Getting and Staying Connected

The best operations are often the most simple, but this is the story of an operation that’s not so simple. The one depicted here is fictional and involves multiple systems, platforms, services, combatant commands, and nations. In reality, it could be accomplished with a big-deck amphibious ship, but we did not include an amphibious ready group (ARG) presence to illustrate that operations may one day have to be accomplished with ad hoc teams, using the assets available, and conducting mission planning and execution on the fly. This scenario presents a vision of a command-and-control environment that is not possible today, but could be in the not-too-distant future with the adoption of a common architecture: the unmanned aircraft systems command segment (UCS) architecture and its maritime implementation, the Navy common control system (CCS).

This service-oriented architecture provides a standard that facilitates interoperability and two-way communications across platforms, sensors, and warfare domains. It can be applied to proprietary as well as standards-based systems, and the software can replace or augment existing “one-off” control-segment software for asset management (tasking), data dissemination and analysis, and even control of disparate vehicles and sensors. It can also be used to fuse relevant information such as force disposition, threat data, and weather in a single-user interface. Tactical decision aids can also be accessed directly from the user interface.

Navy CCS was demonstrated by the Naval Air Systems Command more than three years ago using DreamHammer’s Ballista software. Other commercial-off-the-shelf products can now support the standard to varying degrees. To be certain, issues must be addressed such as bandwidth, communications infrastructure and how information is exchanged, information assurance, and cybersecurity. But solutions will be developed and in the end the operational benefits will far outweigh the risks.

Day One

Somalia, a few years into the future.

Hands Across the Globe (HATG) is one of many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in East Africa. For the past two years, a six-person HATG team has been operating in the city of Eyl, near the Puntland coast of Somalia. The team provides medical support and helps the people of Eyl take better care of their livestock and natural resources—namely, the scarce water and acacia trees consumed for charcoal production. Several other NGOs have joined HATG, such as U.S., British, French, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Canadian, and Spanish nationals. The number of aid workers in and around Eyl is about 60, which fluctuates as team members rotate in and out. There are also construction workers involved in several infrastructure improvement projects, some of which are funded by the United Nations Office of Economic Development.

Although Puntland has a relatively stable government (especially when compared to neighboring Somaliland), illegal activity—including piracy—exists. On New Year’s Day, contact was lost with the HATG clinic and office on the outskirts of Eyl. Two members of the HATG team returning from Ethiopia reported that they were unable to reach their colleagues, and notified their central office in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. HATG officials contacted other NGOs in Eyl who found the clinic unattended. With the help of local tribal elders and the Puntland Maritime Police force, it was determined that four HATG members were taken away during the night of 30 December by armed men in several trucks, which then headed east toward the coast. HATG officials contacted the UN HATG officials, who contacted the UN Assistance Mission and UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia, and the EU External Action office in Kenya, which was coordinating some of the NGO activities in Somalia. EU External Action contacted the EU Naval Force in Northwood, United Kingdom, which contacted the EU’s Maritime Security Centre–Horn of Africa in Djibouti, and Combined Maritime Force in Bahrain.

Initial mission planning begins at the maritime operations center (MOC) in Bahrain with a face-to-face meeting. Available intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets are inventoried and receive initial tasking, and subordinate units are placed on alert for a potential operation. It is agreed that should the situation escalate, mission planning will have to be accomplished in a dynamic environment, not from the MOC.

A U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton flying a routine surveillance mission in the Northern Arabian Sea is directed to the Somali coast. The Triton has enough fuel to make two passes. No activity is noted on the first run, but several vehicles parked near a cluster of buildings a mile from the coast are observed during the return leg.

A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime-patrol aircraft forward deployed at Djibouti is launched and tasked to conduct surveillance of the coastal area where the vehicles were observed. While en route, the P-8 aircrew can see what the Triton was seeing using a bidirectional remote video display capability.

The P-8 arrives at the station, flying at 31,000 feet at a distance of about 20 miles off the coast. The P-8’s crew takes control of the Triton, directing it back for a second pass on the building complex. When the Triton has to return to base, the P-8 crew closes on the scene and launches a small expendable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from its sonobuoy tube for a closer look at the complex. This UAV is very quiet and can operate for about three hours at very low altitude without being detected. Once low on power, the small UAV is flown back out to sea, where it is disposed of in the ocean. The video goes back through the MOC in real time, and the intelligence community can identify vehicles or individual terrorists.

Meanwhile, the USS John J. Masters, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, begins moving from a position in the Northern Arabian Sea near the coast of Yemen to the Somali coast, where it had been participating in Combined Task Force (CTF) 151. While the John J. Masters does not have an embarked helicopter, she has two RQ-21 Blackjack small tactical unmanned aircraft systems and four ScanEagle UAVs, which can be launched and recovered on the flight deck. The Blackjacks and slightly smaller ScanEagles share the same sensors and control software. The USS Menominee, an Independence-variant littoral combat ship, carrying a surface warfare mission package, is operating in the southern portion of the Red Sea at the Bab al Mandeb. The Menominee, carrying an air detachment with a MH-60R helicopter and two MQ-8C Fire Scout vertical-launch UAVs (VTUAVs), proceeds to the area of interest, slowing down only to refuel from an oiler on the circuit servicing CTF 151 ships.

Both the John J. Masters and Menominee have access to broad command-and-control functionality through their CCS user interface. Mission planning includes weather data and meteorological and oceanographic (METOC) predictions for sensor performance using apps in their CCS user interface.

Day Two

As the P-8 returns to base, an RQ-4 Triton unmanned aircraft is launched from Djibouti to provide persistent surveillance of the coast near Eyl. The operations center at Djibouti can see video and collect data from both the P-8 and the Triton as well as the MOC at CMF in Bahrain.

After arriving in the vicinity, the Menominee drops several WaveGlider unmanned surface vehicles to provide periodic environmental data and other intelligence. The WaveGliders are small and low in the water and very difficult to see. They travel slowly but can get close to the beach and take and transmit imagery to satellites overhead, which in turn relay information to the MOC and the forces on scene.

BBC and Al Jazeera report that a group calling themselves the Sword of the Faithful claims to have abducted the four Americans and threatens to kidnap more Westerners. They demand that all non-Muslims leave the city by the end of the week or the hostages will be executed. There was also a report that the captors demanded a ransom of $3 million for each of the four victims.

The land region of Somalia falls under U.S. Africa Command’s (AFRICOM’s) area of responsibility, though military assets in the Indian Ocean region mostly fall under U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), including the naval vessels enroute to the area. Working together, CENTCOM and AFRICOM agree on a CENTCOM-led hostage rescue and AFRICOM-led non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) of the remaining aid workers in Eyl.

The commander of CTF 151, the Pakistani flag officer on the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Nowra, is in overall tactical command of the surface assets. The commanding officer of the John J. Masters is designated on-scene commander, with mission planning conducted in the Navy CCS environment within the combat information center on board the ship, along with the CTF 151 flagship, other members of the surface action group, the MOC in Bahrain, and special operations force (SOF) team working collaboratively, even as they are all en route to the op area.

Although the different elements of the NEO and hostage-rescue operation have different priorities for information, they can each use all available data, depending on their role and clearance level. Rather than having the staffs brief their commanders at periodic intervals, commanders can go into the planning tool and see the current status, and the CTF 151 and CMF commanders can manage their assets and monitor the current state of the operation’s plans and execution. If changes are made for one part of the operation, such as a substitution in aircraft, change of rules of engagement, or moving up the timetable, everyone on the network with a need to know will be able to see it.

AFRICOM tasks a pair of U.S. Air Force C-130s from Djibouti to land at the Eyl airport, accompanied by a Marine Corps security team on board a V-22 Osprey to secure the landing zone, protect the evacuees, and dispatch vehicles to the hostage location for possible extraction of the hostages and SOF team. The Marines will bring a transportable ground-based sense-and-avoid (GBSAA) system with a radar and an air-traffic-control capability to deconflict the traffic, both manned and unmanned, in the nearby airspace.

While still far from the waters near Somalia, the John J. Masters launches a ScanEagle UAV that has an electro-optical/infrared package and more than 16 hours endurance to provide coverage during the rescue operation. The ScanEagle heads directly for the area of interest and is soon outside of the radio commlink range needed to control the aircraft and its sensor package. The John J. Masters conducts a “handover control” of the ScanEagle to the Menominee, which positions the ScanEagle to provide video of the suspected hostage location. As the littoral combat ship gets nearer to the target area, it launches one of its Fire Scout VTUAVs.

The SOF team travels from a location in the Persian Gulf aboard a V-22 Osprey, stops to refuel en route on the deck of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Carlyon Bay, and later arrives on the Menominee. The SOF team receives the latest planning data as well as real-time video of its objective while en route in the V-22.

Once the GBSAA is set up, its radar picture is immediately displayed in the same CCS user interface as unmanned vehicle and sensor control. The interoperability is made possible by the UCS architecture, which readily integrates with the GBSAA radar data. The CCS displays show all of these various systems and who is controlling and supervising them, along with their course, speed, and altitude. The GBSAA system assures that the different aircraft in what is essentially uncontrolled air space are kept in their respective operating areas without a human in the loop to direct them. The pilots on the manned aircraft can see the location of the UAVs and what they are doing, while the UAVs operating in uncontrolled air space can react dynamically because they know where the radar is and where all the other aircraft are relative to the radar.

At this point mission planning and control is distributed without requiring the intervention of the co-located personnel at the MOC. The CCS includes an auto-routing application (an updated version that had been recently developed using software available in the “app store” repository) that computes the optimum route for various UAVs based on criteria such as remaining in a geographical box to avoid conflicting threats or interfering with another vehicle’s airspace, while adjusting altitude to existing weather such as changing cloud cover, detection avoidance, and fuel conservation. All CCS participants have full awareness of the available assets and what their location and capabilities are.

The METOC officer at the Bahrain MOC reaches back to the Navy’s METOC center at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and requests additional weather products and sensor performance predictions over and above the services normally subscribed to. The operators can now see the extent of sand storm activity over the Horn of Africa landmass and its advance toward the objective. The weather forecast also shows a cloud deck at 3,000 feet, so planners assign altitudes to the UAVs and helos accordingly.

The SOF team carries the hand-held bi-directional remote-video terminal (BDRVT), which has the ability to receive data from the John J. Masters’ ScanEagle and the Menominee’s Fire Scouts, and interact with or supervise those aircraft as needed to receive desired coverage of the target area. The team also has ruggedized laptops that can use CCS. As they prepare to launch, and as they transit to the landing zone, they are getting the latest video from both platforms about the cluster of buildings and vehicles.

The U.S. State Department representative begins to notify American citizens in Eyl to inform them of the evacuation.

The P-8 headed for the beach notices a convoy of vehicles that stop briefly at the compound where the other hostages are being held, then move north up the coast in the direction of several suspected pirate camps. Their movements are tracked.

A French Gowind-class offshore-patrol vessel, L’Adept, has been in the Indian Ocean participating in the EU Operation Atalanta anti-piracy operation protecting World Food Programme shipments to Somalia. It has a Cam-Copter 100 UAV embarked and is located off the coast of Kenya; it proceeds north to assist.

The U.S. Navy team on board the John J. Masters offers to coordinate control of the L’Adept UAV and relay the imagery back to the French offshore-patrol vessel. Operators on the U.S. ship use a satellite internet connection to download a software application from the UCS repository to control the UAV from the Americans’ CCS; they also download a software application that they transmit to the French ship; it can permit their Cam-Copter 100 control station to receive data from the datalink relay, including the other UAVs in the area. For the U.S. Navy operators on the John J. Masters, integration with the French vehicle sensor data requires the quick development of a script (small software piece) that is very rapidly shared as an app on their CCS workstations. The video format is different but the application makes the conversion possible. In fact, now all clients on the network can see the French UAV video.

The Cam-Copter 100 is launched. The edge of its operating envelope is taken under supervisory control by the John J. Masters, which then directs the movement of the UAV to survey road movements. The UAV notes two men who appear to be burying a device in the road at the entrance to the compound. The location is noted for further investigation.

At sunset, the John J. Masters launches its Black Jack. The electro-optical/infrared sensor on the Black Jack has day and night capability.

The flotilla responding to the incident is in place. SOF personnel brief for the raid on the building where they believe the hostages are held. Two SOF helicopters are flown to the Menominee to carry the team ashore for the mission, eliminating the requirement for the ship’s helo to carry the mission ashore, but it will remain in hot standby for extraction or medevac. U.S. Air Force C-130s arrive at the Eyl airport and enter the security zone established by the Marines. Buses arrive at the airport with evacuating citizens. One of the Menominee’s Fire Scouts watches the loading of the aircraft from above. The Marines on the ground can see the picture using their BDRVT. Two vehicles that look like armed trucks appear to be racing toward the airport. The Marines use the BDRVT to position the aircraft’s sensor package to provide the best view of the two vehicles, which turn out to be a UNDP truck and van with more people to be evacuated. As it appears many local nationals also want to evacuate, the Marine security detachment prepares non-lethal means to maintain their security perimeter.

The SOF team prepares to execute the rescue mission while several UAVs maintain watch. One ScanEagle observes the building where the hostages are believed to be. One Fire Scout watches the NEO operation at the airport; it is controlled by the Menominee but supervised by the Marine team on the ground. L’Adept’s Cam-Copter is on station between the city and the coast road to watch for possible reinforcements or movement of any vehicles from the blockhouse. It is being controlled by the John J. Masters. A P-8 arrives in the vicinity to listen for cellphone traffic or other communications from the hostage takers.

Day Three

Intelligence confirms the presence of the hostage takers and that they plan to move the hostages to a different location. The decision is made to execute a predawn raid on the blockhouse.

The SOF forces launch from the Menominee. Using terrain to mask their landing, the team moves to the blockhouse and encircles the building. They bring a small hand-launched Puma UAV to provide additional ISR. They can see what the Puma and Black Jack can see (at a higher altitude) and know that the Cam-Copter is showing no traffic on the approaching roads.

The Puma takes a closer look at the possible IED buried the day before. The SOF team will avoid the location. Two people come out of the blockhouse and get in a truck and drive north. One of the ScanEagles is assigned to track them.

As soon as that vehicle is out of range, the SOF team, using flash-bang grenades, takes the blockhouse. The two SOF aircraft reposition nearer the building. The hostages, safe, are taken to the helicopter. There are six hostage takers. They are held as the Menominee’s helo arrives to remove them to the Danish flexible support ship Valdemar Sejr, which had been participating in the NATO Ocean Shield counter-piracy task force. The Valdemar Sejr has a medical team on board and a holding facility for prisoners.

The truck observed leaving the blockhouse is seen arriving at a suspected pirate camp. The individuals inside then board a boat. Two skiffs put to sea from a suspected pirate village 30 kilometers north of the hostage takers are detected by one of the wave gliders. John J. Masters’ ScanEagle continues to monitor them.

The two C-130s return to Djibouti and the evacuees are processed at Camp Lemonnier. The Marines at the airport board the Osprey, taking the GBSAA radar with them, and return to Djibouti. The P-8 will remain aloft to conduct surveillance and will be replaced on patrol later by a Triton. At the end of the day, Menominee recovers her Fire Scouts, the L’Adept’s Cam-Copter returns aboard, and the John J. Masters continues to watch the two skiffs.

Epilogue

There are many ways to conduct complex operations. The ability to leverage all the different assets in such a short period is due to the integration of technology made possible by the broad adoption of the UCS architecture. Because of the Defense Department’s “Better Buying Power” initiatives, the CCS and various aircraft systems have a high degree of interoperability and commonality. By being compliant with the UCS-standard architecture and common interfaces, the systems can add or update various features or services readily without having to go through the original equipment manufacturer or prime systems integrator. It allows for rapid technology development and insertion in a focused and manageable way without resorting to changing the entire system. Using pieces of already-developed and certified software—readily available to users and developers by means of an app store repository—not only saves a great deal of time and money, but virtually guarantees interoperability for the United States and its allies.

The UCS Repository (www.ucsrepository.org), a site owned by the government, is operational and currently contains over 150 unique UAS services/applications. Today this repository benefits developers, and it might someday transition into an operator-focused app store, with certified applications ready to use like a smartphone. UCS-compliant apps will support situational awareness, collaborative decision making, mission planning, rehearsal, execution, data dissemination/analysis, and reconstruction of past events. Use of the UCS standard will deliver operational command-and-control for unmanned systems at a fraction of the cost of the existing practice of buying turnkey stove-piped systems. New capability will be delivered in weeks and months, not years, as “best of breed” apps are created, fine-tuned, and made available to operators at all echelons. Or software developers can take these applications and incorporate them into new systems.

No longer does tech refresh need to hinge on programmatic events; it will happen as new apps are developed, vetted, and made accessible to the Fleet. Operators can choose which apps best serve them in specific situations. Modest capability can be fielded in short order with increased functionality and continual tech refresh delivered over time. This creates a market for innovation, saves money, and speeds the delivery of warfighting capability to the operator.

Despite all of this, the services still procure vertical systems and develop different standards and interfaces, thus clouding the picture. To achieve interoperability, we need one standard architecture that legacy systems can interface with. It isn’t reality today, but it’s an attainable vision for tomorrow.