US DoD Seeks C2 System For Joint Task Forces

Jane's Defence Weekly | July 3, 2002 | Kim Burger

[Stand Watch Listen]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has begun a joint programme for developing and producing a command and control (C2) system that would be used by joint task forces and easily deployed worldwide.

Senior officials at the DoD have been interested in pursuing such a programme to close a shortfall in joint task force operations. There is currently no standardised package for deployment, and C2 capabilities are assembled using existing service systems, many of them unable to interoperate.

The US Navy, which has already begun work on a sea-based C2 centre, has been designated to lead the effort, and work is under way to develop requirements. The programme is budgeted at $460.2 million until Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) and it is expected to progress from development to acquisition in FY03.

"We think we have a way to fix the joint warfighting, at least in the near term," said Lt Gen Joseph Kellogg, director for command, control, communications and computer ( C4) systems for the Joint Staff. Improving interoperability among C4 capabilities is viewed as giving the DoD "the biggest bang for the buck," Gen Kellogg added.

Plans include building a hardware and software suite to be fielded to standing joint task force headquarters that are to be established at the five unified combatant commands by 2005 (Jane's Defence Weekly 27 February). The concept will be studied in the upcoming Exercise 'Millennium Challenge 02' sponsored by the US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM).

The Deployable Joint C2 suite will include collaborative planning, including secure video teleconferencing, and other capabilities to enable a headquarters to quickly exchange data and communicate, said Chris Shepherd, chief of strategic communications in the USJFCOM Joint Experimentation Directorate. "The key difference will be how it deals with information."

The centres will be sea- and land-based, and built on existing military C2 capabilities, like the Global Command and Control System. They will go beyond the capability of a forward-deployed headquarters established by the US Central Command.

Decision-making tools, en-route mission planning and an initial entry capability are envisioned. The DoD has yet to determine whether the centres will be kept in tents or trailers, or mounted on platforms.