Information Superiority As a Force Multiplier

Information superiority in a digitized battlespace can be a force multiplier as it allows faster, secure communication between soldiers, commanders and various weapons and sensors, according to Thales which offered a rare insight into the command and control systems offerings of the company at DSA 2014.

 In an interview with Defenseworld.net, Valery Rousset – Operational Marketing Director, Thales, said, “We equip the joint intelligence centers with standardized solutions which will meet the highest military standards including NATO, with state-of-the-art information technology. This is combined to allow the user to focus on their main job which means preparing and conducting operations.”

By providing interoperable, secure and critical C4ISR (Computerised, Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems for information superiority on the digitised battlespace, “it brings the ability for every level of command and we have the intelligence to make sense and extract the enemy nature, attitude and intelligence and share the same understanding of the situation, synchronize their maneuver from the highest level to the lowest,” he explained.

The technology, he explained, is more transparent to the user. It is enabling interoperability and extended understanding of shared situations of the entire army, navy and air force battlespace. The components revolve around network communications which represent the interoperability between the forces.

Internet protocol is now a recognized standard including for military communications and on top of this we can deploy command and control or intelligence surveillance or reconnaissance surveillance applications which will enable to share the same level of tactical information between army, navy and airforce.

So this networking of the CSR is still a challenge and we are meeting this challenge so we can go forward in terms of information superiority. We are able to share multiple sensor information, we are able to relay orders and from HQ to the dismounted soldiers on the ground, he said.

“And we deploy this solution down to the combat vehicle, integrated combat vehicles and we manage each vehicle as a system. The equipments of the vehicle the GPS, camera, the gun, are networked together. We provide an overall supervision of the vehicle for the commander, gunner and driver,” Rousset said. 

Just like in a combat aircraft you can manage the vehicle from a single interface and allow supervision of your vehicle and also to share information within the vehicles because we are concentrating the voice, data and video inside the vehicle so that we can share observations, messages without speaking out load in the radio anymore, he explained further.