WASHINGTON — During the U.S. Army’s second annual exercise focused on aviation, a group from the Netherlands digitally demanded an evacuation of a casualty out of within the U.S., marking new successes in cooperating in partnership with international partners.
The exercises conducted with partners and allies have revealed over the years is that this kind of interoperability is still a challenge Military officials have said repetition and practice are essential in advancing the process.
The evacuation of casualties was “a great example of that advancements made there,” Brig. General. Brandon Tegtmeier, deputy commander general for the 82nd Airborne Division, told Defense News in an interview after the conclusion of the training exercise known as EDGE 22. The exercise was held on Dugway Proving Ground, Utah at the beginning of June.
“That’s nothing major,” he said. “We are making a lot of work to do however, this is this is a huge move ahead.”
Furthermore there was a report that the Army declared that a request for fire was made using an atypical Dutch-run waveform.
This series exercises started last year and is scheduled to run each year in conjunction in conjunction with Project Convergence, a larger program that takes place in the autumn. EDGE is regarded as the practice round for the air tier of PC. In the year 2000, Project Convergence, now in its third edition has brought in foreign partners to the project for the very first time. EDGE was then added.
Project Convergence analyzes and tests how the Army will fight close-peer enemies across all areas using capabilities that is scheduled for deployment in 2030 or later.
EDGE The exercise, which was held this year, was specifically focused on the European theatre scenario that was centered around the crossing of a wet gap. The 82nd Airborne as well as other units of the allied exercise were assigned the task of defeating the enemy’s integrated air defense systems. Then, they would move on to the second phaseof the exercise, the introduction of maneuver forces via air strikes to capture two terrain pieces.
Netherlands, Italy and Germany participated actively in the exercise Germany, Italy, and Netherlands participated in the exercise, while Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom were observers.
German as well as Italian forces were part of the air battle that they jointly launched in the 82nd. The Germans carried the German Future Soldier System, and Italian soldiers carried their Targeting and Communication Command Kit.
The Netherlands contributed its Joint Air Ground Gateway as which is a command-and-control-tactical node and was able successfully integrate the node into Windows Tactical Assault Kit (WINTAK) which is a map-based program that provides information on the location of operators as well as chat functions and capabilities for mission planning across the shared image.
The exercise was based upon the Variable Message Format communication protocol that was that was understood across everyone in the NATO forces, for communication.
“I believe that everyone would acknowledge that we’re not at the level we should be with our partners,” Tegtmeier said. “I believe having these nations in the same room in the open at Edge 22 is a huge improvement in solving that issue.”
Exercises such as EDGE as he described, provide new ideas for technology and offer new ways to improve interoperability.
In the situation The location of the 82nd’s Tactical Command Post served as the Combined Joint Task Force headquarters. The headquarters was located well out of the distance of long-range fires from the enemy which it wouldn’t be able to take on with the current capabilities of the fleet. The Army anticipates massive advancements in speed and range with the Future Vertical Lift fleet with an expected fielding timeframe of 2030.
The work that the Army conducted as a group with its partners “really helped us identify our weaknesses in multi-domain strategies within our coalition” Major. General. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of the Army’s FVL development and development, told Defense News in a recent interview.
“It turned out much better than I expected,” he added.
The exercise also helped the service as well as its coalition partners to better comprehend the technical hurdles to getting to the goal of ultimate interoperability that is to operate from only one screen in CJTF. CJTF environment.
The coalition employed an approved cross-domain solution waveform to run a series of vignettes, in which sensitive, but not classified data was transferred into a hidden enclosed space and then out to an unclassified version.
“The most important thing is that you can move from tactical to strategic as well as tactical and strategic in a swift way,” Rugen said, in reference to the manner digital information was transmitted between the people who were performing the tactical mission as well as the headquarters responsible for coordinating the mission.
However, the interoperability of coalitions is a problem, Rugen said, because it’s not clear yet which data needs to be transmitted and what data the U.S. and its partners should be able to keep.
“We should be able to filter that data out while still providing useful data to the coalition members, and in reverse,” Rugen said. “There’s the ability to filter out this metadata and provide useful information to an edge in the battle or strategically-minded decision makers.”
Results from EDGE will help shape the future policies He said.
As the time goes on, the coalition must come to a consensus on what database formats and waveforms are being employed as a standard for operation, and then create gateways that allow the proper information to move, Rugen said. The gateway must be interoperable with all networks.
In EDGE the Army employed a variety of waveforms such as TSM as well as Link-16.
During the exercise “we didn’t really care about which parallel network we were using and if anyone had an alternative. … The point is that it isn’t important how black it is,” Rugen said. Also, the test proved interoperability as a concept however the Pentagon along with its partners and allies will need to decide which software and hardware will be the standard.
The Army during its 19-day stay during its time at EDGE and EDGE, reported that it had reached 67 technical targets including 34 first-time-events with more than 17 distinct FVL-related capabilities and technologies.
This included experimenting using the Air-Launched Effects swarm launched by an unidentified aircraft flying as Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. The swarms that were evaluated at EDGE are the largest ALE small ever. The Army employed around 25 drones over four waves, using the “Wolfpack” concept to create intelligent swarms. This allows drones to be stimulated hunting, hunt, kill and identify the threat.
The Army also utilized two waveforms which enabled the swarm to double its ALE distance from the missions that were completed in the previous year.
In addition, the services’ Aerial Tier Network (ATN) that offers voice and digital communication was further refined and enhancements, as per Rugen.
The Army also analyzed a range of sensors that were designed for dual-use and utilized for protection however, in the case of EDGE they were also used to create harmful consequences. Radar warning receivers found in cockpits for aircrafts, for example transfer data from fire that was incoming to the CJTF in order to be used for targetingpurposes, Rugen explained.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist who covers land warfare in Defense News. She also has worked for Politico as well as Inside Defense. She has an MS in Journalism at Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College.
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