Network Centric Warfare: A peek at Ph.2B's equipment candidate | ADM November 2011
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Tom Muir | Canberra
The first phase of JP2072 Battlespace Communications System-Land (BCS-L) is well underway, acquiring equipment to meet high priority gaps and more recently the digital radio backbone for the Land 125 Battle Management Systems and other radio equipment.
Phase 2A will continue the process, rolling out new combat radio systems, tactical data radio systems and tactical HF and satellite radios, to high readiness land formations and units. The systems will be underpinned by new network management and support systems. This phase will follow Phase 1 arrangements as the systems to be delivered will be potentially more of the same.
These initial phases have seen the first moves towards digitising ADF land communications at the tactical level providing the digital radio backbone for the Battlefield Command Support System (BCSS) currently in service and the Battlefield Management System (BMS) now being acquired under Land 75 and Land 125.
To provide these networking capabilities and for upcoming phases of JP2072, tactical radio systems are being acquired from Harris Corp. Under a $135m order these consist primarily of Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) multiband handheld radios and their in-vehicle adaptors, but also included AN/PRC-117G wideband, AN/PRC-117F multiband and AN/PRC-150(C) HF manpack radios. The AN/PRC-152(C) will connect soldiers to the BMS and serve as hubs for other soldier-carried C4 devices. The AN/PRC-117G is the first wideband manpack radio system with a JTRS-certified software architecture and Type-1 certified information security.
In January this year Raytheon Australia received a $69 million contract for the provision of more than 1000 Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS) and MicroLight radios and associated support also under Phase 1. June saw the first deliveries to the DMO of 150 EPLRS radios and more than 3000 ancillary items. Reportedly EPLRS is the most widely deployed, mobile networking system on the battlefield providing simultaneous data, video and situational awareness information to users.
EPLRS will be mounted primarily on Bushmaster PMVs and M113 armoured vehicles, while the handheld Microlite radios carried by soldiers in the field, will give them and their commanders instant information on their position along with high speed data communications.
These first sallies into digitising ADF communications with modern high capacity bandwidth systems will replace static, analogue communications based on voice, which are incapable of providing effective support to commanders in the field. But these are a precursor to the major changes planned under Phase 2B which will see command and control services enhanced through new trunking and switching, underpinned by effective network management, to the ADF’s deployed headquarters.
According to Paul Straughair,* previously Director of C4ISR and Network Centric Warfare in Army Headquarters and now Director for C4ISR with Raytheon Australia, digitisation will largely impact network management, as it has always been an area of weakness in the tactical communications environment.
He says it is critical to have the ability to provide a proven network management system that can conduct real-time planning, simulate the plan, adjust and manage the communications system to support the commander’s tactical plan.
“The network management system will need to be able to plan and manage a wide range of communications bearers – including real-time management of the bandwidth for maximum utilisation, and monitoring the traffic flows of various systems,” he said.
Battlefield Telecommunications
Phase 2B’s prime contract scope embraces the battlefield telecommunications network (BTN) with its various terrestrial and space bearers, range extension systems (aerial and terrestrial), as well as local area system (LAS) and Satcom C2 on the move (SOTM) systems. These are to be leveraged off COTS technologies and will achieve monumental advantages over current deployed systems.
High cost and complexity will be features of the systems to be acquired under this phase and under Phases 3H and 5B of JP2008. Presumably, in somewhat tardy recognition of the substantial nature of the Phase 2B requirements, mid-year the indicative cost band was doubled to $500m-$1bn. This was achieved by transferring funds from Phase 3 whose cost band is now reduced commensurately ($100m-$300m).
The ADF currently uses the Battlefield Telecommunications Network to provide high capacity bandwidth to the tactical user via the Parakeet Satellite Terminal Assemblage (STA) most of which have been upgraded (through DAHA) to provide secure ATM access using both open standards and Eurocom protocols over satellite or terrestrial links.
Parakeet STAs are capable of providing high capacity bandwidth to the tactical user through the BTN but brigades have only limited numbers of STAs to provide wide-band connectivity and little to no wide-band communications down to the battalion level, whose elements have been relying on legacy analogue CNR systems such as Raven and Wagtail.
On deployment however, battle groups (or smaller) are provided high bandwidth for essential operational services primarily through satellite communications, thus the capability provided and required on operations is very different to that provided to the doctrinal brigade group, a gap in doctrine versus reality.
The Phase 2B BTN
Phase 2B’s prime contract scope embraces the battlefield telecommunications network (BTN) with its various terrestrial and space bearers, range extension systems (aerial and terrestrial), the local area system (LAS) and Satcom C2 on the move (SOTM) systems.
The new BTN will provide connectivity between Bde HQ, JTFHQ, Point of Disembarkation (POD) and the Bde Maintenance Area (BMA) down to company and lower echelons. The new trunk system will be smaller, lighter, and easier to deploy and dismount, and will be carried on Land 121 vehicles. A primary concern is to automate the interface between the legacy and replacement CNR equipment and the tactical trunk system. Raytheon’s MAINGATE will be under consideration here.
At this stage we know of three teams contending for the prime Phase 2B contract. They are:
- BAE Systems Australia with Thales Australia;
- Raytheon Australia with General Dynamics C4 Systems and Raytheon Network Centric Systems; and
- Lockheed Martin Australia with Elbit Systems.
- Each team has very significant expertise in tactical trunking systems, their support and management, and in the many and diverse capabilities of the ADF’s proposed BTN.
BAES and Thales
BAE Systems and Thales, both JP2072 incumbents, are also incumbents with the UK MOD’s Falcon tactical networking system that provides communications backbone for British forces. With the introduction of the Falcon system into service last year, the United Kingdom’s tactical and operational commands are now linked by a mobile, high-capacity communications network.
Designed around an IP architecture, the system replaces ageing asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) equipment (similar to Parakeet) with a scalable application that can be configured rapidly to meet the needs of an expeditionary force. Reflecting Australian efforts as well as those of the US and Western Europe, the UK MOD has undertaken a series of programs to replace legacy equipment with high-capacity data systems.
First introduced in 2010, Flacon replaces the British army’s older Ptarmigan system – which was designed primarily for voice communications instead of data – Euromux equipment, and the Royal Air Force’s Tactical Trunk System/Deployed Local Area Network application.
And while we are led to understand that the ADF does not want the Falcon system as such (see p.36), the ADF is believed to be especially impressed by the four levels of security that Falcon offers for data and voice.
Two types of radios are provided integral to the Falcon system. These are the Ultra Band I/III+ radio typically operating at 8Mbps, and the Thales Band IV radio capable of data rates up to 34Mbps. Depending on the node installation type, up to six radio links can be anchored by one node.
At the tactical level BAE Systems has developed the Parakeet trunking system and has been responsible for its upgrading to ATM access and maintaining the Raven CNR systems. The company has been involved in many major satellite communications projects in ADF land and naval domains.
So what is BAE Systems proposing for the Phase 2B BTN? With its considerable expertise in the Falcon and Parakeet tactical trunking systems is a COTS modification to the ADF’s existing BTN on the cards? This might see Parakeet STAs replaced by new vehicle-mounted terminals, perhaps based on the 2.4m MMST dish equipped with the WGS-certified Enhanced Bandwidth Efficient Modem (EBEM) providing high speed IP communications to converged IP networks, which it is claimed have been delayed by the ADF’s large investment in ATM and ISDN infrastructure
Raytheon and General Dynamics
Before General Dynamics Australia’s prime contract for JP 2072 Ph 1 was terminated, WIN-T was always in GD’s sights for later stages of the BCS-L project. Now Raytheon Australia’s managing director, Michael Ward has made no bones about what his team proposes for Phase 2B.
“We believe that the US WIN-T is the most viable MOTS solution for Phase 2B. It is fielded and in service with the US Army, it has the form and size requirements sought by the Australian Army and has a publicly declared growth path,” Ward said. “There is also strong merit in selecting a system that is not only interoperable with the United States but can be integrated with US operations. That the US Government has committed to invest in WIN-T for years to come is particularly beneficial.”
Like Falcon, WIN-T has been developed in incremental stages with the first increment based on transportable components at Division, Brigade and Battalion Command Post levels. All three have Satcom terminals while terrestrial LOS communications between shelters is provided by enhanced HCLOS radio (AN/GRC-245).
This increment has seen the development of the Brigade level Joint Network Node (JNN), its wide fielding and subsequent upgrade to WGS capability, reducing reliance on commercial Ku-band satellite. JNN, a rapidly deployable, early-entry system housed in a vehicle-mounted shelter for roll-on/roll-off mobility is seen as a form fit replacement for the ADF’s Parakeet system. This increment also saw the introduction of the dynamic Net Centric Waveform (NCW) that optimises bandwidth and satellite utilisation.
Increment 2 added mobility with a communications network down to the Company level and tactical communication nodes were the first step to providing a mobile infrastructure on the battlefield. This increment has also seen the delivery of an initial on-the-move broadband networking capability using satellite and radio links. This increment has been focussing on mobile formations, (Brigade Combat teams) to allow nodes to operate on-the-move from Division and Brigade down to Company levels.
Increment 3 has full OTM capability using military satellite, UAV, and commercial satellite relays. Unmanned aerial vehicle communications relays, as in the MQ-8, will supplement the satellites. This increment ensures communications interoperability with Joint, Allied, Coalition, Current Force, and commercial voice and data networks.
Finally Increment 4 represents the last of the developmental program elements and will provide technology insertions to enable enhanced satellite communications protection and greater throughput afforded by transformational communications satellites. Michael Ward referred to this ongoing improvement as particularly beneficial if the system is adopted by the ADF.
Raytheon will also be proposing for the Phase 2B bid, items from its own equipment inventory including MAINGATE, or the Mobile Ad hoc Interoperability Network GATEway, that will ultimately connect different tactical ground, airborne and satellite communications terminals together.
Raytheon says MAINGATE enables legacy analog and digital communication systems to be networked. It allows for many users to join the network at the same time and enables more than 30 different military and civil radios to communicate with one another while concurrently providing a high-capacity, mobile IP network.
The Raytheon Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) provides net-centric battle command to coordinate land, air indirect fire systems in support of maneuver operations. AFATDS has been adopted by the ADF.
Lockheed Martin and Elbit Systems
With the provision of its Battle Management System for Land 200, Elbit Systems has already secured a major component of the ADF’s tactical ISR requirements. In regard to Phase 2B, while it can probably boast the largest inventory of communications hardware, much of it relevant to the requirements of JP 2072’s various phases, as well as the software to manage and link these systems, it appears to us that Lockheed Martin’s role may be to provide support through its extensive network management and transmission capabilities.
As a subcontractor to General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin recently awarded a $16m contract with Harris Corporation for in excess of 100 Highband Networking Radios. It has been reported that this cutting edge radio uses directive beam technology to achieve higher throughput over longer distances on the move. The radio’s waveform enables automatic selection of the best communications path, and creates a self-forming, self-healing network. The advanced Highband Radio can enter and exit an area without the need for fixed network infrastructure or operator intervention.
Lockheed Martin sees interoperability as a major challenge for net-centric communications where the focus is on flexible, open architectures that connect airborne, naval and ground-based networks. These networks embrace new hardware and software – if a new hand-held computer is introduced, the network adapts to connect with the new device, just as it will for antennas, routers and satellites.
To accurately respond to threats, users need access to intelligence from a variety of sources, with varying levels of classification. The company says its technologies expand the capabilities of secure intelligence sharing. At every layer of the network, the latest security and information assurance technologies keep data safe and trusted – while allowing access to authorised users.
Does the foregoing suggest that Lockheed Martin will offer its network planning and management tools for such systems as Elbit Systems InterSKY® 4M military satellite communication which is designed to ensure highly reliable delivery of video, data and voice services between military headquarters and field units?
With support for both over-the-horizon (OTH) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) two-way communication, the InterSKY system enables both stationary and mobile military units at all levels to maintain full connectivity and tactical flexibility at all times.
Comment
These speculative observations on the possible proposals by three known contenders for the JP 2071 Phase 2B requirement may, or may not, reflect reality. Nevertheless we hope they prove of some interest to our readers (and even the contenders!).
*Army’s future challenges: an industry perspective, interview wth Paul Straughair, Raytheon Australia’s Momentum quarterly, 2/2011
Subject: Joint