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Coalition exercise examines improving combat identification

Joint fires experts from around the world have come to Florida to examine technology and tactics to help improve the process of successfully identifying coalition units on the battlefield.

By Casey Bain
USJFCOM JFIIT

(EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Jul. 23, 2008) - A coalition team providing humanitarian assistance to a war-torn village receives sniper fire from a nearby building.

Concerned about returning fire in a populated area, the team contacts its Air Force joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) to provide close air support.

The JTAC locates the threat and passes the location to an Air Force F-16 overhead. The pilot receives the threat information, initiates a friendly force location request, confirms no friendly forces in the targeted area, and neutralizes the threat.

This demonstration of Coalition Combat Identification (CCID) technologies during "Bold Quest Plus," the two-week Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) here showcased innovative ways to enhance future U.S. and coalition warfighting capabilities.

Sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM), Bold Quest Plus uses previous work conducted during exercise Bold Quest at Nellis AFB, Nevada, and Ft. Irwin, Calif., in September 2007.

According to John Miller, USJFCOM's operational manager for Bold Quest Plus, "The purpose of this demonstration is to help provide war fighters with CID technologies that will maximize their combat effectiveness on today's asymmetric battlefield. We're trying to give our coalition team the tools that will allow them to sort through the dust and fog of war to be faster and more accurate in a gunfight."

USJFCOM's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team (JFIIT) and the 46th Test Wing hosted this exercise that ends on July 25.

This demonstration's focus is system testing and refinement of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) through a variety of air-to-ground CID technologies designed to improve U.S. and coalition capabilities and combat effectiveness.

"The CID Server is a perfect example of how we could potentially improve our CID capabilities and combat effectiveness for our coalition team," said Bob Summitt, a SAIC contractor supporting JFIIT as a senior analyst. "The CID Server provides the pilot with an on-demand request capability for friendly force location information. The pilot can initiate a request for friendly location information from the CID Server located on the ground and receive real-time situational awareness data in the cockpit where he can quickly verify friendly locations in the area of interest to enable a more efficient response to the ground commander's request for close air support."

More than 600 personnel from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and coalition partners from Canada and the United Kingdom participated in the demonstration.

"The USJFCOM Bold Quest Plus and Eglin Air Force Base team assembled here to conduct this exercise has provided an ideal opportunity for our U.S. and coalition partners to continue their assessment of advanced CID technologies," said Jim MacDonald, test engineer, 46th Test Squadron. "These technologies could significantly improve our ability to identify friendly objects on the battlefield and help enable quicker shoot - don't shoot decisions that are critical in today's fight."

"We're focused on the tools required by aircrew and ground controllers who coordinate the attack or drop bombs on targets," added Miller. "Ensuring that these technologies are built coalition interoperable will enable them to do that more quickly and effectively...and will ultimately result in saving lives."