The UK Ministry of Defence has opened its first battle laboratory as part of its applied technology research programme. The Defence Science and Technologies Laboratory (DSTL)-run site at Portsdown West is preparing for its first major exercise.
The so-called Joint Command and Battlespace Management Applied Technology Research Demonstrator (JCBM ARTD) was declared operational at the end of March, nine months early. It allows the evaluation of new command, control and communications systems by experienced military personnel in realistic scenarios, says Roger Steele, DSTL project manager, information management.
The battle laboratory can link with other systems in the UK as part of the Combined Federated Battle Laboratories (CFBL) initiative, connecting similar facilities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and NATO.
The Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstrator exercise will link the JCBM ARTD with the rest of the CFBL and other sites. It will last for three weeks from late April.
Meanwhile, the MoD is planning to create a testbed to develop tactics and management of its intelligence, surveillance targeting and reconnaissance (ISTAR) assets.
Companies expected to bid include BAE Systems, EDS, ICL, Qinetiq and Raytheon, while Lockheed Martin UK confirms it has submitted a proposal.
The MoD says that, by 2005, new ISTAR systems will be entering or in service, but their potential cannot be fully realised, nor the derived data fully exploited, without integration of the systems.
The MoD requires a testbed within two years of contract award to demonstrate co-ordination of the assets, compatibility with the UK's communications and information infrastructure.
Source: Flight International
