The evolving budget situation: GEOINTELLIGENCE improvements

1: Of aircraft carriers and OPVs
2: Land Forces

3: Helicopters

4: Force Structure 

5: Reversing bad decisions 

6: Army programs on the (slow) move 

7: Capabilities in the air  

One rare, if not unique case of capability that is being genuinely preserved (if not expanded) in numbers and also expanded in quality, is the little known Field Deployable Geointelligence capability of the Army. It certainly doesn't rank among the most well known, nor among the most celebrated capabilities, but teams from 42 Royal Engineers regiment (Geographic) will actually be found pretty much always supporting any kind of deployment, operation or force at readiness, from the Lead Commando battlegroup to the Airborne Task Force, from Operation Telic to the Olympic Games. 

One key factor of any operation is, in fact, knowing the environment in the highest possible detail, so that collecting data and build multiple layers of information about the area of operations is absolutely vital. The GEOINT capability of the British Army has significantly improved in recent years with the introduction of new equipment in support of operations in Afghanistan, and a complete renewal of the kit is ongoing under the Field Deployable GEOINT program, part of the wider Project PICASSO which provides strategic to tactical level mapping and digital geographic information and imagery derived intelligence to UK forces.

Notable UORs delivered in recent years include GEOSYS, a deployable computer system made up by more than 100 systems, each able to process up to four terrabytes of mapping, geographic information and intelligence data individually and substantially more when additional network storage is added. These computer systems, contained in characteristics green boxes, are meant to be used as standalone systems, or networked ones. The GEOSYS system is employed to collect, analyse and store intelligence data, from photographic images and digital maps to stereo enabled 3D imagery. The information is then processed and used to inform mission planning, either with electronic presentation or in hard copy, produced with printers procured as part of the UOR, along with a number of 14ft containers fitted with internal storage space and work surfaces. 

GEOSYS was sourced from Raytheon Systems UK, while the containers were made by G3. 

The other and more important UOR is DATAMAN, which uses COTS technology to deliver a powerful server system that can be accessed by troops in the field via ruggerized laptops. The product offered by DATAMAN to the soldiers is known as GeoViewer, a military software which resembles the common Google Maps but which offers access to between 300 and 350 different layers of information about the terrain. Any kind of useful information will be accessible, including data about known IED placements in the area, pattern of life information, and simple but highly relevant environment data. An overview of the DATAMAN system and its impact on operations is available in Angus Batey's weblog and archive.

At its simplest level, Dataman supplies a detailed map to its connected users. The map is not moved around from computer to computer, but held on the server: connected users access information tagged to the map, thus minimizing bandwidth requirements. Dataman allows this rich intelligence picture to be shared laterally, permitting any officer conducting an operation in a given area to better understand the changing nature of the space around them.

Information is added to the system from a variety of sources (including on-the-ground troop reports, signals and communication intelligence, open-source intelligence such as news reports, overhead imagery from aerial platforms, etc.) and validated by GEOINT specialists from JAGO (JointAeronautical and Geospatial Organization).  It is tagged to a specific location, permitting the operational units to "drill down" into the layers of data and learn about what has happened there over a period of time. In this way, an officer planning a convoy could, for example, decide which roads to avoid by looking at locations of past IED emplacements, or assess the likelihood of ambushes by checking possible routes for recent insurgent activity.

The move to integrate different data types in a single accessible system has been driven both by the determination in the British military to end the unintended stovepiping of GEOINT, which has seen the geographical element of military intelligence effectively separated from other sources of battlespace information, and by the desire of soldiers who have come of age in a net-centric era to use the consumer technologies they are familiar with in their work environment. Traditionally a very specialised discipline, GEOINT is being opened up to the non-specialist user. The results benefit everyone.
 

 

DATAMAN, first deployed in 2010, reaches into other databases covering, for instance: Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices, ISTAR, medical facilities, cross-country movements and patrol tracks, offering unprecedented situational awareness about the terrain to the officers.


These systems complement and enhance older equipment which has been around for years: TACISYS and TACIPRINT. The first item was delivered by ULTRA Electronics in 1997, although an early iterations based on the system prototypes was used to support operations in Bosnia in 1995. TACISYS (Tactical Information System) is a mobile computer system providing various geographic products, and is housed in a container mounted on a 4 Tonne Daf truck. The system is mobile to support manoeuvre formations in the field, to collect and process GEOINT and to make it available in support of planning. 11 such systems were originally procured and have been in use ever since, including in Afghanistan. 
TACIPRINT (Tactical Printing System) is a mobile printing press housed in a container mounted on an 8 Tonne Bedford, used to produce maps rich with overlaid information. Separately, a fleet of 4 tonne trucks were equipped as MAPSP (MAP Supply Point) and designed to carry and distribute up to 72.000 maps. 
 
This equipment is now being replaced with new, more modern systems which build on the success of the UOR equipment recently introduced and, of course, of modern electronics and printers. 
The Geographic regiment is receiving a one for one replacement for TACISYS with the new TIGAS (Tactical Information and Geospatial Analysi) vehicle, a DURO II 6x6 fitted with a specialized shelter produced by Marshall Land Systems to serve as the working environment for two GEOINT specialists and their equipment, including servers, computers and plotter. 
TIGAS will deploy on the field to collect and analyse GEOINT data, which can then be shared via network and/or be used to produce hard copy material and maps. These will no longer be produced by the old TACIPRINT, but will be made and distributed by the new Tactical Map Dissemination Points (TMDP), 2-man laboratories housed in 20-ft containers mounted on 15T MAN SV trucks. 

TIGAS and TMDP overview

TIGAS and TMDP have been delivered by Team SOCRATES, a group of companies lead by Lockheed Martin and comprising Marshall Specialist Vehicles; SCISYS; Actica Consulting (security and communications); KNK; Polaris Consulting and Safety Assurance Services.
11 TIGAS and 3 TMDPs have been delivered, and the MOD has now awarded the order for FDG Tranche 2A, which will deliver further TMDPs, possibly more TIGAS vehicles, and equipment to set up a Forward Map Distribution Point, which should be a large deployable facility meant for the higher levels of command (Division and above). A Forward Map Distribution Point, equipped with older technology, was set up in Kuwait during Operation Telic, for example.  

The TIGAS vehicle comes with a tent that can be used to exand the working and living space - photo Marshall Land Systems

The new Field Deployable GEOINT has hit IOC in August 2013 and should have achieved FOC in October 2013. The kit developed for FDG is fully UK proprietary and is said to have gained the interest of several countries, so that export orders in the near future are a distinct possibility. 
The UK modernized GEOINT capability sits within a collaborative project called Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence (ASG), in which the british armed forces partner with USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to collect, analyze and share relevant intelligence. 

This equipment is employed by 42 Royal Engineers regiment (Geographic). The regiment is based in Hermitage but is due to transfer into Roy Lines, a new structure built on RAF Wyton. 14 Field Squadron, part of the regiment, has been based in Germany to support BAOR for some 68 years: it has lowered its flag for the last time on German soil on the 18th of July 2013, at a ceremony in Ayrshire Barracks, Mönchengladbach. The squadron moved back to the UK in the summer 2013, directly into the new building at Wyton, and will be followed there by the rest of the regiment by September 2014.

The regiment also includes the squadrons 13 and 16, plus the 135 Reserve squadron. 

Moving to Wyton is part of the riorganization which sees the regiment sit beneath the 1-Star Command called Joint Force Intelligence Group (JFIG). This Command sits under the headline ‘Defence Intelligence’ and is itself part of the new Joint Forces Command (JFC) – headed up by a 4-Star Officer. RAF Wyton has been expanded and new buildings have been built ("Pathfinder" and the "Roy Lines", the new home for 42 Engineer Regiment) under Project PRIDE, as part of the riorganisation. 

 

TIGAS on mobility trials

Being under Joint Forces Command, 42 Engineer will be the only unit of sappers not directly under the command of 8th Engineer Brigade. The regiment has since decided to adopt the common formation flash designed for JFC.  

Joint Forces Command Flash

Early April news, waiting for the Planning Round

Selective Precision Effect At Range (SPEAR) is making leaps this year, with MBDA announcing that the Brimstone 2 [SPEAR Capability Block 2] will enter service with the RAF next year and also saying that SPEAR Capability Block 3 is progressing with design and development and flight tests will start next year. At the Farnborough show in July, MBDA has promised that they will showcase more about this new weapon. The last we've heard talked about a 100 kg, 180 km range mini-storm shadow, so to speak, carried on a multiple rack (SDB style) carrying 4 weapons and fitting inside the weapon bay of the F35. SPEAR Capability Block 3 is meant to be a network-enabled weapon capable to hit with extreme accuracy moving and relocatable targets as well as fixed ones.

In addition, Raytheon UK has been awarded a 60 million pounds contract for the replenishment of Paveway IV stocks after many hundred of the bombs have been expended in these years between Afghanistan and Libya. It is possible that as part of this new order a few new variants of the Paveway IV bomb will come to light and be delivered to the RAF, since Raytheon has proudly specified that they are "focused on a technological growth path which, under the UK MOD's SPEAR (Selective Precision Effects at Range) CAP 1 program, will enhance the system's capability with low collateral and penetrator warhead options, enhanced moving target capability and enhanced range."

SPEAR Capability Block 1 is meant to introduce new warhead options and new improvements to the Paveway IV guidance kit. For increasing range, a very likely solution is the adoption of the MBDA Diamond Back wingkit, which would enable the Paveway IV to glide over a distance of many tens of kilometers, giving it a stand-off range. Enhanced moving target capability is notionally expected to be achieved with the addition of a Selex Galileo Imaging Infra Red seeker which could lock on on vehicles moving as fast as 100 kph. A reduced yeld, low frammentation warhead option for urban engagements is envisaged, and a bunker buster warhead is desired, possibly as a replacement for the current capability, represented by the 2000 lbs Enhanced Paveway III with BLU-109 warhead. A bunker-buster warhead could emerge from the HARDBUT (do not laugh, not joking!) joint studies with France.

Currently Paveway IV only comes with a US 500 lbs MK82E warhead, but like all Paveway guidance kits, it could and hopefully will be adapted for use on larger warheads. Currently the Typhoon only uses, for examble, the GBU/EGBU-16 Paveway II, a laser guided (with GPS addition in the Enhanced GBU) bomb using the MK83 1000 pounds warhead (for the RAF, actually, that is the UK-built equivalent mass warhead, the MK13 or MK18 originally, and the updated MK20 or MK22 these days), which will need replacement at some point, as will the 2000 pounds Paveway III which uses the MK84 warhead [the RAF might not use this variant, though] or the BLU-109 bunker buster one [the BLU-109 is now the RAF standard warhead on the Paveway III. A modified BROACH warhead derived from that of Storm Shadow was shown bolted to a Paveway III guidance kit as far back as 1994, but it does not seem to have had great diffusion. Vanished should also be the early-days hybrids which combined a 1000 pounds MK20 warhead, Paveway II wing-kit and Paveway III guidance kit]. Paveway IV will be released for Typhoon use this June, and will be in active RAF service with the Typhoon by September next year.  

Raytheon has sled-tested a bunker buster 500 lbs warhead with Qinetiq collaboration, aiming to SPEAR contracts. While 500 lbs limits the lethality and penetration that can be obtained, the warhead would be readily available as it does have the same mass and centre of gravity of the current MK82E, with no need for any additional integration work. Same approach goes for the reduced-yeld warhead for use in built-up areas. 


The Paveway IV is also being integrated on the F35, and a first pit-drop test of the weapon from an F-35 was already performed at Eglin AFB, Florida, in late March. The bomb will be integrated for internal and external carriage both. 

A glorious unit returns as the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines is re-christened 43 Commando Fp Gr RM. 790-strong, this unit reports to 3rd Commando Brigade and provides protection for the fleet, most importantly for the SSBN fleet and shore infrastructure connected to the nuclear deterrent. It also provides "Green" boarding teams, employed on british warships sent on maritime policing duties in dangerous areas where "warlike" activity is expected.

The RN crews of frigates and destroyers provide the "Blue" boarding teams, which are used on lower-danger searches.

43 Commando is immortal in the memory for its exploits in the battle of Comacchio in northern Italy, in which Cpl Thomas Peck Hunter, in a well-known act of bravery, seized a Bren gun and stormed German machine-gun positions, shooting from the hip and single-handedly capturing or driving the enemy away until he was cut down – but not before his troop reached safety.

The action saw Hunter posthumously given the nation’s highest military honour, the last (to date) of ten Victoria Crosses awarded to Royal Marines.

The Defence Reform progresses as the Joint Forces Command takes shape. 2 april 2012 saw the JFC standing up in its new headquarters in Northwood. 

The Joint Forces Command is expected to reach full operating capability next year, with a number of joint organizations having already been assigned to the Command:

• The Permanent Joint Headquarters (known as PJHQ)
• The Permanent Joint Operating Bases in Gibraltar, Cyprus, British Indian Ocean Territory and South Atlantic Islands
• The Joint Force Headquarters
• The Joint Force Logistics Component
• The Joint Counter-Terrorist Training and Advisory Team
• The Directorate of Special Forces
• The Defence Academy
• The Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre
• Defence Intelligence
• Surgeon General's Headquarters and the Joint Medical Command
• The Joint Arms Control Implementation Group
• The Defence Centre of Training Support
• The Defence Cyber Operations Group.

The Joint Forces Command has a central staff of around 150 between military and civilian personnel, but with the controlled organizations it will effectively direct over 30.000 men between military and civilians. First Joint Forces Commander is Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, RAF.

The Joint Forces Command will:

"ensure investment in joint capabilities is appropriate and coherent, and strengthen the link between experience in operational theatres and top-level decision-making."

"ensure that a range of vital military capabilities, functions and organisations – such as medical services, training and education, intelligence, and cyber – are organised and managed effectively and efficiently to support success on operations."

This centralized approach is similar to that adopted by the German armed forces, which have a Joint Support Service counting some 36.750 men as of 2011. Around 26.000 of these come from the army and the total includes 14.620 men of the Joint Medical Service.

Interestingly, the German armed forces's signals units are considered a joint asset and are part of this command. It would be interesting to consider the application of a similar move in the UK, taking the Royal Signals and the tactical communications unit of the RAF and Navy and put them together in a single, large organization centrally managed.

Again, in Germany the military police is also a joint asset under Joint Support Service, while in the UK there's the Royal Military Police, the sizeable RAF Police, the MOD Police [which is a civilian force currently counting over 3000 men and due to be cut back to 2400 by April 2016], the MOD Guard Service and a Royal Navy Police, which provides a Troop to 3rd Commando brigade.

There seems to be scope for centralization and efficiency in this area as well in the medium term, and i'd suggest planning for it in earnest, since i'd much prefer cutting back on duplication before cutting on frontline soldiers and formations.

Since we have formed the Joint Forces Command, let's give it a meaning and use at least.

FRES SV continues to progress. General Dynamics has been assigning contract after contract in the last few months, as the suppliers of the various components for the new vehicles are selected. The latest contract covers the software and operating system to be used on the vehicles. It follows other contracts, such as those assigned to BARCO for the supplying of the displays and to ViaSat for the onboard data encryption unit.

Over 36 explosive/destructive tests have been completed in the past months to validate the protection levels of the FRES SV hull, and things are progressing well. Expect more contracts to be signed in the months to come, since the list of requirements has been shortened considerably after the various agreements reached, but still has many voices open for tender.

Towards a busy Somali summer? The European mandate for the anti-piracy "Atalanta" operation has been recently broadened in scope to authorize military attack on pirate havens ashore, by helicopter and by naval gunfire (No missiles or ground troops due to German opposition, however).  

Now command of Atalanta has been passed on to France, and the promise is to seize the initiative from the pirates by patrolling close to shore, attacking their bases, and possibly expanding the security patrols in Somali waterways.

France has deployed to the area Maritime Patrol Aircrafts (Nimrod MRA4 was expected to go by this time as well, but we know how that ended...), the frigate Georges Leygues with two Lynx helicopters aboard and the LHD Dixmunde, Mistral-class, which can act as an helicopter carrier with 16 machines.

Despite Germany's opposition and hesitations, France, UK and Netherlands are pressing for a far more active answer to the growing piracy problem. China can be expected to also support such a move: they have long made clear that they regard the only solution to the problem being going ashore and smashing the pirate havens there, indeed.

It has been reported that this year's Royal Navy Response Task Force Group, which will set sail in the summer for exercise Corsican Lion with France's Charles De Gaulle carrier strike group, will then set sail for Somali waters to take part in such "active" reaction to piracy. For the second year in a row, the Task Force might set sail for training and end up shooting very real bullets, after Libya events last year.

This time, it won't be Albion and Ocean, but HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwark, accompanied by escorts and RFAs vessels, including tankers, Bay class LSDs and probably a Fort stores vessel.

Illustrious is widely expected to carry Apaches, that will be tasked with attacks on pirate bases. Cameron has been said to be asking for this since last February.

Busy summer ahead for the Royal Navy.

In the meanwhile, HMS Daring shines in the Gulf and HMS Dauntless is to carry out the first Type 45 south atlantic patrol, and in May the assembly work for the carrier Queen Elizabeth will make giant leaps forwards. LB02 was powered up this March, 6 months ahead of schedule. In May both LB05 (1600 tons) and LB02 (over 6000) are to be moved by barge from Portsmouth to Rosyth, with the start of Assembly Cycle B.

LB04's two halves will be joined up in the next few days, and the Combat System of Queen Elizabeth is making progress and being tested at HMS Collingwood.

Around 25 May the giant LB02 section will start its travel, and it'll be a major milestone in the build programme. And of course, around the 17 of April we should finally have some clarity about the choice of the airplane to fly from the ships.

About time, to say the very, very least.

On 30 March, HMS Liverpool decommissioned, after being in the thick of the action until her very last moments, with Libya, escorting the russian aircraft carrier and then the exercises in Norway keeping her running at full pace. A most distinguished vessel of the Royal Navy bowing out with honor.

And with the Type 22s gone and the Type 42s to be entirely gone by 2013, the shore-based Tyne gas turbine training set has been shut down, closing a long era of Royal Navy engineering. The engine of the gas revolution soon will be no more. The Spey era will last until the 2030s, however, and the WR-21 and MT-30 eras are dawning thanks to Type 45 and CVF. 

F35 updates. The US accountants and DoD have re-priced the F35 program. It was widely anticipated that it would be 15 billion dollars more expensive, turned out being 17, but the US acquisition plan remains unchanged, and there's nothing new about the rumors of the B order of the USMC being cut back down to just 65.

By 2018 USN and USMC will be getting 50 F35s per year.

I also saw a new LM promotional image with upgraded quantities of jet fighters for nations: for example, Italy is down from 131 to 90 as announced in Parliament last month, and Norway is down to 48 from 56 as just confirmed (4 LRIP to be used for training, 42 fighters main order, 6 options to be confirmed later on). The figures for all countries are, in other words, very accurate and very up to date.

For the UK the figure is 3 B (those already ordered, even if the third, BK-3, is to be given to the USMC in exchange for one of their C, probably to be named CK-1) and 135 C.

Unfortunately, this figure is unlikely to mean anything serious, compared to the other numbers, as the UK still has to finalize its plan... But one can hope! 

The US DoD has announced that they expect to produce 50 Navy Department's F35s per year from 2018 onwards, with the order equally equally split, 25 B and 25C, at least in 2018.

2018 is planned to see US orders for:

60 A (to rise to 80 per year by 2021)

25 B

25 C

They have also released updated expected recurring flyaway cost of the full-rate production airframes (in 2012 dollars):

78.8 USD million x F35A

106 USD million x F35B

87 USD million x F35C

If these prices are anywhere near reliable and representative of the cost to be paid by the MOD, 50 F35C would cost some 2718 million pounds [of course, spare engines, spares and all the rest are not included], while an equal number of F35B would come at 3312.5 million pounds. Again, spares not included, and we know that the B-variant spare engines are expensive like hell, so the total difference is likely to be greater still.

That is a difference of 594.5 million pounds, anyway, to start with, and it is enough to buy an EMALS/AAG set and pay for part of the installation work. It does not cover all of the conversion's cost, (458 + 400 million pounds according to the US Navy-sponsorised estimates).

At best, when spares are factored in, the conversion of ONE carrier might be covered. 

But we need two, so the C must prove economically attractive enough to ensure conversion of Queen Elizabety during refit in the 2020s. It is likely to prove very challenging, though.

The choice remains difficult, and the future of the second CVF not at all safe.