlled_interception

Edited April 2, 2017 by Jeepyb

[ex81]

Thank you, sound logical.

[DarkFire]

Yep, if aircraft are waiting in a CAP orbit they generally check in with AWACS and/or GCI and state their availability for tasking. On-call CAS will also check in but with either JSTARS (haven't heard anything about the E-8 since Gulf War 1, anyone know what happened to the project?) or some sort of FAC.

 

Edited to add: turns out the E-8C JSTARS is due for replacement by 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_E-8_Joint_STARS

[QuiGon]

They get their on-call taskings either by Airborne Command and Control Centres (ACCC), usally a E-8 JSTARS (for CAS or AI) or E-3 AWACS (for CAP) as DarkFire said, or by ground located Command Centres like NATOs Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC).

[Ronin14]

From what I have learnt from Aerospace Battle Manager (RAF) while in the Middle East is that tasking's come from JFAC (Joint Forward Air Control) and then relayed through to airborne assets.