Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/304887
C C4ISR 28 APRIL/MAY 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com "We are not going to replicate the It infrastructure of a modern city, so c4ISR ... will cause us to accept whatever the limits are in terms of what we can purchase and deploy as a capability." to every soldier, we're going to fi eld some- thing less than that. What does that mean to the rest? C4ISR is a way of framing that whole problem set. If we state a contract [for one component] in such a way that doesn't take into account these other ar- eas, you risk another stovepipe. C4ISR is that idea of having equipment, people and process all linked together. That is net- centric warfare. "We will fi nd as we go forward that we are not going to replicate the IT in- frastructure of a modern city, so C4ISR, that idea, will cause us to accept whatever the limits are in terms of what we can purchase and deploy as a capability: here is what is essential for operations that we can build, maintain and sustain, but not further. The 'not further' part will cause us to adjust how we do command and control and how we ensure our ISR aspi- rations are achieved." As examples of current limitations, Hall cites data fusion and blue force tracking. While there may be an aspiration to have a single computer interface connected to the Internet, yet still on both Canadian and coalition classifi ed networks, the real- ity will be quite different. For the foresee- able future, operators will have to toggle between more than one screen to assure the security and validity of information. "One could argue that the engineers could build that single interface, but the security assessment would say, you can hack into that, the security could be com- promised. So for now, we see different systems going out there. That is a limi- tation," he said, acknowledging the frus- tration that generates. "But at the same time, it is a strength; this is a protected and closed system where the information is Canadian and only trusted partners get to see it. That is powerful." Likewise with blue force positional awareness, while the aspiration might be to have an icon for every Canadian soldier and platform in the battle space, Hall said cost and concerns about latency issues will determine how extensive an investment the army makes. "The fact that I see you in a 10-foot square, I know that is not precise to the second. This causes us to ask, what are we using it for and to what level should it go?" Hall adds that projects like the Land Command Support System (LCSS) Life Extension, which will deliver a new tacti- cal network for the army's vehicles, will challenge engineers and designers to think about how army C2 systems work with the vehicles' onboard vtronics to share band- width and access to things like GPS. "If you put in another radio [for blue positional awareness], where are you go- ing to put it in a tank or a LAV III? There is not a lot of space in there to put another radio, drill another hole and put another antenna and power it. So we have got to be smart about how we do this. We want to make sure we are focusing on that bandwidth-constrained RF environment, the front end, so that people can have situ- ational awareness." Industry input As with military vehicles that must make tradeoffs among survivability, mobility and fi repower, C4ISR is a balance of usability, reliability and sustainability, all of which will have to be weighed as the army pro- ceeds with its long-term C4ISR programs, many anchored around the Land Com- mand Support System, which will provide the architecture for the network. These in- clude modernization of tactical communi- cations, ISR, and tactical C2 and informa- tion systems. And much like training and education, the army is looking to industry for help de- fi ning some of these tradeoffs. Areas such as sensor integration for command decision- making; end-to-end quality of service for the movement of data; and tactical infor- mation visualization and decision support analytics are all priorities as the land force moves out on a range of C4ISR-related projects, from portable satellite terminals to ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Tar- get Acquisition and Reconnaissance) C2, ISTAR electronic warfare, ISTAR data link communications, combined Joint intel- ligence modernization and land electronic warfare modernization. As the director of Signals and DLCI as well as the Army G6, Hall has a rare view across all the army's C4ISR development horizons. He will be taking his ideas to the Army Capability Development Board (ACDB) in May, a "tough process" de- signed to challenge all aspects about future capability. "We are in the business of fi elding a com- plete capability, which includes the soldier and the training – whatever skills and knowl- edge are needed to make that capability work. The ACDB forces a complete analysis of what it means to fi eld a capability. One must be prepared for feedback from one's army colleagues in whatever form it takes!" Hall won't have industry's input when he presents to the Board, but he will be turning to them shortly after to better un- derstand how to ensure the army delivers a complete and institutionalized C4ISR ca- pability. Whether performing Sovereignty patrol, or Search and Rescue missions across Canada, or a multinational interdiction campaign, mission success requires an enabled network that connects quickly and securely – anywhere, anytime. From threat detection to threat resolution, Rockwell Collins provides reliable networks designed for interoperability. Visit us at CANSEC, booth 1103. SMART Blade, TacNet™, 721S, ARC-210 radios Wideband HF communications Portable satellite communications Simulation and training rockwellcollins.com/canada Networked systems making every platform a sensor. © 2014 Rockwell Collins. All rights reserved. RC_Remote network_Vanguard_April2014_full.indd 1 3/17/14 7:57 AM