AFATDS is a Joint Fire Support Battle Command system for the 21st century. It provides flexibility to manage attacks on preplanned and time-sensitive targets.

AFATDS provides fully automated support for planning, coordinating, controlling, and executing fires and effects. It supports weapon systems such as mortars, field artillery cannons, rockets, close air support, attack helicopters, and Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) systems.

AFATDS also acts as a fire support "server" to LAN-based and Tactical Internet-based clients, including the AFATDS Effects Management Tool (EMT), and the USMC Command and Control Personal Computer (C2PC) EMT.

AFATDS is used in all U.S. Army echelons from weapons platoon to corps and in the Marine Corps from firing battery to Marine Expeditionary Forces. AFATDS is installed aboard the U.S. Navy LHA/LHD Class big deck amphibious ships to support Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGS) for amphibious operations.

AFATDS operates with all current and planned U.S. fire support systems, as well as Allied field artillery C2 systems such as the United Kingdom's BATES, the German ADLER, French ATLAS, and Italian SIR.