Maintaining Interoperability in a Target-Rich Environment

Abstract

Achieving interoperability in a net-centric environment is fundamental to maximizing the potential of information sharing and effective use of resources in military operations. With the increasing reliance on unmanned platforms worldwide, there is a need to study the limitations of existing Command and Control (C2) Systems in dealing with the increasing number of objects. More processing power would be required to achieve or maintain a certain level of efficiency and effectiveness of the C2 system in managing and processing the tracks detected. Also, with increasing collaborations between services and allies, interoperability between multiple systems is pertinent. An additional challenge is the need to exchange target-rich tactical picture information. A systems engineering approach was used to identify the critical factors necessary in a C2 system to be architected to satisfy the needs for a future C2 system able to achieve and maintain interoperability in a target rich environment. A pilot study was conducted using ExtendSim to model growing networks and injection of increased amounts of data to assess their impact on the timeliness of information received by the system nodes. Potential future work on the pilot study was described.