Leveraging Command and Control Technology to Provide Advanced Environmental Effects Decision Aids on the Battlefield

摘要

Computer and communication technology has been advancing within military command and control (C2) systems since the advent of the modern computer. These C2 systems have progressed noticeably from the first systems that were primarily stove pipe workstations that did not share information among the various battlefield functional areas (BFAs), much less among the services. Realizing this shortcoming and leveraging the advances in computer and communication technology, the 1990s saw a proliferation of networked C2 systems that automate the sharing of battlefield information. The ABCS connects numerous workstations (via a local area network) that cover the BFAs of maneuver, intelligence, field artillery, logistics, and air and missile defense. The Integrated Meteorological System (IMETS) is the Army's tactical system for weather and resides as a subordinate system of the intelligence BFA. IMETS provides weather data and weather effects to the various other BFAs as well as to the IMETS operator. The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed an Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) that is being transitioned to the fielded Army via integration with all BFAs. IWEDA processes high- resolution mesoscale model output into weather effects information for graphic and text display and allows the user to display as much or as little information about impacts as required. Figure 1 shows a weather effects matrix (WEM) over a 72-hour forecast period for several of the available weapon systems or operations. Emerging technology will allow for even more advances, including autonomous intelligent agents, more fully integrated software modules, cross service common applications, and the development of common displays and databases both within and across the services. This paper examines in more detail the current status of this environmental effects software, and discusses new applications that will leverage ongoing advances in computer and communication technology.