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TRAILBLAZERS TRAILBLAZERS
INTRODUCTION OF
IBS/CIB ONTO THE REAL TIME ENHANCED
FLTLT Nathan Mula AP-3C ORION FLTLT Damian Richardson COMMAND CONTROL CHAT
Air Combat Officer Engineering Officer AND OVERVIEW INNOVATIONS
92 Wing 42 Wing
Through a Jericho ‘Bottom Up Initiative’, 92 Wing identified a need to
increase situational awareness and threat awareness for AP-3C Orion aircraft The E-7A Wedgetail is an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft –
conducting operations across the globe. After consultation with industry it has some of the most sophisticated surveillance and communications systems
and other government agencies, an off the shelf, roll-on/roll-off, Integrated in the world to enable the platform to maintain and share a comprehensive
Broadcast Service (IBS) and Common Information Broadcast (CIB) receiver surveillance picture of the battlespace. The capability is managed by
was procured and integrated onboard the Orion. Headquarters 42 Wing (42WG), operated by 2 Squadron (2SQN), sustainment
and acquisition is managed by AEWC Systems Program Office (SPO) and the
IBS and CIB are Network Centric Warfare (NCW) capabilities designed to provide, In-Service Support Contractor is Boeing Defence Australia (BDA).
through the exchange of Near Real Time Intelligence (NRTI) data, enhanced
situation awareness (SA) and threat warnings to users at all command levels Utilising the Plan Jericho framework of ‘Top-down Design Meets Bottom-up
(Strategic, Operational and Tactical). IBS achieves this through of Air, Surface, Land, Innovation’; 42WG/2SQN was able to develop two low cost and easy to implement
Space and Electronic Warfare objective identification, time critical targeting and systems that have dramatically enhanced the E-7A capability; namely Internet Protocol
event triggering data via secure data exchange. (IP) Chat and Integrated Broadcast Service over Iridium (IBSoI).
Through the innovation shown by operators and engineers at 92 Wing, Maritime IP Chat provides the mission crew with a real-time Command and Control chat
Patrol Systems Program Office (MPSPO) and the Joint IBS Data Management capability where the operators can send through messages to other agencies within
Unit (JIDMU), along with the flexibility provided by JP2065 – Integrated Broadcast the battlespace. IP Chat utilises the Iridium satellite constellation to provide Beyond
Service, the IBS/CIB receiver was integrated, tested and deployed on operations in Line of Sight connection from the aircraft to a ground node and then through existing
an extremely short timeframe in order to meet operational requirements of the Air networks, is passed to other ground agencies. The system was incorporated in a very
Force and broader ADF. The integration of the IBS/CIB capability directly enables short time and with enhancements is still used on the E-7A today.
92WG crews to operate with increased situational awareness in all operational IBSoI provides a real time enhanced overview of the battlespace to the Wedgetail
theatres to further enhance 92WG’s ability to meet operational objectives. operators. Lessons learnt from the IP Chat system enabled a different approach
whereby 42WG was able to undertake proof of concept testing and final installation
on the aircraft within three months. Completing the acquisition was the installation
of a ground segment in order to support ongoing operations in support of Operation
OKRA in the Middle East. From design to employment, it took the Wedgetail team six
months, meeting timeframes set by Headquarters.
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