C4ISR

Army tests technology supporting mobile troops

• By Defense Systems Staff
• Jul 25, 2013

A joint exercise dubbed Enterprise Challenge 13 was designed for the Defense Department and international partners to demonstrate new technologies for net-enabled ground forces. Over the next week, the U.S. Army is using the exercise to showcase its Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A) while testing multiple network technologies at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

The Army said its goal  during EC13 is  demonstrating the ability of DCGS-A to correctly display, broadcast and share data with mobile partners via a joint coalition network  while introducing new military intelligence capabilities.

DCGS-A is the Army’s intelligence component  for mission command that connects soldiers to joint surveillance and reconnaissance data posting, processing and sharing. The system is used when tactical operation centers are mobile or when soldiers are on the edge of their networks.

 DCGS-A was approved for full deployment across the Army in late December 2012, replacing nine different legacy systems. It is a key  component of the Army’s modernization program.

On July 24, the Army  demonstrated DCGS-A interoperability with tactical glasses at night using a low light display. This exercise is designed to show  that DCGS-A can share full-motion video between Air Force assets, including the Global Hawk reconnaissance drone, directly to the Army’s tactical ground station and mobile soldiers at the edge of the network.

The Army estimates that DCGS-A could save  as much as $300 million through fiscal 2017 and an estimated $1.2 billion during the system’s lifetime through fiscal 2034.