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Blue Ridge, Hickam AFB Demonstrate Joint Fires Network Capabilities

27 January 2003

By JOC David Nagle, Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON -- The capabilities of components of the Joint Fires Network (JFN) were put through their paces during a recent exercise in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility.

The Seventh Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) conducted a time critical strike event during Exercise Terminal Fury with the Joint Air Operations Center (JAOC) at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, using the Joint Fires Network's (JFN's) Tactical Exploitation System-Navy (TES-N) and the Air Force's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Manager (ISRM).

JFN is a transformational network-centric warfare family of systems, developed through a partnership among Naval Sea Systems Command, Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems, Naval Air Systems Command and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. JFN provides near real time intelligence correlation, sensor control and planning, target generation, precise target coordinates, moving target tracks, and battle damage assessment capabilities to support more timely engagement of time critical targets. This capability allows a ship with the full JFN suite to share a greatly improved battlespace picture very quickly with other ships in the area of operations, and with Army, Air Force and Marine sites using their services' versions of the TES.

The TES-N and ISRM systems aboard Blue Ridge, operating in the western Pacific, collected data on a possible target and fed that data to the JAOC in Hawaii, also using both systems. The JAOC evaluated the data, prepared a targeting matrix and attack guidance and relayed a weapons launch approval back to the ship.

"Both systems performed their critical functions identically, successfully demonstrating seamless system interoperability," said Cmdr. Lyle C. Brown, director of fleet operations for the JFN program office.

Brown said the two systems, along with the Army's Tactical Exploitation System-Forward and the Marines Tactical Exploitation Group, share a common software baseline, ensuring joint interoperability.

TES-N and ISRM also performed U-2 sensor mission planning, image collection and real-time, ad hoc imagery requests. Blue Ridge used the TES-N signals intelligence (SIGINT) display to sort imagery received from the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle and to direct the Predator's search to find potential targets of interest. SIGINT information, images and tracks from the Global Command and Control System-Maritime, another JFN component, were fed into the TES-N database and exchanged between Blue Ridge and the JAOC.

Teams from the JFN program office provided on-site technical support and training aboard Blue Ridge and at Hickam.

JFN capabilities will be used and evaluated during Exercise Tandem Thrust this spring. The system is deployed aboard several ships, including Blue Ridge, USS Coronado (AGF 11), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) and USS Essex (LHD 2).