Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 13 C 4 I S R S O L U T I O N information between coalition partners. The CAF has been engaged in interop- erability work for decades, often as part of NATO programs. Let's review some of those efforts. CAF Interoperability Efforts Three examples of CAF engagement in in- teroperability programs are: 1. Federated Mission Networking (FMN) supporting C2. 2. Coalition Shared Data (CSD) support- ing Intelligence, Surveillance and Re- connaissance (ISR). 3. NATO Armaments Ballistic Kernel (NABK) supporting fires. Federated Mission Networking (FMN) Federated Mission Networking (FMN) is a NATO-led initiative that aims to in- tegrate military systems, networks and platforms from coalition partners into a cohesive and interconnected framework. The FMN approach enables different forc- es to collaborate seamlessly, ensuring the exchange of critical information and maxi- mizing operational effectiveness. The FMN Vision is "Day Zero Interop- erable Forces," which means to enable effective information sharing, collabora- tion, and decision-making among Forces in a federated environment. This, in turn, improves operational effectiveness and ef- ficiency. Nations are committed to creat- ing, maintaining, and evolving their own C2 systems to meet commonly agreed re- quirements. The short-range goal of the FMN Vision is the optimization of current operational mission environments. FMN nations have committed to synchronizing their current systems to mitigate gaps in interoperability and to reduce the time required for effec- tive information sharing. The intermediate goal is the adaptation of existing capabilities, which means to harmonize the current capabilities to en- able FMN nations to benefit from prior and current investments. The long-range goal is interoperability by design, with the FMN capability de- velopment being aligned with FMN na- tions' defence planning processes. Despite this commitment, progress for all nations, including Canada, is significantly behind schedule. Clearly, progress towards FMN objec- tives must be a priority for the CAF, as the goal of Day Zero interoperability is fully in line with the CAF vision. Further, primary coalition partners for Canada are active participants in the FMN program, making it an obvious area for greater effort and in- vestment. Coalition Shared Data Server– Next Generation (CSD-NG) Canada actively participates in STANAG 4559, an example of using standards to achieve interoperability. This STANAG is a cover for three Allied Engineering Docu- ment Publications (AEDP) that define the NATO standard for ISR Product Library and Services. Canada implements this AEDP through the development of the Coalition Shared Data Server (CSD) and more recently, CSD-Next Generation (CSD-NG). Can- ada's solution, developed through a Land program, is now used by several different organizations within the CAF. Over the years, the CSD has been used in many test and validation activities and exercises (CIAV, Bold Quest, Unified Vi- sion, CWIX, etc.) to verify and validate its compliance to the agreed standard. Canada has produced a reliable and stable imple- mentation of an ISR Product Library that can support Canadian forces deployed in a coalition of NATO partners, which gives Canada access to coalition ISR products. The development of the CSD-NG high- lights one of the challenges of introducing innovation while remaining interoperable with partners. The CSD-NG is a modern application offering enhanced security, easy configuration and efficient setup, syn- chronization, and an intuitive, easy-to- learn, modern web user interface. Further, it supports multiple ISR data models and Canadian extensions. Howev- er, its development and fielding have been slowed as other nations' programs have not kept pace, thus delaying the updating of the STANAG to maintain interoperability. This highlights a real-life problem. Implementing change and maintaining interoperability between partners is slow. In a time of rapid changes due to the technology evolutions and cyber threats, we collectively need to be far more agile in our development, integration efforts, as well as ratification and procurement processes. Field Artillery (Fires) One of the biggest pluses for NATO in the area of fires is the 25+ year invest- ment in a common implementation of STANAG 4355, the Leiske Modified Point Mass and Five Degrees of Freedom Trajectory Models, which nations are committed to implementing, including Canada. The NATO Armaments Ballistic Kernel (NABK) and other tools such as the Tabular Firing Tables Toolkit (TAFT) have been collaboratively designed, im- plemented and tested by the partners as the leading implementation of this STANAG. Canada has been contributing to this program on a continual basis since joining the multi-national team in 1998. Canada's implementation of the NABK is through the Fires Automation and Targeted Ef- fects System (FATES) application, an ap- plication that is also based on Canadian procedures and unique needs. The NABK allows NATO nations to work at the speed of relevance on artillery interoperability solutions and TAFT has greatly facilitated the timely use of donated artillery ammu- nition to Ukraine.

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