Vanguard Magazine

16 DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 www.vanguardcanada.com C4ISR Moving Forward The CAF has already identified an ambi- tious program to modernise its C4ISR Sys- tem, which is outlined in Strong, Secure, Engaged policy statement. Several discreet projects have been identified and are cur- rently moving through stages of the De- fence Program. As these programs mature, there is a need to ensure the inter depen- dences are properly identified and properly addressed in procurement requirements. Analysing inter dependences will also identify priorities and individual projects may need to be re-sequenced to address priorities and dependences. Also, the in- formation exchange requirements must be identified. This work is likely largely com- pleted and just needs to be consolidated in one location and ensure the information is presented in a standard format. The CAF could engage an industry and or academic partner to assist with this step. Concurrently, the CAF should develop a high-level system architecture; this is re- quired to ensure that systems to be fielded through new capital projects are properly interfaced with the in-service systems that will continue to be used to enter, process and store data. This step will help ensure interface requirements, both technical and procedural, are identified. It may also help reduce the possibility of fielding yet an- other overlapping and disconnected com- ponent to the C4ISR System. At this point it should be obvious which components of the CAF's C4ISR system are redundant, require replacement or are missing. The redundant components can be deprecated, and competitions can be held to acquire or replace the components as required. Again, this phase would likely benefit from an industry and/or academic partner. To address the immediate need for a capable operational information or battle management system, the CAF could start trialing potential 'out of the box' systems to help refine operational requirements and identify those procedural, organisational and training needs which may need to be modified. Changing an 'out of the box' so- lution is an option but is not the preferred approach; keeping to the original design reduces lifetime costs, eases technology and capability enhancements and facilitates le- veraging the experience of a coalition part- ner using the same system (one must seri- ously question why Canada would select a system not used with a coalition partner). It is usually easier to adjust procedures to match technology and not try to change technology to meet current procedures. Running operational experiments is an ef- fective way to test the interaction between technology, procedures and structures. In addition to experimentation, the use of modelling and simulation is an effective tool to evaluate information systems. This will inform both interim and long-term procurement decisions. Final Thought The fielding of an effective CAF C4ISR System that meets the needs of force gen- eration and force employment in both domestic and expeditionary operations is essential for the CAF to exercise effective Joint All-Domain Command and Control in the future security environment. This ar- ticle has attempted to provide a brief intro- duction to the challenges and opportuni- ties facing the CAF's digital transformation leading to the fielding of a C4ISR System. The C4ISR and Beyond Conference on 28-29 January 2022 will bring CAF, De- fence, Allies, Government and Industry leaders and collaborators together to exam- ine this subject in greater detail. Richard Fawcett is a retired colonel who served 34 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and since retirement has worked in the defence C4ISR industry in a num- ber of roles. During his military career, he served in a variety of command and staff appointments, serving in Canada and inter- nationally with both NATO and the United Nations. Command experience included commanding officer of the Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment, Commander Cana- dian Forces Base Kingston, and Command- er of the Canadian Task Force in the DRC. In December 2004, he was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, in 2007 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Military Merit, in 2010 was awarded the RCMP Award of Distinction and in 2012 he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. Rick is currently the EVP Defence for ADGA Group Consultants Inc. technology provider or another industry partner. Accepting industry as a partner in operations can help shield soldiers, sailors, and air personnel from much of the com- plexity of digital systems, especially those components that are continually changing. Another form of partnering now available to the CAF is to contract services instead of buying technology. This is particularly true for the information management compo- nents of the system as Software as a Service (SaaS) is becoming the norm in industry for the provision of applications. Cloud services are also provided in this manner. The CAF can also contract other services such as baseline data support. Partnering with a contracted service provider shares the responsibility and risks associated with fielding, maintaining, and evolving that service. It also facilitates the expansion or reduction of that service. There are a couple of issues here; first is trust between the user (CAF) and industry, without this there is no partnership but just a contract. How do competing industries work together to deliver capability (the UK created a Joint Program Officer, there are models that have been tried in Canada, however a thorough review is needed to fully understand its rate of success). The PSPC view of competition equals value for money flies in the face of trust and partner- ships, made worse by continually recompet- ing support contracts. Can the CAF accept relying on industry to directly support/ operate operational C4ISR Systems SaaS? How do you contract for evolutionary and continual growth of C4ISR Systems? Operation REASSURANCE Air Task Force - November 17, 2021. Photo: DND

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