Mil
FüInfoSys / CCIS
"Digitizing the Battlespace"
- Buzz World or Planning Concept? Part
1
The following is a translated
+ revised article, which was published by the
author in Europäische Sicherheit, 9/1997 .
Buzzwords can make people prick up their ears
and arouse their curiosity. With the
expression "digitizing the battlespace," we
want to achieve the same effect in order to
draw people's attention to the influence of
information technology as a manifestation
of radical social changes, to the urgent tasks
associated with this and to the expected
drastic changes in the Army.
We want to highlight the significance
and consequences of a change which is called "digitization".
We would like to expand the public discussion
on command and control, and command and control
support to include the growing influence of
information technology, and to draw people's
attention to less obvious and usually
ignored aspects.
We will explain the consequences
of digitization and requirements for the structure
and actions of the Army as well as for its
operations and procurement.
______________________________
Under the heading of "Digitizing the Battlefield," the
U.S. Army has started roughly 15
years ago and still pursues the aim of an integrated
and overarching ("From the
White House to the Foxhole") employment
of information technology for command
and control support:
"Digitizing the Battlefield
is the application of information technologies
to acquire, exchange, and employ timely digital
information throughout the battlespace, tailored
to the needs of each decision maker (commander),
shooter, and supporter ...
allowing each to maintain a clear and accurate
vision of his battlespace necessary to
support both planning and execution."
The core and conceptual framework
is designed to integrate the command, control
and information systems of different command
echelons as an overarching formal
and doctrinal concept: "An interoperable
integration of C2 systems that provides
Commanders with the means to synchronize the
forces". The U.S. Army is on the
way onto the superhighway of information technology.
Numerous other armies, particularly in NATO,
took over tasks and speed in conceptual and
technical
development of information technology (IT),
and so did NATO itself. It became acommon goal
for modern armies to strive for an overarching
software architecture
which is to be designed as a truly seamless
data and communication architecture.
A "core
data model" and user interfaces
with the "same look and feel" for
all users
will apparently be the central elements of
the common architecture. Differences will
always occur where different information is
to be processed, or to be more exact,
where available data have to be displayed in
a different form and context. Depending
on the purpose, the branch or command echelon,
the display or processing of data
requires various types of access to the data
offered and various applications ("...
the
only differences between battlefield automation
systems are the applications").
However, despite all the differences in terms
of display and utilization of the data, the
system will provide the "common (relevant)
picture" of the situation to every soldier.
______________________________
Integration
Digitizing the battlespace thus means designing
an integrated command, control and
information system (CCIS plus BMS) as part
of a program which provides the basis
for planning and coordinating the development
and realization of individual projects.
This describes a wellknown strategy: top-down-planning
and bottom-up-building.
Such a top-down approach or Systems-approach
will meet the current and future
operational requirements of the Army. Just
as every IT system is the reproduction or
model of a real world, the design of an overarching
military command, control and
information system is to reflect the military "detect,
decide, deliver cycle" in the
current political framework of the post-cold
war era. It is exactly in this environment
that the following principle applies for digitizing
the battlespace:
The combined arms combat and
especially noncombat operations can only be
conducted successfully if those involved communicate
with each other on a real-time
basis. Digitization, which is by necessity
the final goal of increasing the efficiency
of
modern reconnaissance systems and conventional
weapon systems, requires equal
integration of the command and control as well
as weapon delivery systems. As a
medium, digitization offers at the same time
the capability of more or less direct
cooperation between the elements of the integrated
reconnaissance, C2 and fires
system by reducing the number of gateways and
interfaces. The information network
is thus the mainstay of cooperation within
the integrated reconnaissance, command
and control, and fires system.
The intention and primary function
of digitizing the battlespace is thus the synergistic
improvement of the command and control capability
and the related enhancement of
the military efficiency and effectiveness of
the Army. If this outstanding significance
of
information is basically acknowledged, it will
affect the planning, structure and
economic considerations of all modern armies.
So it does! ( ... )
And the planning documents for
the armies of the future reflect the acknowledgement
of the special importance of the operational
factor "information". ( ... )
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