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Network-Centric Computers Strengthen Ground Forces
Equipment offers potential for increased coordination during coalition operations.
by Henry S. Kenyon
The U.S. Army is fielding growing numbers of a battle-tested command and control systems for its mechanized forces. Designed to transmit real-time data across a tactical network, the equipment allows commanders to know the locations of rapidly moving friendly forces on a battlefield. The technology also is being shared with the United Kingdom and soon may be offered to allied nations.
The Force XXI battle command brigade and below (FBCB2) computer is a vehicle-mounted system operating battle command software. The computer links to a global positioning system receiver and to digital radios. Some 12,000 FBCB2 units are currently in service with approximately 5,000 located in Iraq and Afghanistan, says Col. Ray Montford, FBCB2 project manager, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The colonel expects that the total number of systems will grow to more than 30,000 over the next 18 to 24 months.
The computers are provided to vehicles deploying to the Middle East and as upgrades for platforms already there. FBCB2s also are being installed on up-armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) and trucks used in Iraq. The colonel notes that one of every two up-armored vehicles coming off the production line is equipped with the system. Mounted in tanks, armored personnel carriers and aircraft, a small number of the computers also are available in a manportable package.
Although designed to operate at the brigade level and below, FBCB2s are deployed at all echelons, from individual vehicles up through theater-level commands. “Wherever vehicles are employed, depending on the criticality of the platforms, it can be used,” says Thomas Plavkin, deputy FBCB2 project manager, Fort Monmouth.
FBCB2 units have the potential to enhance coalition operations. At the beginning of operation Iraqi Freedom, several British units were equipped with the system, allowing the troops to track nearby U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps forces. This capability was so successful that the Army is working with the U.S. State Department to allow coalition partners to operate FBCB2s.
The Army has a formal agreement with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence permitting the FBCB2 and Bowman programs to share data. Bowman is the British Army’s command and control system. “There are a number of systems that do the same thing we do. Unfortunately, none of them are interoperable. What the advanced concept technology demonstration did was allow us to take a system such as FBCB2 blue force tracking and display those tracks using the network operations center and the blue force message translator. The commander won’t need 10 different blue force tracking systems. He can have one and populate it with all of the other systems’ different tracks,” the colonel explains.
Initially fielded with the U.S. Army’s first fully digitized units in 2000 (SIGNAL, April 2000, page 33), the computers generate and transmit position location reports and command and control (C2) information to other FBCB2 units across the battlefield. A flat screen allows operators to view operational maps featuring unit icons.
While FBCB2s allow users to know the location of friendly units, the system is different from the dedicated blue force tracking systems used by the Army and Marine Corps. Both use the same FBCB2 hardware and software, but their missions differ. The colonel notes that FBCB2 is primarily a ground-based asset operating a mobile tactical network. Each unit includes an enhanced position location reporting system (EPLRS) and a single channel ground to air radio system (SINCGARS) providing line-of-sight connectivity. In contrast, the blue force tracker is an over-the-horizon asset that relies on satellite communications links. “They give you tremendous range; however, the update rates are a little slower than the tactical systems,” he explains.
Based on operational experiences, warfighters indicated a desire to combine the blue force tracking capability into a fully dedicated FBCB2 unit. This would include a beyond-line-of-sight capacity and the high-speed updates provided by line-of-sight communications links, Col. Montford says.
Tactical FBCB2 networks can receive blue force tracking location data, but they cannot communicate with dedicated blue force tracking systems because of security considerations. The EPLRS/SINCGARS units can handle classified data, but blue force tracking systems are only cleared for unclassified information. This arrangement prevents direct C2 messaging between the two systems. Communications between the two types of units must pass through a command center for clearance. “What we hear most often in theater is a desire to improve latency between the L-band commercial satellite system and the ability to pass C2 messaging between those two systems,” the colonel says.
The mapping and communications capabilities provided by FBCB2-based equipment are very popular with commanders because they greatly enhance a unit’s situational awareness. Plavkin maintains that the system was directly responsible for preventing several instances of fratricide because it provided commanders with critical information.
Blue force tracking functions provided through all of the FBCB2 platforms also allowed officers to direct units across great distances in real time. For example, at the launch of operation Iraqi Freedom, Col. Montford relates that the commander of the 101st Airborne Division claimed this was the first time in Army aviation history that the deep fight could be controlled. “When aircraft go off to support ground forces, once they reach a certain point, they are out of range of line-of-sight communications. But with the blue force tracking capability, aviation commanders in the rear were not only able to see their aircraft in the deep fight, but also could communicate with them as well,” he says.
The FBCB2 also is undergoing a series of improvements. Plavkin notes that work is underway to streamline and modify the system’s software architecture to make it easier to add and install new applications and interfaces.
Another important area of work is the ability to incorporate the locations of known enemy units into the system. While allied forces knew each other’s locations during operation Iraqi Freedom, they advanced so quickly they often came upon enemy units by surprise because there was no timely data available about their positions. The Army is working with the U.S. Air Force to apply the FBCB2’s blue force tracking function to its joint surveillance target attack radar system (JointSTARS) aircraft.
Col. Montford notes that although JointSTARS platforms are capable of tracking every vehicle on a battlefield, they require additional assistance in identifying those units. Blue force tracking allows the aircraft to locate and track all allied forces in a region and pipe their locations to commanders. Unknown vehicles and forces also are tracked, alerting friendly units to potential threats. The colonel expects these upgrades to be completed later this year; all 17 JointSTARS aircraft will be able to receive and transmit blue and red force tracking data to U.S. ground units.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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The U.S. military is equipping more of its mechanized forces with Force XXI battle command brigade and below (FBCB2) computers.
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