Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/476674
C C4iSR 12 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com Designing the Joint architectUre As a former snowbird Coordinator and Commanding Offi cer of 437 transport squadron, Colonel andy Cook has every right to be impressed by cutting- edge technology and dazzling displays – in 2011, he even fl ew the Airbus A-310 that carried the newlywed duke and duchess of Cambridge on their cross-Canada tour. But as the director of Joint C4isR requirements, Cook must balance a Canadian Armed Forces-wide desire to keep pace with the latest technology while ensuring the services make full use of current capability and maintain and integrate with legacy systems – all on a tight budget. He spoke with editor Chris thatcher about some of the challenges and priorities currently facing Joint C4isR (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance). Q C4ISR means many things to diff erent people. From a Joint perspective, how are you defi ning it? Words matter. There is an accepted C4ISR defi nition in the CAF, but we are always looking at our defi nitions to make sure they are relevant to current operations and, in my particular case, to how we see the future of C4ISR. From my perspective, C4ISR is the confl uence of people, pro- cesses and technologies – specifi cally how that confl uence enables the seamless and timely passage of information from the tactical to the strategic and back. It is about coming up with technolo- gies and processes to move key information to the senior decision maker – the operational or strategic commander – so that they can provide direction. That is a simple description, but it is a very complex operation involving sensors, information systems, back- bones and a myriad of other factors. Q The army, navy, and air force obviously each have their own requirements, but are they all now designing and building to an overarching blueprint? You've hit on a signifi cant portion of our activity right now. When I hear the word blueprint, I think of architecture. I have a Lieu- tenant-Colonel who is focused solely on strategic vision, align- ment and C4ISR architecture. We are now trying to build the CAF C4ISR architecture. That blueprint will give us a sense of how all of the people, processes and technologies connect. When we analyze those, we will be able to determine if we are over-pro- viding in one area or if there is a gap in another, and presumably it will allow us to exercise good stewardship of available resources. It is a huge task and it is going to take us some time to map that out. Q With technological advancements happening so quickly in this space, how do you deal with the "wow" factor given that you have budget restraints and have to integrate with legacy systems? As a former snowbird Coordinator and Commanding Offi cer of 437 transport Armed Forces-wide desire to keep pace with the latest technology while ensuring the services make full use of current capability and maintain and integrate with Photo: MS Peter Reed