Vanguard Magazine

T Technology www.vanguardcanada.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 39 and situational awareness for dismounted platoon, squad, and team leaders. canada's soldiers of the future The regular Canadian army soldier of tomor- row will go into battle equipped with high- tech communication and navigation systems that will not be unfamiliar to the corporate warriors from Toronto's Bay Street. In fact, they will be accessing and trans- mitting battlefield information on an in- terface device wellknown to everyone. You might say it looks like a smartphone. The Force Employment Concept for Canada's army of tomorrow calls for mili- tary technology to assist small dispersed teams in gathering situation awareness that will provide land commanders the in- formation they need to make operational and strategic decisions, and at the same time empower the small teams to make rapid decisions to achieve the command- er's desired outcome. Back in 2015, the Canadian government awarded the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu- based electronics and weapons systems maker Rheinmetall Canada an initial con- tract worth $7 million for the Integrated Soldier System Project. The ISSP is a suite of military equip- ment that soldiers wear as part of their combat load. The suite includes weapon accessories, as well as electronics that en- able soldiers to stay connected with teams when they are in the battlefield. The system is comprised of a radio, a communication headset and a "smart- phone-like" computer that runs GPS and battle management applications. "The nature of warfare has evolved due to asymmetric threats," says Alain Trem- blay, CEO and vice-president of Rhein- metall Canada. "Now more than ever, knowledge is power – it is seen by every armed force in the world as a weapon." This means, according to Tremblay, that in the age of the Internet of Things "the soldier himself will become a sensor, col- lecting data from the battlefield and relay- ing it to land commanders in real-time." Technology enables virtual combat training In addition to Bold Quest, Canada took part in the U.S. Army's Warfighting As- sessment (AWA) 17.1 exercise alongside more than 5000 personnel from the U.S., Australia, Denmark, Italy, and the U.K. earlier last fall. The AWA, held at Fort Bliss, Texas, was a virtual combat simulation against a near- peer enemy. The exercise allowed coali- tion forces to conduct realistic operations to improve how they fight, communicate, and share digital data on the battlefield. As part of the AWA, Emile Pelletier, a DRDC CORA scientist, assessed how the Canadian Army's 5 th Canadian Mecha- nized Brigade Group used the Land Com- mand Support System in planning and conducting tactical operations. With rugged laptops for the headquar- ters, radios for vehicles, and forward-de- ployed soldiers on the ground, the Land Command Support System allowed the Canadian Army to communicate with each other and other nations. "The unique thing about these types of exercises is that they help the operators to work better with their international part- ners, but they also offer scientists great insight into the evolution and direction in which we should take our scientific re- search for their benefit," said Pelletier. November 1-2, 2017 A 2 Day Conference London Convention Centre 300 York Street - London, Ontario, CANADA For more information, please contact: Heather Pilot: hpilot@pilothill.ca | 519.851.9848 Holly Doty: Holly Doty: holly@connectdot.ca | 519.204.2499 Early Bird Registration Ends October 3, 2017 Register at: www.bestdefenceconference.com Media Partner Brought to you by REGISTER NOW!

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