Trident Warrior '05 Showcases Joint War Fighting at CDSA Dam Neck
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS051225-01
Release Date: 12/25/2005 5:13:00 PM
From CDSA Dam Neck Public Affairs
DAM NECK, Va (NNS) -- Naval Sea System Command’s Combat Direction Systems Activity (CDSA) joint laboratory facilities brought joint and coalition forces to Dam Neck, Va., for a Military Utility Assessment (MUA) concurrent with the Trident Warrior 2005 exercise Nov. 28-Dec. 9.
Trident Warrior 2005, sponsored by the Naval Network Command (NETWARCOM), was conducted in the Virginia Capes and Cherry Point, N.C., operating areas to improve joint assets’ abilities to support the Chief of Naval Operation’s ForceNet concept.
According to CDSA Dam Neck’s Sensor Fusion Group Supervisor Mike French, the exercise exists for two reasons.
“The annual Trident Warrior event allows NETWARCOM the ability to field new command and control warfighting capability to the fleet,” French said. “Additionally, it offers a venue for developing tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) of the new technologies demonstrated during the event.”
A large portion of Trident Warrior 2005 included a MUA of the Network Centric Collaborative Targeting (NCCT), conducted with the U.S. Air Force. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) commissioned the NCCT assessment, to determine the project’s ability to provide automated cross cueing between platforms to find, fix, track, and assess short-uptime emitters and other time sensitive targets. Air and surface assets, from the United States and the United Kingdom worked together as participants while test conductors; analysts and “white cell” members used laboratory facilities at CDSA Dam Neck as a base for control during the NCCT assessment.
“NCCT provides correlation capabilities to quickly fuse sensor data from individual command and control/Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms and to build target folders in a command, shared database,” French said. “For Trident Warrior ’05, NCCT clearly demonstrated these capabilities and also demonstrated the architectural framework to handle numerous ISR inputs with existing communication assets.”
NCCT has been designed and manufactured for the U.S. Air Force by L-3 Communications, ComCept Division of Rockwall, Texas.
Commands involved in the MUA include: U.S. Central Command; Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC); the Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Center; Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS); Commander, 2nd Fleet; USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and British air assets.
The ability for ships, aircraft and land-based assets to communicate with members of the coalition is a force multiplier in the CNO’s ForceNet plan. That plan focuses on connecting Sea Warriors, sensors, networks, command and control platforms and weapons, capitalizing on accelerated speed and accuracy of decision and finally, integrates knowledge to dominate the battle space. Overall, ForceNet is the “glue” that holds the CNO’s entire Sea Power 21 policy together.
NCCT was originally designed to network ISR platforms and sensors. To date, the targeting asset is rapidly evolving to include tactical platforms and sensors, as well as other mission areas, French said.
AFOTEC performed the assessment for the OSD while numerous airborne assets flew in support of the MUA for the entire Iwo Jima ESG.
“NCCT utilizes common software applications on sensor platforms, Rivet Joint, Joint Stars, Senior Scout, E-2C Hawkeye and C-12 Guardrail aircraft, to change the way information is gathered,” French said. “During Trident Warrior ’05, several existing communications paths, like UHF, INMARSAT and SIPERNet were utilized with an IP based data transport mechanism, providing multiple levels of service. The individual platforms retain their own unique commander-tasked reporting responsibilities while providing NCCT time-sensitive targeting. The operational goal is to provide a single targeting picture for all participants that is interoperable with their platform systems. Additionally, NCCT has proven kill chain compression, from tens to single-digit minutes, during both of its MUAs.”
French said CDSA’s laboratories in the new Joint Test and Training Facility at CDSA Dam Neck, allowed the command’s visitors “clear, operational depictions on large screen displays of NCCT, Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and Global Command and Control System-Maritime (GCCS-M).”
Additionally, CDSA Dam Neck’s central geographic location allowed easy movement for analysts and action officers between the COMSECONDFLT building, USS Iwo Jima (LHA-7) and the land based test site at CDSA.
“From CDSA, ground tracks generated by the NCCT network were forwarded to the GCCS-M system onboard the Iwo Jima, both pier side and underway, using SIPRNet connectivity,” French said.
The Air Force’s Air Staff Director of Operational Capability Requirements Maj. Gen. Stan Gorenc, the Commander of the United Kingdom Air Warfare Center, Air Commodore John Anderson, RAF, were all present for the 2005 exercise.
Trident Warrior 2006 will be conducted concurrently with RIMPAC 2006 in the Hawaiian operating area while the 2007 version of the exercise will return to the Atlantic basin to employ 2nd Fleet assets. CDSA Dam Neck, Va., is a division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.
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