Upgrades by Boeing to the situational awareness picture utilised in the CJOC within Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System (HQIADS) is giving the member nations of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) improved multi-domain situational awareness across the Malaysian peninsula to aid in military decision-making during FPDA exercises.
The integration, automation and performance upgrades are providing the FPDA nations – Australia, UK, Malaysia, Singapore and NZ – with increased situational awareness through one Recognised Maritime/Air Picture for the conduct of combined joint exercises, from planning to execution.
Commissioned during Exercise Bersama Shield in May 2017, the system, named the IADS Command and Control Information System (ICCIS), resides within the CJOC located at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth.
The new system integrates multiple data and sensor pictures from the Singaporean and Malaysian air battle management centres onto a single screen, as opposed to multiple screens under the legacy system.
During FPDA exercises, this presents HQIADS commanders with a single, integrated battlespace picture at HQIADS, and importantly across new remote training sites in Malaysia and Singapore.
“Boeing used Australian engineering to deliver a deployed capability which vastly improves situational awareness and decision making capabilities for the FPDA forces during exercises,” vice president and managing director for Boeing Defence Australia Darren Edwards said.
“The upgraded system delivers an enhanced capability enabling FPDA forces to conduct exercises using a secure connection.”
As part of the upgrade, Boeing Defence Australia designed a virtualised server system to reduce overall hardware and software lifecycle costs and to expedite the addition of consoles and data or sensor feeds during future exercise scenarios.
A new fully integrated in-house simulation training capability also provides for real-time training, strategy and planning of future battles.
The key features added to the ICCIS are being incorporated into the Boeing-built Vigilare ground-based air defence system, with phase 1 due for delivery to the Australian Defence Force by end-September 2017.