Ambitious vision for network-centric warfare is sidelined as connecting systems effectively becomes priority

The US military's Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX) 2004, which ended last week, suggests the loftier aims of network-centric warfare are giving way to the more immediate goals of connecting existing aircraft and systems.

The underlying thrust of the JEFX experiments this year was not to show off new data collection systems, but to take existing assets and connect them using machine-to-machine interfaces.

The ultimate goal is to automate the task of processing all datastreams into a single operational picture, which is now mostly an error-prone and time-consuming manual process.

JEFX included 15 separate experiments performed over a three-week period. Each experiment represented a new technology selected by operational commanders as a needed capability, an endorsement that is designed to smooth approvals for continued development funding.

The air force has classified details of several experiments, such as Project Suter III, named after the late Col Richard Suter, a pioneer of air-power theory. It is known the Suter experiment attempted to leverage networked intelligence to track small groups of terrorists that are not easily picked up by radars or signals intelligence systems.

But the service has identified four projects that could yield near-term results in operations - network-centric collaborative targeting, the datalink automated reporting system (DLARS), Gridlock, and the satellite communications interference response system (SIRS).

DLARS uses the Link 16 datalinks on board aircraft to keep track of real-time mission data, such as current weapon and fuel loads, showing which aircraft are available to strike new targets.

Gridlock overlays geospatial co-ordinates on imagery provided by satellites or surveillance aircraft. The system should automatically correlate images to targeting co-ordinates in under 10s. The manual process can range from dozens of minutes to several hours.

SIRS is an effort to detect attempts by ground-based jammers to disrupt satellite communications. The Mitre-developed system tracks the source of the interference, and also shows which military users are being jammed.

STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC

Source: Flight International