Enhancing data processing for NATO air and space power

NITECH ››› OPTIMIZING DEFENCE WITH DATA

ENHANCING

DATA PROCESSING

FOR NATO AIR AND SPACE POWER

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NATO’s fleet of Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft is one of a multitude of data sources on which operational decisions

are made (PHOTO: CANR NORAD/USAF/DVIDS)

Brigadier General Andrew Hansen,

Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at Allied Air Command, tells Simon

Michell why it is important that his organization continues to find better ways to share its data in order to improve situational awareness and decision-making in operations

Q Why must NATO find new ways to share data between Member States’ sensors and NATO forces?

A Allied Air Command has influence and impact throughout the Euro-Atlantic airspace. Consequently, it is essential we leverage both national and NATO capabilities to realize the most effective deterrence and defence strategy.

In a world where potential adversaries are rapidly developing long-range ballistic missile and cruise missile strike capabilities, the rapid sharing of data between national sensors and NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence assets will be key to ensuring the protection of NATO’s populations and our critical infrastructure.

Additionally, ‘Indications and Warnings’ provide senior leaders with crucial information to facilitate rapid decision-making with respect to threats to the Alliance’s Area of Responsibility. Fusing information

Operators based at Allied Air Command provide shared early warning (PHOTO: NATO) 43

44 from national and NATO assets ensures wide-ranging and timely intelligence is available for assessment and decision-making at the appropriate level. Synchronizing collection activities across multiple nations, while focusing on different regions, can help address specific required intelligence needs. Cross-cueing of data between national and NATO sensors ensures enhanced collection, increases our situational awareness, maximizes the use of these high value assets and supports peacetime activities throughout the Alliance.

Q How will this enhance/achieve Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2)?

Rapid sharing of data is crucial to making sure that NATO Member States remain protected (PHOTO: NATO)

A We have already participated in JADC2 activities and will continue to look for opportunities in the future to develop this capability. For example, a recent exercise in the Black Sea, in March 2021, utilized assets from all domains and across NATO Allies to generate firepower and refine tactics, techniques, procedures and communication at the operational and tactical levels. Through these readiness-enhancing activities, Allied Air Command is continually improving our coordination with the nations and delivering tangible benefit to the Alliance.

Q How important is the cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhanced data sharing and processing?

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How can exercises help improve data-sharing between Allies?

A Maximizing the potential of both NATO and national exercises is paramount in improving data-sharing capabilities. Aligning national exercises with NATO efforts affords opportunities to test our capabilities in sharing information and, through critical examination, refines the required processes. Using these training opportunities creates mutual shared understanding between Allied nations in regard to the sharing of data. In addition, it provides ad-hoc learning moments, which stimulate innovation, new tactics and resilient partnerships. Exercises play a critical part in developing important data-sharing opportunities, while ensuring that appropriate information can be shared rapidly and is available for our senior leaders, aiding in their decisions, if the actual need arises. Focusing on specific exercises with Allies can help further NATO objectives while also creating pathways to increased readiness for all.

“The use of artificial intelligence in future operations could prove invaluable”

A The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in future operations could prove invaluable. First off, it is important to define AI. According to the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), it is the ability of machines to perform a task that normally requires human intelligence. Examples include recognising patterns, making predictions and learning from experiences. Machine learning is a subset of AI, focusing on data and algorithms to imitate the way humans learn. This capability can help to provide key insights and recommendations.

As you can imagine from the above definitions, AI, when housed in a cloud architecture and available to relevant Partners and Allies, will be a game-changer in predicting adversary actions and recommending relevant and timely decisions. By fusing all available data from nations and the Alliance and utilizing the processing power of AI, patterns that were previously unrecognisable at a human level will become clear. This enhanced data sharing and analysis will lead to a rapid Observe-Orientate-Decide-Act loop that can act as a deterrent to our competitors, and solidify an effective deterrence and defence for the Alliance, ultimately preserving peace.

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Thierry Weulersse

CEO, ThalesRaytheonSystems Air and Missile Defence Command and Control (TRS AMDC2)

What is the overriding gamechanger in the 21st-century Ballistic Missile Defence and C4ISR sector?

Increasing digitalization, combined with the tremendous speed that data exchange has now reached, means that Allied air, space and cyber power needs to catch up in order to stay ahead of potential adversaries. NATO is currently developing a joint concept of operations that urges all domains and forces to be connected, so that they can share the same assessment of the threats and propose options to counter them. The aim is to anticipate events in order to prevent them from happening.

Whilst we continue to improve our systems, and fully network them across the air, land, maritime, cyber and space domains, our roadmap aims at also capturing and storing all data in a vast data lake that will facilitate the required Cross-Domain Analysis. This will enable us to prepare options so that operators can select the most appropriate one to support the Joint Targeting and Joint Fires campaign plans that drive modern operations. The domain-associated command and control (C2) systems could, therefore, merge into one unique decision-making tool that will shape working procedures and, thus, de ne the future conduct of operations. In doing so, the ambition remains to maintain our advantage and initiative in order to overcome all adversaries.

Interoperability and interconnectivity, together with a common architecture and a set of standards, are key to success within the Alliance. Beyond the already-implemented interoperability and interconnectivity standards, TRS AMDC2 is working on upgrading the interoperability at architecture level to reinforce sharing within NATO’s Command Structure (NCS) Air Command and Control (AirC2), whilst safeguarding nations’ sovereignty at NATO’s Force Structure level (NFS).

How is TRS supporting the NCI Agency in leading AirC4I digital transformation?

To address new strategic intents, TRS, with its strategic partners, is developing new capabilities enabled by digital transformation. We have been maturing four key technologies since 2017 to deliver information superiority, thereby enabling enhanced situational awareness and collaborative decision-making in all domains:

– Arti cial intelligence (AI): a transversal pillar integrated into future cognitive sensors and unmanned assets, maximizing levels of autonomy for complex decisionmaking in command structures and within dynamically recon gurable communication networks; – Cloud computing: the heart of collaborative combat, enabled by data-centric architectures that provide powerful data valorization, such as multiplatform sensor data fusion and advanced decision-making; – Connectivity: a military Internet of Things (IoT), integrating next-

generation sensors, remote carrier swarms and C2 nodes in distributed, federated and resilient system-ofsystems architectures; – Cyber protection: necessary in a connected world where information guarantees operational superiority.

Cyber defence is to be coherent, integrated and aligned with NATO’s

Cloud Computing policy.

How is TRS integrating disruptive data technologies in its products and processes?

As part of a highly agile process, relevant technological and methodological advances were injected into a new Technology Accelerator that employs Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Proof of Concept (POC) methodologies to speed up both the Digital Transformation of the company and its product portfolio.

The Technology Accelerator was established using two groundbreaking projects – DRAKE (MVP) and ANTICIPE (POC):

– DRAKE: tackles open-system data-centric architecture through an Air Data Lake that grants access to the ecosystem partners and enables the development of digital applications and User eXperience (UX) design, in compliance with agile development and DevSecOps methodologies; – ANTICIPE: addresses the C2 system’s biggest conundrum – information overload. It does this through Human Autonomy Teaming (HAT) that uses AI in symbiotic collaboration with humans.

ANTICIPE is to be deployed as part of the upcoming large-scale NATO exercise Steadfast Jupiter Jackal 2022.