C4I: Vigilaire - building the RAP | ADM Nov 08
Julian Kerr
Vigilare consists of data processing and voice communications software and hardware intended to receive, process and fuse a mass of information from a variety of Australian and allied networks and systems.
These include civil and military air traffic control radars and Link 11 and Link 16 tactical data networks, together with inputs from specialised data sources such as the Jindalee Over-The-Horizon Radar Network (JORN), Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, and the RAN’s future Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs).
Designed with future growth in mind, Vigilare will also be capable of accepting, and using as required, developments in satellite and UAV imagery, electronic intelligence (ELINT), space-based infra-red systems, signals intelligence (SIGINT) plus a range of other data and voice intelligence inputs.
The system will fuse this material to help compile the ADF’s Recognised Air Picture (RAP) across Australia’s area of interest, which stretches from the mid-Indian Ocean to the western Pacific.
The key to the system is not so much the type of data, or the specific agency from which it is sourced, but rather the method of sourcing that data, getting it into the system through specific interfaces, and then building the RAP.
Although Boeing Australia Ltd (BAL) was named preferred tenderer in 1998, the current contract, which envisaged final delivery of the system in December 2007, was not agreed until 2004.
Prior to that, plans by BAL to use the processors and displays from the Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft to provide a common human-machine interface were abandoned because of delays in the US defence export licensing regime.
At the same time, the scope of Air 5333 Phase 2, a separate project to provide the external communications links for Vigilare, was absorbed into Vigilare.
As an interim measure, which was completed in 2004 and is now part of the final Vigilare solution, Daronmont Technologies installed the Raytheon-Solipsys multi-source correlator/tracker (MSCT) software and Tactical Display Framework to generate a correlated air picture from the various sensor inputs.
As of late last year, Vigilaire’s Critical Design Review, originally scheduled for December 2005, was planned to begin in December and be wrapped up in February 2008.
However, the review, taking in nine complex sub-systems, was not completed until July this year, after which work began on the system integration and test phase.
Likewise, the two Regional Operations Centres (ROCs) at the core of the Vigilare system, NROC at RAAF Tindal in the Northern Territory and EROC at RAAF Williamtown outside Newcastle, last year were scheduled to be operational by the end of 2009 and 2010 respectively.
At the time of ADM going to press, the date for conditional acceptance of NROC had slipped to April 2010 and that for EROC to June 2011, although a Defence spokesperson said Defence and BAL had been working through contractual difficulties and a Deed of Release, Settlement and Amendment was expected to be signed “in the near future”.
Work began at NROC in May 2007 and installation of hardware should be completed in the next few months. Basic inter-connectivity testing will be followed by initial software loads.
BAL has restructured the software build program for the $114 million project, and system level testing will be carried out in four tranches – D1, D2, D3 and D4. The next build will be D2, planned for December, and D3 should be the software block for NROC.
Defence says the main technical complexity lies with the Link 16 capabilities that are being developed.
An incremental delivery strategy will probably be used so that some of the more difficult requirements associated with high-end command and control functions are unlikely to be available until completion of EROC.
Another technical complexity is the integration of the software, which has been developed by a number of suppliers. Further issues likely to emerge as the higher end system integration permits more in-depth exposure to the system level capabilities include matching interface specifications to real interface behaviour, interoperability of NROC and EROC with dual control of sensors, and the interoperability aspects of the multiple tactical data links.
Since Vigilare relies on the modification of existing operational systems, including current air defence, air traffic and communications systems, the alignment and sharing of facilities, equipment and sensor feeds are also likely to continue to present challenges.
A further issue will be the availability and coordination of Defence assets to provide a realistic Operational Testing System Integration Laboratory as a limited resource for integration and test.
As an integrated system, Vigilare will deliver operational benefits over the more federated Warden command and control system now in use, although some software developed for Vigilare has already been deployed to Warden.
Vigilare’s sophisticated tactical data link capabilities will be introduced through its information processing sub-system.
This sub-system is the progeny of multiple sub-contractors in various locations and coordinates all the sensor data, fuses the data, and presents it to the operator.
One significant component of the subsystem is the MSCT; another major developmental element is the Link 11 and Link 16 tactical data interface and its integration with operational tactics.
According to Defence, technical benefits will flow from the more comprehensive engineering systems used to develop both the Boeing and Commonwealth systems, allowing tighter configuration control and heightened operational and supportability assurance for the life of type.
Apart from the sophisticated tactical data link integration and associated human-machine interface, Vigilare is regarded more as an evolutionary advance than a quantum leap in technology over the system it is replacing, providing the capability to integrate a vast and diverse range of data and information.
As currently scoped, Vigilare is a key contributor to the establishment of the Networked Aerospace Domain through the linking of engagement systems with sensor and command and control systems.
The system will provide a significant capability increase to the RAAF’s Surveillance and Response Group, which is well advanced in developing concepts of operation for the effective employment of Integrated Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISREW) agencies and platforms in an NCW environment.
A practical example of the progress already made in this area is the conduct of remote aerospace battle management activities from RAAF Williamtown.
Impressive as Vigilare will be, it’s worth remembering that it represents just one part of a broad ADF air defence system that includes fighter, maritime patrol and future AEW&C aircraft and other air-based platforms, which in themselves are part of a broader ADF capability that includes maritime and land forces.
Where Wedgetail is
Three Boeing 737-700s in varying stages of modification in a hangar at RAAF Amberley provide a concrete reminder of the complexities underlying the RAAF’s $3.8 billion Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) program.
When operational, the six-strong Wedgetail fleet will be the cornerstone of Australia’s surveillance, early warning and detection capability.
The Wedgetail’s 10 operator consoles and extensive suite of communications equipment will also enable it to act as a node for data from other ADF air, sea and ground assets as well as acting as a mobile command and control outpost for air operations.
A key resource will be its ability to integrate the Link 11 and Link 16 tactical data link systems.
Meanwhile, thick clusters of electrical wiring, a cockpit stripped of controls and instrumentation, a fuselage minus its tail section, cables dangling above mission consoles labelled Secret/Australian Secret; all reinforce the technical challenges presented by a program running more than three years’ late.
The first two aircraft are now scheduled for delivery to the RAAF in July next year and will be available for training at that time, although their electronic warfare (EW) systems will not be installed.
The other four aircraft will be delivered in early 2010 after which the first two platforms will return to the Boeing Aerospace Support Centre at Amberley for their EW fitout.
Modifying and upgrading the B737s for their Wedgetail role – including fitting a 35-foot long dorsal radar array atop the rear fuselage and installing ventral fins and a unique (for Boeing 737s) aerial refuelling and fuel jettisoning capability – requires 100,000 hours of work per aircraft.
Boeing Australia points out that are saving about 10,000 man hours with each aircraft completed thanks to a very steep learning curve.
The Wedgetail’s Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array (MESA) radar features an assembly of transmit and receive modules, operating at L-band and sharing three apertures to provide 360 degree azimuthal coverage and a range of more than 400km.
The radar’s ‘track while scan’ capability enables it to track up to 3,000 air and sea – but not ground – targets simultaneously, while continuously searching for other targets.
The electronic support measures (ESM) package, developed by BAE Systems Australia, is based on a variant of the Elta ALR-2001 aboard the RAAF’s AP-3C Orion.
This will allow operators to locate, identify and track opposing radars when these are active, as well as adding their details to the ADF’s signals intelligence library.
According to Jim McDowell, Managing Director of BAE Systems Australia, problems with the ESM element of the EW suite can be attributed to the fixed price development programme “where we always underestimate, which is why we don’t do them any more”.
“We’ve overcome all of the technical issues around development and we’re now entering a very rigorous test regime – it’s just taken us a lot longer than we had originally anticipated.”
An integrated Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system shares the primary radar arrays, thus reducing weight, improving reliability and simplifying target correlation.
Unlike earlier and larger AEW&C and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft such as the E-3 Sentry, the Wedgetail fleet will deploy with the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-24(V) Nemesis Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system, augmented with the Viper solid state multiband laser which reportedly is capable of jamming virtually all fielded heat-seeking missiles.