Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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C C4ISR www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2014 27 Maximum eff ect With the pace of operations over the past decade, there was a constrained opportu- nity to focus on the institution. Hall says it's a crucial step now in preparing for the next evolution of C4ISR technology. "We have put some really slick capabilities out there. But we need to fi nish the full loop to make sure they are institutionalized. We have to determine simple things like the IP addressing structures that are going to be done inside a formation. Who does it? Is that a master sergeant, a corporal, a cap- tain? Is it done in Ottawa? In the forma- tion? These are governance and technical issues that overlap and we are trying to work out the best way to do this. "I'm making sure that what we have procured is institutionalized and we are experts at using it. That will do several things. It will inform how we do our in- dividual training, which we need to tweak; it will inform collective training, our road to high readiness and what we do for com- mand and control systems. We spent a lot of money developing these tools: Did they work as intended? If not, why not? You can't just blame the computer. Is it train- ing? The feedback we get will inform the next evolution of the system. It will tell us where to put energy." That next evolution won't happen with- out some tradeoffs. C4ISR might be the backbone of adaptive dispersed operations (ADO), the army's force employment con- cept of the future that is a central priority for commander LGen Marquise Hainse. But meeting one of its core tenets – en- hanced network capability – will require a realistic assessment of what is feasible in the current economic climate. Consequently, Hall views C4ISR as more of an idea that binds C2, communications, computers and ISR rather than a product you can touch. Since all are inextricably in- terconnected, the challenge lies in under- standing the relationships between them, and what impact a decision about comput- ers, for example, will have on future com- mand and control capability. "If you are building a new recce vehicle for the army, would you put a sophisti- cated sensor suite on it and then have no capability to communicate that data?" he asks. "We're not going to be able to build or fi eld a bomb-proof, totally secure iPad NAME: TITLE: ORGANIZATION: ADDRESS: CITY: PROVINCE: POSTAL CODE: COUNTRY: E-MAIL ADDRESS: PHONE: WHICH FORMAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR COPIES? PRINT DIGITAL SUBSCRIBE TO FREE WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER? YES, PLEASE NO, THANKS Privacy Policy: we do not share or sell our mailing list ARE YOU MISSING OUT? www.vanguardcanada.com/Subscribe One Year Subscription (6 Issues) Fax: 905-727-4428 Mail: 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON, L4G 4B6 Email: circulation@promotive.net SUBSCRIBE NOW! Canada's premier defence and security magazine for the past 16 years is there with timely articles and insightful coverage of issues and events. Technology and national security issues are an important focus in the magazine suited for today's fast-paced and tech oriented society. THE FORUM FOR CANADA'S SECURITY AND DEFENCE COMMUNITY