standard sharable geospatial foundation, a common application framework and virtualization, supported by technical guidance, developers’ handbooks and a software development kit.
MISSION COMMAND GOES MOBILE Te Joint Battle Command – Platform (JBC-P) provides a glimpse into the future of mission command. JBC-P is the Army’s primary situational aware- ness tool and the foundation for the MCE. MCE, in turn, is the COE’s standard for tactical vehicles, which continue to evolve into mobile mission command centers and serve as a vital link between dismounted Soldiers and their higher headquarters.
With intuitive tools that include a Google Earth-like interface with touch-to-zoom maps for quicker views of precise loca- tions, drag-and-drop icons for placing enemy locations or improvised explosive devices on a map, and chat rooms that allow instant messaging, JBC-P reflects heavy Soldier involvement in its devel- opment. Fielding of JBC-P will begin later this year. Trough JBC-P, which upgrades the widely fielded Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below/ Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2/BFT) sys- tem, Soldiers in tactical vehicles will be able to access new applications as well as tools they have come to rely on.
As the JBC-P program explores the poten- tial technical benefits of greater alignment with the well-known Android-based infra- structure, new levels of
interoperability
in the MCE could open up for industry, which can quickly build to the COE. Tis alignment with the Android operating system would also set up greater interoper- ability between the MCE and the mobile, handheld computing environment found in Nett Warrior handheld devices. As
JBC-P accepts the migration of more capa- bilities through the COE, the Army will leverage existing FBCB2 hardware while continuing to evolve new solutions.
Te Army took a significant step last year with the signing of a contract between PEO C3T and DRS Technologies Inc. for initial delivery of a single hardware solu- tion in vehicles known as the Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS). With a modular “build your own system” computer, users will be able to access and operate several different software appli- cations over a single piece of computer hardware that is scalable and tailorable to the mission and vehicle. Developed to converge separate computing functions into a single architecture, MFoCS will run JBC-P and other command, control, communications, computers, intelli- gence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) applications.
CONCLUSION Te tactical mission command of the future—in which the Army will stan- dardize what Soldiers see across handheld devices, vehicle mounted systems and command post screens—will provide oper- ational agility across warfighting functions. Just as the iPhone keeps the complexity
“inside the box,” delivering a user-friendly interface with apps that are easy to obtain, change, upgrade, develop and test, so, too, can Army mission command.
By continuing to break down separate systems into capabilities that can run on a common infrastructure, building in intuitive features, and aligning CP CE and MCE for unified data on a common operating picture, we can offer Soldiers a computing environment that mirrors what they use in their daily lives.
Along with the operational benefits, the Army expects to realize cost savings by
combining hardware and other infra- structure, reducing software development efforts, and right-sizing the number of field support personnel required to train Soldiers, troubleshoot systems and sus- tain the tactical network. Moving from hardware-centric
to software-centric
development, with standardized appli- cations that industry is familiar with and can build to, is projected to yield further reductions.
Already under CP CE, PEO Aviation’s Tactical Airspace Information System has converted from a stand-alone client to the more efficient Web-based approach, resulting in a cost avoidance of $32 mil- lion through FY25. Also, under MCE, the signing of the MFoCS contract repre- sents a reduction of as much as 36 percent in the cost of the basic vehicle-mounted computer while increasing its perfor- mance by as much as 350 percent.
With the guidance of the network modern- ization road map, combined with targeted efforts for accelerating a tactical comput- ing environment that allows for shared applications, unified data and services using common hardware over a reliable, secure transmission network,
the Army
will achieve its operational and program- matic goals—and pass the iPhone test.
For more information, go to http://peoc3t.
army.mil/c3t/.
MS. PORTIA I. CROWE is the PEO C3T COE lead and command post chief engi- neer. She is a PhD candidate at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and holds an M.S. in engineering management from New Jer- sey Institute of Technology and a B.S. in computer science from Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. She is a member of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
ASC.ARMY.MIL 63
ACQUISITION
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