NITEWORKS MOD/INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED FOR TESTING NETWORKED WARFARE
28 Aug 03. BAE Systems welcomed Lord Bach, Minister for Defence Procurement to Farnborough today to officially launch NITEworks) a joint MoD/Industry partnership for exploring networked warfare.
The partnership is intended to contribute to the evolution of an integrated sensor-to-shooter network that processes relevant, timely and accurate information to commanders and decision makers.
Lord Bach said,”NITEworks will play a key role in realising the vision of a truly network enabled capability outlined in the new chapter to the strategic defencereview.”
NITEworks is now fully operational and conducting initial work packages aimed at better integrating existing MoD assets. These initial work packages revolve around integrated direction and co-ordination of indirect fire in the land battle, time-sensitive targeting within the entire battlespace, and integrating work for Special Forces.
NITEworks will use BAE Systems state-of-the-art Battlespace Management Evaluation Centre, separately developed to pursue network-enabled solutions, as a key tool for integrating systems, visualising concepts and experimenting in real time.
“This centre is linked to the MoD,s joint command and battlespace management demonstrator at Portsdown West and other BAE Systems and partner sites. It will provide a hub for experimentation that will help optimise the company’s progress towards a fully integrated Network Enabled Capability,” said Mike Turner, Chief Executive, BAE Systems.
BAE Systems is providing overall industry leadership for the NITEworks partnership, supported by QinetiQ and will be engaging industry partners and associates to help deliver the NEC vision.
Adam Baddeley, Deputy Editor, BATTLESPACE, is writing a feature on BAE’s NEC capabilities in our AUSA October issue.
DoD ANNOUNCES QUANTUM LEAP-1
28 Aug 03. John Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration and chief information officer of the Department of Defense, announced today the successful completion of Quantum Leap I. The exercise demonstrated a concept of net-centric operations called “horizontal fusion ” — the ability to integrate data from several sources for rapid and effective decision-making.
The live demonstration of net-centric capabilities was carried out at a variety of military locations, including the Defense Information Systems Agency, Falls Church, Va.; the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C.; and the McKenna Military Operations in Urban Terrain Site at Fort Benning, Ga. Horizontal fusion portfolio initiatives — a joint suite of military communication and intelligence capabilities in development by the armed services — will use multiple Web-enabled portlets, on-line foreign language translation and leading edge computing services to provide a dynamic look at tactical operations for real-time collaboration, situational awareness and sense-making.
Stenbit pointed out that net-centric warfare adds flexibility in providing battlefield intelligence from pushing information from the intelligence analyst or commander to smart pull of information by the user according to user-determined preferences. “This transformation is critical if, in the future, the department will have the intelligence-sharing needed to fight emerging threats of asymmetric warfare and terrorism.”
The horizontal fusion portfolio was launched Jan. 20, 2003, in response to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s vision of transforming the department. The horizontal fusion portfolio is slated to continue through 2008, expanding and accelerating DoD’s net-centric capabilities. Speaking of these emerging capabilities, Mr. Rumsfeld said, “Possibly the single-most transforming thing in our force will not be a weapon system, but a set of interconnections and a substantially enhanced cap