4 minute read
surveillance and reconnaissance data
52
Collecting
and disseminating
The Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system is now collecting huge volumes of strategically important data on behalf of NATO. AGS Force Commander Brigadier General Houston Cantwell and the NCI Agency’s Laryssa Patten update Alan Dron on its remarkable progress
Over the coming months, Sicily’s Sigonella air base will see the results of years of investment in the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system, as the ‘business end’ of the system, the huge RQ-4D Phoenix unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), lifts off the runway increasingly frequently for missions of up to 24 hours, feeding vital data back to analysts.
The AGS system, which achieved initial operational capability (IOC) in February, provides a significant advance in NATO’s ability to monitor the region. Five RQ-4Ds are now based at the site, patrolling far over the Mediterranean and beyond. “It can go out and range anywhere over the European theatre. It allows us to cover pretty much our entire area of responsibility,” says Brigadier General (BGEN) Houston Cantwell, AGS Force Commander. He notes that, within a couple of months of the IOC, the aircraft had been operating in the Black Sea area, where tensions between Russia and Ukraine are simmering. “We’ve shown the ability to get the sensor where we need it. We’ve proven its basic capability and the flexibility to get to the areas that are most interesting to senior leaders and to collect information.”
53
NITECH ››› ENSURING ACCESS TO CRITICAL DATA The Phoenix is a variant of the US Global Hawk, with its capabilities being most closely akin to the latter’s Block 40 version. However, it has additional upgrades, notably in the vehicle’s ground control station, which has an improved human-machine interface. The Phoenix gives NATO a capability it did not previously possess. Its sensors are a synthetic aperture radar, the beam of which creates a ‘picture’ of the ground beneath it, and a moving target indicator (MTI) that operates in both ground and maritime environments.
MTI gives the Phoenix the ability to scan a section of ground and calculate the number and density of moving vehicles or vessels. “We can provide these indicators and warnings that are going to be so crucial to our senior decisionmakers at NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and within our respective countries,” BGEN Cantwell explains. He adds that the team in Sicily was particularly excited by the ability to co-locate the handling of the processing, exploitation and dissemination of data from the vehicle at Sigonella. “All the analysts are co-located with us. The system is built so the pilots and sensor operators can work directly with the intelligence analysts.”
In the US, by contrast, the squadron operating the Global Hawk is based
in North Dakota, but data from the platform is sent elsewhere for analysis. “We also purchased mobile ground stations and transportable ground stations, so we have the ability to pre-position and forwardlocate the ground nodes that handle intelligence and send information directly down from the aircraft to those tactical nodes.”
The first RQ-4D Phoenix arrived at Sigonella in November 2019, with ‘Early Operational Capability’ declared in July 2020. All five have now been handed over. “Under the IOC, our contract is to fly a single operational mission every week. Duration is generally around 12 hours, although we can fly anywhere between 12 to 24 hours. We can sustain that pace fairly well.”
ENHANCED IOC
The next challenge is getting the aircraft airborne on a more frequent basis. And, this next stage – Enhanced IOC – will happen sometime in 2022. “That will allow us to increase surge capability, flying every day for two weeks. For Full Operational Capability, which isn’t for a few years yet, we’re looking at surges of up to a month, as well as operating two aircraft at the same time,” says BGEN Cantwell. “I cannot over-emphasise the part played by the Communications Enterprise – both the equipment and the personnel that play a role in maintaining connectivity. After each mission, the entire NATO AGS team scrutinises the link reliability, always seeking the highest possible levels.”
While the NATO AGS Management Agency (NAGSMA) is responsible for procuring the system and providing initial in-service support to get the AGS system up and running, the NCI Agency is providing CIS, cyber, satellite communications (SATCOM) and Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) services to support AGS operations.
“NCI Agency personnel played a vital role in having the unit reach IOC,” notes Laryssa Patten, the NCI Agency’s Space and AGS Portfolio Manager. “We do a couple of things that are very important for the AGS. We have a SATCOM team that transitioned the system from contractor-provided SATCOM to NATO SATCOM, together with troubleshooting support. We also have our customer support unit on site at Sigonella, which is the first line of support to the force. Our Agency’s cyber security team also carried out a vulnerability assessment of the AGS system.”
NCI Agency personnel also provided the NATO AGS Force with access to the NATO Secret network, allowing the force to exchange information and manage its operations.
54
