GDR 99 - Communications Systems

The Tactical Infosphere


Section Articles
• Nato & European Digitisation • The Tactical Infosphere • Satellite Revolution • C21 Battle Innovation • Systems Expert
Top: BattleWEB keeps the location of friendly forces

Paul C Codere, vice president of command information systems at Computing Devices Canada Ltd, examines information-on-demand for modern armed forces.

The rapid evolution of information technologies is having a dramatic effect on the development of command information systems. The so-called information superhighway, the internet and its high-speed communications links, has created an integrated information net that can be accessed by most elements of society worldwide. Computers and communications devices are becoming integrated, lighter and smaller, and they consume less power with each successive generation.

When structuring for this information revolution, armies would be well advised to look to industry as they try to adapt to the new realities. Successful companies in the future are likely to be those with comparatively few management layers, and in which production employees work in autonomous multidisciplinary teams. Managers used to tell workers what to do and how to do it, but now a manager's role has changed to that of a facilitator or coach. Workers are better educated, more versatile, and above all, empowered to act. From a structural point of view the layers of management have been replaced by integrated product teams (IPTs). The IPT concept implies concurrent activity with little or no reference to bureaucratic layers.

Armies will need to alter their organisational and operational modes of behaviour to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by these emerging technologies, while avoiding the pitfalls. It is information technology, not new weapons, that will be the discriminator in the millennium.

There are a number of key doctrinal issues associated with knowledge warfare. These include the soldier as a sensor; agile defence; empowered combat teams; integrated combat teams; virtual headquarters/command posts; and the tactical infosphere. This article deals with only the latter two in detail.

The tactical infosphere


In the infosphere, the foot soldier will act as a close-in sensor

Tactical infosphere is a term for information on demand, or information pull as opposed to push. In Canada, the situation awareness (battleWEB) and land force command system (Athene) programmes are designed to provide a portion of the information required to fill the infosphere. BattleWEB maintains the locations of all friendly forces based on real GPS-determined location, and sends this information to the Iris Communications System. Almost every Canadian tactical vehicle and selected soldiers on foot will be part of the continuously updated battleWEB database. This battleWEB situational-awareness information is shared with Athene and other C2 sub-systems in the Iris infosphere. Enemy locations are entered by the sensors, including soldiers, and passed automatically throughout the system. Situational-awareness information is generated automatically and filtered and consolidated in an hierarchical manner.

With the tactical infosphere in place, the knowledge army does not require co-location of cells to plan, direct and monitor the progress of operations. A complete sharing of available information and using the information-pull principle means that up-to-date information is being added to the infosphere continually while it is being drawn, as required, by planners and other users. The command post in the millennium will be a virtual CP. The commander and his staff will be separated geographically so they are in the location that best supports their individual functions. Specialist staffs will be linked through the infosphere so they can maintain a critical mass of expertise and facilities. Information technology advances such as video conferencing and electronic white boarding will enable these virtual CPs to operate in real-time. Commanders will concentrate on directing operations while staffs produce plans and monitor on-going operations and enemy reactions and intentions.

CIS system structures


The command post of the next mellennium will be a virtual command post

In an all-out war, one could envision a net of tactical communications with over-arching global broadcast satellites providing on-demand information. Theatre-level sensors such as Joint STARS or the UK's ASTOR, reconnaissance satellites, aircraft and unmanned airborne vehicles all would down-link real-time target information to a distributed net of intelligence analysts. These analysts then would feed collated information into the infosphere.

Soldiers on foot or mounted in reconnaissance vehicles would act as close-in sensors, and also would feed information into the system. Integrated combat teams would form for specific actions or objectives and then quickly disband and disperse for protection. All the while, virtual command posts would continue to plan, direct and monitor the on-going tactical battles.

At the other end of the conflict spectrum, it is possible to envision a peacekeeping scenario where a large portion of the infosphere would be located completely out of the area of operations. Cells could be located in United Nations headquarters or in the capitals of the contributing nations.


A tactical internet using the Iris system

The CIS system of the millennium will require integrated voice and data communications with sufficient bandwidth to handle the demands for information and the variety of forms of information, including full motion video, FLIR imagery, UAV video, synthetic aperture radar and MTI radar data. The CIS system will require the ability to manage and allocate bandwidth to suppliers and consumers of information.

Using the Canadian Iris System, the Canadian Army is fielding the world's first interoperable tactical internet, and will have a fully integrated voice and data communication system that will link the soldier on foot to national defence headquarters in Ottawa. Tactical e-mail will be available from and to all levels, restricted only by bandwidth. At the moment this restriction is confined to 16KHz, the available bandwidth of the combat net radio that is the final link in the communications chain. The Canadian Iris System could be referred to as the tactical infosphere, version 0.

The tactical doctrine challenge
It is likely that as we approach 2025, various forms of the tactical infosphere will have been developed and fielded in most advanced armies, but other doctrinal concepts outlined previously will slow the deployment of such CIS systems. BR>

Link:
www.computingdevices.com

Armies will try to adjust to the reality of knowledge warfare, and from a hierarchical basis of operations to the type of agile force described previously. Old traditions and doctrine will remain, but modern and thoughtful armies will make the adjustment and choose short-term pain for long-term gain.