Vanguard Magazine

T Technology 38 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 www.vanguardcanada.com T he latest iteration of a ground troop mobile communication and situation-awareness wear- able system was put through its paces in a recent war game exercise pitting members of a team of Ca- nadian Army troops against their counter- parts from other countries. At the U.S. Joint Staff-led demonstra- tion Bold Quest, held at Fort Stewart, Georgia last fall, Canadian soldiers and their counterparts from 17 other part- ner nations were outfitted with the Nett Warrior system (also formerly known as Ground Soldier System), an integrated dismounted leader situational awareness (SA) system for use during combat opera- tions of the United States Army. During the exercise, two sections from 38 th Canadian Brigade Group and a sec- tion from the New Zealand Army formed a platoon embedded into a U.S. company. The troops conducted missions against a near-peer enemy force also wearing the same technology. Dr. Katherine Banko, a defence scientist from Defence Research and Development, Canada's Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (DRDC CORA), evaluated how the technology impacted combat ef- fectiveness. "Operational research is exciting, in that we can apply a method to tactical field demonstrations like Bold Quest to gain additional data that otherwise can't be gathered," explained Dr. Banko. "Unlike the controlled setting of a lab, the biggest challenge is getting valid and reliable data in a military environment where anything can and does happen." Providing situation awareness The Nett Warrior system is connected, through a secure radio, to a network. It displays the location of individual soldiers, vehicles, points of interest, and enemy ac- tivity on a digital geo-referenced map, and enables communication of voice, data, and location messages. The system provides SA to the dis- mounted leader. It enables faster and more accurate decisions in the tactical fight. The system features advanced navigation, SA, and information-sharing capabilities. With it, soldiers are able to avoid friendly-fire situations and can become more precise in the execution of their combat missions. The first iteration of Nett Warrior was in- troduced at the Network Integration Eval- uation 11.2 assessment in Spring 2011. By mid-2012, the Nett Warrior had morphed from a 10-lb Ground Soldier Sys- tem to one that is based on an "end user device," essentially an Android or iPhone- like smartphone tied to the Rifleman hand- held radio. The device links to command and control networks and uses applications to call in fire support, plan and coordinate operations, and track friendly forces. In 2013, the U.S. Army installed the Samsung Galaxy Note II into Nett Warrior as the system's end user device. The U.S. Army's 2016 budget includes funding to field Nett Warrior in three bri- gade combat teams, increasing information nett Warrior system Army troops field test by nestor Arellano The Nett Warrior (NW) is an integrated dismounted situational awareness (SA) and mission command (MC) system for use during combat operations. Photos: U.S. Army

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