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Coalition combat identification technologies stressed using realistic tactical scenarios
Warfighters from around the globe are using realistic scenarios as they evaluate procedures and technology designed to reduce friendly fire.
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By Casey Bain
JFIIT, USJFCOM
(CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Nov. 4, 2009) - A coalition team providing humanitarian assistance to a war-torn village receives heavy sniper fire from a nearby building where friendly forces patrolled earlier.
The team contacts a British joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) to provide close air support while safeguarding refugees in a defensive fighting position.
The JTAC locates the threat and passes information to a U.S. Air Force F-16 overhead. The pilot receives the threat information, initiates a friendly force location request from a Smart-Pull Warfighter Information for Targeting (SWIFT) combat identification (CID) server on the ground, confirms there are no friendly forces in the targeted area, and neutralizes the threat.
This event did not occur in some faraway land; it occurred during Bold Quest (BQ) 09, a U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Joint Capability Development Directorate (J8) coalition combat identification (CCID) advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) here and at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. The exercise ends Nov. 5.
"We're collecting quantifiable data on the CID systems' performance as well as the subjective evaluations of the aircrews and joint terminal attack controllers as a basis for post-event analysis to inform U.S. and allied senior leaders who can make investment decisions," said John Miller, USJFCOM Joint Capability Integration and Fires Division's BQ 09 operational manager. "We're trying to give coalition shooters the tools that will allow them to sort through the confusion of war to be faster and more accurate in a gunfight."
USJFCOM's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team (JFIIT) is assisting with the military utility assessment of the SWIFT CID server during the exercise.
"The SWIFT server is a perfect example of how we could improve our CID capabilities of our coalition team," said Bob Summitt, senior analyst, JFIIT. "SWIFT provides the pilot with an on-demand request capability for friendly force location information. The pilot can initiate a request for friendly location information from the CID server located on the ground and receive real-time situational awareness data in the cockpit where he can quickly verify friendly locations in the area of interest to enable a more efficient response to the ground commander's request for close air support."
This demonstration's focus is on air-to-ground CID system assessments and refining tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) by using different air-to-ground CID technologies to improve U.S. and coalition capabilities and combat effectiveness.
"The USJFCOM and coalition team assembled here is providing an ideal opportunity for our military and multinational partners to continue their assessment of advanced CID technologies," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Paul Brenner, JFIIT exercise lead at BQ 09. "These technologies could enhance our ability to identify friendly objects in battlespace and help enable quicker shoot - don't shoot decisions that are crucial in today's warfight. The SWIFT CID Server is one of the key systems that could help improve this process."
More than 800 personnel, representing all U.S. services and 10 coalition partners from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are participating in the two-week demonstration.
"We're trying to prove how the digital close-air support system works in a coalition environment and develop those tactics, techniques and procedures," said Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Dave Merrick from the U.K. Joint Air Land Organization. "We want to shorten the sensor-to-shooter time and in this environment we can all learn from each other."
"Our goal is to make sure that the systems that we're fielding are interoperable with our coalition partners," said Norwegian Army Lt. Col. Bjorn Kristiansen, Norway's national lead at BQ. "Our rule of thumb is that the operations that we'll participate in will be coalition in nature so we must ensure that we can provide our units with the necessary tools to be successful in that environment."
According to BQ 09 leaders, one exercise objective is to collect CID system performance data and user feedback to shape future capability development.
"By ensuring these technologies are built coalition interoperable we'll enable them to do that more quickly, accurately and effectively," said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Louis Albiero, JFIIT staff officer at BQ. "We have an inherent responsibility to do everything possible to reduce the potential of fratricide for every member of our team and we've got to get it right."
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