Page 39 - Jericho Force of the Future

COLLABORATIONS TRAILBLAZERS

Combat Support Group is using Plan Jericho impetus
to improve capability management processes in line
with the outcomes of the First Principles Review.
This will help to develop a 5th generation equivalent
command and control system to fully integrate airbases
INTELLIGENT into the broader Air and Space Operations Command
and Control Capability System (ASOC2CS).
Air Bases are very similar to static aircraft carriers. Their
Andrew Lucas WGCDR David Howard ability to generate, launch and recover air missions is
WATCH DOG battlespace.
Managing Director Capability Management dependant on their ability to effectively sustain, recover,
coordinate and deliver utilities and services under the full
AOS Headquarters Combat Support Group range of operating conditions – including in contested
The future Air Base Command and Control Capability
System (ABC2CS) will fuse data feeds from all ten air
base functional activities onto a single Air Base Command
Network (ABCOMNET) to support both decision
making and tasking or airbase resources. A dynamically
configurable Air Base Information Exchange will enable
Australia’s ability to defend against air attack depends on key aircraft, key bi-directional data exchange to facilitate tasking, reporting
bases, and key Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and and situational awareness between air bases and he
Command, Control & Communications (C3) assets. Australia’s capabilities broader ASOC2CS.
are concentrated in a very few, very high value, locations. If any of these Combat Support Group is working with Adelaide-based
bases was disabled or destroyed Australia’s air defences would be Daronmont Pty Ltd to define the network architecture and
substantially degraded. middle-ware standards for ABCOMNET. The functional
brief includes requirements for the network to operate
across multiple bearers and multiple information security
Agent Oriented Software, in conjunction with Insitu Pacific, has developed domains, with the capability for local bi-directional transfer
the Intelligent Watch Dog™, or iWD, an autonomous base intrusion of information between security domains. Other industry
detection, threat evaluation and response system. iWD monitors tripwire and vendors are also participating in the development process,
radar sensors for intrusion detection; and then autonomously selects and providing software and hardware solutions supporting
" AN AUTONOMOUS BASE dispatches an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or unmanned ground vehicle " BY ENGAGING WITH INNOVATIVE INDUSTRY PARTNERS, specific air base functions, including DPRA, Elbit Systems
INTRUSION DETECTION, (UGV) to investigate the intrusion; and provide an immediate video feed to COMBAT SUPPORT GROUP IS DEVELOPING AN AIR BASE Aus, DST Group and Northrop Grumman.
By engaging with innovative industry partners to develop
the base Security Command Post for assessment and response action. iWD
THREAT EVALUATION AND complements the existing Air Force surveillance systems, such as the Ex-TASS COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEM THAT DRAMATICALLY solutions employing leading-edge technology, Combat
RESPONSE SYSTEM..." ground surveillance system and the BMS battle management system. iWD IMPROVES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AIR BASES IN Support Group is developing an air base command
provides the immediate ‘eyes on’, ensuring that the Air Force Combat Support
and control system that dramatically improves the
Group guarding force understand the nature and intent of the threat they are SUPPORTING THE GENERATION AND SUSTAINMENT OF effectiveness of air bases in supporting the generation
facing. AIR POWER EFFECTS." and sustainment of air power effects. Air Commanders will
The key was to demonstrate the iWD’s potential and this has been achieved have unprecedented access to real-time air base capability
through two Jericho Dawn demonstrations, jointly supported by Plan Jericho, information pertaining to capability status and, force
the Royal Australian Navy and The Defence Science and Technology Group generation capacity to inform cyclical planning and agile
(DST). The initial Jericho Dawn demonstration for Air Force Combat Support basing decisions.
Group, using a single UAS, was in August 2015 at Coominyah airfield in
Queensland.
A second demonstration at Waurn Ponds, focussed on dealing with multiple
simultaneous intrusions, and then coordinated multiple vehicles, both air and
land, to respond to all these. AOS and DST Group developed a Multi-Vehicle
Tasking Station (MVTS) to provide CSG guards with an integrated display of
the potential threats, and the nature of the response initiated by iWD. The
MVTS also automatically displays video of the threats, transmitted from the
responding vehicle.
The team for the second demonstration comprised AOS, the Institute for
Intelligent Systems Research at Deakin University and the Aerospace, Maritime
and Weapons & Combat Systems Divisions of DST Group. The UGV is a Polaris
‘Ranger’ 6x6 ground vehicle operating autonomously under iWD.
For the RAN, iWD has potential for Force Protection of the surface fleet
in ports or anchorages. Future iWD developments will include UAS with
autonomous precision landing and recharging. For Naval force protection
iWD will include integration with the Navy’s Scan Eagle and an autonomous
Unmanned Surface Vehicle.

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