SMi interviews Norwegian Armed Forces, Spanish Army, Royal Netherlands Army and PSM
SMi Group have released an exclusive set of interviews ahead of the only conference dedicated to combat vehicle C4ISTAR, Future Armoured Vehicles Situational Awareness 2017.
The event highlights the imminent need to prepare today's mechanised and armoured forces for the challenges of tomorrow within the broader set of C4ISTAR requirements for contemporary operations.
With expert insight and topical debate surrounding key issues such as vetronic architectures, sensor integration, CIS and battle management, this year’s agenda has been designed for those looking to deliver a new generation of information superiority to their armoured vehicle.
The Q&A's released with 4 of the keynote speakers are available to read in the event download centre ahead of their talks next month. Based upon the answers given it is apparent that Situational Awareness means different things to different people.
QUESTION: Situations - Who should we be aware of what, how quickly, how reliably, for how long?
Major Wouter Samson, Doctrine C4I, Manoeuvre Centre of Knowledge, Manoeuvre Centre of Excellence, Royal Netherlands Army:
ANSWER: "This is something that will require more studying since how we fight conflicts is changing. In a certain way total war is back because attack on civilian systems are back, for example cyber-attacks. These changes also happen in the military environment and it certainly is not always clear who the enemy is."
Colonel Manuel Jesus De Hoyos Sanchez, Head of 8x8 VCR Programme, Spanish Army:
ANSWER: "Three types of factors may be identified for the adequate operation of a ground vehicle. (1) The Chief of the vehicle in charge of the overall management of the vehicle and responsible for the success of the assigned mission, (2) the driver in charge of the driving of the vehicle, and (3) the shooter in charge of the weapon stations...nevertheless, it may be considered that there are some critical data that need to be provided with stringent requirements...data feeding the systems that may affect the safety of the crew, other units and the civilian population."
Major Ola Petter Odden, Norwegian Army Combat Lab, Norwegian Army Land Warfare Centre, Norwegian Armed Forces:
ANSWER: "The need for information and the ability/ opportunity to absorb information varies greatly in different situation. During a battle day you might have long periods of relative calm where you can access a lot of information. But when in enemy contact, you only worry about your immediate surroundings and survival. So the system must be able to switch modes."
Martin Röder, Project Manager IT Department, PSM:
ANSWER: "Every commander has to know everything about his team and the tactical situation they are in. There are the status of his vehicle, the condition of his crew, the tactical situation in near range and the position of his platoon members. The platoon leader has in addition to interact with his bataillion. The batailion has to know the tactical situation on high-level range to deploy the platoons at its best. Real time information are the most valuable source informations for all these purposes. The challenge is to exchange the right level of information between the different operation layers."