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Many systems with multiple data standards can lead to operational stovepipes. So how can true multidomain interoperability be achieved?
The need for maritime forces to operate in partnership has been a long-standing requirement for navies and maritime agencies in the Asia-Pacific region. Operations in the Pacific, during World War II, highlighted the critical importance of projecting naval power to successfully win wider campaigns, and enable amphibious operations.
Naval capabilities remain an important aspect for countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. An estimated 42% of global maritime exports and 64% of maritime imports pass through the Pacific region – making sea lines of communication (SLOCs) in the region essential for global commerce. Additionally, expansive exclusive economic zones (EEZs) present a challenge to the protection of national interests, with resources stretched to ensure that full maritime domain awareness can be achieved.
Software is a major force enabler in developing and co-ordinating the requirements for maritime operations, with the ability to fuse data from a range of sources, a key factor to mission success. Operating in conjunction with allies and partners helps to spread the burden of wide area surveillance, but how can different countries’ C4ISR systems be brought together, and multiple domains share a common operating picture?
Multiple maritime partners
Operating in ad hoc coalitions is a key part of the inherent flexibility that maritime operations entail. Missions such as counter-piracy, narcotics interdiction, illegal fishing, peacekeeping, humanitarian and disaster relief, and counter-terrorism can bring together partners for missions that may not share the same communications and co-ordination systems.
“Finding a common communications thread for the transfer of data around a task force is now a key feature of ensuring mission success,” says Matthew Dodds, Business Development Manager – Maritime and Joint at Systematic Defence. “While many C2 platforms in the region aim to achieve interoperability with US systems, the ability to first communicate across the domains, then with other systems and protocols (such as NATO) is crucial to allow us to work together to produce a common picture and achieve shared outcomes.”
Supporting more than 20 data exchange standards, the SitaWare suite provides critical communications bridges between subsystems and platforms, as well as to commanders at all echelons. When conducting coalition or alliance operations, this flexibility gives commanders the ability to share data, as well as leverage a wide variety of assets – ranging from unmanned systems and video feeds, through to radar tracks, and open source intelligence data.
Bridging land, sea, and air
Sometimes a country’s own military has trouble working together. Systems designed for one force are created with a particular mission and domain in mind, and the ability to collaborate with another force is not taken into account.
As expeditionary littoral and amphibious operations move further to the fore for militaries in the APAC region, being sure to bridge the gap between those ashore and those at sea becomes more critical to successful operations.
Naval vessels are able to bring larger, more powerful, sensors to the field, helping to keep track of targets ashore and in the air, providing signals intelligence support to intelligence staff ashore, and more. Similarly, airborne intelligence assets can provide unparalleled intelligence support and analysis, through technology such as ground-moving target indicators, to deliver pattern-of-life assessments and battlefield imaging.
“Providing a more holistic sensor picture for those ashore by fusing intelligence gathered from air and maritime assets enables land forces to extend their situational awareness, well beyond their current grid square or the horizon. This helps to deliver the capability to anticipate the next move of an opponent, identify where support might be needed in the near-term, and develop a red picture for analysis by intelligence staff,” according to Dodds. “A fused, multi-domain picture enables naval forces to deliver their maximum operational effect and presents value to coalition and partner operations across all domains,” Dodds added.
The SitaWare suite provides the ability to fuse and correlate data streams to deliver a clear intelligence picture for full situational awareness around the battlespace. Reducing the stovepipes that can exist between service branches helps to ensure that delivering on a mission plan and strategic goals can be achieved through better force integration and combined arms operations.
Augmenting subsurface situational awareness
The role of subsurface assets – ranging from manned and unmanned submarines – is a key force multiplier for any navy. Planning their manoeuvres and deconflicting with surface assets is crucial to ensuring safe operations. Known as the prevention of mutual interference (PMI), this requirement extends not just to naval assets in an area, but to civilian vessels and infrastructure that may impact subsurface movements. Ranging from critical national infrastructure, such as telecommunications cables and energy pipelines, to fishing fleets, the maritime landscape can be complex when adding in the subsurface dimension.
“Subsurface assets provide valuable ISR capabilities to navies around the world. Their stealthy characteristics mean they can often go where other more traditional ISR assets are unable, and provide enhanced awareness of surface operations to strategic nodes. Deconflicting their operations – which is often limited by minimal real-time connectivity to allied forces – can support greater leveraging of their sensors for a common intelligence picture,” Dodds says.
Recent updates to SitaWare Maritime deliver advanced subsurface planning and awareness capabilities. The ability to dynamically update and redistribute plans around users means that any changes to plans and orders can be easily implemented, ensuring the smooth-running of operations across all the naval domains. Comprehensive water space management enables fourth dimension checks across time, space, and depth for commanders, with full visualisation to ease comprehension.
Read more about how the SitaWare suite can help to deliver mission success in the maritime domain by downloading our ebook here: Nine ways to maximise your maritime operations
