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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The mission of the Tactical Control System (TCS) is to provide the Warfighter with an interoperable and scaleable command, control, and communications system for the family of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The TCS will provide the tactical commander with information superiority, contributing to the full-dimensional protection of his force and supporting precision engagement of the enemy.

The TCS is designed to provide the Warfighter with a scaleable and modular capability to operate UAVs on existing computer systems and future C4I processing systems. Scaleable refers to the ability to provide five levels of air vehicle interaction that range from receipt and transmission of secondary imagery to full functional control of the UAV during takeoff to landing. Modularity allows the use of common hardware. It provides the flexibility to increase or decrease the systems operational capability by adding or removing electronic cards. This allows TCS to be configured to meet the user's deployability or operational limitations. TCS is a software intensive system required to be compliant with joint tactical architecture (JTA), common imagery ground/surface system (CIGSS), and defense information infrastructure and common operation environment (DII/COE).

The TCS is planned to interoperate with the Outrider, Pioneer, and Predator UAVs. As a future capability, TCS will also receive and disseminate imagery and data from high altitude endurance UAVs. TCS software operates on current Service hardware, [i.e., Sun SPARC (Air Force), CHS-II/SPARC-20 (Army/Marine Corps), and TAC-N (Navy)], even when the actual UAV ground station is operating on a different platform. For example, the Outrider ground station is based on the Talon computer, but the land-based TCS will operate on SPARC-20 workstations. Conversely, the Air Force will simply incorporate selected components of TCS software into the existing Predator ground stations. The Army and Marine Corps will use TCS as an integral part of the Outrider High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)-based ground stations and at tactical operations centers at various echelons of command. For the Navy, TCS will be the control system for UAV operations from ships, submarines, and temporary shore sites. Additionally, the TCS is required to interface with 22 different C4I nodes for imagery, data dissemination, and mission planning.

The TCS consists of six subsystems: (1) the line of sight antenna assembly, (2) the integrated data terminal, (3) the data link control module, (4) the computer, (5) the synthetic aperture radar subsystem, and (6) the workstation. Various configurations of these pieces have been used in operational exercises and technical demonstrations.

The Joint Requirements Oversight Council validated the TCS Operational Requirements Document (ORD) on February 3, 1997 (JROCM 011-97). This ORD identified the urgent need to provide a common tactical control system for the current and future family of tactical and medium altitude endurance UAVs. The Navy Acquisition Executive is the Milestone Decision Authority for this joint program, and the Navy's Program Executive Office for Cruise Missiles and UAVs is the executing agent and program manager. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are participating in the program.

The system is currently finishing Program Definition and Risk Reduction. During this phase, the government developed both sea-based and land-based prototype TCS systems. These prototypes participated in proof of concept demonstrations to generate early user input and evaluation. A request for proposals for a system integrator was released in April 1998; a contract was awarded to Raytheon and EG&G on November 2, 1998. The program will enter EMD when that system integration contract is awarded. During EMD, four low rate initial production TCSs will be delivered for formal developmental and operational testing. TCS will be produced in four different configurations: (1) land-based (HMMWV-shelter); (2) ship-based; (3) Predator (ground station retrofit); and (4) Pioneer (ground station retrofit). Production and Deployment will start following the successful conclusion of EMD.

DOT&E and the Navy Acquisition Executive designated the Navy as the lead test agency for TCS. They also directed the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force operational test agencies to develop annexes to the test plan with service specific test strategies and resources that would be required to evaluate TCS doctrinal issues. The TEMP is in coordination. There were delays with the operational test section because of uncertainty in the tactical UAV program and doctrinal issues with the Air Force over the Predator UAV.

During 1998, a series of tests and demonstrations were planned to assess TCS levels of UAV interaction up to Level 4, way-point control of the air vehicle. In January 1998, a laboratory exercise demonstrated Predator Level 4 TCS control capability using a computer simulated Predator. In April 1998, the sea-based TCS prototype participated in a field demonstration at the Naval Air Station, Fallon, NV, using a surrogate Predator air vehicle, the Gnat 750. This exercise demonstrated flight route waypoint and payload control from the TCS. In February 1998, the land-based TCS prototype participated in a field demonstration with the Outrider Tactical UAV. The objective was to demonstrate passive and active receipt of live video and mission planning.

In May 1998, the sea-based TCS prototype demonstrated Level 1 interaction (secondary receipt of imagery) with the vertical takeoff and landing air vehicles undergoing flight tests at Yuma, AZ. In November 1998, field-tests with the Predator air vehicle was conducted. The sea-based TCS performed the ground and flight tests at the Predator contractor (General Atomic) facilities.

The UAV program has certified the TCS Y2K compliant in the "stand-alone" operating mode. The TCS will not be certified Y2K compliant in the integrated C4I mode until the operational testing that supports fielding the system is completed.

The demonstrations to date have been technical fly-test-fly scenarios. Realistic operational testing with actual UAVs (vice surrogate) and actual TCS systems (vice original ground control hardware) must be conducted in order to fully evaluate the TCS proof of concept and potential effectiveness and suitability.

The demonstrations at the Naval Air Station, Fallon, NV, were limited and revealed some significant problems with the sea-based prototype TCS. The line of sight antenna had many software problems and was not fully exercised during the demo. The integrated data terminal had not been tested prior to the demonstration and experienced problems with transmitter/receiver interference. Due to these problems, a Predator ground terminal replaced the TCS for the remainder of the demonstration. The prototype data control module was housed in the Predator control station and was only operated in the receive mode. The critical interfaces among the integrated data terminal, data control module, and the workstation were not demonstrated. The synthetic aperture radar subsystem and the computer workstation were not available for the demonstration. Several priority software problems with the workstation are being investigated. Security issues prevented the TCS from directly interfacing with C4I systems during these tests, thus, C4I interoperability was not demonstrated.

Many of the difficulties encountered during the exercises at the Fallon test site appear to have been overcome with the successful waypoint control of a Predator air vehicle at the General Atomics facility in November 1998. Data from these flights are still being analyzed.