Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/337874
D DIGITAL ARMY www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2014 29 trying to give a 10-figure grid can be dif- ficult. Worse, if you haven't slept for 72 hours and you are in a real gunfight, and you've got five different target locations that you need to pass, that is where the issues of potential fratricide and collateral damage come into play. As the Canadian Forces continue their digital transforma- tion, the project can leverage that existing architecture and ensure a machine-to-ma- chine interface throughout the kill chain." The building blocks The FOO/FAC modernization project is on the army's Horizon 3 capability plan, with an eventual delivery date slated for 2024-25. But it is leveraging three signifi- cant building blocks already well under- way that will strengthen a growing digital backbone across the army: the Light Ar- moured Vehicle 6.0 upgrade (LAV), the Integrated Soldier System Project (ISSP) DIGITIZING THE CALL and the Airspace Coordination Centre Modernization program (ASCCM). With the delivery of 47 LAV upgraded Observation Post Vehicles, the army will have a well protected, highly networked computer hub featuring sophisticated software from which to receive, plot, refine and send very accurate grid refer- ences. The ISSP will go a step further, extending that networked architecture to the dismounted soldier, a hardware in- vestment the FOO/FAC project aims to leverage as it explores the best way to link in laser range finders, laser designators and targeting software. Lastly, the ASCCM will serve as a vital data translator, taking a K-series messages from the FOO and FAC in one format and translating it into a J- series message via a Link-16 terminal that is understandable to an incoming pilot up to 200 nautical miles away. "The ASCCM is going to give us range extension and that ability to translate what we are doing on the ground," Vaughan explained. "[The pilot] will have all the information on the target, the battlefield, the current situation. He's not arriving blind. He knows the terrain, where other jets are stacked up, where the artillery and mortars are, where attack helicopters are, where the closest friendly forces are, and most importantly, where the enemy is. It will give pilots the time to better under- stand a complex situation." The LAV OPV is currently being up- graded by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada while the first phase of ISSP is undergoing evaluation as part of a procurement competition. The ASCCM project will be seeking ministerial sign-off later this month, with delivery expected between 2016-2019. "We are leveraging the current work that the army is doing for the network infra- structure," Vaughan said. "We are lever- aging current projects and future projects, because whether it is C4ISR, ISSP, LAV UP or simulation projects, we are really tied into the whole battlefield." While each program will provide a key in- terim piece for FOO/FAC modernization, the project itself is focused on three lanes of capability: the dismounted soldier, the mounted network within the LAV OPV, and new training capability through simu- lation. That dismounted piece, Vaughan says, will be the toughest nut to crack. "When you are mounted you have more time. People don't give the LAV enough credit. It is an incredible vehicle. Being in that vehicle in Afghanistan, I was very comfortable taking the time required to do it properly. You have a larger screen, much better fidelity, a mouse and a keyboard. For a complex mission, it is much easier to fa- cilitate for human factors in a LAV. "When you are dismounted, you need a simplistic human form factor – three clicks. We need a capability that is 80 percent of your common fire missions when mount- ed, and then when you get into something more complex you go back to the basics: get out your map, do the math and send it through the radio. We are not trying to create a complete digital environment – it will be digital voice augmented. The final clearance should always be through voice." The challenge for the dismounted ob- server goes beyond the simplicity of the display. Technology has decreased the size and weight of GPS, laser range finders and other tools of the trade, but Vaughan would like to see those re- duced even further. "Your transportation is the human body, so you can only put so much weight on the indi- vidual and have them show up combat ready," he says. "Today a guy may carry a la- ser range finder; tomorrow's guy may be able to carry a laser range finder, a laser tar- Photo: Master Seaman Steve Picard Photo courtesy Jason Vaughan