ISSN 2277 – 3126 RNI NO. UPENG/2011/37063

ISSN 2277 – 3126
RNI NO. UPENG/2011/37063
Vol. 2
Issue. 4
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Jul – Aug 2012
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Interviews
Progressing net-centricity
18
Gearing up for next-gen warfare
24
Transformation of Indian Army into a
networked force is no easy task given
the nature of warfare that the Army is
involved with
Chairman MP Narayanan
Publisher Sanjay Kumar
Managing Editor Lt Gen AKS Chandele (Retd)
Executive Editor Bhanu Rekha
Product Manager Shivani Lal
Assistant Editors Aditi Bhan, Deepali Roy,
Vaibhav Arora
Sub-Editor Anand Kashyap
Designed by Deepak Kumar
Manoj Kumar Singh
Circulation Executive Vijay Kumar Singh
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Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52,
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Editor Sanjay Kumar
Price `100, US$ 10
Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt. Ltd.
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Ltd. does not necessarily subscribe to the views
expressed in the publication. All views expressed
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22
With Indian military rapidly developing
its capabilities towards becoming a
Network-Centric Force, there is a need
to accord priority to tri-Service NCW
philosophy and accelerate R&D in
acquiring critical technologies
Connecting defence forces
Bert Tiems
Chief C2 & Operation Services
C3 Agency, NATO
32
28
Open standards enable integration
of geospatial technology with other
information technologies, thus
facilitating interoperability among
defence and intelligence organisations
Article
Redefining the power of geoint
16
With an aim to take geoint to the
next level, NGA, one of the prominent
intelligence agencies of the US, releases
its strategy for the next five years
Dr A. Stewart Walker
Product Director
BAE Systems, USA
Report
Geoint essential for success of NCW 36
REGULAR SECTIONS
The sixth annual conference-cumexhibition, GeoIntelligence Asia 2012
was held in New Delhi recently
Editorial................................................ 05
Cover image courtesy
Image Intelligence .......................... 42
http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net
News..................................................... 06
Events................................................... 40
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Inside
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jan – feb 2011 GEOINTELLIGENCE I 4
espite the fact that military organisations world over are
generally averse to change, warfare has constantly been
undergoing transformation, adapting to the prevailing
environment. Technology has always played a key role in
this transformation process. Earlier, it was the military
requirements that led to the developments in technology
and then these found applications in the civil sector, but more recently it
is the competition driven commercial organisations whose demands have
led to an exponential growth in technology. Large commercial organisations
with global footprint, particularly in the financial, retail, logistics and services
sectors, have shifted to net-centric operations, enabled by the boom in the
information technology. Armed forces too are evolving themselves from
‘platform centric’ to ‘network centric’ warfare, a concept pioneered by the US
in the nineties.
Linking or networking entities which are geographically or hierarchically
dispersed, enables sharing of information and collaboration, which results
in shared battlespace awareness and self synchronisation of a combat force.
Stated simply, networking aims at accelerating engagement cycles and
operational tempo at all levels of warfighting, by ensuring that commanders
have the information advantage to remain ahead of their adversaries and
use available combat power most efficiently. The availability of sophisticated
sensors, reliable communications, computing, switching and
information storage devices, alongwith the associated software
and accurate geospatial data, have provided the necessary
infostructure enabling this change. However, technological
challenges such as connectivity, spectral efficiency, mobility,
survivability and interoperability do exist. Also, it is not enough
that each service is independently networked, as most operations
today involve more than one service and in the case of internal
security operations, information and platforms need to be shared
with other security agencies as well. These challenges are being
addressed and technological solutions will be found.
But is technology by itself enough to ensure this transformation?
Apart from the technical and organisational changes required
for this transformation, there is a need to develop necessary
human skills. Successful NCW adoption requires a technologically
competent work force with a changed mindset, ready to
collaborate, innovate and accept responsibility. Personnel would
have to be educated and trained to operate new systems and
learn new skills. HR policies may require a relook as specialised
assignments would require qualified people with longer tenures.
Lt Gen AKS Chandele PVSM, AVSM (Retd)
Managing Editor
[email protected]
There is no doubt that networking is a force multiplier and would
improve warfighting capability immensely, but transformation
to net centricity is complex as much as it is essential, and the
strategy for change must be properly planned and diligently
implemented without delay.
GEOINTELLIGENCE JUL – AUG 2012
Editorial
Transformation in warfare is an ongoing process
5
BAE Systems unveils its
research on advanced
positioning system
BAE Systems recently unveiled
its latest research on advanced
positioning system that exploits
existing transmissions such as
Wi-Fi, TV, radio and mobile phone
signals, to calculate the user’s
location to within a few metres.
Known as Navigation via Signals
Courtesy: BAE Systems
EUROPE
E
URO
ROPE
PE
of Opportunity (NAVSOP), the
new system is able to calculate
its position by making use of the
hundreds of different signals
that are all around. NAVSOP is
resistant to hostile interference
such as jamming (a particular
weakness of GPS) and spoofing
and where a bogus signal tricks
a device into misidentifying its
location, said the company. The
new system can learn from signals
that are initially unidentified to
build an ever more accurate and
reliable fix on its location. Also,
the signals from GPS jammers can
be exploited by the device to aid
navigation under certain conditions,
the company added.
According to BAE Systems, the
infrastructure required to make
NAVSOP work is already in place.
There is no need to build costly
networks of transmitters, and the
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Raytheon reveals new missile defence system
architectural analysis capability
6
Raytheon Company has
introduced a new missile
defence system architectural
analysis tool designed to
help identify the best ways to
leverage current NATO assets in
support of the growing Europe's
integrated air and missile
defence capabilities.
The analysis tool was built
leveraging Raytheon's extensive
knowledge and experience
across sensors, command
and control, and interceptors
within the current European
Phased Adaptive Approach
construct, the company said.
"We've conducted a thorough
analysis of the US missile
defence system assets in
Europe, and we understand
how to position sensors
and interceptors to achieve
maximum protection for
our allies," said Wes Kremer,
Vice President of Air and
Missile Defense Systems for
Raytheon Missile Systems. "The
assets in place today provide
Europe with a viable shield of
protection, but NATO assets
are needed to make that shield
more robust." The analysis tool
is flexible and can incorporate
any element or geographical
deployment to show the
system's effectiveness for
various mission scenarios.
"NATO nations have robust,
highly sophisticated assets that
could be used to strengthen
the current shield. In these
fiscally challenging times, we
must make 'Smart Defence'
investments using our limited
resources," said Kremer.
SELEX Elsag to provide
SRT- 270 HF radio
communication systems
SELEX Elsag is to provide Boeing
Defense, Space and Security with
SRT- 270 High-Frequency radio
communication systems to equip
new CH-47 transport helicopters in
the Mark (MK)-6 version, recently
purchased by the British Ministry
of Defense. The system will feature
next-generation ALE (Automatic
Link Establishment) capability,
Codan Radio Communications
recently announced
the availability of thirdgeneration (3G) automatic
link establishment (ALE)
in Codan's 2110M series HF
manpack radio. The waveform,
based on the Standard NATO
Agreement (STANAG 4538),
supports enhanced data
throughput and linking
performance over noisy HF
Skywave channels. Integration
of the ALE linking protocol and
the data transport mechanism
provides effective increased
data throughput and shorter
linking times in difficult HF
conditions.
"The 2110M manpack is still
the lightest HF manpack
available today, and features
the longest battery life. It
already offers embedded
MIL-STD high speed data,
second generation automatic
link establishment, frequency
hopping, encryption and
GPS. The addition of 3G ALE
capability makes the best
value HF manpack available
today even better," said Kevin
Kane, President and Executive
General Manager, Codan Radio
Communications Division.
To fully exploit the capabilities
of Codan's 3G ALE waveform,
Codan will offer a software
applications suite enabling
end user benefits such
as email, messaging and
situational awareness,
enhanced by the benefits of
the high performance lowlatency waveform, said the
company.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
James Baker, Managing Director at
BAE Systems Advanced Technology
Centre, said, “At a time when
the need to be innovative and
resourceful is more important
than ever, this capability represents
truly outside-the-box thinking by
providing a cost effective system
with a wide variety of different
applications. This technology is a
real game changer when it comes
to navigation.”
Codan introduces 3G ALE waveform
for high frequency radios
Courtesy: www.australiandefence.com
hardware behind the system is
already commercially available.
Another benefit is that it can
be integrated into existing
positioning devices to provide
superior performance to GPS. A
major advantage of the system
is its ability to function in places
where GPS is unable to reach,
such as dense urban areas and
deep inside buildings. It is also able
to work in the most remote
parts of the world such as the Arctic,
by picking up signals that include
Low-Earth-Orbit satellites and other
civilian signals, added
the company.
7
NEWS
Lockheed Martin to provide
Italy with ISR aircraft
The AML is a Gulfstream III business jet that
Lockheed Martin transformed into a flying
test bed to expedite the testing and fielding
of C4ISR capabilities.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Under the agreement, the Italian Air Force
will use the AML, with its full suite of
intelligence computing capabilities that
include signals intelligence arrays and
electro-optical/ infrared radar, in a live
operational environment for the next year.
With its open architecture and configurable
8
exterior physical structure, the Italian
Air Force can integrate additional C4ISR
components (software and hardware) in a
matter of hours, rather than days, said the
company. This open architecture design also
facilitates the integration of the AML with
existing sovereign ground architectures
while maintaining interoperability during
NATO or coalition engagements, the
company added.
During the course of the agreement,
Lockheed Martin and the Italian Air Force
will work together to fine tune the overall
system requirements as well as hone the
operational implementation concepts.
The AML aircraft will fly in support of a
wide range of missions to include training,
concept of operations development and
ISR operations. Lockheed Martin will also
maintain the aircraft and AML ground
stations.
the international standard which
allows rapid and reliable HF radio
communications. SELEX Elsag
already supplied the previous CH-47
MK-2A version with HF ALE1G avionic
systems.
radio communications for avionic
applications, across the 2MHz
and 30MHz frequency range.
It also features high power
transmission of up to 200 Watt
PEP/ 100 Watt AVG.
The SRT-270 provides voice/ data
The equipment encompasses the
Courtesy: LOCKHEED MARTIN
Lockheed Martin has signed a use
agreement with the Italian Ministry of
Defence (MoD) to provide the Airborne
Multi-Intelligence Laboratory (AML) aircraft,
three ground intelligence processing
systems as well as flight crew and
maintenance personnel for the plane. This
agreement is for one year, with an option to
extend to two years.
control panel, which provides a userfriendly man-machine interface
through an LCD display - compatible
with night scopes - to a ‘loop’
antenna, which, combined with the
ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit), ensures
effective communications on the
whole HF range.
Cogito C300R remote
screening system
launched
Suspect Detection Systems
Inc., recently launched its new
product, Cogito C300R Remote
Mass Thermal-based Screening
System. The system enables law
enforcement to instantly isolate
potential terrorists and criminals
in a crowd who may be carrying
contraband including narcotics,
weapons and explosives.
The C300R system is designed
for implementation at terminals,
airports, border crossings and
entrances to sensitive buildings or
public areas. The product has been
successfully tested at an Israel’s
airport under the supervision of
local securities agencies as well as
at a major railway station in Asia.
"The Cogito C300R adds a critical
layer of surveillance to Suspect
Detection System's commercial
threat detection system," said Gil
Boosidan, CEO of Suspect Detection
Systems Inc. "Cogito's new remote
mass screening system can detect
terror suspects in real-time from a
distance, prior to initial contact by
law enforcement officials."
High-Capacity Radio with
400 mbps of bandwidth
throughput
Ultra Electronics, TCS, has
announced a new version of the
Ultra High-Capacity Radio (HCR)
capable of 400 mbps of bandwidth
throughput. The HCR is a small
form-factor and highly ruggedised
tactical radio that delivers high
bandwidth throughput over long
distances using point-to-point
microwave wireless technology.
The radio's dramatic increase in
The HCR incorporates and improves
on the best features of Ultra's
battle-proven AN/GRC-245 and
AN/GRC-512 radios to form a new
platform that can perform multiple
roles. The single box mast mount
radio supports the roles of a HighCapacity Line-of-Sight (HCLOS) radio
relay including spectrum efficiency
and long range waveforms as
well as a true full-band Electronic
Counter Counter Measure (ECCM)
radio relay. Therefore, it effectively
provides two radio types in a single
common platform, enabling each
relay vehicle to quickly mix and
match each mode to suit battlefield
conditions, said the company.
As a Software-Defined Radio (SDR),
the HCR's unique architecture
facilitates technology insertions
while allowing for interoperability
with legacy platforms including the
Ultra AN/GRC-245 and AN/GRC-512
radios.
Lockheed Martin selected
by DARPA for ALASA
programme
Lockheed Martin has been selected
by the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) to receive
a Phase I Airborne Launch Assist
Space Access (ALASA) programme
study contract valued at about USD
6.2 million.
The ALASA programme is a
research and development effort
maturing technologies to
maintain vital satellite capabilities
during a crisis. “Our approach
uses a tactical aircraft to provide
a high energy-state, reusable first
stage, enabling launches from
bases worldwide to support the
US and its allies," said Derek Bye,
General Dynamics completes
acquisition of IPWireless
General Dynamics has announced completion of its previously
announced purchase of IPW Holdings, Inc., the parent company of
IPWireless, Inc. IPWireless has been renamed General Dynamics
Broadband and will operate as a subsidiary of General Dynamics C4
Systems. The value of the cash transaction has not been disclosed.
General Dynamics Broadband produces 3G and 4G Long Term
Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband network components and user
devices for end-to-end systems that enable first responders and
other mobile users to access lifesaving data and applications at very
high speeds, the company said.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
AMERICAS
AME
A
MERI
ME
RICAS
IIC
CAS
AS
bandwidth capability over previous
generation radios is expected to
accelerate the adoption of handheld
devices and next-generation
applications at the tactical edge, a
key trend within many militaries
around the world, said the company.
The new radio requires fewer assets
to deploy and less logistical support
than previous generation HCLOS
radios, providing users with
secure voice, data, video and
sensor backhaul communications
in difficult, hard to reach
operating environments.
9
NEWS
Lockheed Martin ALASA programme
manager. "With the connectivity
requirements of current and
future systems, doing this quickly
and affordably is a vital need that
must be addressed." Phase I of
the ALASA effort spans 18 months.
During that time, a team led by
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works will
define a preliminary system design,
culminating with a demonstration
system definition review. The
team includes Alliant Techsystems
Operations, LLC, and Defense
Propulsion System, LLC.
is a secure, wireless, handheld
intercommunications system that
allows aircrew, ground tactical and
seaborne personnel the freedom
to move easily within, or in close
proximity to, their aircraft, vehicle or
vessel, while maintaining encrypted
secure communications without the
restriction of a physical wire tether,
said the company. The certification
allows ISWICS to be used within
the United States Government and
for military applications requiring
the highest levels of information
security.
Sanmina-SCI receives
NSA Type 1 certification
NSA Type 1 certification is awarded
to products that pass a rigorous
process of development, testing and
verification to ensure compliance
with the National Security Agency's
stringent standards in safeguarding
classified information.
Sanmina-SCI Corporation has
announced that its defence and
aerospace division has received
NSA Type 1 certification from
the National Security Agency for
the Integrated Secure Wireless
Intercommunications System
(ISWICS). The certificate endorses
ISWICS as capable of protecting
classified and sensitive voice and
data to the Top Secret level. ISWICS
Raytheon to link Navy
Multiband Terminal to the
polar satellite
Raytheon Company has received a
USD 19 million contract to modify
the Navy Multiband Terminal
(NMT) to link it with the Air Force's
Enhanced Polar Satellite (EPS).
The link will allow US Navy and
Air Force warfighters to overcome
communications gaps in the remote
polar region, said the company.
EPS will provide continuous
coverage for secure, jamresistant, strategic and tactical
communications to support
peacetime, contingency, homeland
defence, humanitarian assistance
and wartime missions. "This
increased capability will give the
Navy more mission flexibility and
significantly increased capacity to
provide protected voice, data and
video communications supporting
strategic and tactical missions," said
Scott Whatmough, Vice President of
Integrated Communication Systems
for Raytheon's Network Centric
Systems business.
EPS, using advanced XDR waveforms,
will provide much higher data
rates and extended high-gain
coverage. It will be interoperable
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
General Dynamics and EADS North America join hands
10
General Dynamics C4 Systems
and EADS North America have
joined forces to deliver costeffective border protection and
security systems that leverage
the command, control and
communications expertise
of General Dynamics and the
proven border security solutions
and industry leading radar and
sensor capabilities of EADS.
"EADS’ border security systems
are protecting nations in some
of the most challenging parts
of the world," said Sean O'Keefe,
Chairman and CEO, EADS
North America, adding, "Along
with our partners at General
Dynamics, our SPEXER radar and
detection systems integration
experience will help provide
a proven, reliable and costeffective solution for customers
like the US’ Department of
Homeland Security."
"This long-term partnership
between General Dynamics and
EADS will deliver a system that
is based on operationally proven
capabilities that will become
an effective force multiplier
for the US Border Patrol. In
addition to greater situational
awareness overall, border
patrol agents will also have the
critical tools needed to rapidly
detect, identify and respond to
potential threats at the nation's
borders," said Chris Marzilli,
President of General Dynamics
C4 Systems.
with next-generation Advanced
Extremely High Frequencycompatible sea-based, ground and
airborne user terminals, said the
company.
ONR sensor and software
suite helps track more
than 600 suspect boats
Lockheed Martin to
deliver major information
sharing capabilities
A new sensor and software suite
sponsored by the Office of Naval
Research (ONR) recently returned
from West Africa after helping
partner nations track and identify
target vessels of interest as part of
an international maritime security
operation. Researchers deployed the
system, called ‘Rough Rhino,’ aboard
the US aircraft, ships and partner
nation ships operating in waters off
the coast of Senegal and Cape Verde.
Sailors and Coast Guards could
access and control the sensors both
afloat and ashore as well as share
information in a real-time common
operating picture.
Rough Rhino was responsible for
finding targets during the recent
two-week African Maritime Law
Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP)
operation. The primary missions are
aimed at assisting and building the
host nation’s capability to interdict
and counter narcotics, human
trafficking and illegal fishing.
AMLEP provided an opportunity
to test the prototype Rough Rhino
system in an operationally and
tactically relevant environment,
allowing designers and developers
to see firsthand where the system
needs improvement. The system
includes radar, optics, electronic
surveillance and integrated
software modified and developed
by ONR contractors and the
With the help of Lockheed
Martin, the US Department
of Defense is making major
strides in its ongoing initiative
to quickly and efficiently
share the vast volume of ISR
data available to users with
access to the Distributed
Common Ground System
(DCGS), said the company. The
DCGS multi-service execution
team office awarded Lockheed
Martin a USD 2.6 million
contract to upgrade the DCGS
Integration Backbone, or DIB,
the software infrastructure
that allows intelligence
sharing between national
agencies, coalition partners
and military services.
The DCGS integrates and
draws intelligence data
from various manned and
unmanned ISR sensors and
systems, then correlates
that data into a coherent,
easily interpreted picture
for the end user. The DIB is
the software backbone that
connects these previously
stove-piped ISR systems to
enable intelligence sharing
through the DCGS family of
systems (that is, AF DCGS,
DCGS-A).
For the latest version of
the DIB, Lockheed Martin
developed the Distributed
Data Framework (DDF), an
enhancement that uses Free
and Open Source Software,
which reduces integration
and lifecycle costs for
customers and provides
US partners with improved
access to DCGS data without
having to purchase expensive
commercial off-the-shelf
software licenses. Capabilities
in this upgrade include
increased security filtering
capabilities, an enhanced
data ingest framework,
and orders of magnitude
increases in ingest and query
capability.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
“It provides a comprehensive
maritime domain awareness
picture for dark, gray and light
targets - vessels that range from no
electronic emissions to those that
cooperatively report their name
and positions,” said Dr Michael
Pollock, ONR’s Division Director for
electronics, sensors and networks.
11
NEWS
Naval Research Laboratory. The
system was installed on the Naval
Research Laboratory’s VXS-1 P-3, USS
Simpson and Senegalese ships SNS
Poponguine and SNS Djiffere.
AMLEP is a joint mission conducted
by the US Africa Command, US
Naval Forces Africa, US Coast Guard
Atlantic Area and multiple West
African navies and coast guards.
AMLEP is the operational portion
of the Africa Partnership Station
(APS) initiative in which African
navies employ their professional
skill, knowledge and experience to
combat crime at sea.
General Dynamics
bags US’ tactical
communications contract
General Dynamics has been
awarded a contract to support
the US Department of Homeland
Security’s (DHS) Tactical
Communications Equipment and
Services (TacCom) programme.
The multiple-award, indefinite
delivery, indefinite quantity
contract has a potential value of
USD 3 billion to all 30 awardees
over five years, if all options are
exercised. General Dynamics
was one of the five companies
selected for each of the defined
technical categories. Through
the TacCom contract, General
Dynamics will deliver a full array
of tactical communications
products, infrastructure and
services to DHS and its partner
agencies, departments and
components. Specifically, the
company may engineer, design and
install communications systems
US Navy selects Falcon III
handheld tactical radios
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Harris Corporation has received a USD
7 million order to supply the US Navy
with Falcon III RF-310M-HH multiband
handheld software-defined radios
compatible with Suite B encryption. The
Navy is acquiring the RF-310M as part of
the tactical radio modernisation effort
within Navy Expeditionary Combat
Command (NECC). The NECC supports
naval expeditionary forces such as
explosive ordinance disposal and port
security forces.
12
According to the company, the RF-310M is the first and only tactical
radio to be certified by the National Security Agency as compatible
with Type-1, Suite B encryption. The Suite B algorithm utilises
the commercial advanced encryption standard, allowing it to be
classified as a non-cryptographically controlled item. With its
programmable encryption technology, Software Communications
Architecture and coverage of the entire 30-512 MHz frequency range,
the RF-310M-HH addresses interoperability challenges presented
in coalition and inter-agency operations, the company added.
The RF-310M also hosts the APCO P25 waveform, which provides
interoperability with radios used by police and other emergency
response organisations.
and provide key infrastructure
components such as repeaters,
routers, towers, generators and
shelters. General Dynamics
may also manage software
upgrades, equipment testing,
spectrum analysis and frequency
management functions as
well as provide operations and
maintenance support for mobile
radio and base station installations,
said the company.
US military uses iTrinegy
network emulators
iTrinegy recently announced
that its network emulators are
being used to ensure IP-based
networked applications for military
and national government in
both the US and UK are fully
network-ready before roll out
into the field.
iTrinegy claims to have one of the
most comprehensive ranges of
network emulators in the world,
with specialisation in testing of IP
over wireless networks (including
Radio over IP - RoIP). The network
emulators are being used to
introduce network impairments
such as bandwidth control, latency
(delay), jitter, errors and packet loss
on demand so that a wide range
of real world network conditions
can be tested to see how well data
application will cope, said the
company.
"For military applications, our
network emulators are unlikely
to completely eliminate the
need to conduct vital but
expensive field trials, but their
use should reduce the need for
subsequent re-trials, as many bugs
and performance issues would
have been spotted and corrected
long before in the emulated
environment. As a result, it will be
possible to save large amounts of
time and money and achieve more
rapid system deployments," said
Frank Puranik, Product Director
for iTrinegy.
Northrop Grumman,
L-3 MAS to work together
Dubbed ‘Polar Hawk,’ the system
will be designed to stay aloft for
long periods of time in harsh
weather conditions over vast
expanses of the earth's surface,
monitoring land, ice, littoral
and open water environment
throughout the Arctic.
Flying at 60,000 feet, above
challenging weather and all
commercial air traffic, Polar Hawk
can range over 22,000 kilometres
and stay airborne for more than 33
hours, day or night in all weather
conditions, said the company.
"Northrop Grumman and L-3 MAS
are combining their formidable
strengths to provide a surveillance
system to meet requirements
defined in the Canada First
Defence Strategy," said Duke
Dufresne, Vice President and
General Manager for Northrop
In addition to its surveillance
payloads, Polar Hawk can be
equipped with a wide range of
instrumentation for conducting
science and environmental
missions. It can also be deployed
to support humanitarian
missions.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Grumman's unmanned
systems business. "Polar Hawk's
operational features are uniquely
suited to augment Canada's
existing surveillance capabilities
and extend its reach to patrol
large geographical areas, keeping
constant vigil over the nation's
vast Arctic region from coast-tocoast in a single mission."
Courtesy: Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation
and L-3 MAS recently announced
plans to join forces on a variant of
the Northrop Grumman-produced
Global Hawk high-altitude, longendurance (HALE) unmanned
aircraft system (UAS) for Canada to
maintain continuous surveillance
of its arctic territories.
13
NEWS
ASIA
A
SIA
SI
S
IA
AGNI I ballistic missile
successfully launched
India successfully test-fired its
indigenously developed nuclear
capable ballistic missile, Agni-I
recently. The 700 km range surfaceto-surface, single-stage missile is
powered by solid propellants and
comes with a specialised navigation
system which ensures that it
reaches the target with a high
degree of accuracy and precision.
The missile weighs 12 tonnes, is
Indian Navy creates new post
The Indian Navy recently
announced creation of a new
post of Assistant Chief of
Naval Staff (Communications,
Space and Network-Centric
Operations) or ACNS (CSNCO).
Rear Admiral Kishan K Pandey
is the first to tenant this
appointment. The move
comes ahead of the planned
launch of the country’s
first military satellite, a
naval communications and
surveillance satellite, later
this year.
The Navy is said to be taking
steps to integrate all combat
platforms and terrestrial
nodes through state-of-the art
communications and space
Courtesy: PIB
Forces Command as part of training
exercise to ensure preparedness.
Brahmos II in next
five years
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
15-metre and can carry payloads up
to 1,000 kg. The missile is already in
the arsenal of Indian Armed Forces
and was launched by the Strategic
14
India is likely to develop Brahmos
II, the ‘Hypersonic Reusable Cruise
Missile,’ in the next five years.
Under the Brahmos II programme,
a multi-target, anti-ship/anti-land
Northrop Grumman to
acquire M5 Network
Security
definitive agreement to acquire
privately held M5 Network
Security Pty Ltd, a Canberra,
Australia-based provider of
cybersecurity and secure mobile
communications products and
services and advanced analytics to
Australian military and intelligence
organisations.
Northrop Grumman Corporation
announced that it has signed a
The acquisition is subject to the
Australian government review.
AUSTRALIA
AUST
U TR
RALIA
IA
A
systems towards networkcentric operations. Also, it
is making organisational
changes so as to efficiently
manage the transition to
seamless network-centric
capabilities.
Rear Admiral Pandey is
a communications and
electronic warfare specialist
and has been spearheading
various projects related with
building the critical netcentric capabilities at the
Directorate of Naval Signals
from the past five years.
With inputs from
The Times of India
targets missile travelling at a
hypersonic speed of Mach 7 would
be developed. A Sivathanu Pillai, CEO
and Managing Director, BrahMos
Aerospace, is reported to have said
that the missile would ‘deliver the
warhead, assess the destruction of
target, come back and get ready to
go again.” The Brahmos-II project
would also be a joint venture
between India and Russia.
Terms of the transaction, which is
expected to close later this year,
were not disclosed. The acquisition
is not material to Northrop
Grumman's 2012 financial outlook.
"This acquisition enhances our
ability to provide innovative,
agile and proven cybersecurity
and communication solutions
to Australian customers," said
Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman
Chairman, CEO and President.
PEOPL E
D E F E N C E S E RV I C E S
Gen Bikram Singh takes over as the new
Indian Army Chief
Gen Bikram Singh recently
took over as the 25th Chief
of the Army Staff (COAS)
succeeding Gen V K Singh.
Commissioned in 1972 in the
Sikh Light Infantry, Gen Singh
has held several key staff,
command and instructional
appointments. Prior to
taking over as COAS, he was
commanding the Kolkata
based Eastern Command.
Gen singh will have a tenure of 27 months.
Vice Admiral DK Joshi - the next Indian
Naval Chief
The government has
appointed Vice Admiral DK
Joshi, presently Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief
(FOC-in-C) Western Naval
Command, as the next Chief
of the Naval Staff (CNS). The
present CNS Admiral NK
Verma retires from service on
August 31, 2012.
During his career spanning
nearly 38 years, he has served in a variety of command,
staff and instructional appointments. Vice Admiral
Joshi`s sea command includes Guided Missile Corvette
Kuthar, Guided Missile destroyer Ranvir and the
Aircraft Carrier Viraat. Before taking over as FOC-in-C
Western Naval Command, he has served as the Deputy
Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS), Commander- in-Chief of
A&N Command (CINCAN) and the Chief of Integrated
Defence Staff to Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee
(CISC).
Air Marshal DC Kumaria is new Vice
Chief of IAF
Air Marshal DC Kumaria recently took over as the
new Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS), Indian
Air Force (IAF).
Air Marshal
Kumaria has held
various important
Field and Staff
appointments. He
has commanded
a front-line
Jaguar Squadron
specialising
in maritime
strike role and a major fighter base, where he was
responsible for the operationalisation of air-to-air
refuelling on IAF’s fighter aircraft. He was the first
Assistant Chief of the Air Staff Operations (Space)
at Air Headquarters and on elevation to the rank
of Air Marshal, was appointed as the first Director
General Air (Operations) at Air Headquarters. Before
taking over as VCAS, Air Marshal Kumaria held the
appointment of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,
Western Air Command.
New president of BAE
Systems’ Intelligence and
Security sector
DeEtte Gray has joined BAE Systems,
Inc. as president of the Intelligence
and Security sector. Gray succeeds
John Gannon, who retired in June.
Gray joins BAE Systems from
Lockheed Martin Corporation,
where she spent 13 years and held a
succession of positions supporting
the information and national
security needs of various federal
customers. Most recently, she served
as vice president for Lockheed
Martin’s Enterprise Information
Technology Solutions business. Gray
also served as a director of corporate
strategy and as deputy director for
the company’s Army and Defense
Information Systems Agency unit.
Before moving to the defence sector,
Gray worked in information systems
for the city of Cape Coral, Florida;
Johnston County, North Carolina;
and the Wake/Johnston County
School System.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
I N D U S T RY
15
Courtesy: aviationweek.com
NGA
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
<< With an aim to take geoint to the next level, NGA, one of the prominent
intelligence agencies of the US, releases its strategy for the next five years >>
16
n an era of fiscal austerity
and against a backdrop
of increasingly complex
challenges, NGA (National
Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency) must anticipate
tomorrow’s threats to
position itself for the
future. With this message, Letitia
A. Long, Director, NGA, set the tone
for the future course of action
of the agency in its recently released
‘NGA strategy 2013-2017’.
Identifying geoint (geospatial
intelligence) as an important
component of intelligence, the
strategy lays down the strategic
goals and objectives of NGA
which will guide it to fulfil its vision
of ‘Putting the power of geoint
in your hands.’ The document is
flexible by design and takes into
account the agency’s need to
be agile in supporting multiple
mission areas including support to
military and intelligence operations,
intelligence analysis, homeland
defence, and humanitarian and
disaster relief. “We must ensure
geoint’s contribution is integrated
into the Director of National
Intelligence (DNI) sponsored
Unified Intelligence Strategies (UIS),
and that geoint matures as a key
factor in achieving ‘intelligence
integration,’ a key DNI objective for
the intelligence community,” said
Long in the opening letter of the
strategy.
Stressing on the rapid technological
changes taking place in the world
today, the agency states, “As our
adversaries adopt new denial
and deception techniques, NGA
must use innovative sources,
tools, techniques and processes to
maintain our strategic advantage.”
It wants to ‘take geoint to the next
level’ and hopes that the strategy
will enable its ‘transition from a
product producer to a content
and services provider.’
Strategic goals
>> Provide online, on-demand
access to geoint knowledge
>> Broaden and deepen analytic
expertise to produce new value
Strategic objectives
>> Content: The idea is to empower
the geoint community, through
greatly improved access, to
varied content and applications,
easy-to-use online services in all
security domains and the ability
to contribute content to the
global geoint knowledge base. It
hopes to achieve this objective
by creating and making easily
accessible and usable geoint
content that addresses key
intelligence questions and
anticipates the entire range
of its consumers’ needs. It will
also develop and implement
standards for geoint content
creation, sharing and storage.
>> Open IT environment: The
objective is to develop a stable,
mission-driven and open
IT environment that meets
industry standards and allows
users to create and consume
geoint content anytime on the
device of their choice. For this,
NGA will deliver a robust, safe,
secure and agile data framework
and interfaces that foster
community sharing of data
and application development.
It will also leverage and rapidly
deploy interoperable collection,
processing and exploitation
capabilities in multiple security
domains.
>> Analytic capabilities: NGA
will provide a range of new
anticipatory analytic products
and services to its customers. For
this, the agency will develop new
analytic techniques, leverage
new technologies and integrate
advanced geospatial sensor data
to enable more sophisticated
analytic products and services.
It will also develop agile
learning solutions and analyst
qualification and certification
standards to enhance the overall
standing and expertise of the
workforce.
>> Customer Service: The aim is
to ensure the geoint content
is integrated, managed and
exposed to all geoint users in
all domains using self, assisted,
and full-service delivery models.
For this, the agency will lead
the identification of new and
emerging geoint capabilities
for content, products and
services in anticipation of future
intelligence and operational
geoint needs. Further, it will
deliver a three-tiered service
model supported by online, ondemand technology and analytic
experts to ensure customised
and responsive access to geoint
content.
>> Workforce: To meet the
challenge of current missions
and maintain the flexibility
to adapt and change to meet
future mission needs, NGA will
attract, motivate and retain a
highly skilled, innovative, and
adaptive workforce. It also
intends to establish career
roadmaps and professional
development programmes
that ensure the following:
define the steps for success,
provide opportunities to gain
perspective on the full range
of NGA activities, and measure
performance based on a holistic
assessment process.
>> Corporate and functional
management: NGA wants
to function more efficiently
through real-time transparent
insight into expenditures
and agility in managing its
programme, budget and
personnel. It hopes to achieve
this objective by strengthening
its corporate functions through
GeoEye out,
DigitalGlobe in
Soon after releasing the strategy
in which it emphasised the
need to carefully balance
investments, resources, risks
and priorities, major changes to
NGA’s EnhancedView commercial
imagery programme were
announced. The agency is reported
to have decided not to renew the
contract with GeoEye for the full
year due to budget constraints. It
would also not provide additional
funding for the company’s satellite,
GeoEye-2, beyond USD 181 million
provided for in the contract.
However, it has decided to renew
its agreement with DigitalGlobe
for the option year three which
begins on September 1, 2012 and
continues through August 31, 2013.
Both GeoEye and DigitalGlobe won
a combined contract in 2010 to
supply images to the agency under
its EnhancedView contract. While
GeoEye had received an order of
USD3.8 billion, DigitalGlobe was
awarded USD3.5 billion. The period
of performance for the contracts
was 10 years. The initial period
was of one-year, with nine,
one-year options.
an efficient and consistent
set of streamlined business
processes, lead advancement in
the geoint field and transition
research and development
and science and technology
activities to operations, and
improve performance through
development and use of metrics.
>> Workplace: NGA wants to be a
leader in the federal government
by establishing secure, safe,
sustainable, collaborative and
environmentally friendly sites
that are in compliance with all
federal, state and local laws,
regulations and standards.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Courtesy: aviationweek.com
Following are the goals and the
seven strategic objectives outlined
by the agency:
17
NCW
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Courtesy: www.docstoc.com
Progressing
net-centricity
18
<< With Indian
military rapidly
developing its
capabilities
towards becoming
a Network-Centric
force, there is a
need to accord
priority to
tri-service NCW
philosophy and
accelerate R&D in
acquiring critical
technologies >>
et-centricity,
the enabler to
Network-Centric
Warfare (NCW),
is important
to the defence
forces. Military
networking is far more challenging
than industry networking since
the former is heavily dependent
on wireless communications
with heavy demand for security
and requires robust resistance to
hostile actions. NCW is information
superiority enabled war-fighting
concept that generates increased
combat power by robust networking
of sensors, decision makers and
shooters. It allows military to evolve
a confluence of weapons, sensors
and decision making, all of which
ride on information superiority.
Net centricity helps achieve holistic
integration and synergy since
sharing of information enables a
force to optimise the full potential
of dominant manoeuvre, precision
engagement, full dimensional
protection and focussed logistics.
Why the need?
Twenty first century threats
demand national net centricity, as
borders between peace and war
as well as external and internal
battlefields have blurred. Multiple
domains of conflict spectrum
are simultaneously in play as
asymmetric wars are being waged
with impunity. Emerging trends
of warfare have greater emphasis
on the sub-conventional. Force
application throughout the conflict
continuum must be at the locus of
engagement with the adversary.
National level applications must
be in place 365 days and 24x7 even
NCW is the linkage of people,
systems and platforms to form a
self-synchronised, networked force
that creates shared battlespace
awareness providing information
superiority and speed of command.
The focal point is the networked
force - a combination of various
standalone computer systems,
weapon platforms and people
forming an integrated organisation
that communicates speedily.
The concept at the highest level
constitutes the military’s response
to the information age. The themes
of NCW that have emerged over
the years constitute information
superiority, speed of command, selfsynchronisation, linking people and
platforms, network force and shared
battlespace awareness.
The Indian military
scenario
In the 21st century conflict
situations, decisions have to be
taken with great swiftness and
efficacy and the entire consultationdecision making process has to be
radically telescoped. Conflicts are
expected to be short, fast-paced
and intense. In both pro-active and
reactive roles, early prediction of
information would become a key
to success. Focus is on attaining
access to information which is
resident in an information network
and its speedy dissemination so
that the commander’s intent can
be translated into decisive action.
NCW allows us to move from an
approach based upon the massing
of forces to one based upon the
massing of effects. This allows us
to reduce our battlespace footprint
which in turn reduces risk because
we avoid presenting the enemy
with attractive high value targets.
Empowered with knowledge
derived from a shared awareness
of the battlespace and a shared
understanding of the commander’s
intent, our forces can display
initiative to meet the commander’s
intent and be more effective
when operating autonomously.
NCW permits effective linking
among entities in the battlespace.
Dispersed and distributed
entities can generate synergy and
responsibility and work can be
dynamically reallocated to adapt
to the situation. This would result
in increased tempo of operations,
increased responsiveness, lower
risks and lower costs, increased
combat effectiveness, and would
enable commanders to cope with
telescoped timeframes available for
decision making. While national net
centricity would be incrementally
upgraded, armed forces jointness
is an absolute imperative because
conflicts cannot be won by a single
Service. The requirement is of a top
down approach within the military.
The term NCW broadly describes
the combination of strategies,
emerging tactics, techniques,
procedures and organisations that
a fully or even a partially networked
force can employ to create
decisive warfighting advantage.
radio sets differ in frequency bands,
wave forms and secrecy algorithms.
Interoperability is feasible though
difficult since technologies differ
and the process incurs avoidable
additional costs. Common data
applications are yet to be conceived.
There is absence of knowledge
management, and a common
unifying secrecy algorithm for the
Services hasn’t been developed
though technological solutions
exist. No common enterprise GIS
has yet been developed. For effective
transformation from platform
centric capabilities to network
centricity, a phased shift in existing
technology of the three Services and
horizontal fusion amongst them
at laid down hierarchical structure
is a must. Cultural change is
warranted through aptitude based
selection procedures to influence
values, attitudes and beliefs of
future leaders. Warfighter must
have a thorough understanding
of system capabilities and the
ability, initiative and innovativeness
to employ capabilities for best
effects. Although development of
automated systems is currently
<< NCW is the linkage of people, systems and
platforms to form a self-synchronised, networked force
that creates shared battlespace awareness providing
information superiority and speed of command >>
In implementation, human
behaviour precedes information
technology. Being small sized as
compared to the Army, our Navy
and Air Force have better intraservice net-centricity but we lack
inter-services handshake without
which we cannot achieve NCW
capabilities. Presently, the military
does not even have common
data structures, symbology and
interoperable protocols. True
‘system of systems’ approach is
yet to come. Voice, data networks,
radio communications are not
interoperable to desired degree and
underway in the Services,
managing the actual transition
requires both the technological and
psychological aspects of change.
Cyber capability should include
ability to prevent cyber attacks
and if these happen, contain them
effecting swift recovery. We must
make ‘cyber dominance’ an essential
component of our war doctrine. It
is also vital that operational and
tactical networks of the military
have high mobility and robust
ECCM. A policy for simulation
and war-gaming too must be
developed.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
during peace since the military
continues to be engaged in low
intensity operations and homeland
security is a continuous affair.
19
two Corps will be equipped in one
year depending upon the funds
available. Equipping the existing
13 Corps in Phase 3 will take about
seven years.
Development CIDSS (sanctioned
May 1998) test bed comprising
one Corps HQ, one Divisional
HQ, three Brigade HQs and nine
Infantry battalions was to be
completed in Stage 1 of Phase 1,
however, only a truncated test bed
could be undertaken in phases in
absence of TCS and complications
in porting of security solutions.
Further development of the system
for Stage 2 of Phase 1 (equipping
and integrating remaining infantry
formations and units of the Test
Bed Corps) and Phase 2 (extending
CIDSS to other arms and services
of Test Bed Corps, integration of
CIDSS with other components of Tac
C3I and equipping one designated
Strike Corps) is being undertaken by
BEL but is running behind schedule
by about four years. In Phase 3,
ACCCS was sanctioned in March
2002 for developing a networked
solution for automated tactical and
technical fire control by artillery.
The orders were placed on BEL
post approval as ‘Buy and Make’
project. Tactical computers were
procured from Elbit, Israel, for the
test bed with ToT provision. Balance
hardware was obtained by BEL
commercially from indigenous
sources or manufactured. Final
phase of equipping the Army is
underway and should be completed
by end of the current year. This is
the first operational information
system that has been fielded in the
Army. Contract for the AD C&RS was
signed in March 2008. The project
was based on the Army’s philosophy
for AD C&RS. As per initial plan,
the fielding of the test bed was to
Courtesy: www.bdicode.co
the Electronic Warfare System (EWS)
under military operations and
the Electronic Intelligence System
(ELINT) under military intelligence.
The Army Strategic Operational
Information Dissemination System
(ASTROIDS) under development
by DGIS will provide upward
connectivity from Corps HQ to
Army HQ.
BSS was conceived as an automated
system with dedicated intracommunication integrating
surveillance sensors at Division
and Corps level on a customised
GIS platform with multi-sensor
data fusion undertaken at the
Surveillance Centre for providing
inputs to the CIDSS. Phase 1 test
bed has been completed and
operational validation accorded. It
was developed on turnkey basis by
BEL in collaboration with Centre
for Artificial Intelligence and
Robotics (CAIR). Phase 2 (also by BEL)
involves equipping all Corps, after
successful completion of ‘proving
phase.’ This too is behind schedule
by a few years. As per the initial
plan, equipping was to commence
in 2010 after the ‘proving phase’,
however, BEL has been facing
problems akin to ACCCS of limited
indigenous capacity in applications,
design and software customisation
though bulk of hardware and
technology was imported. Test bed
for ‘proving phase’ of Phase 2 should
come through this year.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul
Jan –– Aug
Feb 2012
Indian Army
20
The Army has been focusing on
transforming into NCW capable
force through leveraging emerging
technologies, which requires
alterations in concept of operations,
doctrine, organisations, force
structure and above all, imbibing
the NCW culture in the psyche of
the warfighter and commanders.
The Tactical Command, Control,
Communications and Information
(Tac C3I) System under development
by the Director General Information
Systems (DGIS) is the mainstay
of net-centricity in the Army,
with the Tactical Communication
System (TCS) providing requisite
communications in the Tactical
BattleArea (TBA). Tac C3I will
provide state-of-the-art C4I2
connectivity from Corps down to
warfighters in TBA comprising
the Command Information and
Decision Support System (CIDSS),
Battlefield Surveillance System
(BSS), Artillery Command, Control
and Communications System
(ACCCS), Air Defence Control and
Reporting System (ADC&RS) and
the Battlefield Management System
(BMS). CIDSS will integrate all the
systems. Tac C3I will also integrate
BMS was envisaged to enable faster
decision process by commanders
with reliable operational
information provided in realtime and an ability to quickly
close the sensor-to-shooter loop
by integrating all surveillance
facilitating engagement through
CIDSS, exploiting technology for
mission accomplishment in the TBA
by rapid acquisition, processing and
transfer of information, enhanced
situational awareness, capability
to react to information, sharpen
ability to synchronise and direct
fire, plus establish and maintain
overwhelming operational tempo.
The system customised to specific
army requirements needs to be
first integrated and tested in a
controlled environment in a test bed
laboratory, after which validation
trials would be undertaken in
field conditions. After successful
validation in field, equipping would
begin. BMS would comprise a
tactical hand held computer with
individual warfighter and tactical
computers at Battle Group HQ,
and combat vehicles enabling
generation of common operational
picture by integrating inputs from
all relevant sources by integrated
use of GIS and GPS with a high data
rate. Phase I comprising test bed
laboratory and field trials is delayed
by almost three years. Presently, BMS
and F-INSAS are being progressed
concurrently though BMS too caters
for infantry. The Defence Acquisition
Council approved the BMS as ‘Make
India’ project in 2011, following
which the DG Acquisition ordered
an Integrated Project Management
Study (IPMT), which is underway
and should be completed by the end
<< MoD should consider
separate DPP for ICT
systems cutting on present
procurement time that is
not conducive to state-ofthe-art procurement >>
of 2012. Thereafter, an Expression
of Interest (EOI) would be issued by
MoD to PSUs and RURs, likely in early
2013, with a response time of about
four months. With nomination of
prototype developers, development
time (about 12 months) and the Test
Bed, Phase 1 is likely to be completed
by 2016 or so. Accordingly, Phase 2
(Equipping) will get delayed from
initial plan of 2017 to 2021 and
Phase 3 (Change management and
upgradation of system) from 2022
to 2026. Initial estimate of Rs 350 cr
may double and the overall project
cost of fielding the BMS may jump
from initial estimate of Rs 23,000
cr to Rs 70-80,000 cr or even more.
The private industry should invest
heavily into R&D and develop stateof-the-art prototypes since two
developers are likely to be chosen.
The TCS that had been approved
twice in past should have been
fielded into the Army 15 years
back. Adverse effects of truncated
test beds would lead to avoidable
problems coming up at fielding/
equipping stage that could have
been corrected at test bed stage.
This also leads to avoidable
additional costs that may accrue
due to the requirement of upgrades
immediately after fielding these
systems.
be ensured for private industry
participation. The military must
accord priority to tri-Service NCW
philosophy and follow up road
map without waiting for a Chief
of Defence Staff (CDS). Integrated
tri-Service software must come
up simultaneous to the Defence
Communication Network. Needless
to mention that information
security must be ensured under
holistic information assurance both
at the national and military level.
Conclusion
An NCW capable military also
entails that surveillance resources
at national level be integrated
into networks, which in turn
should provide necessary inputs
to designated firepower resources
to react in real-time. We should
accelerate R&D to acquire critical
technology, innovate and absorb
the same. We need to create joint
organisations to achieve synergy
and seamless interoperability,
build a robust ICT infrastructure,
effectively managing the
transformation and increasing
technical threshold of users.
It is imperative that adequate
technological infrastructure be
nurtured to meet the hardware,
software and joint doctrinal
challenges. We need to look at
policies for sharing information and
establishing priorities and processes
for data exchange and engagement
of targets. Cyber warfare technology
needs to be nurtured to develop
an edge against the adversary
by denting his networks and
downgrading his fighting ability.
Way ahead
The government may consider
appointing a permanent board
charged with ‘National Net
Centricity and RMA’ as adjunct to
Ministry of IT. MoD should consider
separate DPP for ICT systems cutting
on present procurement time that
is not conducive to state-of-the-art
procurement. A level field must
Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd)
[email protected]
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
be done in December 2009 but is
yet to materialise. Moreover, the
initial test bed was planned as
an independent test bed and its
integration with Indian Air Force’s
Air Defence System (also under
development) was to be done at a
later stage – a mistake recognised
and rectified in 2008. An integrated
test bed looks likely by the end of
this year.
21
Interview
Inte
In
terv
rvie
iew
w
“More interaction
needed between NATO
and geo-community”
<< Right from detailing requirements to acquisition and
then implementation of solution in the organisation, NATO C3
Agency is responsible for carrying out all the processes related
to building C4ISR capabilities in the organisation. In a tete`-atete´ with GeoIntelligence, Bert Tiems, Chief C2 & Operation
Services, C3 Agency, NATO, tells us about the challenges
facing the agency and the road ahead >>
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Q. Can you tell us about the role
of C3 Agency of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO)?
22
NATO C3 Agency acts as an
intermediate between the
military and industry in the area
of C4ISR (Computers, Command,
Control, Intelligence, Surveillance,
Reconnaissance) capability
development. We translate military
operational requirements into clear
system, service and information
requirements that industry can
create solutions for. We do the
acquisitions and procurement of
those capabilities as well. Once the
industry delivers those capabilities
to NATO, we are also responsible
for implementing them into
the military organisation. So we
carry out all the processes – right
from capturing requirements
to tendering and then do actual
procurement and acquisition and
implementation of solution.
Q. How important is geospatial
information in Command and
Control (C2)?
I primarily look after the C2
for maritime C2, ISR, logistics, etc.
We acquire capabilities for each of
these divisions separately.
systems of NATO. There are a
lot of applications in that area.
For example, in the military
organisation, we consider geo as
part of intelligence community
(that is, a part of ISR) but we have
grouped it in C2 as well. That’s
because we think it’s very important
that common geo-products are
used by C2 staff in support of
the command and control of the
operation.
We need to understand how to
make all these capabilities work
together in a way that the endusers and operational commanders
are able to support the operations.
What we are seeing right now is
that the individual acquisitions and
the capabilities acquired work quite
well inside their own operational
area. But we have some challenges
like we need to ensure that there
is smooth sharing of information
between different systems ISR, geospatial and C2 systems.
Integration is a challenge. It is
important to provide support to
the mission. That’s where we lag
behind. We are taking steps in
the right direction but we have
to catch up.
When we talk about geospatial, I
see it more as a production of geodata; and geo-intelligence is to use
that data in its right form in the C2
processes.
Q. The agency has of late
awarded several contracts in
areas like cyber defence, ISR
capabilities, etc. Can you tell us
about them?
Q. When we talk of acquisition
of geospatial products, how
tough is the cooperation
between the two divisions – ISR
and C2, given the fact that this
is an area which is very much a
part of ISR?
Yes, we have some very big ongoing
projects at the moment. If we
talk about cyber defence, we have
signed a contract to provide the
cyber defence solution for NATO.
We expect the capabilities to be
ready with NATO within this year.
So this is going to be a deliverable
requirement of 2012.
That’s one of the main challenges
that we have right now in NATO.
We do not carry out acquisition in
one go. Instead, we do it capability
by capability, that is, acquisition
Q. These contracts, I believe,
are in keeping with your vision
of providing modern defence
Talking about cyber defence, well,
the whole new paradigm is that
we have to share information and
be flexible as much as possible. The
information should be available
when you need it. These are very
clear operational requirements.
But the easier it is to get the
information that you need, the
more likely is the vulnerability of
information falling into the wrong
hands. We need to put in place the
increased cyber defence measures
to have the right protection so that
we don’t create security threat
based on the availability of data. It is
a different paradigm. Earlier, we had
no security problems because data
was not exchanged but now we are
sharing data, and different nations
have agreed to put the data on one
common network. So now, we have
to put the right measures in place
to ensure that the data does not fall
into the wrong hands.
Q. What do you think about the
new technology that we are
now talking about –maps as
new apps, and cloud emerging
as the next big thing?
It’s great. With this new mechanism,
there will be additional challenges
to information sharing, to put
right security mechanism in place
without hindering the overall
improvement of a capability.
Q. What is NATO’s vision of GIS?
It is very important that GIS
grows out of its own very strong
operational community – the geo
people. They are a world by itself
and are great experts, but I think
there’s a room for improvement
there. There should be more
involvement and integration of
people responsible for C2 from J3,
J4, J5, etc., with the geo-world. This
will help the two better understand
each other’s roles, responsibilities
and requirements. I think it
is important to increase the
interaction between people
from geo community and their
consumers.
BERT TIEMS
Chief C2 & Operation Services
C3 Agency, NATO
Q. What do you think is
hindering this interaction?
Do you think technology is a
problem?
I don’t think technology is a
problem. The problem lies with
processes, procedures, policies
and protocols. Technology is
fine. We have great technology
right now but this may not
be always used in the right
fashion. Geo-world doesn’t fully
understand the requirements
from the J3 to J4 or J5, so we need
to have more interaction. If there
is a better understanding among
geo-world about the requirements
of the end-users of NATO, the
HQ, it would be possible to use
NATO core GS in more innovative
ways than what it is used
today; so there’re some missed
opportunities. It is not just
industry, but there is also a need
for better interaction between
NATO geo-people and NATO J3,
J4 and J5.
The interview was held before the merger of NATO C3 Agency into the NATO
Communications and Information (NCI) Agency. On July 1, 2012, NATO C3 Agency
alongwith the NATO ACCS Management Agency (NACMA), the NATO Communications
and Information System Services Agency (NCSA), the ALTBMD Programme and
elements of NATO HQ were merged together to form the NCI Agency. The Agency is
now NATO’s IT and C4ISR provider including cyber and missile defence, and Bert Tiems
is Senior Representative to ISAF, NATO Communications and Information Agency
(Chief C2 and Operations Services – CAT4-6)
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
which is able to counter
complex security challenges.
What kind of threats do you
envisage?
23
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
INDIAN ARMY
24
he Indian Army is
in the process of
transformation
into an agile,
lethal, versatile
and networked
force to meet the current and
emerging threats and challenges
across the entire spectrum of
conflict including fourth generation
asymmetric and virtual threats.
Technology and
transformation
All armies of developed and
developing countries in the
world are transforming in some
way or the other. Technological
advancements in all spheres of
war fighting activity have been the
catalyst to this process. Defense
force transformation consists of
three components - doctrinal,
organisational and technical.
In the technological sphere,
transformation in the information
domain is important because of
its contribution to the creation of
a truly net centric force that can
create decisive military effects in
support of a strategy to defend
national interests. Network Centric
Warfare (NCW), the military
embodiment of information
age concepts and technologies,
is redefining the basic source of
combat power, enhancing the
value of some while devaluing
others. Manoeuvre, mass, surprise,
firepower and logistics have for
centuries been basic attributes
in the military realm. But in the
information age, information is
transforming both the concepts of
mass and manoeuvre, redefining
firepower and greatly simplifying
logistics. The massing of forces is
being transformed into massing
of effects. Manoeuvre is more
about correctly positioning forces
or being able to have small groups
move successfully on a non-linear
battlefield. The mass previously
associated with firepower is being
increasingly replaced by precision.
Transformation in the
technological domain requires
the ability to acquire battlefield
transparency, process information,
make decisions and distribute
information over wide areas at
high data rates, on the move
and across all echelons. These
capabilities are the enablers of
network-centric warfare. The
information age envisages the
edge of the battlefield being
empowered to make decisions
based on command intent and
self synchronisation derived from
high quality shared awareness and
collaboration.
Development of
infostructure
The Network Centric era will
Strategic and
operational
communication
infrastructure
This infrastructure has to be
based on a countrywide, secure,
multi-service and multi-protocol
converged Next Generation
Network (NGN) based on dedicated
optical transport. It would be
an Adaptive Dense Wavelength
Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
based nation-wide layer, highly
resilient IP/ MPLS (Multiprotocol
Label Switching) backbone with
gigabit optical carrier ethernet
transport access. The network would
be managed and operated through
multiple geographically redundant
Network Operation Centers (NOC)
and Network Management Centers
(NMC). There would be a need of a
satellite overlay based on MF-TDMA
(Multi-Frequency, Time Division
Multiple Access) technology.
Such a system, once established,
would cater to futuristic
communication requirements
at the strategic and operational
levels. ASCON (Army Static Switched
Communication Network) Phase
IV for which the Request for
Information (RFI) has been issued,
Network for Spectrum (NFS) being
executed by the BSNL and the
Defence Communication Network
(DCN) cater to these futuristic
needs of the Army in particular,
and the latter two, to the combined
requirements of the three services.
<< Transformation in
the technological domain
requires the ability
to acquire battlefield
transparency, process
information, make decisions
and distribute information
over wide areas at high
data rates, on the move and
across all echelons >>
Tactical communications
Today there is a differential
between the existing (or envisaged)
robust backbone network and the
communications available to the
cutting edge field forces on the
fringes. This gap needs to be bridged
at the earliest. The Battlefield
Management System (BMS) and
the F-INSAS (Future Infantry Soldier
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Courtesy: www.cryptome.org
<<Transformation
of Indian Army into
a networked force
is no easy task
given the nature
of warfare that the
Army is involved
with >>
necessitate the integration of all
battlefield entities from the highest
headquarters right down to the
forward most fighting elements,
so as to synergise resources and
retain the capability to concentrate
maximum force at the point of
decision in an acceptable time
frame. This integration will apply
across the entire spectrum of war
fighting activities of the field force
and in particular to surveillance,
intelligence gathering, collation,
navigation, targeting and decision
making. For achieving this, a
robust, scalable and secure army
info infrastructure is required.
The development philosophy of
this infrastructure would consist
of three distinct layers - a well
developed, robust and resilient
physical transport layer; an agile
switching layer; and a well-defined
enterprise wide services layer.
These layers would be common
for both the strategic as well as
the tactical domain. However, the
technology applicable to both may
be different due to constraints of
mobility, bandwidth, line of sight,
etc. It is therefore, imperative
to use the right technology in
the right domain. The transport
layer could vary from wireline to
wireless technology. The switching
layers should be based on fast
convergence technology and the
services layer should provide a
framework for all applications to
seamlessly interwork with one
another. In fact, we would be
transiting from a distributed to a
virtualised environment.
25
as a System) programmes are
steps in this direction. Apart from
soldier systems, there is a need
for a cohesive and comprehensive
radio philosophy for the Army.
This would include entities such
as a soldier, platoon, company and
battalion level communications.
Additionally, communications for
higher Headquarters (HQ) such as
the brigade, division, corps, strategic
radio communications and also
communications for the supporting
Arms and Services, Armored
Fighting Vehicles (AFV), Infantry
Combat Vehicles (ICV), airborne and
ground-to-air communication have
to be included in the overarching
philosophy.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Apart from Combat Net Radio
(CNR) which is an indispensable
component of the war fighting
machinery, satellite and cellular
communications provide a great
deal of versatility. The adoption
of technologies associated with
software defined radio, mobile
ad-hoc networks; sat-phones
and mobile satellite terminals
with transponders resident on
indigenous satellites; mobile
cellular technologies such as LTE,
WiMAX, WCDMA, TETRA would be
the requirement in the foreseeable
future, especially in the tactical
domain. Notwithstanding
the technologies involved, the
fundamental guiding principles
behind equipping a soldier remain
unchanged, namely, mobility,
miniaturisation, bandwidth,
Quality of Service (QoS), ease of
operation, interoperability, location
determination, encryption and
scalability.
26
Tactical Communication System
(TCS) for mobile strike formations
is another endeavour currently
under way. This programme has
been categorised as ‘Make’ to
promote participation of the
Indian industry and has made
considerable progress. This system
is based largely on broadband radio
relay with network nodes, network
communication nodes and sectoral
nodes of varied capacity at different
echelons would provide the much
needed requirements of mobile
formations and also assist greatly
in indigenisation.
GIS
Geospatial intelligence has
revolutionised the way we engage
in warfare. The entire ambit of
command, control, communication,
surveillance, reconnaissance,
navigation, targeting, terrain
analysis, simulation and logistics
and other management functions
is contingent on having reliable
and accurate GIS. A host of
platforms providing geospatial
data will abound the battlefield
to include satellite imagery, aerial
photographs, UAVs, sensors of
various types, GPS enabled devices
and so on. There would be disparate
data sources with multiple and
different representation of the same
physical objects dictating the need
for a robust, accurate and automatic
technique to enable full data
integration. The information would
also have spatial and non-spatial
components at different layers to
be displayed in a manner to assist
decision-making. Data emanating
from various sources has to be
tagged properly to make access,
archiving and discovery simple.
Data inputs from all C4I2SR
components to include Battlefield
Surveillance Systems (BSS), Air
Defense Control & Reporting
Systems (ADC&R), Artillery
Joint operations
For enhancing inter-service synergy,
a common communication
platform is a pre-requisite. Joint
services infrastructure like the NFS
and DCN will be the key enablers to
usher in the necessary synergy. For
joint operations, the availability of a
Common Operational Picture (COP)
at the tactical, operational and
strategic levels is a must.
The demand for use of open
standards and protocols and a
framework for open integration
are aspects being addressed at the
inter-service level.
Information security
As we move through the process,
it must be remembered that
technology is both a catalyst as well
as an inhibitor. While we acquire
and field newer technologies,
where trillions of bytes of data flow
across the network in seconds, our
vulnerabilities have also increased.
Security will always remain
paramount. Aspects of media bulk
encryption, network and application
layer security, authorisation and
authentication, access control and
risk management would all have to
be addressed holistically.
In western armies like the US Army
or even some of the armies of the
NATO countries, there has been a
shift in focus post cold war and
9/11 to essentially expeditionary
forces, due to emerging asymmetric
threats germinating in other
countries. In Indian context, the
conventional and nuclear threats
are consistent and our potential
adversaries remain unchanged.
Threats of asymmetric warfare
are, however, gaining ground. The
Indian Armed Forces, therefore,
have to possess the capability to
fight across the entire spectrum of
conflict situations. Those of us who
were witness to the Kargil conflict
would recall that it was fought,
albeit largely, and where it counted,
in the first generation league, in the
nature of trench warfare! While
this allusion is not intended to
detract from our avowed objective
of moving towards net-centricity,
it should at the same time help to
realign our focus to the versatility
of operations that the Indian Armed
Forces are likely to face.
We today have our forces deployed
all across our large border and
in the hinterland with sizeable
deployment for counter insurgency
operations. It is a pan India presence
with troops in the border deployed
in extremely inhospitable terrain
and weather conditions. When we
talk of transformation, we must
remember this unique character of
deployment of our forces and our
own threats and challenges.
Lt Gen P Mohapatra (Retd)
[email protected]
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Courtesy: http://greenrenovation.files.wordpress.com
Command and Control Systems
(ACCS) et al would be analysed
and processed through Command
Information and Decision Support
Systems (CIDSS) to assist
decision making.
Conclusion
27
Interview
The power of
extreme analysis
<< BAE Systems is promoting GXP Xplorer as a revolutionary data management
application that makes it easy to locate, retrieve and share geospatial data across
an enterprise. Dr A. Stewart Walker, Product Director, BAE Systems, USA, helps us
understand why the company is so excited about the product >>
Q. BAE Systems offers a
comprehensive range of
products to address the
requirements of geospatial
industry. Can you tell us about
them?
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
BAE Systems is a large global
defence and aerospace company
and we do offer a range of
geospatial products and services. I
work at its Geospatial eXploitation
Products. We market, develop, sell
and support a range of commercial
off-the-shelf products – image
analysis, geospatial analysis,
mapping, photogrammetry, etc.
28
Dr A. Stewart Walker
Product Director, BAE Systems, USA
Talking about our products, our
new SOCET GXP product has
reached a stage where our SOCET
SET customers can transition to
SOCET GXP. We have been working
on SOCET GXP for almost 10 years.
Initially, we concentrated on the
demanding tasks of image analysts.
However, recently, we have moved
on to adding capabilities that would
suit the photogrammetrists and
the mappers, so that enables them
to transition. In addition, we have
a new product called GXP Xplorer,
which is for cataloguing, search,
discovery, processing and report
creation. Many users today feel
that it takes longer to find data
that they want to analyse than to
do the actual analysis. Hence, we
have developed a product which
Courtesy: BAE Systems
catalogues the files and enables
sophisticated searches to be carried
out. Those files could be imagery,
elevation data, feature data or even
unstructured files.
Q. You have been credited
with having provided a new
direction in the development
of SOCET GXP and enterprise
software products. Your take.
We have also put the last pieces of
the puzzle in place so that SOCET
SET customers can switch over to
the SOCET GXP version which is
meant for all. The version has some
capabilities which I believe are
important. It has a sophisticated
capability for feature collection and
editing including 3D site modelling,
it is capable of being able to view
the results as a perspective and
adds a capability for modelling
terrain using triangulated regular
networks. Also, there’s an exciting
new capability called automatic
GXP Xplorer Web interface
feature extraction where the
software can look into a point
cloud – it may be from LiDAR or
photogrammetry - and extract
buildings and trees automatically.
GXP Xplorer is an off-the-shelf
product, catalogues a wide range of
file types and enables a user to do
sophisticated searches. It is server
based, which means that it can be
accessed from conventional PCs
and mobile devices such as iPhones,
iPads and Android smartphones.
I would say at the moment, the
mobile devices are probably
generating the most excitement.
Q. You are also working with
the US Army to help soldiers
get maps, videos and other
information in the battlefield.
What kind of technology goes
into making all this possible,
that is, connecting soldiers
wherever they are?
GXP Xplorer is an off-the-shelf product,
catalogues a wide range of file types
and enables a user to do sophisticated
searches. It is server based, which means
that it can be accessed from conventional
PCs and mobile devices such as iPhones,
iPads and Android smartphones
The US Army recently procured 50
GXP Xplorer servers to reduce the
effort required to search through
the enormous holdings of data
in various repositories; so that
means the combat teams can now
use GXP Xplorer to crawl a wide
range of data sources and they
can catalogue information where
it is stored without moving it, and
without duplicating it. This is a
federated search capability, which
means multiple sources can be
scanned simultaneously to locate
relevant data. Our estimate is that
the process could save up to 75 per
cent of the time previously required
to find data in the legacy systems.
The commercial off-the-shelf
software, GXP Xplorer, enables the
Army to move from their outdated
library systems to an interoperable
resource.
Q. How do you address the
security issue?
We pay the greatest attention to
security. We offer our products
in two forms - classified and
unclassified. The classified form of
our products has capabilities for
ingesting classified information,
perhaps causing classified
algorithms to operate on the
data. And these capabilities are
available to organisations and
individuals with the appropriate
security credentials. The unclassified
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
The idea behind SOCET GXP was
to develop a single product which
can cater to the needs of image
analysts, geospatial analysts,
photogrammetrists and mappers,
so that these customers are able to
access the capabilities they require
from a single product. SOCET GXP
has a single user interface, it is
based on the Microsoft Fluent
concept, is rather similar on
Windows and UNIX. This formula
was very successful and liked by
image analysts. We now believe that
mappers and photogrammetrists
can enjoy a similar experience.
29
versions of the product, on the
other hand, are exportable – they
are available in various countries
throughout the world. We
meticulously follow a number of
well-defined, detailed procedures
to ensure that both versions of the
product are correctly prepared and
correctly distributed. Security does
present some special challenges
to GXP Xplorer. It is a server-based
application, comes with front- and
web-access, which means that it has
to be subjected to a more rigorous
set of certification and accreditation
procedures. During the operation
of GXP Xplorer, the server
security controls protect against
unauthorised access at any point
of the communication chain. This
is in both the versions - classified
and the unclassified. So we are
using things like Web encryption,
certification and authentication
techniques to ensure security.
Q. Predictive analysis is
emerging as a new tool to
deal with threats. BAE Systems
too offers a product in this
category called Activity-Based
Intelligence (ABI) systems.
Would you like to brief our
readers about it?
I find ABI to be one of the most
exciting developments in geospatial
intelligence in recent years. Your
readers are well aware of the
enormous amounts of imagery that
are available today without growing
constellation of earth-observation
satellites. We have both manned
and unmanned airborne vehicles
capturing quite a remarkable
quantity of video. There has also
been a trend towards persistent
surveillance where some asset is
able to dwell for a considerable
time over an area of interest, the
result is an enormous amount
of data. I think the famous
remark made by Lt. Gen.
David A. Deptula about
‘swimming in sensors
and drowning in data’
is becoming more and
more accurate. It is
very difficult for human
beings, in fact, it is
impossible to analyse all
this voluminous data.
So I think,
what is
<< It is very difficult for
human beings to analyse
all the voluminous data.
So, we need to move from
data to activities and look
at the activities, for
example, it is possible to
use software to track people
and vehicles >>
possible is to try to move from
data to activities and look at the
activities, for example, it is possible
to use software to track people,
vehicles, etc. From the imagery,
we can see where they are going.
On the basis of the information
gathered, we can ask questions like
‘is there a pattern, is that pattern
unusual in any way, is there a
building where a lot of activity is
taking place inside or around it,
is there anything abnormal,’ and
so on? Some of those questions
can be answered with relatively
simple software, while others need
very sophisticated state-of-the-art
algorithms. BAE Systems GXP is
involved in working in this direction.
We believe that both SOCET GXP
and GXP Xplorer will be involved in
activity based intelligence in the
future.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Q. You are also organising a
training curriculum to train
people in GXP Xplorer v2.0.2
and SOCET GXP v4.0. Can you
tell us about it?
30
Our customers who have upgrade
entitlement, that is, maintenance
contract on their software, are
entitled to free training. We have six
training centers around the world,
and more are being planned. After
installing software, we also offer
conventional training. There’s a
great deal of new capabilities that
both our major releases, GXP Xplorer
v2.0.2 and SOCET GXP v4.0. offer,
so we re-designed the training to
reflect these changes. The SOCET
GXP curriculum, for example,
The GXP Xplorer customers have
slightly different needs, so we offer
a one-day end-user class and then
immediately follow it up with
another one-day administrative
class. Also, as far as GXP Xplorer
is concerned, we have adopted a
multi-media approach. We have a
number of training videos which are
available on our customer portal. In
the future, we are looking to build
web-content about the product, and
this can be accessed from the GXP
Xplorer Web interface.
Q. You will soon be organising a
roadshow, GXP Roadshow 2012.
Can you tell us about it?
For a number of years, we offered
various experiences to our
customers – we had an annual user
conference in the United States
and have organised a number of
workshops inside the country that
we have found were convenient to
customers. This year we are having
a slightly different formula. We
are holding a number of what we
might call mini-user conferences in
different locations, and collectively
we can refer to them as roadshow.
In United States, we have planned
a number of them - in St. Louis,
Missouri, in July; in Washington D.C.,
in August; and in Tampa, Florida,
in autumn. In addition, we are
planning two other events, one in
Melbourne, Australia, and another
in Cambridge, UK. We hope that
these conferences will enable us
to present the latest features of
our products in locations that are
convenient to our customers. They
provide us a platform where we
can hear about the experiences
of our customers and gather their
feedback. This helps us prioritise
features for the future.
Q. What is the nature of these
mini-conferences? Are they
customer-client driven or is it
your way of projecting your
products and company?
I think it is a mixture of the two.
We have found that our customers
have reacted very positively to
these interactions. These meetings
provide them an opportunity to
speak to our experts including our
software developers, with whom
they would not normally be able
to meet at other conferences.
They feel that we listen to them
carefully at these meetings - so
it is an information exchange,
and also a genuine attempt to
collect customers’ reactions and
requirements.
Q. Nowadays, customer would
want user-friendliness to be
built in the product to the
extent possible. Any steps taken
in that direction?
Yes, indeed. I think when we
began work on SOCET GXP, we
were aware that the user-interface
was becoming quite complex.
So when the opportunity came
to fuse the product into the
Microsoft Fluent environment,
we were prepared. We could see
the advantages and the fact that
it would make the product easier
to use. We have also developed
user-friendly features in our
products which guide an operator,
thus eliminating the need to go
through the user’s manual or things
like that. As far as GXP Xplorer
is concerned, we are working to
improve the appearance and
usability of the user interface.
Q. Anything else that you would
like to tell our readers?
We specifically deal with the quality
of our product. We try to anticipate
our customers’ requirements and
<< We currently have a
module called Visual Coverage
Tool which catalogues
customers’ holdings. We are
hoping to replace the tool by
offering higher performance
through integration of
capabilities of both SOCET GXP
and GXP Xplorer >>
capabilities, and increase our
performance. The result is that
we get a long list of capabilities.
We currently have a module
called Visual Coverage Tool which
catalogues customers’ holdings.
I must mention that we are
hoping to replace Visual
Coverage Tool by offering higher
performance through integration
of capabilities of both SOCET GXP
and GXP Xplorer.
We have a long list of capabilities
that we intend to include in GXP
Xplorer, for example, there are many
more file types that customers
expect us to catalogue, more
interfaces through repositories that
we have to cater to and so on. The
list goes on.
One of the things that we are
pleased with at the moment, is
the way we have been able to
integrate with the offerings of
partner companies, for example,
we have a new connection to Esri
ArcGIS for Server Image Extension,
we work with Safe Software,
TerraGo publisher product, GeoXray
from Geosemble Technologies
and MarkLogic from MarkLogic
Corporation, etc. We feel that by
working with these partners we
have been able to have a product
that brings more to customers.
We hope that we will be able to
continue that. However, one of
the things that we are looking
at is a very difficult problem of
real-time registration of video.
We are making some progress
with that as well.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
includes a two-day module, which
covers the essentials of the product.
Then there’s the choice of threeday offerings depending on a
customer’s particular interest. For
example, there are separate tracks
for mapping; image exploitation;
photogrammetry and the transition
from SOCET SET; and processing of
multi-spectral imagery and hyperspectral imagery.
31
Interoperability
Connecting
defence forces
<< Open standards enable integration of geospatial technology with other
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
information technologies, thus facilitating interoperability among defence and
intelligence organisations >>
32
ince 1994, Defence
and Intelligence
(D&I) organisations
have played an
important role in
the Open Geospatial
Consortium’s
geospatial standards development
process. D&I interest in the OGC
is a consequence of the fact that
almost every aspect of defence
and intelligence decision support
involves geographic information.
Military decisions depend on digital
maps, location coordinates from GPS
units on vehicles and warfighters,
and digital imagery from UAVs and
satellites. Different types of map
data can be combined to create new
maps. For example, given elevation,
surface geology and hydrology data,
geographic information systems
can calculate best off-road routes
for military vehicles. Time of arrival,
visibility, audibility and radio
reception over that terrain can also
be calculated. Targeting, logistics,
aviation, signal intelligence, and
human intelligence all depend on
location information.
Communicating location
information depends on shared
standards for software interfaces,
content models, and data
encodings. Consensus-derived
open standards, such as those
from the OGC, have enabled
D&I organisations to transition
from expensive custom-built
solutions that couldn’t connect
to other systems without custom
interfaces and encodings. Open
standards also enable broader
competition and they open up
markets which brings down the
cost and increases innovation.
The importance of ‘any system to
any system’ communication of
location information increases as
open standards enable geospatial
technologies to integrate with other
rapidly advancing information
technologies such as smartphones,
robots, drones, cloud computing,
social networks and sensor webs.
Two of the major
D&I organisations
committed to open
geospatial standards
The NATO C3 Agency supports
NATO through the provision of
unbiased scientific support and
common funded acquisition of
Consultation, Command, Control,
Communications, Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance
(C4ISR) capabilities. NATO C3’s
adoption and implementation of
the Core GIS system using open,
industry-consensus standards
including those of ISO Technical
Committee 211 and the Open
Geospatial Consortium enables
NATO to rapidly mobilise new
technologies at reduced cost
and risk.
The US Defense Department’s
Global Information Grid Enterprise
Services (GIG) system depends on
open standards. GIG is a very large,
high capacity, high-availability;
highly secure internet and Webbased global information system
for the US and its allies. Department
of Defense (DoD) system architects
designed the GIG to use open
commercial standards including
OGC standards, instead of a closed,
custom approach because open
standards provide lower risk and
lower cost interoperability across
the broad spectrum of DoD business
processes and domains.
The OGC D&I Domain Working
Group (DIWG) is the focus within
the OGC for discussions about
the D&I community’s business
and technical requirements for
geospatial interoperability. This
working group recommends and
provides input into OGC testbed
and pilot projects that serve
D&I community requirements.
Participants in the DIWG typically
are involved in the development of a
variety of OGC standards of interest
to the D&I community.
OGC testbeds, pilot projects and
interoperability experiments
yield candidate standards and
engineering reports that feed
into the OGC’s Standards Program
Technical Committee working
groups. The OGC’s annual OGC
Web Services (OWS) testbeds, now
in their ninth year with OWS-9,
have all addressed D&I geospatial
interoperability requirements along
with requirements from other
domains.
Last year’s OWS-8
Testbed
Last year’s OWS-8 Testbed produced
26 engineering reports (candidate
standards and best practices), 43
software components that used
one or more of these candidates,
and 34 demonstrations conducted
live on the network based on
user scenarios. Requirements,
user scenarios and funding were
provided by nine sponsoring
organisations. Requirements were
addressed by 40 participating
technology organisations from
21 countries. The testbed work
was divided into activity threads
that produced results that would
be useful in D&I applications:
cross-community interoperability
(geosynchronization and geodata
bulk transfer); observation fusion
(tracking and coverages); and
aviation information management.
“Cross Community Interoperability”
was an important topic in
OWS-8. This involved initialisation
of data services (such as those
implementing the OGC Web Feature
Service (WFS) Interface Standard)
in areas where communication is
limited or denied. Maintaining and
updating data in a cooperative and
highly distributed environment,
such as a multi-organisation
response and recovery effort,
was shown to be possible using
open standards that combine
Geosynchronization with Bulk
GeoData Transfer. Semantic
mediation techniques were also
demonstrated.
Different communities have
developed different standards over
time, and for this reason a number
of DIWG members are also involved
in other standards organisations
besides the OGC, such as the ISO/
TC 211 Geographic information/
Geomatics technical committee;
Use Cases
Communities
Planning
Intelligence
Intel
Defence
Logistics
Civil
Training
City/Country
HLS
Private Sector
Open service interfaces enable cross-community information sharing
Defence and
Intelligence in the OGC
Interoperability Program
The OGC Interoperability
Program (IP) is a global, handson and collaborative prototyping
programme that rapidly develops,
tests and delivers proven candidate
standards. These candidate
standards are brought into the
OGC’s Standards Program, where
they are formalised for public
release as OGC standards. IP
initiatives include test beds, pilot
projects, and interoperability
experiments.
Technology user organisations
provide requirements and funding
for these initiatives to engage
technology providers in prototyping
and demonstrating candidate
standards and best practices.
Since 1998, D&I interoperability
requirements have been primary
or secondary drivers for many OGC
interoperability initiatives.
the Defence Geospatial Information
Working Group (DGIWG), a multinational body responsible for
geospatial standardisation for
the defence organisations of
member nations; the US Geospatial
Intelligence Standards Working
Group (GWG); and the NATO
Standardization Agency (responsible
for NATO Standardization
Agreements or STANAGs). The
OGC DIWG is thus an important
forum for international standards
coordination.
Organisations in many technology
and application domains –
geospatial semantics, workflow,
data quality, hydrology, meteorology,
security, etc. – share the cost
of developing and promoting
standards. OGC members recognise
and appreciate the fact that cross
community interoperability serves
communities of many kinds:
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
The OGC D&I Domain
Working Group
33
<< Different communities
have developed different
standards over time, and
for this reason a number of
DIWG members are
also involved in other
standards organisations
besides the OGC >>
disciplines and sub-disciplines,
professions, domains, sectors,
economies, regions, departments
and political jurisdictions.
OWS-9
This year’s OWS-9 Testbed Activity
builds on the outcomes of prior OGC
initiatives and is organised around
the following technology ‘threads’
with these goals:
>> Aviation: Develop and
demonstrate the use of the
Aeronautical Information
Exchange Model (AIXM) and
the Weather Exchange Model
(WXXM) in an OGC Web Services
environment, focussing on
support for several Single
European Sky ATM Research
(SESAR) project requirements as
well as FAA (US Federal Aviation
Administration) Aeronautical
Information Management (AIM)
and Aircraft Access to SWIM
(System Wide Information
Management) requirements.
>> Cross-Community
Interoperability (CCI): Build
on the CCI work accomplished
in OWS-8 by increasing
interoperability within
communities sharing geospatial
data, focussing on semantic
mediation, query results delivery,
data provenance and quality,
incorporation of crowd-sourced
information and Single Point of
Entry Global Gazetteer.
>> Security and Services
Interoperability (SSI): Investigate
five main activities: Security
management, OGC Geography
Markup Language (GML)
Encoding Standard Application
Schema UGAS (UML to GML
Application Schema) updates,
Web services façade, reference
architecture profiling and bulk
data transfer.
>> OWS innovations: Explore topics
that represent new areas of
work for the Consortium (such
as GPS interoperable message
modelling and the packaging of
geospatial data and use of OGC
services in mobile applications)
as well as new approaches to
existing technologies to solve
new challenges (such as the
OGC Web Coverage Service
(WCS) work).
>> Compliance & Interoperability
Testing & Evaluation (CITE):
Develop a suite of capabilities
to expand OGC’s compliance
programme for the testing,
validation and certification
of products that implement
OGC standard interfaces
and encodings. Additional
compliance test suites being
developed in OWS-9 include:
Web Map Service (WMS) 1.3
Interface Standard, Web Feature
Service (WFS) 2.0 Interface
Standard, Geography Markup
Language (GML) 3.2.1 Encoding
Standard, OWS Context 1.0
(candidate encoding standard),
Sensor Web Enablement (SWE)
standards, Web Coverage Service
for Earth Observation (WCSEO) 1.0 Interface Standard,
and TEAM (Test, Evaluation,
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
OGC Standards in use
34
Below are some of the OGC standards in use by defence
and intelligence agencies in the US, UK, Australia, Germany
and other countries. In addition to interface and encoding
standards, the OGC publishes best practices, discussion papers,
white papers and engineering reports.
>> OGC Web Coverage Service Interface Standard. A service
interface for accepting spatial queries and responding
with gridded data that inform the client of values of
interest, such as digital elevation models and satellite
imagery.
>> OGC Coordinate Transformation Service Interface Standard.
An interface for general positioning, coordinate systems,
and coordinate transformations.
>> OGC Catalog Service Interface Standard. Provides the
ability to search on registries of metadata describing
resources and discover geospatial data and services.
>> OGC Web Feature Service Interface Standard. A service
interface specification for accepting spatially enabled
query requests and responding with GML feature
>> OGC Geography Markup Language Encoding Standard
(GML). GML is an XML encoding for the transport and
storage of geographic information including both the
geometry and properties of geographic features.
collections.
>> OGC Web Map Service Interface Standard. A widely adopted
service interface specification for returning a map image.
>> OGC Styled Layer Descriptor Encoding Standard. An XML
encoding specification for associating cartographic
symbols with features.
>> OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards
enable developers to make all types of networked
sensors, transducers and sensor data repositories
discoverable, accessible and useable via the Web or
other networks.
Current hot topics
In addition to the topics addressed
in OWS-9, OGC D&I Domain
Working Group members are
engaged in other technical
standards work in the OGC:
devices, partly through the use
of the recently adopted OGC
Open GeoSMS Standard. Open
GeoSMS enables text messaging,
even in low-cost cell phones, to
be easily integrated into location
service applications such as
disaster volunteer support.
Developers of Open GeoSMS
provide a free, open source
software development kit, and
>> Previous GeoSynchronisation
OGC Web
Services
(for vector
Operations)
Airborne
Imaging
Device
Stered Vector
Data - GIS Vendor B
Satellite-borne
Imaging device
OGC standards enable fusion of vector data, image data, sensor data and other kinds of
location information
work advanced a candidate
‘GeoSynch’ OGC standard
being evaluated by the OGC
technical committee. GeoSynch
provides an open interface for
Web services to deliver current,
timely, verified data over the
Web in situations where content
providers must collaborate
with outside entities to collect
new data and/or update
existing data holdings. A related
requirement, also addressed
in this candidate standard, is
accurate and consistent roundtrip transfer of bulk data.
>> The Observation Fusion
(Tracking) thread demonstrated,
among other things, notification
of tracking data using the OASIS
WS-Notification specification
to track hand-held Android
the standard is used in various
disaster management volunteer
communications applications
based on Sahana and Ushahidi.
>> OGC Sensor Web Enablement
(SWE) standards played an
important role in OWS-8. For
example, the OGC Sensor
Observation Service Interface
Standard was shown to be
capable of enabling Web access
to services that detect objects in
full motion video. Objects in one
video stream could be identified
as the same object captured
in another video stream. Some
members of the OGC are
advancing SWE to provide more
comprehensive open standards
support for combining fullmotion video streams. Others
are working to develop
lightweight and ‘RESTful’ (using
the Representational State
Transfer programming model)
SWE standards for use in mobile
apps, VGI, and machine-tomachine applications.
Standards gaps
While there is an open standards
framework, there are still critical
interoperability gaps. For example,
the level of detail provided in
geographic information is not
always sufficient to provide
intelligence for operations that
go between and inside buildings,
operations that require detailed
information about building
interiors and surfaces and about
the close-up details of physical
infrastructure such as bridges,
airports and ‘pipes and wires.’
The OGC CityGML Encoding
Standard for the representation,
storage and exchange of virtual
3D city and landscape models
meets some requirements, but
much work remains - to create
building information model (BIM)
standards that meet basic needs
in defence and intelligence as
well as architecture, engineering
construction, smart grid, real
estate management and finance,
emergency response, etc. The OGC
works actively with other standards
organisations to advance vendorneutral technology standards
that will enable the same level of
interoperability that is now possible
between geospatial information
systems of all kinds.
Mark Reichardt
President and CEO
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
[email protected]
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
And Measurement) engine
capabilities.
35
Conference
ren
ence Report
GeoIntelligence Asia 2012
he sixth edition
of annual
conferencecum-exhibition,
Geointelligence
Asia 2012, was
held in New
Delhi, India, recently. Prominent
defence experts and technocrats
from India and abroad attended
the conference to discuss the need
to build a credible geointelligence
infrastructure for defence and
internal security. Some of the topics
discussed during the two-day
event were:
Changing nature of
warfare
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
“Technology is changing the nature
of wars,” said Shankar Agrawal,
Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Defence, Government of India,
adding, “Due to advancement
36
in IT and migration towards
C4ISR (Command, Control,
Communications and Computers,
Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance) structures,
future wars will be fought on
digitised battle zones.” He then
explained the importance of
geospatial intelligence (geoint) in
laying the critical foundation of
this warfare, especially in the
context of India.
where geoint played an effective
role like Op Gerinomo.
Interoperability
Data sharing
Stressing the need to build defence
spatial data infrastructure, Lt Gen
K Surendra Nath, GOC-in-C, Army
Training Command (ARTRAC),
said, “There is a need to achieve
interoperability among the three
services. We need to improve
geospatial data and knowledge
management capacity.”
“Lack of a mechanism to share
data is a major problem among
the agencies involved in counterinsurgency operations. If this
problem is resolved, it can improve
the capabilities of Forces involved in
these operations effectively,” said
Lt Gen Anil Chait, GOC-in-C, HQ
Central Command, Indian Army.
He then presented some examples
“There are too many problems
faced by people when there’s no
interoperability. Inability to share
information, and difficulty in
rapidly mobilising new capabilities
are some of the problems,” said
Mark Reichardt, President, Open
Geospatial Consortium, USA. Talking
about the advantages of open
standards, he said, “Standards are
like parachutes. They work best
when they are open.”
Brig AS Nagra (retd), spoke about
the importance of seamless
collaboration in today’s world.
Talking about the impediments
in collaborative engagements, he
stressed upon the need to develop
interoperability capabilities among
all the three forces – Indian Army,
Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
Bryn Fosburgh, Sector President,
Emerging Economies, Trimble
Navigation, USA, raised an
interesting point when he said, “Not
only data but industries should also
be interoperable.”
Multi-intelligence fusion
Big data
Speaking about the importance
of data for an efficient geospatial
setup, Dr R Ramachandran, Centre
Director, National Technical Research
Organisation (NTRO), said that most
of the data is unstructured and
available in large volumes. Making
sense of this data is a challenge.
One can overcome this challenge
by processing the data and using
metadata based preliminary
analysis. He further observed that
in today’s world, there is a need to
create content that can be used by
an end user. Ensuring security of
this vital data is also a top priority.
Maritime security
“If we want to prevent the
repetition of 26/11 attacks in India,
there’s a need to develop solutions
for tracking of smaller vessels,”
said SS Yadav, Director Mumbai,
Lighthouse and Lightships, Ministry
of Shipping, Government of India.
He talked about how AIS (Automatic
Identification System) is helping
track vessels in ocean and spoke inlength about India’s National AIS.
“To augment the Maritime
Situational Awareness and Coastal
surveillance infrastructure, Centre
of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
(CAIR) has developed MDA system
for Indian Navy. It is also developing
Coastal Surveillance and Decision
Support System (CSDSS) as part
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
Derek Ireson, Vice President, Defense
& Intelligence Solutions Intergraph,
USA, spoke about the need to have
multi-intelligence data fusion and
described data volume, speed and
mobility and social media/ threat
as some of the major intelligence
challenges before the security
agencies.
37
paranoia as major challenges before
security establishments. “We are
talking about cloud nowadays
but we do not have connectivity
in combat zones. There’s also a
vast disparity in communication
infrastructure at HQs and in combat
zones,” he said.
M Rajathurai, Technical Manager,
Bentley systems, India, said that
the modern-day battlefield faces
new challenges due to evolution
of data and technology. Battlefield
managers therefore look for
advanced geospatial technologies
of Integrated Coastal Surveillance
System (ICSS),” said Vinay Agarwal,
Scientist D, CAIR, India. Explaining
the role of GIS in these systems, he
said, “GIS is a crucial component
of any maritime system (MDA and
CSDSS) since it enables the user to
view the COP, assess the current
operational scenario, grasp the
situation and quickly act upon it.”
Talking about DigitalGlobe’s
capability of providing high quality
50-cm satellite imagery to users
from its most advanced satellite
constellation: World View 2, World
View 1 and Quick Bird, V Vasudeva
Rao, Technical Sales Manager,
DigitalGlobe, India, said, “Such
high resolution satellite imagery
can play an effective role in border
management.”
to combat challenges like making
latest data available to right people
and at the right time.
GIS for internal security
Challenges
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
“Internal security involves
protection of people, infrastructure
and economy,” said Richard
Sundharam, General Manager –
Defence, Esri India, adding,
“Data management, planning
and analysis, field/ mobile
operations and situational
awareness are important for
internal security.”
38
“Defence operational systems
cannot be connected on public
networks, geospatial data goes
beyond imagery and maps and
much beyond what’s available in
the public domain,” said Col Sunil
Mishra, Director – BMS, DGIS, Indian
Army. Talking about challenges,
he described policy and security
Narayan Panigarhi, Scientist F,
CAIR, India, proposed creation of
Indigenous GIS (INDIGIS). “Major
challenge in the design of a GIS
lies in identification of appropriate
algorithms. There are a plethora of
well researched algorithms in the
field of geodesy, cartography, image
processing etc. The challenge is to
identify the appropriate algorithm
for the spatiotemporal problem
and make a robust implementation
of algorithms. The answer to the
spatiotemporal problem can be
from any segment of GIS such
as visualisation, computation,
measurement, simulation, etc,”
he said.
Emerging trends
Human Terrain Analysis (HTA) and
Cloud are emerging as two fields
increasingly gaining popularity
among the defence forces.
“The objective of human terrain
ArcGIS is now a complete cloud
enabled platform empowered with
Conclusion
“Geospatial technology revolution
will continue at a faster pace in
future. Geospatial lies at the core
of all future wars. For a successful
fusion of geotech, geospatial data
need to be clubbed with other
forms of intelligence,” said Lt Gen
K Surendra Nath, GOC-in-C, Army
Training Command (ARTRAC),
adding, “In the next 10 years, we are
likely to witness a scenario where
all smart phones will be embedded
with 3D technology. There’s a need
to develop smart use of technology
in geospatial domain.”
The theme of this year’s event was
“Building a credible geointelligence
infrastructure for defence and
internal security.” The conference
was organised by Geospatial
Media and Communications in
collaboration with ISSA, SASE, DTRL,
CAIR, DEAL (Knowledge partners)
and CRPF and ITBPF (supporting
organisation).
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
mapping is to provide local
commanders and staff with an
understanding of local population,”
said Sanjay Agarwalla, Chief
Executive Officer, Integrated
Digital Systems, India, who spoke
about the importance of sociocultural awareness. Talking about
the challenges of human terrain
mapping, especially in India, he said,
“India poses several challenges in
this field given its diversity.”
capabilities so that GIS and image
processing can work together as
a single solution for advanced
intelligence analysis. This was
highlighted by Kurt Schwoppe,
Federal Sales Manager for Imagery
Solutions, Esri, USA. Meanwhile,
talking about the advantages of
Cloud, Ashish Arora, Asst Manager
- Enterprise Solutions (Security,
Government and Infrastructure),
Intergraph, India, said that desktop
or web mapping applications are
unable to meet all the requirements
of its users. “A SMART GIS is the
perfect GIS to connect and equip all
users with the power of geography,”
he said.
39
Events
JULY
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA
www.soldierequipmentexpo.com
Cyber Defence & Network
Security Africa
July 16-19
GeoIntelligence Latin America
August 16-17
Crowne Plaza - The Rosebank
Johannesburg, South Africa
Sul America Convention Centre
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
www.cyberdefenceafrica.com
http://lagf.org/2012/geointelligence/index.htm
3rd Annual Border Management
Summit North
July 23 – 25
Cyber Defense Strategies
August 27 – 29
The W Seattle
Seattle, WA, USA
www.cyberdefenseconference.com
Berlin Air Show
September 11-16
Berlin ExpoCenter Airport
Germany
www.ila-berlin.de/ila2012/home/index_e.cfm
GDI APAC: Geospatial Defence &
Intelligence APAC
September 12-13
Bangkok, Thailand
www.geospatialdefenceasia.com
New York, USA
6th Annual Infantry Weapons 2012
September 19-20
www.bordermanagementsummit.com
SEPTEMBER
Integrated Test and Evaluation
July 30 - August 1
MSPO 2012
September 3-6
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Kielche, Poland
Africa Aerospace & Defence 2012
September 19-23
www.testingandevaluation.com
http://www.targikielce.pl/index.html?k=mspo_
City of Tshwane, South Africa
en&s=index
http://www.aadexpo.co.za
Actionable Intelligence Summit:
Special Operations Edition
July 30 - August 1
Israel HLS
September 11
Washington Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, USA
Avenue Conference Center
Airport City, Israel
Maritime Reconnaissance &
Surveillance 2012
September 25-27
www.actionableintelsummit.com
http://www.technologies.co.il/beta/en-us/
Melia Roma Aurelia Antica
Roma, Italy
Conference.aspx?Id=49
www.maritimerecon.com
Military Engineering 2012
September 11-12
Future Armoured Vehicles
September 26-27
76 Portland Place, London, UK
Crowne PlazaRome, Italy
www.militaryengineeringevent.com
http://future-armoured-vehicles.com
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, UK
www.infantryweaponsconf.com
AUGUST
AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems
North America 2012
August 6-9
Las Vegas, Nevada,, USA
www.auvsishow.org/auvsi12/public/enter.aspx
Soldier Modernisation India
September 11-13
OCTOBER
Soldier Equipment & Technology
Expo & Conference
August 6-9
Sheraton Hotel
New Delhi, India
Counter-IED India
October 3-5
www.soldiermodindia.com
Mumbai, India
www.ibcevents.com/events/counter-ied-india
Military Equipment & Technology
Expo
October 5-6
Washington, USA
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – Aug 2012
www.militaryequipmentexpo.com
40
Japan Aerospace 2012
October 9-14
Nagoya, Japan
www.japanaerospace.jp/english/index.html
9th Global MDA: Coastal
Surveillance Asia
October 30-31
Singapore
www.coastalsurveillancemda.com
Image Intelligence
May 25
The restless
Syria
The escalating bloodshed
in Syria is threatening to
blow into a full-fledged
civil war. There are fears
that the uprising, which
began in March 2011 and
shows no signs of dying
down, may also spread to
its border countries like
Iraq, Turkey or Lebanon,
thus further worsening the
crisis in the region. Reports
of violent crackdown by
government are regularly
coming from the region.
So far, 15,000 people are
reported to have lost
their lives in the ongoing
conflict. The West, the
US and the Arab League
have come out strongly
against the regime for the
atrocities, even imposing
sanctions on the country,
but the continued support
of Russia is preventing
the United Nations from
imposing sanctions on the
country.
GEOINTELLIGENCE Jul – AUG 2012
Probable burial sites
es
of the victims of a
rian
massacre in the Syrian
region of Houla
42
Earlier this year, the UN
proposed a six-point peace
plan for the country. This
called for UN-supervised
ceasefire by all parties.
Even though Syrian
government had agreed
to accept the peace plan,
the reports of massacres
allegedly committed by
pro-government forces,
speak otherwise.
Image courtesy:
DigitalGlobe
May 26
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13-16 MAY 2013
Beurs - World Trade Center
Rotterd a m , The N e t he r la nds
Theme
Monetising Geospatial
Value and Practices
www.geospatialworldforum.org
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