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Satellites Guide Soldiers to Safety October 2002
What if getting lost meant not merely frustration or retraced steps, but danger? What if a soldier's messages failed to reach base because mountains cut off the radio signals? The implied threats aren't hypothetical. For example, in 1999 several U.S. peacekeepers—unsure of their precise position—strayed into Serbia and were captured. The rugged terrain of the Balkans had caused nearly insurmountable obstacles for the standard transmitters the soldiers used to communicate in their patrol vehicles. The U.S. Army continually works on new tools to improve communications in these circumstances, and MITRE has helped them solve the problems described above. MITRE has been instrumental in the effort to give allied armed forces a way to achieve real-time situation awareness, no matter how many obstacles the landscape throws up. Thanks to our solution—a secure satellite-based command and control technology called the Enhanced Information System (EIS)—soldiers can now monitor their own positions, as well as track and contact their comrades in the field or at the command center. "Using satellites is the better solution, because radios have too many line-of-sight problems, especially in mountainous regions," says Bruce Robinson, a lead operations research analyst at MITRE, based in Eatontown, New Jersey "And it's been so successful in the Balkans that the Army is now deploying it for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan." The Beginning of EIS The EIS solution comes out of a program called the Balkans Digitization Initiative, which was the brainchild of the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR). The USAREUR commander requested that the Army's Program Executive Office, Command, Control, and Communications Systems, based in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, examine ways to improve tracking of and communications with Army vehicles in the field. The overall concept is also known as "Blue Force Tracking." "Basically, the USAREUR commander went to the Program Executive Office, and the Office came to us," Robinson says. "MITRE coordinated and approved the original architecture of a satellite-based tracking system, working with personnel from TRW, the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, Comtech Mobile Data Systems, and Qualcomm. We looked at different commercial-off-the-shelf satellite-based tracking systems to modify for use in Europe." We coupled Qualcomm's OmniTRACS technology, a digital system that tracks over-the-road commercial trucks, with a variation of the Army's Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below system, which graphically maps the location of enemy and friendly forces in the field and provides e-mail capability. The Army installed EIS in almost 700 Army vehicles in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Italy. (Newer versions of the system now integrate Comtech technology as well.) "EIS is easy to learn and use. It consists of a computer, keyboard, monitor, and satellite transceiver," Robinson says. "Secure digital data flows directly from the EIS platforms in the field to a government-owned satellite hub in Germany. Then data are combined and injected into the military's joint Common Operating Picture." The Common Operating Picture, or COP, is designed to give command centers a theatre-wide, graphical view of important tactical information, such as troop movements and operational plans.
EIS keeps soldiers on course, allows commanders to issue orders with full knowledge of each vehicle's location, and reduces friendly fire incidents. Despite the successful initial deployment, however, the EIS team realized that the system lacked the agility to cope with changing satellite availability. "A shortcoming in the initial EIS configuration was that it was limited to a single communications path—commercial Ku-band satellite," Robinson explains. "To provide the Army with more flexibility, our staff created a portable device we call a mini-router." MITRE staff created the mini-router using open-source software, which proved valuable when the time came to move it into standard production. "Attaching the mini-router to the onboard computer and satellite transceiver lets vehicles in the field use multiple communications paths. It has full plug-and-play capability and currently works with two different satellites and the Army's Satcom Radio." The mini-router also enables technicians to make software upgrades more easily. The mini-router's size and ruggedness make it ideal for operating on the move, improving situational awareness everywhere in the field. In this configuration (and with the latest software upgrades), the technology is now known as EIS+. Eventually, the Army wants all allied military vehicles to have some variation of an interoperable tracking system so that troops can exchange position location and messages. To assist in getting the mini-router-enhanced EIS units into the field, MITRE recently transferred the technology to a commercial company for rapid production. Saving Lives in the Field Acceptance in the field was immediate. "The system takes only two to three hours to learn," Robinson says. "In Europe, as combat units rotate in and out, we've learned that the soldiers now expect to find EIS in their Humvees." The effects of improved Blue Force Tracking in the Balkans are evident: U.S. soldiers no longer cross unknowingly into hostile territory, and their commanders have a continual, near-real-time picture of where military vehicles are at any given moment. Moreover, the system may have already saved lives, since it provides communications technology in places where standard radios fail. "In many cases, the text terminals inside the vehicles are the only communications method available to the soldiers," Robinson says. "More than once, our troops have ended up in dangerous situations, such as the middle of a riot, and have used the system's e-mail capability to request backup." The Future of Blue Force Tracking During the 2002 Association of the United States Army convention held this spring, numerous top Army officers, including Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki, witnessed a live exhibition of EIS+. Major Anthony Potts, Deputy Product Manager, Army Airborne Command & Control System, sums up the attendees' reaction simply: "This was a very powerful demonstration... This concept is the future of Blue Force Tracking." Moreover, the Army has shown its support in the most concrete way: In addition to upgrading the units already deployed in Europe, EIS+ will debut in Southern Asia by the end of 2002. The Army plans to install 450 units in Afghanistan, with 50 specifically earmarked for helicopters. That could be especially vital for locating fallen choppers. "Before there were systems like EIS+, the Army sometimes had trouble maintaining contact with vehicles in mountainous areas," Robinson notes. "In some cases, commanders were forced to use stickpins and maps. Now it's all automatic, and the system is getting a tremendous amount of use. More importantly, EIS is giving the Army an even greater appreciation than before for what's possible with digitization of information and communications." —by Alison Stern-Dunyak |
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