Vanguard Magazine

C4ISR 32 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com and environmental designs By michelle currie T he C4ISR and Beyond: Beyond Sensors conference that took place the last week of January brought together key players from industry, government and the mili- tary to encourage dialogue and create relationships to unify in our collective ef- forts to sustain capabilities with the Cana- dian Armed Forces. The discussions and panels ranged on a plethora of topics but focused on the changing technological platform that is af- fecting every aspect of today's world. Of particular focus was the second panel of the day that deliberated the military view of C4ISR and environmental designs. The panel was moderated by BGen (Retired) John Turnball, CD, Associate, CFN Con- sultants, and reflected the view of the CAF at large and the evolving nature of land, maritime and air warfare – describing and implying the key role C4ISR plays, and the key capabilities soldiers, sailors, airmen and women and their leaders at all levels require in order to succeed in operations. The panelists were esteemed speakers, BGen Michel Lalumiere, CD, Director- General, Air Force Development; Col D.A. Russel, CD, Director Canadian Army Land Warfare Centre; and Capt(N) John Trem- blay, Director Naval Information Warfare. They began the panel by each delivering their pitch to the captive audience and then ended the panel with an intensive Q&A. Captain Tremblay led them off with a discussion on information warfare and how it has impacted the maritime domain in this time of rapid transition, especially in regard to New Information Warfare (NIW) and achieving an operational ad- vantage across the battlespace. "In order to do this, NIW leverages the vast array of technical networks, sensors and information sources for supporting the development of a multi-layer opera- tional maritime picture," stated Tremblay. "The real Canadian navy is taking up the challenge of maintaining and building Canada's future navy. The future is ex- pected to be broadly balanced and combat capable – fully meeting expeditionary and mass emissions set for the armed forces by the Government of Canada, including goals pertaining to the Arctic." He continued the discussion about the shipbuilding procurement strategy that would need to entail maritime sensors, networks, and networking systems that are essential for these vessels, as well as the op- erational effectiveness, and technological readiness that will be to the advantage of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Technol- ogy has come a long way very quickly, and the need to be fully-connected and able to access information has never been greater. "The most important aspect of the NIW is a foundation built upon a social and technological response," said Tremblay. "It would be an ability to recruit, train and harness innovation in young Canadi- ans who are eager to take on the responsi- bility of this new warfare domain. It is this generation that will drive an extraordinary pace of change – improving greater situ- ational awareness to recruit in intelligence gathering, surveillance, analysis and cen- tred integration. However, there are many challenges, all of which, working collab- oratively, the defence industry can solve." Information warfare remains a constant – knowing more about your adversary than they do – that inspires a greater demand to act quickly and with greater precision. The need to be agile and work at a faster tempo than the adversary is achieved through a better understanding of operational space, better decisions. Society today is reliant on technology for almost everything that it does and needs to facilitate future thinking. "In the business of operational space, we have invested little in fall-back options or alternatives. The RCN must protect its in- formation and our capabilities more effec- tively," added Tremblay. "We have to op- erate in a congested and tested battlespace for access to information. For now, and in the future, chief and mobile computing devices will be driving an information rev- olution through the commercial sector." In his summary, he proposed that the RCN move from a culture of platform cen- tre collection and exploitation of informa- tion to one where all collectors, sensors and weapons fuse to dynamic exploitation that delivers a required effect. Every individual capability must be able to contribute to the overall mission, govern their commanders' wishes, and offset levels. The only way to achieve this will require people who have an instinct for understanding of values of information, can be adaptive and respon- sive to threats of current information, and are able to collaborate in that environment. BGen Michel Lalumiere went on to di- vulge the most pressing issues affecting the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), ex- pressing that the most pressing is primarily pace: speed in the sense of collection fees and the volume that comes with the infor- mation required to process that quantity of data. "Quickly you become capacity chal- lenged," said Lalumiere. "The adversary knows this. So, obviously what we are de- veloping today is the ability to process. We need to process that data extremely quickly. It's not going to be done by people. We are people limited. We call it onboard process- ing. A very complex process. We need on- sensor processing. Automation. Precision. All this to accelerate and compress the cycle that industry provides to the professionals. The whole cycle that starts with asking, col- lecting, processing; all the way to decision, quality information and control." C4ISR Beyond Sensors Speakers on the C4ISR Military View panel: Col Darrell Russel, Captn John Tremblay, BGen Michel Lalumiere, John Turnbull

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