Network Centric Warfare: Towards a networked future - JP2089 | ADM November 2011

Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne

Every element of every defence force around the globe, be it a platoon commander in a river bed in Afghanistan or the commander of a national air defence centre, wants to communicate quickly and effectively with other elements.

As modern warfare demands a vast flow of data across the battlespace, the need to communicate and maintain effective Command and Control becomes even more critical. Many current assets are fitted with some form of data-sharing equipment, but only a limited number of these are able to actually communicate across a range of platforms.

When operating with other services, or in a coalition with other sovereign nations, each of which may well have different means of sharing information, effective communication becomes harder to achieve. Even within the ADF, the sheer amount of time it takes for an acquisition project to enter service can often mean technology has moved on and what was originally specified is no longer at the cutting edge when it enters service.

This is also true of the length of time some platforms remain in service. The Caribou for example served the ADF well over 45 years but was designed when there simply wasn’t a need for data-sharing.

As the ADF moves towards the networked future, new equipment such as the RAAF’s Super Hornet and Wedgetail and Navy’s new Air Warfare Destroyer will come with the latest Tactical Data Link (TADIL) capability. Others, such as the ‘Classic’ Hornet and Anzac frigates are being upgraded to the latest standards but there is much work to be done before everyone is ‘on the same page’.

A Tactical Information Exchange Domain is therefore an important tool and Joint Project 2089 is the ADF’s key enabler in this regard. The project broadly aims to assist in the transition from the current state, where there are multiple standards, different formats, limited connectivity and relatively poor interoperability, to the NCW ideal of the future where data is shared seamlessly between tactical assets and also with Command and Control centres such as headquarters.

According to the Defence Capability Plan, JP2089 was initially conceived to fit TADIL capability to the legacy platforms and capabilities throughout the ADF and to develop the infrastructure required to support data exchange at force level. It has the goal of ensuring that the tactical information created is processed and shared in a timely manner (real-time, near real time and non-real time according to the circumstance). “Under JP2089, the ADF is introducing a coherent and co-ordinated Tactical Information Exchange environment and is systematically introducing TIE capability top selected legacy platforms,” it says. “Tactical Data Links are the key information exchange systems within networked defence forces.

In essence this means installing a Link 16 and Variable Message Format (VMF) capability in the Anzac frigates (and in the future, the Canberra-class LHDs by virtue of their common Saab 9LVMk3E combat systems), VMF in the F/A-18A/B Hornet and, in the future, a VMF Capability for the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter. Other sub-phases of the project will provide infrastructure for the TIED programme and map out strategy for future upgrades.

Link 16 is becoming the standard throughout US forces and the ADF is gradually following suit. The ‘Classic’ Hornets were upgraded with Link 16 under the Hornet Upgrade, Air 5376 Phase 2.2, a couple of years ago and new platforms such as the Wedgetail AEW&C, KC-30A tanker and the RAAF’s Vigilare Air Defence Ground Environment are all Link 16 capable.

Link 16 is faster and more capable than the previous standard TADIL, Link 11, which has been around for many years now. It is the standard aboard RAN warships and, prior to the HUG program, was fitted to the RAAF Hornets.

Variable Message Format is mainly used by Army and is historically a lower-bandwidth text-based messaging system (as opposed to Link 11/16 Data Links which are largely graphical in presentation) used to transmit messages to a device which doesn’t have graphics. With the greater interoperability goal of a modern defence force, effective and timely communication is extremely important, particularly in operations such as Close Air Support or Naval Gunfire Support and the importance of accurate targeting data is obvious.

It is for this reason that VMF capability is being installed on the Anzac ships and Hornet fighters and, in the future, on Tiger. The Super Hornets were delivered with VMF from the outset, and the RAN’s three Air Warfare Destroyers will have this capability as standard.

Land Projects which will deliver a VMF capability are the Elbit BGC3 Command Control & Communications system delivered under Land 75/125, the Land 17 Artillery Replacement program and the Air & Missile Defence Workstation (AMDWS) component of Land 19.

The now-complete Phase 1 of JP2089 was a Project Definition Study, to identify current and future assets which would require Tactical Information Exchange systems out to 20125 and to ensure they could be capable of exchanging information across the battlespace. This phase therefore defined the scope of later phases. 

This was followed by Phase 2, which is a risk-reduction program for the implementation of VMF into the ‘Classic’ Hornet. Boeing Defence Australia has carried out work on a prototype conversion at Williamtown and validation/certification began at Williamtown in April. Design Certification was issued to Boeing on May 24th and flight testing will begin later this year.

Implementation of VMF onto the Hornet is similar to work being carried out on US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and uses the Rockwell Collins RT-1824(C ) ARC-210 radio receiver/transmitters, with a Boeing designed installation kit.

Phase 2A integrates VMF and Link 16 with the SAAB 9LV 453 Mark 3E Combat Management System on the Anzac frigates (and by association the LHDs), joining the Link 11 system already in use. Known as the Anzac Multi-Link Upgraded (AMLU) CMS it will permit VMF-enabled Naval Gunfire Support, using the Northrop Grumman Multi-Link Service Gateway, a modular and scalable multi-link processor and the Rockwell Collins ARC-210 185A(C ) radios with a Raytheon TacLink 3000+ modem.

The work is being carried out in Australia by SAAB Technologies Australia and, according to Marketing Manager Business Development, Mark Proctor, integration is largely complete. It is as yet unclear which ship will be the first modified, but sea trials are expected to commence in the first half of 2012.

Phase 2A will also provide the Initial Common Support Infrastructure to support TIED.

SyntheSys Australia, under contract to Jacobs Australia, was commissioned by Defence under this phase to study the issues involved with Link 11, Link 16 and VMF data fusion. Conducted between December 2009 and June this year, the study found that although significant protocol differences exist, data forwarding from VMF to TCDL is achievable.

Phase 2B of JP 2089 is the production installation of the VMF system on the Hornet and Boeing will begin the work at Williamtown in November. When complete the VMF installation will provide closer interoperability with land forces, particularly desirable during close air support missions.

In the current DCP two further phases of JP2089 will oversee infrastructure development and upgrades, as well as the VMF installation on Tiger.

Phase 3A, Tactical Information Exchange Domain (Data Links – Infrastructure) will, according to the DCP, “Further develop the Common Support Infrastructure procured and delivered as a ‘Proof of Capability’ Initial Common Support Infrastructure under Phase 2A.” It says IOC will be achieved with the provision and validation of the upgraded management systems with system training and support. It anticipates a Life of Type of 15 years but, given the rapid nature of technological advancement, a system refresh at intervals not exceeding five years is desired.

First Pass Approval is due this financial year with a Year of Decision somewhere between 2013 and 2015. IOC is timed for between 2015 and 2017, with the acquisition strategy to extend contracts let during Phase 2A where appropriate and compete any elements which may be outstanding.

Phase 3B will oversee a series of studies into VMF installation on the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter weapons system. Tiger is undergoing Operational Test and Evaluation at the present time and recently demonstrated its ability to control Close Air Support operations during the recent ‘Talisman Sabre’ exercise in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. During the exercise, Tiger crews worked closely with RAAF Super Hornets and USMC Hornets, controlling simulated strikes on enemy positions and earned high praise in the process. The VMF capability will allow greater ‘connectivity’ with troops on the ground and CAS or NGS assets, as well as a role in the greater NCW-enabled future.

First Pass Approval will occur between 2012 and 2013 with a Year of Decision about a year after that. IOC is expected to occur between FY2013-14 and FY2015-16.

JP 2089 Phase 4, Tactical Information Exchange Domain (Data Links – Upgrade) will, according to the DCP, “Continue the upgrade and refresh of the TIED and address selected legacy TDL platform integration and legacy issues.”  This is still some way into the future, with First Pass around 2015 and an IOC to follow in the early years of the next decade. Its scope will be refined as it approaches First Pass.

Platforms the ADF are acquiring, or plan to acquire, will come with TADILs other than Link 16 or VMF. The Navy’s MH-60R ‘Romeo’ for example will come standard with the US Navy’s ‘Hawk Link’ Ku-band Common Data Link, capable of transmitting high definition video over line of sight distances. US Navy ships are Hawk Link compatible, but RAN vessels are not and will need upgrading if the system is to be used by the RAN. There had been a suggestion that installation of Hawk Link equipment on Australian ships could form part of the ‘Romeo’ industry plan but this is yet to be determined and no proposal has been made public.

The RAAF’s Joint Strike Fighters will have Link 16, but will also come with a Harris Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) which permits secure data exchange between flights of F-35s over short distances.

With the rapid change in technology and the prospect of buying future defence equipment from disparate sources it will be difficult to ensure commonality without further phases of JP2089.

Industry has gone some way to solving these problems in the meantime. SAAB for example has developed a product called Widely Integrated Systems Environment (WISE) which, according to Mark Proctor, allows many of these systems to ‘Plug and Play’.

“Tactical Data Links are currently hamstrung by their essential criteria of having to be compatible with each participant’s C4I systems, no matter how old they are,” he told ADM. “The current set of TADILs such as Link 11 and Link 16 are governed by interface standards and protocols that were devised and agreed in 1955,” he adds. “WISE is an agnostic protocol changer that resynchronises all of the protocols in a C4I network, so each system sees the shared data in a format that it understands. Other systems can see data sent to the network once it is translated in a protocol version that the participating systems will understand.”

SAAB has recently completed a technology demonstrator project for the ADF Defence Capability Group. “The demonstration showed the exchange of tactical data in a number of scenarios. A frigate provided NGS against a land based enemy position which was designated by an Army forward observer. This forwarded data across two separate data links,” said Proctor. In a separate demonstration, a land-based RBS-70 missile attacked an aircraft target detected by a frigate’s radar. In a third demonstration, a foreign land force was integrated with Australian naval forces and Army battlefield planning systems. Finally, a training force collaborated with an operational sea and land force to achieve highly relevant pre-battle training.

“There is more to C4I than just tactical units interacting,” he said. “There’s also the issue of coalition C4I systems being aligned and inter-service systems being able to exchange information, orders and status. WISE is a game-changer in the C4I interoperability game.”

WISE participated in Exercise Allied Aurora at Puckapunyal in July and will be in the Multi National Experiment at the White Sands Missile Range in October.  

Subject: Joint