Project Review: Joint programs - enabling the wider ADF capability offering

Of the nearly 50 major programs and phases currently being progressed by Defence in the joint space, several may not be high profile but nevertheless are key drivers towards an integrated force.

Julian Kerr | Sydney

“From my perspective, the four that are top at the moment in binding us together are JP 2089 (Tactical Information Exchange Domain); JP 2030 (Joint Command Support Environment); JP 2096 (Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Integration); and JP2047 (Terrestrial Communication),” Rear Admiral Peter Quinn, Head Joint Capability Coordination Division in the Vice Chief of Defence Force Group explained to ADM.

Under JP 2089 Phase 2, the Variable Message Format (VMF) text-based digital communications system achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC) on the RAAF’s 71 F/A-18A/B “Classic” Hornets in late 2014, enhancing interoperability with land forces during close air support missions. Installation of Link 16 was completed in 2008.

Attention under Phase 2 is now focused on completing the roll out of Link 16 and VMF on the RAN’s Anzac class frigates in parallel with but separate to the Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) program. Five Anzacs have now been upgraded, with completion of the eighth and last scheduled for 2017.

JP 2089 Phase 3 is currently being scoped prior to first pass and will provide additional Link 16 nodes ashore to facilitate training and exercises, RADM Quinn said.

 Credit: Defence

Moving from Link 11 to Link 16 provides the Anzacs with much higher bandwidth, greater resistance against jamming, more detailed information from other platforms on the network, and a much faster update rate, although the system is still line-of-sight.

A proposed additional phase will seek a Link 11 replacement to complement Link 16, possibly Link 22, utilising high frequency radio that will match Link 11’s over-the-horizon connectivity but provide higher data rates and improved jamming resistance.

At Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQ JOC), JP 2030 Phase 8 has been delivering a cohesive and integrated Joint Command Support Environment (JCSE) to coordinate major Defence operations on land, sea and air.

Enhancements to the information and communications technology infrastructure that were approved in 2011 under Phase 8, were expected to reach FOC in December 2015, RADM Quinn disclosed.

Enhancements include improved situational awareness for decision makers through a multi-source Common Operating Picture. A Preparedness Management Information System will provide timely access to preparedness data and facilitate analysis of that data for integration into operational planning.

The enhancements also include a Special Operations Command Support System (SOCSS). Core to the SOCSS, according to contractor Thales, is the provision of mission planning, situation awareness, intelligence, incident logging and reporting, workflow management and end-to-end connectivity from fixed-site headquarters to deployed tactical environments.

This will add further capability to the existing network and upgrade communications between commanders and Special Forces units in the field.

“Within HQ JOC the JCSE compiles, analyses and disseminates large amounts of incoming information and presents it in the right formats and with the right security, for an Australian commander,” RADM Quinn commented. “We do things in a particular way, we plan in a particular way, we conduct operations in a particular way. The JCSE pulls all this together into a system to support the Australian way of fighting.

“It’s mostly within JOC at the moment, the people on the watch floors. The next phase is to build on that and create the subsets of the command and control tools that you want to have deployed to support a Joint Task Force Commander.”

Although future phases have not yet been announced, they are likely to continue to consolidate existing command support systems into a single integrated environment linking all elements of the ADF, including battlefield and maritime command support.

A start on the complex task of integrating the ADF’s burgeoning Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets into a defence architecture kicked off in August 2015 with a Request for Proposal (RfP) for JP 2096.

The RfP, which closed three months later, described JP 2096 as a multi-phase and evolutionary program to enable and support military and intelligence force elements and organisations in their conduct of operations.

The JP 2096 Phase 1 solution will enable end users to discover, access, analyse, manipulate and disseminate ISR information and intelligence in a timely manner, regardless of location, organisation, activity or information source

The Phase 1 solution will deliver this functionality by providing the infrastructure on Defence networks to access, store, manage and process large volumes of ISR information and intelligence.

RADM Quinn pointed to the plethora of new ISR data collection platforms that would be coming on line – Joint Strike Fighters that on their own would provide many terabytes of data; P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft; Triton Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): MH-60R naval helicopters; and the in-service Heron UAS.

“How do we move these large volumes of data, what systems and tools are we going to use to analyse it all and once we’ve done that and catalogued it, how do we then get that information back to the deployed force, to the joint force commander’s headquarters, to the individual platforms like the JSF that require updated intelligence before they fly?

“Updating this mission data makes the JSF perform optimally. We’re pre-first pass at the moment on this project, we’re doing a lot of studies to learn from the US and others’ experiences and we’re looking at FOC in the 2020-21 timeframe.”

Under Project JP 2047 Phase 3 (Terrestrial Communications) a 6.5 year, $1.1 billion contract agreed in 2012, Telstra is working to deliver for Defence a secure, reliable and robust terrestrial communications capability built across a single network and a single set of standards.

The original completion date set for the first half of 2015 has slipped to the end of 2017.

But when fully operational the project will provide a domestic communications backbone boasting a vast resource of scalable bandwidth able to handle both surge demands and the arrival of further bandwidth-dependent capabilities.

“Whether it’s a new hydrographic capability, a new EW capability or the ISR-related project – and bear in mind that the data from a single Triton mission will dwarf the sort of data we might have had for very long periods of time 10 or 15 years ago – the glue that will tie all those things together is that terrestrial bandwidth,” RADM Quinn said to ADM.