Vanguard Magazine

Q Where and how are you seeing C4ISR deliver in operations today – in missions abroad and at home? VAdm Auchterlonie: Terry, thanks very much, It's an interesting subject. All the operations we do, have real- ly been enabled by data networks and C4ISR through- out my 35-year career. My challenge as a commander to CJOC in the Canadian Armed Forces, and all our allies, to be frank, is when we talk about C4ISR, we talk about all the main command and control. When we talk about the future operating environment, ev- eryone is trying to foretell the future. This is the diffi- culty we're in. So, we're all trying to foretell the future. What's it going to look like? And there's lots, because we've been at this so long, as you know, everyone is trying to sell us a new integrated interoperable joint ISR or C2 platform. But it's very challenging looking forward, trying to predict, what the future operating environment go- ing to look like? We take lessons from the past, but we must be cognizant of the capabilities of future ad- versaries as well. So, we must ask the questions, is the platform survivable against high end capabilities? Is it interoperable? Is it going to work with all our allies? And the real big question, is it so reliant upon po- sitioning of technology and satellite communications, will it be relevant in a future fight against a high-end adversary, if you're in a communications and satellite denied environment? These are the hard choices. We could have these ex- quisite platforms that may in fact, not be capable of operating, in a denied environment in the future. So, it's a double-edged sword, you want to have that high end interoperable capability at the same time, you want to be able to conduct operations globally in a high-end fight. So, it's a tough balance we're trying to find. And you know all our allies are searching for the same thing. Q Interesting. Who is your ecosystem that you depend on to deliver C4ISR and that capability today? VAdm Auchterlonie: Currently we have many joint ISR platforms, including our personnel and technolo- gies that directly support operations, not only at home but abroad as well. For instance, the ISR platform CP-140 Aurora long range patrol aircraft operates in conjunction with our high-end allies, NATO, and Five Eyes partners around the world. We're currently con- ducting operations with them today. At the same time, it also works with our other government departments here at home. So, you're seeing that interoperability with abroad and at home. At the same time, our ships are persistent ISR plat- forms around the globe. We have our frigates deployed forward whether they're in the Mediterranean, the north Atlantic, the Indo-Asia-Pacific they're interoper- able with our high-end partners. At the same time, our land forces, the NATO En- hanced Forward Presence in Latvia, they have integrat- ed platforms as well and are operating with our allies. So, we're delivering this today, we have great interop- erability and joint ISR with all our allies. That ecosystem moving forward. When most people think of C4ISR or joint ISR your initial thought is air- borne ISR assets such as the CP-140 or the Cyclone. But you know, we employ a full spectrum of ISR as- sets throughout the land, maritime and air domains. So, the key is making sure we have the technology and fully trained personnel to do so. At home, we monitor and command our forces through the CFINT or the Canadian Forces Integrat- ed Command Center to track and manage operations. You know, our ecosystem is 24/7 operation and oper- ates domestically and internationally. It allows me to www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 19 INTERVIEW

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