controlling the digital battlefield

The ability to communicate command and control information has become the key to information dominance.

The acid test for true effectiveness of any voice and data communications system is its ability to handle critical command and control information. CDC now is beginning the process of integrating situational awareness applications on the IRIS platform as an addendum to the original IRIS contract.
Studies have indicated that over 60 per cent of combat radio traffic in conventional applications is used for position determination.

By implementing the situational awareness application on the communications network, CDC has provided the Canadian Army with a very high degree of C3 synergy at the unit level and below. The next logical step is to provide C2 capability and automation support for the commander and his staff at the formation and unit level. Ideally the communications platform on which this system is built should have the proven extendability to handle the most complex C2 requirements.
IRIS has that core capability. Fielding of the system in every one of the Canadian Army's 4100 vehicles has commenced, representing a hallmark achievement in military communications systems. For the Canadian Army's land forces command system project, CDC now is implementing modifications to the current IRIS configuration that will allow it to provide the overall C2 functions required above the unit level. The tremendous advantage provided by the IRIS system is that its architecture allows for such modifications without re-engineering system requirements. This C2 system solution is known as Athene.

The Canadian Army stipulated that its land forces command system (LFCS) had to be based on a non-developmental system already in service with a major army. Athene fulfils this requirement, utilising the highly practical and proven SIC/F system used by the French forces. In addition, Athene's utilisation of IRIS as the communications platform for the project ensures interoperability with allied and departmental CCIS because IRIS already fulfils this requirement. Athene will serve as the C2 common operating environment for army CCIS because IRIS provides the necessary communications capabilities.
Athene also provides automation to the tactical and garrison domain by expanding IRIS data-handling capabilities to include CDC's own innovative flat-panel display systems and increased data-handling capability on a wider range of vehicles and stations.

CDC's solutions for the Canadian Army's C2 considerations bring communications back into full synergy with command and control functions by building incrementally on IRIS' capabilities. IRIS' extendability was planned and engineered from the ground up before there was any indication of a need to add C2 applications to the system. This has allowed CDC to offer Athene as a rapid, cost-effective and highly logical extension of IRIS' original design mandate, to encompass the LFCS project's command and control applications. The outcome is the successful implementation of a complete turnkey C3 system whose fundamental principles of information dominance apply to almost any land force currently in existence.