Weapons: Land 17 - more than artillery pieces | ADM Jul 2010
With the lightweight towed howitzer component of the Land 17 Artillery Replacement project ‘in the bag’ in the form of 35 M777A2s, and the possibility that the other element of the Army’s future indirect fire system, the self propelled artillery system, has been shelved for a while, we can now turn our attention to the means for their tactical control used by the forward observer (FO).
Tom Muir | Canberra
When he announced last October that first pass approval had been accorded the acquisition of the M777A2, Defence Minister Senator John Faulkner said that the Army’s future artillery system would be further enhanced through the acquisition of a digital terminal control system for the tactical control of artillery, naval and close air support fires by forward observers and joint terminal attack controllers.
He said this element of the project would be considered by government in the second half of 2010.
The digital terminal control system is part of Land 17’s Battle Management System Fires (BMS-F) which consists of the following, interlinked, components:
• BMS-F (C2) AFATDS • BMS-F Forward Observer (FO) Digital Terminal Control System (DTCS)
• BMS-F Fire Control System (FCS) located on the LW155 and SPH Platforms.
Originally a part of Land 146 Phase 2, Combat ID for Land Forces, the DTCS was transferred to Land 17’s BMS-Fires, for which AFATDS was selected for the command and control (C2) element, in view of the BMS-F (FO) requirement to be able to uniquely identify enemy, unknown and friendly units.
According to the original ITR the (indicative) requirement was for up to 107 sets of FO/TAC equipment including appropriate artillery fire mission, offensive air support and naval surface fire support software operating on a Military Rugged Tablet (MRT) computer.
Supporting the management system will be a video capture device (ROVER 4), tripod and angulation head, digital combat radio (PRC-117) with VMF, laser rangefinder (LRF), laser target designator (LD), batteries and a backpack.
ROVER 4 is a portable receive-only terminal that displays sensor data from multiple airborne platforms.
It supports Ku and C-band digital, and C, S and -band analog signals.
The LRF will incorporate thermal night vision and optical magnification to enable targets to be detected at least five kilometres (day) and 800 metres (night), and range determined to at least 10 kilometres.
In short, the requirement is for an advanced FO system handling the normal aspects of target location and description, and therefore the response in terms of number of guns, fuse, charge, projectile etc, the command authority to fire, followed by battle damage assessment.
Also included is the simultaneous coordination and execution of multiple fire missions with different fire units.
The FO system must also to be capable of calling in and handling offensive air support (OAS) as well as naval surface fire support (NSFS).
As one might imagine from its provision of accurate targeting data for offensive fire support across the land, sea and air domains, the FO system chosen will involve a number of integration tasks.
It must be fully integrated with the artillery fire control systems (FCS) of both the M777A2 LWT and the yet to be selected SPH 155mm, and must also be fully integrated with AFATDS and other components of the ADF’s network centric system.
It must also interface with the Land 75 and Land 125 vehicle-mounted and dismounted BMS systems provided by Elbit Systems, to receive friendly force location and tracking, identification of enemy locations, and all-arms call for fire.
Communication interfaces
The FO system will need to transmit and receive data from the AFATDS and the FCS systems using both combat net radio (CNR) and local area network (LAN) channels.
The FO system will also need to demonstrate the potential to interface into a range of fixed and rotary wing assets from both Australia and allies such as the US.
ADM understands the ADF’s current FO/JTACs are equipped with Thales Optronics Sophie MF thermal camera integrated with an LTM-91 Laser Target Marker, and the AN/TPQ-36 Weapon Locating Radar with outputs reported over a voice network using the Harris AN/PRC 117 F multi-band single channel CNR.
Forward Observers are also equipped with ROVER for eyes-on-the-target capability.
As ADM has previously noted, the PRC-117 is in wide service with the SOTG, has a digital bearer capability and has waveform compatibility with RAAF and Navy radio systems.
It is used to call for fires and air support operations, often cued from the air picture/video received by ROVER from some ADF (AP-3C) but mainly from Coalition targeting pods.
With these requirements in mind, ADM has assumed that the following digital terminal control systems are under consideration for the BMS-F (FO) requirement:
Stauder Technologies Strikelink
StrikeLink is the software component of the target location, designation, and hand-off systems (TLDHS) employed by USMC forward observers.
The system provides the FO with the ability to quickly acquire targets in day, night and near all-weather visibility conditions.
It can then precisely determine operator location as well as that of their targets, then digitally transmit secure data to multiple supporting arms elements.
Of particular interest to the Land 17 IPT is that it is fully integrated with AFATDS (C2, COP/Artillery & Naval Fires) and with F/A-18.
Strikelink supports a range of targeting systems including the laser range finders currently in ADF use, and radios including AN/PRC-117 (Harris), AN/PRC-119 (ITT Industries), PSC-5 (Raytheon) and later, AN/PRC-148 (Thales MBITR).
Product improvements include supportability for Naval Fires Control System (NFCS), Link 16 interoperability, image transfer, cursor on target (CoT) and rotary combat air support.
StrikeLink can determine operator location as well as that of their targets, then digitally transmit secure data to multiple supporting arms elements.
StrikeLink supports the CAS mission with AV-8s, F-16s, and F/A-18s, as well as artillery missions with AFATDS and NFCS naval gunfire missions.
Rockwell Collins FireStorm
The FireStorm integrated targeting system comprises a lightweight, fully integrated, mission configurable suite of hardware and software including tablet PC, Laser Range Finder (LRF), Laser Target Designator (LTD), StrikeHawk real-time video receiver, a Rockwell Collins Azimuth Augmentation system and manpack radio.
The Azimuth Augmentation system, an important part of the package, provides targeting precision by correcting Laser Range Finder (LRF) inaccuracies and enabling the precise delivery of modern GPS-guided weapons.
The system also includes the Rockwell Collins DAGR GPS receiver, tripods and other system ancillaries.
StrikeHawk is a carefully designed, extremely rugged compact military video receiver for reception of real-time video transmitted from targeting pods, UAVs or other surveillance platforms enabling information for the tactical user.
At the heart of the FireStorm system is a lightweight tablet PC which hosts the Rosetta Joint Fires software providing connectivity to the various system components.
Battle manager, situation awareness, Blue Force Tracking (BFT), text messaging and Air Support Requests (ASR) are processed, transmitted and received via the tablet PC enabling the sharing of peer to peer data and target identification between ground targeting, air support and call for fire missions.
Elbit Systems UIDM
Elbit’s Australian representatives are reluctant to speak but ADM believes the Elbit UIDMÆ V2 is being offered for this requirement.
This is a two-channel stand-alone tactical router designed for ground and air systems with an ethernet interface.
When coupled to a radio, it sends interoperable digital data information to a variety of military assets and enables the sharing of accurate and timely information.
Its uses include both CAS and JTAC and provides a Blue Force Tracker (BFT) gateway.
It is interoperable with F-16, F/A-18, AH-64D, OH-58D, AV-8B, AFATDS, as well as Northrop Grumman’s BFT, C2PC and C2CE.
Along with the C2 system we expect Elbit would be offering a dual FOV Thermal Imaging camera, CORAL-CR, which supports target acquisition capabilities by determining self positioning and detected target position.
These capabilities are achieved by a laser range finder, a digital compass and a GPS which are mounted and boresighted together with the FLIR.
Combined with the new PLDR, a lightweight laser designator developed at ElOp, observation and target acquisition systems become target designators – the most critical element in the kill chain Elbit says.
Weighing only 5.5 kg the PLDR can be attached to almost any target acquisition kit.
This targeting system can designate targets to ranges up to 10 kilometres.
US Joint Effects Targeting System
While its current developmental status may preclude the US DoD’s Joint Effects Targeting System (JETS) project from immediate ADF consideration the aims behind its development are of interest.
The JETS is a US Army, USAF & USMC program to develop and field a common man-portable target locator / designator suite for forward observers and air controllers.
JETS will provide dismounted JFOs and JTACs with a lightweight, highly accurate targeting system that will allow target engagements with Precision Munitions (e.g., JDAM and Excaliber) and the digital connectivity to request and control indirect fires and close air support from all joint assets.
The planned system comprises two major components: the Target Location Designation System (TLDS) and the Target Effects Coordination System (TECS).
The TECS, used in conjunction with the TLDS, provides the means to transmit targeting data to the digital fires network.
This facilitates requests for fires and close air support, and provides the ability to control those engagements, through digital communications with attack aircraft.