Battle Management Systems
Posted on 01 June 2015
Middle Managers
The proliferation of communications and reconnaissance equipment has never been healthier in the Asia-Pacific with western nations sharing technology and indigenous companies manufacturing and refining mature products. This article examines some of the BMS programmes in the region.
by Andrew White
The implementation and operation of communications and reconnaissance technology is effectively rendered useless without sufficient Command and Control (C2) Battle Management Systems (BMSs). These effectively manage the information and imagery being generated by land, sea and air platforms, and enable its dissemination across the battlefield.
In the land environment, a BMS is a critical component for any operation from those performed at the tactical level, up to operational-sized deployments. The vast array of platforms on the modern battlefield, as well as multinational operations with coalition partners, has led to BMSs becoming integral to any type of operation which occurs in a joint context. To this end, the BMS plays an invaluable role in linking dismounted soldiers with armoured vehicles, command centres, air-craft and naval vessels to name just a few.
According to MarketsandMarkets (sic), an India-based consultancy, the global BMS market will be worth approximately $12.6 billion by 2019, with driving factors including “innovations and modifications…to ensure the safety of troops”, according to its Battle Management Systems Market report published in February 2014. “The main purpose of a BMS is to ensure the survivability of the troops on a battlefield with real-time tactical information. The wide range of threats that are currently present are a driving factor for BMSs (and) the threat of all these entities force nations to acquire or develop a suitable system.” It continues: “The land (domain) makes use of the BMS most, in comparison to the other two (maritime and airborne) … comprising 80.3 percent (of this market) while the airborne- and naval-based BMS (market) comprise of the remaining 19.6 percent of the total battlefield management systems market share.” The report goes on to say that, “(t)he market will see tremendous growth in BMS applications (for) force modernisation, and armoured vehicles procurements.” Additionally, the report highlights how traditionally the United Kingdom and the United States have comprised the largest markets for BMSs, although the current fiscal environment has recently constricted activity in these nations, given the real-term year-on-year reductions in these countries’ respective defence budgets experienced in recent years. “Key markets like Republic of Korea and Australia can drive the growth of the market,” the report adds, saying that, “China remains a tough market to crack with strict government regulations in the defence sector, indigenous programmes and copyright issues with respect to military hardware, and technology.”
India
The Asia-Pacific region recently witnessed one of the largest contract awards in the BMS domain with the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) selecting two consortia to develop such a solution for its armed forces. On 25 February the MoD awarded an $8 billion contract under the ‘Make India’ category of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Rolta India Limited (RIL) respectively to develop BMS capabilities for the Indian Army. The DPP is an official set of requirements issued by the MoD specifying the modus operandi for the domestic research, development and procurement of materiel with the ‘Make India’ category requiring equipment and capabilities to be indigenously developed. BEL and RIL beat foreign competition from Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Elbit, Thales, BAE Systems and General Dynamics. This illustrates a shift away from western companies to more indigenous solutions.
The programme aims to deliver C2 capabilities to the fighting echelons of the Indian Army operating at the forward edge of the tactical battle area, from battalion up to battle group levels, a spokesperson for BEL explained to AMR. “The BMS is a situational awareness and visualisation system that aims to optimise the operational effectiveness of tactical units. BEL has been proactively working on battlefield management systems and the company has established (a BMS) test bed for (the) continuous evaluation and implementation of user requirements.” The spokesperson continued that, “having worked on several tactical (C2) systems for the Indian Army, in association with India’s governmental Defence, Research and Development Organisation, BEL … will lead the consortium.”
Also speaking to AMR, RIL explained how its BMS technology would deliver ‘cutting-edge’ C2 capabilities to the Indian military, describing this technology as a “force multiplier” for the armed forces. “Rolta will execute its role and responsibility in areas of BMS application software development and applicable licensing, and will also jointly work with BEL for manufacturing equipment for the soldier system, the overall system design (along with) integration, instal-lation, commissioning and maintenance of the BMS,” the spokesperson explained.
BEL already supplies the Indian Army, navy, air force and paramilitary organisations with electronic components and it is expected that some elements of this existing technology will migrate to the new BMS. Additionally, sources close to the Indian Army explained to AMR how four BMS prototypes would be designed for a four-month evaluation programme. This programme will take place in various operational environments including tro-pical, mountainous, desert and plain.
However, the entire development process encompassing design, evaluation and manufacture is expected to take three years with each consortium expected to deliver an initial tranche of some 500 systems following the evaluation process. The first prototypes are expected to be made available to the army by 2017, with production deliveries then commencing in the 2018-20 timeframe. The Indian Army wants a system capable of integrating a range of platforms and capabilities on the battlefield, including sensors and platforms, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, through to the geolocation and tracking of friendly and enemy forces on the ground. In essence, the BMS will provide three layers of C2 integration using a single system, including an effector layer, an information layer, and a sensor layer.
Turkey
In Turkey, work is being undertaken to provide the Türk Ordusu (Turkish Army) with an upgraded BMS to be carried on board Otokar’s Altay Main Battle Tank (MBT) which is currently in its final stages of development. The BMS will allow the MBT to “generate, execute and deploy all the orders, messages, alerts and tactical-logistic status data” across the three-dimensional battlefield, according to company literature. Otokar states that the Altay’s BMS will include C2 capabilities for the MBT as well as for dismounted soldiers. In terms of hardware, it will comprise vehicle-mounted and handheld devices for the MBT’s commander, gunner, driver and loader, with handheld devices equipping dismounted troops, networking these troops and the vehicles to a tactical operations centre on the battlefield. Effectively, the BMS provides a mature picture to every soldier on the battlefield, giving everyone insight into the various phases of the operation and aiding even the lowest-rank soldiers on the ground to make command decisions.
This philosophy has been adopted over the years by special forces which emphasise how important it is for every member of a patrol to know exactly what’s going on and when, as well as where, they are exactly on the ground at any particular time. The Altay’s BMS will enable such a capability for the Turkish Army in the future. Altay’s BMS relies upon a multitude of hardware and software configurations, each with its own distributed electronic architecture, while a Vehicle Control System provides the gateway to connect addi-tional plug-and-play systems such as new sensors to the tank via Otokar’s Data Interchange Protocol (IP). A spokes-person for the company revealed how any electronic payload or sensor relies upon this IP to transmit and receive information from other systems. Meanwhile the integration of additional interfaces or new electronic systems could be managed by software updates for flexibility in future deployments.
The Turkish Army’s BMS has several constituent parts and involves several Turkish companies. “The Battlefield Target Identification System and Battle Management and Communications Systems are manufactured by Aselsan while the Altay MBT’s 360-degree Situational Awareness System (SAS) is manufactured by Otokar. The SAS provides an all-round perception of the local environment in mission-critical situations allowing decision-makers to be provided with the information they need to anticipate risks and to act accordingly whilst detecting intruders and threats in total darkness, fog, smoke and most obscurants,” the spokesperson informed AMR. No information has been released by Otokar regarding the quantity of dismounted and Altay BMSs to be delivered to the Turkish Army, or when deliveries will commence or conclude.
Additionally, Aselsan has developed a laser warning system which is designed to be integrated into the BMS, allowing the crew of the Altay to receive visual and audio warnings when being illuminated by pulsed laser rangefinders or designators, as well as laser-guided weapons. “The system detects, identifies, pinpoints and categorises the laser sources (and) then prioritises them in order of lethality according to the threat identification information in the laser warning system’s Mission Data File,” an Aselsan source explained. “The warning enables the crew to take appropriate self-protective action or (to employ countermeasures) beforehand.”
Elsewhere, Northrop Grumman unveiled its Citadel Enterprise Battle Command System at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi this February. The company is placing a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific market for this product. Described as a mobile C2 node for integrated air and missile defence, Citadel is based on a similar system used by the US Army to detect conventional air and missile threats. It is capable of finding and fixing incoming weapons by using the most efficient sensor and selecting the appropriate countermeasure or weapon to neutralise that threat. “Just as citadels (in the antiquity) were well planned and positioned for presenting the best vantage points, our Citadel system offers an unprecedented, integrated view for air and missile defence so quicker decisions can be made with higher confidence,” said Walid Abukhaled, chief executive of Northrop Grumman’s Saudi Arabia subsidiary. Expanding on Mr. Abukhaled’s discussion, a spokesperson for Northrop Grumman noted that, “(t)hrough (the) optimal networking of weapon systems and sensors, the system delivers a single recognised air picture to provide troops with the ability to make better, timelier decisions for accurate engagements and to reduce fratricide. Citadel uses the most recent and rigorous military standards to implement cybersecurity for mitigating the latest cyber threats.”
Citadel’s distributed fire control network can be incorporated into current and future sensors and weapon systems for flexibility in order to contend with a variety of threats, such as the relatively benign aerial threat level found in envi-ronments such as Afghanistan, through to the more complex non-permissive aerial environments such as those found during the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s 2011 intervention in Libya, and the existing civil wars in Syria and Ukraine. Given its recent debut, Citadel is awaiting orders and has not yet, at the time of writing (early May 2015) AMR understands, been procured by any customers.
Malaysia
Elsewhere, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) continue to progress with their Network Centric Operations (NCO) BMS effort. Led by local prime contractor Sapura, the programme is seeking to satisfy the networking requirements of the military ranging from the tactical environment through to the operational and strategic pictures. Phase 1A is due to be completed this year. It provides an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) to the MAF, and will begin to furnish Malaysian Army battalions, as well as allowing the limited networking of naval vessels and air force ground-based air surveillance radar systems. This IOC for the BMS exemplifies the ongoing shift towards the joint operating environment which requires army, navy, air force and other agencies (intelligence, military and civilian) to cooperate.
Depending upon the success of this initial effort, Phase 1B will increase the quantity of BMSs fielded across the Malaysian Army, plus the further integration with more sensors and platforms continuing up to 2018 with a Sapura spokesperson explaining to AMR how subsequent phases, and the content of these phases, had yet to be clarified. The BMS is also expected to be networked with Sapura’s Future Soldier System which was first unveiled at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2012. Furthermore, Sapura confirmed that it plans to inte-grate the in-service SCS PX2000 C2 system which is used across the MAF into the overall NCO BMS, along with Sagem’s BMS technology utilised in the Bumar PT-91M MBTs used by the Malaysian Army.
Sapura’s solution focuses on the general connectivity and networking of units to tactical operations centres and above, via a voice and data gateway. The BMS solution also includes the company’s Multi Access Networking Tactical Internet System (MANTIS) which integrates router and communications servers with information from army sensors deployed by individual troops, on-board vehicles and in a stand-alone capacity to generate a common operational picture.
Australia
Finally, the Australian Army continues to implement its holistic Land Networking solution for formations up to brigade level which is due to complete its imple-mentation by 2018 under the Land 200 programme. The Land 200 Phase 1 initiative saw the army receiving a digital BMS for dismounted soldiers, and protected mobility vehicles including the forces’ Mercedes-Benz Unimog and G-Wagon. Phase 2 will see the integration of radios and BMSs on-board vehicles including the army’s BAE Systems M113AS4 tracked armoured personnel carriers, its Medium Heavy Trucks being procured under the Land 121 initiative and its Thales Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles.
Furnished by Elbit Systems, Land 200 Phase 2 will “…deliver sustainment training and simulation capabilities for individual and collective Battle Management System requirements; weapons-integrated Battle Management Systems (for use on the army’s General Dynamics M1A1 Abrams MBT and the Australian Light Armoured Vehicle from the same company); plus brigade headquarters software applications for all headquarters functions including interoperability with key Joint and Coalition systems.”
Additionally, the programme sees the procurement of Harris’ AN/PRC-152 multiband handheld radio; introduction of the Battle Group and Below Command, Control and Communications (BGC3) architecture from Elbit Systems; and the delivery of a robust tactical network architecture to support land networking capabilities from the individual soldier to the divisional level, according to the Australian Army. Elbit Systems is the prime contractor in this effort. Land 200’s Phase I reached an IOC in 2014. Meanwhile, the Australian Army’s Land 75 and Land 125 programmes will see up to 1000 vehicles and 1500 individual soldier systems being upgraded with this new BGC3 architecture. Ultimately, the BMS market in the Asia-Pacific looks set to continue gathering pace and AMR awaits with interest to hear of the progress made in Malaysia, Australia and elsewhere to drive this capability further forwards.
