PDF - Geospatial World

Transcription

ISSN 2277 – 3126
RNI NO. UPENG/2011/37063
Vol. 5
Architecture for Internal
Security Decision Support
System | P.21
Aircraft Recognition
Training Using 3D Terrain
Models | P. 35
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Inside
Cover image: Swiss Federal office of topography
Guest Articles
India’s National Security Voids
in Geospatial Apps
Geospatial information is a crucial
component for efficient threat analysis,
response to and recovery from natural
disasters and promoting rapid sharing of
critical information
Lt Gen (Dr) Rajesh Pant (Retd)
Pg 18
Chairman MP Narayanan
Publisher Sanjay Kumar
Managing Editor Lt Gen (Dr) AKS Chandele (Retd)
Executive Editor Bhanu Rekha
Product Manager Kushagra Agrawal
Sub Editor Sanskriti Shukla
Senior Designer Debjyoti Mukherjee
Circulation Manager Ashish Batra
Circulation Executive Vijay Kumar Singh
Owner, Publisher & Printer Sanjay Kumar
Printed at HT Media Limited, B-2, Sector-63,
Noida (U.P.) 201307
Architecture for Internal
Security Decision Support
System
Opening up of automated information
services on internal security matters
could be the harbinger of the proposed
internal security mechanism that would
defeat a threat gaining ground across
the country
GIS Adoption: An Indian
Perspective
Spatial data is of crucial importance
to the Military Commander in the
battle and for decision-maker planning
operational contingencies
Brig Arun Sahgal (Retd)
Pg 32
Aircraft Recognition Training
Using 3D Terrain Models
Aircraft recognition training is essential
for every soldier in air defence
Brig SC Sharma (Retd)
Pg 35
Interview
Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee (Retd)
Pg 21
Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida, India
Editor Sanjay Kumar
Price `100, US$ 10
Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt. Ltd.
A - 145, Sector - 63, Noida, India
Tel + 91 120 4612500 Fax + 91 120 4612555/666
Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt.
Ltd. does not necessarily subscribe to the views
expressed in the publication. All views expressed
Defining Learning Patterns
in Geographical Information
Systems
Concept Definition Fomula (CDF), Input
Processing Output (IPO), Model View
Controller (MVC) and Data Information
Knowedge Decision (DIKD) are some
of the fundamental learning patterns
exhibited by Geographic Information
Systems (GIS). And the effectiveness of
these learning patterns are exhibited
and exercised by GIS in different forms
in this issue are those of the contributors. The
publication is not responsible for any loss to anyone
Narayan Panigrahi
due to the information provided.
Pg 26
David Belton, General Manager,
Geospatial Services, MacDonald, Dettwiler
and Associates Ltd (MDA)
Pg 39
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Editorial........................................05
News..............................................06
Events............................................42
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Editorial
Adoption of Geospatial Technologies
Will Enhance Combat Potential
D
espite the phenomenal progress made in Information Technology and
Military Engineering in the past few decades, the adoption of geospatial
technologies by armed forces globally has been rather slow due to the
numerous challenges faced.
One of the major challenges faced is the cost and complexity of geospatial
solutions. In an era of diminishing defence budgets, this transformation is usually
given lesser importance. The complexity of such systems adds to the resistance to
change. Then, there is a difficult choice of whether to upgrade legacy systems or
to procure new ones, obviously at a much higher cost. Whatever the choice, there
will be the need to ensure interoperability between the new and the legacy systems.
This interoperability must be across all functional levels as also between different
services, i.e., Army, Navy, Air Force and Para Military and Central Armed Police
Forces, and also joint standards, to enable successful joint operations. Apart from
the high cost of the systems themselves is the issue of availability and access and
the high cost of remote sensing data. Then there is the issue of storage of a huge
amount of data and ensuring its reliability and security. The industry is more
than ready with latest dedicated geospatial solutions, but there is a problem of
holding the attention of decision makers. And, to add to their woes is the ever so
complicated procurement process. Therefore, the time taken between the choice of
a geospatial product to its final implementation is usually a long one.
Lt Gen (Dr) AKS Chandele PVSM, AVSM (Retd)
Managing Editor
ajay@geospatialmedia.net
Analysts and political, military and industry leaders of most developing
nations understand the need for transformation and the challenges in the
adoption of geospatial technologies. The roadmap and timelines may
vary, but a lot will depend on the leadership’s resolve and commitment
in preparing and sticking to a comprehensive plan for transformation.
For any developing nation to pursue its goal towards this transformation,
the government must be an active and constructive partner and come
out with adequate budgets and supporting policies that help to shorten
procurement cycles and adopt capabilities based acquisition. It may take
a decade or two before the geospatial concepts are fully realised, but
certainly it is in the nature of any transformation that the process will
never be complete.`
The current global spectrum of conflict encompasses sub conventional
operations, low intensity conflicts, counter terrorism operations,
aerospace, maritime and amphibious operations and recently anti
satellite (ASAT) operations. In such a scenario, the need for being
network-enabled is not a choice, but a dire necessity. In such a
distributed operational environment, both in time and space with
multiple stakeholders, the need for network centricity was never as
pressing as it is now. Geographical systems are the facilitators which
ensure the networking and net-centricity would not be feasible without
GIS support.
Sikorsky Wins Contract for
ALIAS Programme
Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) has awarded
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. a USD 8 million
contract for Phase 1 of the Aircrew
Labor In-Cockpit Automation System
(ALIAS) programme.
The objective of DARPA’s ALIAS
programme is to develop and insert
new automation into existing aircraft
to enable operation with reduced onboard crew. The programme seeks to
leverage the considerable advances
that have been made in aircraft automation systems, including progress
made in remotely piloted aircraft, to
help reduce pilot workload, augment
mission performance, and improve
aircraft safety. Sikorsky’s approach to
ALIAS is based on its Matrix Technology to develop, test and field systems
and software that improve significantly the capability, reliability and safety
of flight for autonomous, optionally piloted, and piloted vertical take-off and
landing (VTOL) aircraft. Matrix aims
VTOL Aircraft.
Courtesy: Science museum
to give rotary and fixed-wing aircraft
the high level of system intelligence
needed to complete complex missions
with minimal human oversight.
According to the company’s press
release, Sikorsky Innovations, along
with its teammates – the United Technologies Research Center, the National Robotics Engineering Center, and
Veloxiti, Inc. – plan to demonstrate
the value of applying autonomous
technology across different aircraft
consistent with the ALIAS vision,
including the Black Hawk helicopter
and other aircraft in the Department
of Defense fleet.
Stryker Brigades Receive
GD-built WIN-T Increment 2
The US Army is fielding the General
Dynamics-built Warfighter Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 to the 2nd Stryker Brigade
Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
(2/2 SBCT). The WIN-T Increment
2 secure communications network
backbone is also fielded to 12 infantry Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) and
four division headquarters.
According to Chris Marzilli,
President of General Dynamics
Mission Systems, fielding WIN-T
Increment 2 to Army Stryker Brigades
closes the communications gap between fast moving SBCTs and ‘boots
on the ground’ soldiers. The highly
mobile and operationally simplified
Increment 2 allows soldiers to quickly and simultaneously address multiple missions in any environment,
across the mission field or between
continents. WIN-T is supposedly the
Army’s top-tier, mobile command and
control system that connects and protects voice and data communications
to support the full spectrum of Army
operations worldwide.
Milestones in Satellite
Terminal Upgrades Achieved
Raytheon Company has completed a
number of design and development
milestones for a nuclear-hardened
command and control system, one
year after receiving a USD 134 million
US Air Force contract to provide secure communications between the
president, senior military leaders and
the bomber fleet.
The programme to upgrade the
satellite terminals for the protected
communications network has passed
system requirements and preliminary
design reviews. The upgrade will mark
the first time that the bomber fleet air
bases have access to the Advanced
Extremely High Frequency (AEHF)
satellites, which will provide secure,
protected communications.
Cubic Wins USD 65 Million
CTCs Contract From US Army
Cubic Corporation has won a contract
valued at more than USD 65 million
for two Combat Training Centers
(CTCs) from an undisclosed Middle
East Army customer to include US
Army versions of I-MILES Tactical
Vehicle System (I-MILES TVS),
Instrumented-Multiple Integrated
Laser Engagement System Individual
Weapon Systems (I-MILES IWS) and
the TVS adapter kit to enable simulation of combat vehicles. The solutions
will enhance the training capability by
providing state-of-the art Tactical En-
NEWS
and casualty assessment accuracy for
vehicles and fixed structure.
USC Receives GEOINT
Accreditation
gagement Simulation (TES) systems,
an advanced data collection system
for video, voice and other training
data that is not currently available in
the region.
According to a spokesperson from
Cubic, CTC solutions enable commanders and soldiers to rehearse
combat skills and tactics, and learn
safely in a live battlefield setting. These
devices are used during live force-onforce training, and provide the critical
real-time digital, audio and video data
feedback for forces to achieve and sustain mission readiness. Cubic’s MILES
solutions enable small and large group
training from a custom squadron to a
battalion. The systems are also believed
to be compatible with legacy equipment, ensuring previous investments
are preserved and long term cost of
ownership is lowered. I-MILES IWS
uses laser emitters that attach to military weapons and on-body sensors to
replicate combat and records data for
a review. I-MILES TVS, the vehicular
adaptation of Cubic’s man-worn Individual Weapons System, equip tactical
vehicles with lasers, sensors and electronics. The I-MILES TVS solution will
also include Cubic’s ‘Shooter’ CVS kit
to enable superior weapon simulation
LM to Support US Navy’s Intelligence Sharing Solution
Lockheed Martin is planning
to support the Navy system
that allows secure sharing of
sensitive data between unclassified and classified security domains. The US Navy
recently awarded Lockheed
Intelligence sharing solution.
Martin two contracts with a
Courtesy: Global military
total ceiling value of USD 90
million to support the Radiant Mercury cross domain solution for five years.
While guarding classified data from unauthorised access, the system simultaneously allows those with the appropriate security classification to retrieve
sensitive and critical information. Radiant Mercury supports simultaneous
data flows to hundreds of channels, interfaces with most major C4ISR systems, and supports most transport, network and data link protocols.
Used by both US and allied partners at more than 400 sites worldwide, Radiant Mercury has streamlined the process of sharing critical operational and
intelligence information with coalition forces. Radiant Mercury is believed to
be compliant with the Intelligence Community Directive 503 policy, which
protects sensitive compartmented information within information systems.
It is also approved for both top secret and secret interoperability by the Unified Cross Domain Services Management Office, which lists systems verified
to transfer Department of Defence and intelligence community information between multiple security domains with limited risk. Radiant Mercury
is available on the US General Services Administration schedule of products
and services.
I-MILES Tactical Vehicle System. Courtesy:
Peostri army
The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) has recently
announced the online graduate certificate in geospatial intelligence from the
Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) at the
University of Southern California (USC)
as the 12th collegiate programme to receive USGIF accreditation.
SSI, launched in 2010, now offers
students a variety of undergraduate
and graduate programs in geodesign,
geospatial intelligence, geospatial
leadership, geohealth, spatial studies,
and geographic information science
and technology. Students completing
the SSI’s online graduate certificate
in geospatial intelligence are also eligible to receive a USGIF GEOINT
certificate. Students who graduate
from USGIF-accredited programmes
receive—along with their accompanying college degree or certificate—
USGIF’s GEOINT certificate, which
helps ensure the GEOINT Community
has a robust workforce. To date, more
than 470 students have graduated
with USGIF GEOINT certificates from
accredited schools across the United
States, and several more university
programmes are in the pipeline.
According to Dr. Maxwell Baber,
USGIF’s Director of academic programmes, the new online geospatial
intelligence programme, provides an
option for current and aspiring GEOINT analysts working to advance their
professional capabilities.
areas were defined as capability gaps
in the Acquisition Gaps for Science &
Technology memorandum, which was
released by the Navy’s Programme
Executive Office for Command,
Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I).
Using data fusion, workflow
automation, and electromagnetic
visualisation tools, the test bed ingested various types of simulated radar, Former NGA Director Letitia Long.
communications and signals intel- Courtesy: NGA
ligence then depicted the emerging
tactical situation. Mimicking sea and sive experience in the intelligence and
ashore naval environments, the test technology industries, most recently
bed expedited the entire intelligence serving as the fifth Director of the NaMaritime Test Bed Help C4I
cycle from the initial intercept of the tional Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Capability Gaps
signals through the sharing of a fused (NGA) from 2010 to 2014. During her
Lockheed Martin has recently
tactical picture across multiple naval tenure at NGA, she led efforts to estabdemonstrated how Maritime Test Bed
platforms to combat identification lish the agency’s first ‘Map of the World’,
can help the US Navy accelerate the
which can be used directly by combat for intelligence users. Under her guidfielding of various sensor intelligence
systems to determine an appropriate ance, NGA became the first US agency
capabilities in the maritime and joint
kinetic or non-kinetic response.
to adopt open-source software develwarfighting environments. According
opment to deliver its software to first
to the company’s press release, the
goal of the demonstration was to
Former Director of NGA Joins responders for collaboration, during
and after natural disasters. Prior to her
show how the test bed can bring sigthe UrtheCast Board
nificant improvements in advanced
UrtheCast Corp. has appointed Letitia appointment to NGA, Ms. Long served
sensing, data integration, decision
Long, former director of the US as the Deputy Director of the Defense
support, electromagnetic support opNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agen- Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2006
erations, enhanced targeting and fire
cy (NGA), to its Board of Directors. It is until 2010.
Among
other
professional
control and non-kinetic fires. These
believed that Ms. Long brings extenachievements, Ms. Long has been
the recipient of the Department of
Raytheon Unveils Extended Range AMRAAM
Defense Medal for Distinguished
Raytheon
Company
has
Civilian Service, the Presidential Rank
recently started developing
Award of Distinguished Executive, the
an extended range variant of
Navy Distinguished Civilian Service
the combat-proven Advanced
Award, the Presidential Rank Award of
Medium Range Air to Air
Meritorious Executive (two awards) and
Missile (AMRAAM). Designed
the National Intelligence Distinguished
specifically for ground-based
Service Medal (three awards). In 2011,
air
defense,
AMRAAM-ER
will
Raytheon’s AMRAAM.
she received the Charlie Allen Award for
Courtesy: Raytheon
enable intercepts at longer
Distinguished Intelligence Service from
range and higher altitudes.
the Armed Forces Communications and
The new missile will be even faster and more maneuverable than the current
Electronics Association, was decorated
AMRAAM. By leveraging many existing AMRAAM components, Raytheon can
with the Medal of Merit by the King of
deliver AMRAAM-ER quickly and affordably with very low risk, claims Mike
Norway, and was appointed to the rank
Jarrett, Raytheon Vice President of Air Warfare Systems. Raytheon will integrate
of Chevalier in the National Order of
AMRAAM-ER into the NASAMS launcher.
the Legion of Honor of France. She was
According to a spokesperson from the company, NASAMS is the latest
also named one of the Most Powerful
and most modern Medium Range Air Defense system. In partnership with
Women in the D.C. Metro area by WashKONGSBERG, Raytheon has delivered more than 70 fire units to seven couningtonian magazine in 2013 and was
tries. It is the most commonly used Short and Medium Range Air Defense Syshonored with a 2014 Federal 100 Award
tem in NATO.
by FCW magazine.
Lockheed Martin and Esri have
deployed commercial software to the
Amazon Web Services Commercial
Cloud Services (C2S) environment with
an intelligence community customer,
the National Geospatial-Intelligence
Agency (NGA), in a move that enables
government agencies to better share
geospatial intelligence.
A detailed press release by
Lockheed Martin reveals that the
deployment of the portal for Esri’s
ArcGIS provides a single environment
for analysts to securely organise and
share data throughout the intelligence
community and Department of Defense. It’s also the foundational step
in consolidating multiple geospatial
intelligence portals into the single
NGA-provided portal, resulting in
technology and license cost savings. It
is believed that ArcGIS connects users
to maps and geographic information.
Users can create and view maps, compile geographic data, analyse mapped
information and share geographic information in a range of applications.
will minimise downtime for critical
systems and enhance the ability of
warfighters to analyse and manage
the increasing amounts of data, while
shortening the processing time for
critical decision making.
Lockheed Martin Bags
Contract for M-TADS/PNVS
Lockheed Martin received a USD 82
million Performance Based Logistics
(PBL) contract from the US Army for
AH-64 Apache helicopter Modernised
Target Acquisition Designation Sight/
Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/
PNVS) system sustainment. The contract is the foundation for a comprehensive sustainment solution that
enables M-TADS/PNVS mission readiness, reduces operation and support
costs, and drives reliability and maintainability improvements.
During its peak operational tempo of more than 200,000 flying hours,
the M-TADS/PNVS PBL programme
averaged a worldwide supply availability rate of 98 percent, increasing
mission readiness for the aircrew, says
Rob Breter, Apache PBL Senior Programme Manager at Lockheed Martin
Missiles and Fire Control. M-TADS/
PNVS provides Apache helicopter pilots long-range, precision engagement
and pilotage capabilities for mission
success and flight safety day or night,
or in adverse weather conditions.
Forward-looking infrared sensors
provide enhanced image resolution
that enables Apache aircrews to prosecute targets and provide situational
BAE to Provide Critical
Readiness Support to US
The US Army Space and Missile
Defense Command has awarded BAE
Systems a two-year contract to provide hardware, software, and systems
integration support for the Battlespace
Command and Control Center. Under
the contract, BAE Systems will perform
upgrades to mobile training suites and
provide systems and network administration support to the Non-Organic
Radar Access programme. The work
awareness in support of ground troops
outside detection ranges. Lockheed
Martin has delivered more than 1,300
M-TADS/PNVS systems to the US
Army and international customers.
Leidos Awarded USD 46
Million Contract by US Army
Leidos has won a task order by the
US Army to provide mission support
services to the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and
Engineering Center (CERDEC) Prototyping Integration and Testing (PI&T)
Directorate. The task order was awarded under the Rapid Prototyping and
Technology Insertion (RPTI) Support
Contract.
According to the company’s press
release, CERDEC advances soldier
capabilities that enable situational
awareness and understanding, establish and secure communications, and
protect Soldiers from surprise attack.
CP&I provides engineering design,
consultation and expert support services for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance
(C4ISR) platform systems integration
including design, fabrication, installation, integration, environmental testing and fielding support. Under the
task order, Leidos will provide support
services including research, development, engineering, design, purchasing, fabrication, integration, testing,
logistics support, and shipping related
to the integration of mission equipment into a Metrology System, and
related project efforts to support the
USMC TMDE test, repair, and calibration mission. The tactical Metrology
Systems provide test, repair and calibration of Test, Measurement and Diagnostics Equipment (TMDE) to support safety and mission effectiveness.
Boeing Readies Marine Pilots
for High-Profile Mission
M-TADS/PNVS system.
Courtesy: Lockheed Martin
The V-22 team of Bell Helicopter and
Boeing recently delivered two MV-22
Osprey flight training simulators to
the HMX-1 Presidential Airlift Squad-
Esri Cloud Deployment
Enables Information Sharing
Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. Courtesy:
Battlefield Wikia
ron, enabling Marine aviators to more
efficiently train for their critical and
highly-visible transport mission. With
the simulators aircrews can rehearse
missions without having to fly their
tiltrotor aircraft. That reduces fuel use
and wear and tear on the V-22s.
Boeing, Bell Boeing is also upgrading
the Marine Corps’ V-22 maintenance
training devices to mirror the latest
configuration of the actual aircraft.
Specific training aids involve the
V-22’s electronics, power plant and
emergency egress systems.
Command’s (RDECOM) Communications-Electronics Center (CERDEC) in
multiple research and development
projects.
Valued at USD 35 million, the contracts require the company to provide
technical research, development and
engineering services related to next
generation mission-based solutions,
including the low profile displays and
light weight sensors component technology programme in the visible/near
infrared portions of the electro-magnetic spectrum. BANC3 will develop
small, lightweight direct/indirect view
imaging sensors, micro-display technology, advanced optics, digital image
processors, and corresponding soft-
BANC3 Receives R&D
Contracts from US Army
BANC3 has been awarded a series of
contracts to support the US Army Research, Development and Engineering
US Army Satellite Communication.
Courtesy: Army mil
DRS Technologies to Upgrade EW E/A-18 Mission
DRS Technologies has won access to an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the production and delivery of up to 180 Joint Tactical
Terminal-Receivers (JTT-R) for US Navy and Australian EA-18G aircraft.
The contract is valued up to USD 12 million and will include JTT-R
production engineering, test set racks, fixtures and tooling. The JTT-R is an
ultra-high-frequency receiver that provides near real-time, over the horizon
threat data for situational awareness and assessment, threat avoidance,
targeting, mission planning and communications.
The contract combines purchases for the US Navy and the government of
Australia, under the Foreign Military
Sales programme. The Naval Surface
Warfare Center, Crane Division, in Indiana is the contracting agency. The
US Navy’s EA-18G ‘Growler’ is a variant
of the combat-proven F/A-18F Super
Hornet Block II that conducts Airborne
Electronic Attack (AEA) missions.
Joint Tactical Terminal-Receivers.
Courtesy: Army technology
ware and advanced laser technology,
including the small tactical optical
ranging module (STORM), the grenadier laser range finder II, the STORM
pre-planned product improvement
and the handheld optical augmentation programme. In addition, the company will support command, control,
communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and systems integration
programmes to develop and maintain
the infrastructure that is critical to
the implementation of best-of-breed
war-fighting capabilities.
Comtech to Supply Wave
Tube Amplifiers
Comtech Telecommunications’ subsidiary, Comtech Xicom Technology
has won a USD 3.8 million follow-on
order from a US based system integrator for Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers
(TWTAs). The TWTAs are for a major
US Army Satellite Communications
programme for transportable satellite
communications (SATCOM) systems
providing voice, data, video conferencing, Internet and high resolution
video connectivity for deployed military forces.
The TWTAs ordered for the Army
application are part of Comtech Xicom
Technology’s industry-leading high efficiency TWTA product line and represent the best technology industry has
to offer. The units are small and lightweight enough to be mounted directly
at the feed of medium-sized antennas
and are designed to operate over -40°C
to +60°C. They also incorporate upconversion from L-band for 1-2 GHz
input operation and SNMP-based Ethernet monitor and control interfaces.
Northrop Wins US Navy’s
ALMDS Contract
Northrop Grumman Corporation has
received a contract from the US Navy
for the continued production of the
AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS). The contract includes the production of five
ALMDS pod subsystems, support
pit upgrade programme. The company
will supply its i-FMS200 flight management system software to Northrop
for integration into the avionics mission equipment package being developed for the modernisation of the
UH-60L cockpit. The upgraded version
of the Black Hawk helicopter will be
designated as UH-60V.
Black Hawk aircraft. Courtesy:
War2hobby
SFS Wins US Navy C4ISR
Systems Task Orders
Salient Federal Solutions (SFS) has received awards for three task orders, from
the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR)
Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific)
Training Development Support Center
(TDSC). The task orders were awarded
under the SPAWAR C4ISR Training Support Contract. The contract supports the
US Navy Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR)’s networks and systems.
The SPAWAR Pacific, Training Development Support Center, is the Navy’s Acquisition Commands Training
Support Activity specialists. With this
contract, Salient broadens its training
delivery footprint for US Navy customers that are looking to improve efficiency and readiness of their programmes
of record. Under these task orders,
Salient will provide training analyses,
curriculum development, conducting
an Analysis of Alternatives and Design
Analysis for the Virtual Training Environment Project, and creating a Training Situation Analysis Report for a major Navy shipboard network.
Thales to Support UH-60L
Cockpit Upgrade
Thales has been awarded a contract
to support Northrop Grumman in the
US Army’s UH-60L Black Hawk cock-
MUOS satellite. Courtesy: ULA
In addition to i-FMS200, Thales will
also supply the civilian-certified TOP
Star 200 GPS system, which is expected to upgrade more than 750 helicopters under the UH-60V programme.
Designed to replicate the newer UH60M pilot-vehicle interface, Northrop’s
next-generation digital cockpit solution
features a centralised processor with
a partitioned, modular operational
flight programme with an integrated
architecture that offers new capabilities
through software-only solutions rather
than hardware additions.
Raytheon Acquires
Tucson-based Sensintel
Raytheon Company has acquired privately-held Sensintel, provider of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) solutions to the intelligence and special
operations markets. Located in Tucson,
Sensintel will become part of Raytheon
Company’s Missile Systems business.
Dr Taylor W Lawrence, President, Raytheon Missile Systems, believes that
Sensintel’s expertise in unmanned aircraft systems solutions makes it a natural fit with Raytheon’s Advanced Missile
Systems product line. The acquisition
of Sensintel enhances the growth prospects of Raytheon’s UAS business and
the advanced capabilities that they can
offer to their customers. According to
ULA Launches the US
Navy’s MUOS-3
A United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Atlas V rocket carrying the third
Mobile User Objective System
(MUOS-3) satellite for the United
States Navy launched from Space
Launch Complex. The MUOS-3
spacecraft will ensure continued
mission capability of the existing
Ultra High Frequency Satellite
Communications system that will
provide improved and assured
mobile communications to the
warfighter.
Jim Sponnick, Vice President,
Atlas and Delta Programmes, ULA,
has revealed that the MUOS-3
spacecraft is the heaviest payload
to launch atop an Atlas V launch
vehicle. The mission was launched
aboard an Atlas V Evolved
Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)
551 configuration vehicle, which
includes a 5 m diameter payload
fairing along with five Aerojet
Rocketdyne solid rocket motors attached to the Atlas booster. MUOS
is a next-generation narrowband
tactical satellite communications
system designed to significantly improve ground communications to US forces on the move and
around the globe.
equipment, spares, and technical support. The ALMDS is mounted on an
MH-60S helicopter. Flying over sea
lanes, it finds and geolocates minelike objects with its pulsed laser light
and streak tube receivers by imaging,
in 3-D, day or night, the near-surface
of the ocean.
According to Doug Shaffer, Director, electronic attack/maritime systems
integration, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, the airborne sensor has
the capability to keep sailors out of the
minefield and Northrop is producing it
while reducing the per-pod price over
previous buys that helps enable the
Navy to meet their cost targets.
a spokesperson from Raytheon, Sensintel brings additional strong talent,
technology, and relationships with the
Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Office of Naval Research and US
Air Force Research Laboratory to Raytheon and its customers. The company claims to be a leader in expendable
remote sensing and UAS engineering,
serving both government and commercial customers by optimising and
integrating mission-specific sensors
and sub-systems into manned and
unmanned platforms. It also provides
training, technical and operational
support to military, scientific and commercial sectors.
Northrop Performs Cyber
Readiness Inspection
Northrop Grumman Corporation provided invaluable assistance for the US
Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Excellent rating from the Command Cyber
Readiness Inspection (CCRI) conducted on the Missile Defense Integration
and Operations Center (MDIOC) networks at Schriever Air Force Base. The
CCRI evaluates a site’s compliance with
information assurance and network de-
fense policies and configuration standards for technologies as dictated by the
Department of Defense (DOD) security
technical implementation guide.
The CCRI is a five-day comprehensive, graded inspection involving all
cybersecurity areas including physical
security, administration, training, network configuration, network operations,
organisational culture and leadership
management. The MDIOC is the US
DOD’s premier missile defense center
for integration, deployment and operation of the nation’s ballistic missile
defense system (BMDS). As the MDA’s
prime contractor at the center, Northrop
Grumman leads a world-class team to
conduct BMDS-level modelling and
simulation, ground and flight tests, war
games, exercises, mission-critical operations and related analysis.
GISi Provide Military Trainers
Range Managers Tool Kit
Battelle and Geographic Information
Systems (GISi) have been awarded a
contract for the development and sustainment of the US military’s range
managers tool kit (RMTK). The contract awarded by the US Marine Corps
Saab Produces Sub-Systems for Marine Corps Radar
Saab Defense and Security has
been awarded a contract from AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task OrientNorthrop Grumman Corpo- ed Radar (G/ATOR) system. Courtesy:
Defense daily.
ration for components and
subsystems of the US Marine
Corps AN/TPS-80 Ground/
Air Task Oriented Radar (G/
ATOR) system. The order value
of the contract is USD 32 million. G/ATOR will provide the
US Marine Corps with a single
radar type that performs air
surveillance, air defence, ground weapon locating and air traffic control missions. It is the first ground-based multi-mission active electronically scanned
array (AESA) radar to be developed by the US Department of Defense.
The contract awarded by Northrop Grumman Corporation, prime contractor
to the US Marine Corps for the G/ATOR programme, covers the delivery of
major subsystems and assemblies, as well as software, for the first four Low
Rate Initial Production (LRIP) units. The Saab developed and built assemblies
will be integrated by Northrop Grumman into the Lot 1 G/ATOR systems
which will be delivered to the US Marine Corps in 2016-2017.
Training and Education Command
(TECOM)
Dave Barile, Project Manager,
Battelle National Security, believes
that Battelle and GISi provide a unique
combination of geographic information systems expertise, systems and
software engineering, and a thorough
understanding of aircraft and weapon characteristics, that combine with
military training experience. RMTK is
a suite of tools and a software application designed to help military personnel conduct rigorous and frequent
training exercises. Currently used by
military training managers, RMTK is
a suite of tools and a software application designed to help military personnel conduct rigorous and frequent
training exercises. It enables operators
to train for the employment of direct
and indirect-fire weapons systems
such as machine guns, field artillery
and mortars, in addition to dropping
bombs or shooting guns, rockets and
missiles from aircraft and helicopters.
MUOS-3 Satellite Responds
to Commands
The third Mobile User Objective System
(MUOS-3) satellite built by Lockheed
Martin for the US Navy is now responding to commands after being launched.
An initialisation team, led by the company, is operating the MUOS-3 satellite from the Naval Satellite Operations
Center located at the Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California.
A company press release reveals
that the satellite constellation operates
like a smart phone network in the sky,
vastly improving current secure mobile
satellite communications for warfighters on the move. Unlike previous systems, MUOS provides users an on-demand, beyond-line-of-sight capability
to transmit and receive high-quality,
prioritised voice and mission data, on
a high-speed Internet Protocol-based
system. MUOS is the Navy’s next
generation secure mobile satellite communications system which will eventually replace the legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-On system.
Indian Government
Increases Defence Budget
for 2015-2016
ASIA PACIFIC
Indian
Ministry
of
Defence
(MoD) has selected BEL-Rolta
Consortium as a Development Agency for the Battlefield Management
System (BMS) project worth over
Rs 50,000 crore.
Rolta, BMS is a situational awareness
and visualisation system that aims to
optimise the operational effectiveness
of tactical units. BEL has established
the test bed of BMS for continuous
evaluation and implementation of
user requirements. As a part of the
consortium, Rolta will execute its role
and responsibility in areas of BMS application software development and
applicable licensing, GIS software and
GIS data services. Rolta will also jointly work with BEL for manufacturing
subsystems for the soldier system, the
overall system design, integration, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the BMS solution.
Meanwhile, Tata Power has announced that its strategic engineering
division (SED), in consortium with
Larsen & Toubro, has been selected
as one of the down-selected development agencies for MoD’s ‘Make’ programme. According to a spokesperson
from TATA Power, the down-selection
of Tata Power SED-L&T consortium will enable it to participate in the
Battlefield Management System.
Courtesy: ASD reports
prototype development phase of the
‘Make’ programme followed by a production order, which will be decided
by the MoD after successful completion of the prototype.
Raytheon to Supply TALON
Rockets in UAE
Raytheon Company and NIMR
Automotive, part of the Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC), are
collaborating to equip NIMR armored
vehicles with TALON Laser Guided
Rockets. Using the Raytheon remote
weapons station, each vehicle will
carry 16 TALON LGRs.
The RWS enables TALON to be
fired from both stationary and moving vehicles, while an elevated sensor/
designator enables the TALON to be
fired from concealed positions ensuring lethality and survivability for the
ground vehicle. The NIMR 6x6 tactical
platform is believed to provide a range
of modular system integration to support a full range of missions including
armed reconnaissance, infrastructure
defence, defensive fire suppression
and border security. It can also support rapidly advancing infantry. The
mobile and fixed firing modes enhance the vehicle’s effectiveness and
provide a significant advantage over
existing heavy artillery.
BEL Gets Permission for Using
Diesel Gensets in 3D Radars
The Environment Ministry of India has
exempted state-run Bharat Electronics
Ltd (BEL) from complying with emission norms for diesel gensets of 113.2
kw to be procured for manufacturing
‘3D Tactical Control Radar System’ for
the Indian Army. Currently, emission
limits are set for new diesel engine up
to 800 kw for generator set application
under the Environment (Protection)
rules 1986. In a recent notification, the
ministry revealed that BEL has been
exempted from complying with emission norms for only 20 diesel gensets
of 113.2 kw to be used in 3D Tactical
Control Radars System.
The notification also reveals that
the special dispensation for the emission norms shall be only for diesel gensets, not exceeding twenty in number,
to be used in 3D Tactical Control Radars System, with the present design or
configuration which shall be procured
Two Consortiums Selected
for BMS Pilot Project
Indian Government has increased
the defence budget to Rs 2.46
trillion (approx. USD 40 billion) for
the next fiscal year as compared
to the revised estimates of Rs 2.22
trillion for 2014-15, in an attempt
to push ‘Make in India’ initiative
Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley.
to curtail overdependence on imCourtesy: Times of india
ports. Finance Minister of India,
has revealed their plans to pursue ’Make in India’ policy to achieve greater
self-sufficiency in the area of defense equipment.
It is believed that India has become the world’s biggest arms importer
in recent years as it attempts to build up its military to deal with tensions
with Pakistan and the growing military strength of China. India plans to cut
its outlay toward new aircraft and engines for the Indian Air Force to Rs 189
billion for the coming fiscal year. FM has allocated around Rs 160 billion for
the navy to upgrade its fleet. The Defence Ministry has also approved the
acquisition of 12 mine sweeping vessels for the Indian Navy estimated at Rs
32,000 crore along with a slew of other purchases.
DSTO and Airbus form Strategic Alliance.
Courtesy: Airbus
DSTO and Airbus Group Form
Strategic Alliance
The Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO) has formed a new
strategic alliance with Airbus Group
Australia Pacific Ltd (AGAP). The
agreement was signed in an inaugural
alliance
management
committee
meeting
during
the
Australian
International Air Show at Avalon. The alliance will see the two organisations
work closely together on a range of research and development projects
related to aerospace defence technologies. It will facilitate collaboration
between DSTO and the Airbus Group in defence aircraft systems (including
helicopters) and communications. Initially it will focus on maximising the
capability of ADF aerospace fleets throughout their service life, and on
improving communications capability
and used on or before June 30, 2015.
The 3D Tactical Control Radar (TCR)
is an all-weather 3D surveillance radar
used in Indian Army for detection and
identification of aerial targets.
BrahMos-A Cruise Missile
Integrated on Su-30MKI
Integration of the air-based version of the BrahMos-A supersonic
cruise missile with a fighter jet of the
Su-MKI family has been successfully
completed in India, according to an
official at Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) state aircraft manufacturing corporation.
Several key structural changes have
been introduced in the missile and the
jet over the past six to seven months,
including re-distribution of loads on
the lifting elements of the aircraft after
the bench running. First trial tests that
will make it possible to assess the results of more than two years of joint
work of Russian and Indian designers
will be held in March.
HAL to Manufacture Sagem
Product in India
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) will
manufacture and maintain high-performance navigation systems in India
under a technology transfer agreement with Sagem of France.
The Sagem’s Sigma 95N is an autonomous, hybrid laser gyro iner-
tial/GPS-Glonass navigation system
that can provide navigation even in
areas without GPS signal availability. It is deployed on Indian Air Force
and Navy combat aircraft, including
the Hawk, Jaguar, Tejas, MiG-29 and
-27 and Su-30 platforms. Currently,
Sagem’s laser gyro navigation systems
are produced in the company’s Montluçon plant in the Auvergne region of
south-central France. They are used
on the latest military aircraft in France
Sagem’s Sigma 95N. Courtesy: Sagem
Martin visited the Tata-Lockheed
Martin
Aerostructures
(TLMAL)
facility, Hyderabad. Led by Patrick
Dewar, Executive Vice President,
Lockheed Martin International, the
team visited the facility to inspect the
military transport aircraft C130-Js and
tour the TLMAL site.
Set up in 2012, TLMAL manufactures airframe components for the
global supply chain of C-130J Super
Hercules. Tata Advanced Systems holds
74% stake in the JV, with Lockheed
Martin holding the remaining 26%
stake, the company said in a statement
Lockheed’s C-130H Hercules.
Courtesy: Russiava
today. “This is our first JV in India and it
has strengthened our relationship with
the Indian Defence customers as well
as reinforced our commitment and
partnership with Indian industry. We
are extremely pleased with the role Tata
has played in ensuring that the manufacturing output at this facility is of top
quality and look forward to exploring
expanded opportunities for greater collaboration,” said Dewar.
India Clears Plan for Building
6N-submarines 7 frigates
and worldwide, including the Dassault Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighters,
Airbus A400M Atlas transport, and the
Airbus Helicopters NH90 and EC725
Caracal helicopters, transport and
special forces versions.
Executives from Lockheed
Martin Visit TLMAL Facility
A team of senior executives of global
security and aerospace Lockheed
Indian government has cleared the indigenous construction of seven stealth
frigates and six nuclear-powered
submarines to bolster naval power.
Defence sources have revealed that
the decision was taken recently by the
Cabinet Committee on Security.
The decision to build the six new
submarines is part of the 30-year submarine building programme cleared in
1999. The plan is to have 24 submarines
in 30 years. The first project was the
AAP Government to Use
Geo-Tagging For Women
The AAP government is looking at
solutions in technology to help women caught in distress situations real
time. In the near future, women in
distress will be able to summon help
from nearby PCR van or police station
Agni missile. Courtesy: DRDO
and inform family by merely opening a
smart phone-based mobile application
or pressing a set of letters on the keypad
of a simple phone.
AAP’s inhouse Telecom expert
and Dwarka MLA Adarsh Shastri said
that the administration will use ‘geo
tagging’ technology to implement
these ideas.
Canister-based Trial of
Agni-V Conducted
The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has
conducted the first canister-based trial
of the Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wheeler Island
off the Odisha coast. Launched from
a canister mounted on a road-mobile
launcher from the integrated test range’s
launch complex-IV, the nuclear-capable
missile climbed to a height of more than
600km in its parabolic trajectory and accurately hit the designated target point
in the Indian Ocean after 20 minutes.
The missile’s parameters were
monitored by radars and electro-optical systems, while the ships located
in mid-range and at the target point
tracked the vehicle and witnessed
the final event. The road-mobile
canister-version will enable Agni-V
to be fired from stop-to-launch within a few minutes and ensure higher
reliability, longer shelf-life and reduced maintenance.
system for years to come. SHINCOM
3100 is supposedly the latest generation in shipboard communications
switch technology which provides reliable, red/black secure tactical communications for Navy operators.
DRS Wins Communications
Systems Contract from NZ
Northrop Grumman Corporation is
among the companies that have been
awarded a contract by the government
of the United Kingdom to provide a
range of cyber security solutions. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman
will provide engineering and development services in support of data security and information assurance.
Northrop Grumman continues to invest in UK-based cyber security capabilities with new facilities in England,
where it has set up an Advanced Cyber
Technology Centre of Excellence, a
global collaboration initiative to advance high-end solutions to our customers’ most challenging cyber problems. The company is also investing in
the development of the next generation of cyber specialists. The company
entered into a partnership with Cyber
Security Challenge UK under which it
has launched the youth-based cyber
defence competition CyberCenturion
in the UK aimed at building tomorrow’s
cyber workforce. Northrop Grumman
is also mentoring a diverse set of small
and medium enterprise partners and
investing in research and development
with select UK university partners.
DRS Technologies is planning to
provide tactical integrated communications systems to the New Zealand
Ministry of Defense for the Royal New
Zealand Navy’s ANZAC-class frigates.
The subcontract includes the provision of all internal tactical and secure
voice switching systems and terminals. DRS will provide its Shipboard
Integrated Communications System
(SHINCOM 3100) central switching
unit, helicopter audio distribution
system, public address server, recorder storage units, console dual screen
terminals, outdoor terminals, jackboxes and ancillaries, as well as the Avaya
G450 PABX phone system.
According to Steve Zuber, Vice
President and General Manager, DRS
Technologies, the programme will
allow Navies to share key interoperability, technology and applications,
ensuring that SHINCOM 3100 remains
the premier internal communications
ANZAC-class frigates.
Courtesy: Progressive media group
Northrop Grumman Wins
UK’s Cyber Security Contract
MBDA Completes Second
Test Launch of MMP Missile
MBDA has completed the second round
of testing of the medium-range missile
(MMP) at the French Defence Procurement Agency’s (DGA) Techniques Terrestres site in Bourges, France. Jointly
conducted by DGA, the French Army
P75, under which six Scorpene submarines are being built in India. According
to defence sources, the government has
tweaked the project under which the
CCS has taken a decision that the next
six submarines would be nuclear-powered, unlike the conventional ones that
were envisaged.
communication system (Syracuse) III
programme.
Awarded by the French Defence
Procurement Agency (DGA), the
agreement includes a further 20
ground terminals that will be installed on the French Army’s VAB light
armoured vehicles, enabling commanders to stay in contact while on
the move in the theatre. The SATCOM
OTM technology enables vehicles fitted with satellite antennas to establish
and maintain a satellite link whether
they are moving or stationary. Featuring standard interfaces to connect other tactical communication equipment
for higher data rates and overall avail-
MMP missile. Courtesy: MBDA
and MBDA France earlier this month,
the first flight of the missile successfully confirmed its enhanced accuracy in
locking onto a target hidden from view
at launch at a distance of more than
4,000 m. Conducted against a steel target positioned at an intermediate range,
the trial ensured optimal execution of
all aspects of the test, including launch,
flight trajectory and target impact, with
full conformation of the simulations.
Testing was carried out in lock-on-before-launch mode (fire-and-forget),
using the missile seeker’s colour TV
channel, and completes another stage
in the analysis of MMP’s deployment
envelope. The MMP is a lightweight,
next-generation surface-attack missile
designed for destruction of both stationary and moving ground targets, including tanks, armoured and non-armoured
vehicles and infrastructures with minimum collateral damage.
French DGA Orders Thales’s
VENUS SATCOM Terminals
Thales has secured a contract to
supply additional véhicules de commandement nomades communiquant
par satellite (VENUS) SATCOM
on-the-move terminals, as part of the
French military’s satellite-based radio
SATCOM terminal.
Courtesy: www.tfk racoms.com
ability, the terminals provide a permanent command communication
capability in the theatre of operations
to help address ground force requirements of on-the-move for information
exchange and force protection.
GE to Supply Computing
Subsystems for UK Army
Awarded by General Dynamics (GD)
UK, the EURO 64 million contracts
cover the supply of a range of embedded computing subsystems, including
Ethernet switches, gateway processors
and data and video servers, which is
believed to form the backbone of the
SV electronics architecture. The Ethernet switch is expected to connect
networked elements of the vehicle,
while the gateway processor provides
the GD software with the processing
SCOUT SV.
Courtesy: General Dynamics
capability needed to run the platform.
Data and video servers will enable the
vehicle to store and distribute vehicle
and scenario data and video around
the platform and into the wider connected battlefield. The scalable, open
architecture subsystems delivered
under the contract will facilitate easy
upgrade of Scout SV vehicles during
their lifetime. Developed on a highly
adaptable and capable common base
platform, Scout SV is expected to offer
enhanced intelligence, surveillance,
protection, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as a
highly effective 40mm cannon.
Airbus Defence and Space
Provides Satellite Airtime
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has
selected Airbus Defence and Space
to provide satellite airtime for air and
ground tracking of ground assets and
helicopters on a worldwide basis. The
contract is for the provision of Iridium
Short Burst Data and Iridium Rudics
Data Minutes for the MOD’s established
Asset Tracking System (ATS), Helicopter
ATS (HeATS) and Ground ATS (GrATS).
The UK ATS supposedly meets Operational Command situational awareness
requirements by providing the location
of tracked ground and air assets in near
real-time. The strategic importance of
the ATS requires reliability across all of
its components including the satellite
airtime provided by Airbus Defence and
Space to transmit GPS data from assets
in the field.
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Organised by:
NATIONAL SECURITY
India’s National
Security Voids
In Geospatial Apps
Geospatial information is a crucial component for efficient threat
analysis, response to and recovery from natural disasters and
promoting rapid sharing of critical information
N
ational security implies
protecting a nation’s
population,
economy,
critical
infrastructure,
borders and prosperity in general.
In order to implement national se-
An illustration of WebGIS components.
Courtesy: Esri
curity, there is a need to coordinate
action and exchange information
between various agencies such as
National Intelligence, Defence, Law
enforcement, Disaster Management,
First Responders and selected private
sector enterprises. In order to share
this critical information, there is a
requirement to create an enterprise
wide
Geographical
Information
System (GIS) with the necessary
tools. While the Forest Survey of
India has recently made a welcome
announcement on the implementation
of a GIS-based Decision Support
System, this important facility has
to be extended across many other
agencies at the earliest.
Moreover, the recent tragic floods
in J&K and Assam have once again
proved the might of nature. However,
while man cannot stop the initiation
and the fury of nature, he can certainly
use technology to prevent and reduce
the loss to life and property. Just
look at how important the weather
broadcasts have become around the
world, and how successfully people
are being evacuated time and again
from impending natural disasters
such as Hudhud and Phailin in India.
In fact the most important technology
for this purpose again revolves around
geospatial technology and GIS. If we
had a system to continuously monitor
the rise in water levels (cm accuracy
as of today) and predict the flooding
pattern (which is a standard feature of
all GIS), then a large number of lives in
J&K and Assam could have been saved,
as also the relief effort prioritised
based on the time criticality of the
threat. The lack of a suitably digitised
data base of maps for this purpose
adds to our problems. Alas, while we
rightfully dream of a digital India, our
efforts at the national and subordinate
levels related to efficient utilisation of
GIS for National Security, including
disaster management, are somewhat
lacking in their implementation.
WebGIS plays a crucial role in
distributing geospatial services to
all the stakeholders implementing
the National Security mission. The
available data with the collecting and
analysing agencies is now shared and
converted into actionable intelligence,
which is further utilised for planning
and conduct of operations. Such
applications have been robustly
developed by various GIS firms like
Esri and BAE Systems, and are being
effectively used by many countries.
India had made a good start by
creating the National Spatial Data
Infrastructure and the National GIS,
but the process seems to have been
mired in procedural tangles and got
unduly delayed. A need to coordinate
the development across various
ministries is therefore, the need of the
hour and any delay in this direction
may be costly to human lives.
Big Data Analytics
A large number of smart device users
in the internationally networked
scenario have led to the so called
information overload. This data, which
largely comprises of unstructured
data of dynamic nature, is often a
warehouse of intelligence information.
Big data analytics refers to firstly
finding the dots and then connecting
them to create a multisource fusion
of intelligence. The data is sourced
from various enterprises, social
media, sensor networks and human
geography inputs. The threat vector is
now examined based on geospatial,
temporal, behavioural and pattern
recognition techniques. The analytics
now can be shared amongst users to
create a shared situational awareness
for undertaking preventive action.
Human Geography
Human Geography is the creation of
the human footprint through the fusion
of map locations and human related
data, and differs from Physical Geography it takes into account a dozen
themes related to people and maps the
same. This data is structured based on
the core themes of Human Geography
which include Demographics, Economy, Transportation, Communication,
Education, Religion, Ethnicity, Health,
Political Groupings, Language, Land
and Water. This new subject has
recently grown into prominence in
view of the large amounts of data
available from social media and
other surveys and the need to provide
actionable intelligence from the same.
An example of Human Geography
can be taken from a recent case study
of Algeria country subject to regular
terrorist attacks and extremist activity.
Locations of neighbourhoods and
sentiments of populations where
violence and extremism can occur are
critical knowledge for searching and
finding radicalisation before it starts.
This is where foundational geospatial
data
like
Human
Geography
Information Surveys (HGIS) assists
in gathering critical data which later
helps to identify causal factors. The
approach adopted by them to tackle
this issue was to use a macro to micro
approach and, thereby identifying
regions where radicalised sentiments
were occurring. This was done by
conducting geospatial analysis models
to determine where future radical
sentiments would occur.
A similar approach was also
followed in narrowing down the
search area for the missing Malaysian
Airlines flight MH370. The use of
Predictive Analytical tools, thus
help analysts to anticipate risk and
identify opportunities for leaders
and decision makers to focus their
limited resources.
Imagery Analysis
In view of technological advances
in electro-optical devices, there has
been a paradigm shift in imagery
from aerial platforms such as satellites
and UAVs. The latest imagery satellite
named WorldView-3, which was
launched in August 2014, provides a
resolution of 31 cm. This comes at a
time when the US has also agreed to
WebGIS plays a crucial role in
distributing geospatial services to all
the stakeholders implementing the
National Security mission
WebGIS
Satellite images
of Jammu and
Kashmir — the
region before
and after the
deluge. Courtesy:
Google’s
Crisis Map
NATIONAL SECURITY
Latest WorldView-3 satellite. Courtesy: NBC news
provide imagery upto 25 cm resolution
to other countries. Thus, imagery capture and analysis quickly fills up the
voids in digitised map data. While
The use of
Predictive
Analytical tools
helps analysts
to anticipate
risk and identify
opportunities
for leaders and
decision makers
to focus their
limited resources
the earlier generations of satellites focussed on spatial resolution, accuracy
and speed of data transfer, the new
generation of satellites are catering
for analytics wherein damage assessment, sub-surface mapping and threat
responses are also being factored in
image analysis.
Need of the Hour
The way forward is to follow a two
pronged approach comprising of
internal and external measures. The
internal measures would be aimed at
creating the desired work culture by
adopting new automated processes
based on geospatial tools. This would
also involve the procurement of
hardware and software by the different
departments of the government.
External measures would be aimed
at establishing the data networks
between the different stakeholders of
National Security. The need to lay down
various policies of standardisation by
a central coordinating agency such as
the NGIS is imperative at this stage.
We all admire the use of google
maps and online services which
assist us in our daily lives. However,
while the tools are readily available,
government processes in our country
are still not taking advantage of this
extremely potent technology which
provides immense benefits for
eGovernance and National Security.
In order to establish the ‘who-wherewhat-when of intelligence’, the use of
GIS is inescapable. The time for the
government to act is now!
Lt Gen (Dr) Rajesh Pant, PVSM,
AVSM,VSM (Retd)
rajepant@gmail.com
INTERNAL SECURITY
Opening up of automated information
services on internal security matters
could be the harbinger of the proposed
internal security mechanism that would
defeat a threat gaining ground across
the country
nationhood. The problem is further
exacerbated by the adoption of a new
form of waging war by our external
adversaries by way of overt and covert
instigation of internal intransigence
among the anti-national forces of
various motivations. It is, therefore,
imperative for the Indian state to uplift its internal security mechanism by
all means — physical, administrative,
fiscal and technological — and defeat
a threat, which seems to be gaining
ground all across the country.
Science of Internal Security
The state’s responsibility to control,
rationalise, and if necessary, restrain
by force, the threats to internal peace
and stability is better served when demographic, dynamics, ethnic diversities, vocational interests, habitation
issues, political, religious and linguistic radicalism and infrastructural conditions are minutely monitored by its
internal security apparatus. Given the
cap over the nation’s resources against
rising needs of an exploding spread
of population, this is a responsibility
of extreme sensitivity and complexity. Ironically however, while anti-na-
tional intransigency is aided by open
access to technology driven facilities,
the Indian state remains languid in
harnessing scientific tools to the purpose of reconciliation and control of
its incessant societal churnings, thus
leaving scope for it to frequently burst
out into destabilising turmoil.
Effective grip over a diverse, heavily
populated and vast Indian hinterland
is a challenge of immense proportions; it cannot be met by law, order or
intelligence mechanism that has seen
little modernisation since its inception
a century-and-a-half back.
Utilising Automation
Technology
Even if we have a fairly elaborate
national information system – those
maintained by National Information
and Informatics Centres, National
Investigation Agency, State police,
Enforcement Directorate, etc. for
example — which provides extensive
inputs covering wide fields of
activities at the national, institutional
and departmental levels, the system
will remain, but will be generalist in
its composition. We also have many
O
ver the recent decades,
preservation of peace and
internal stability has assumed larger dimensions
on account of rise of societal conflicts
that is sustained by the rise of
individual aspirations and coalescence
of interest groups and empowerment
of such groups with the wherewithal
for resort to force in seeking fulfilment
of their designs, many of the methods
adopted being outside the norms of
constitutionally sanctioned behaviour.
Societal conflicts, economic disparities, political aspirations and ideological urges are at the roots of internal
instability. That is but a normal trend
in today’s world. But when unconstitutional intransigence that sprout
from such roots are allowed to go unrestrained due to weaknesses in legislative, law enforcement and judicial
mechanisms, that licence brings profit
to mass agitation, mob lawlessness
and group revolt – a situation which
is rather common in our everyday experiences. Unless nipped in the bud,
such situations are liable to morph
into armed insurgency, which inflicts
unfathomable damage to the cause of
INTERNAL SECURITY
informational data-banks which are
custom-devised by various security agencies, but these are neither
comprehensive nor authenticated or
seamlessly integrated at the all-India
level to home on to specific internal security challenges. Creating an
effective architecture for management
and articulation of a dedicated internal security information system is,
therefore, imperative for the hierarchy
of internal security of India.
Let us see how such a system may
have been conceptualised. Supposedly, that system is identified as an
Internal Security Decision Support
System (ISDSS). The role of this system may tentatively be specified as the
one which would enable the custodians of the nation’s internal security in:
• Marshalling the full range of
near-current, grass-roots information
of interest;
• Permit automated configuration
of information to respond to
intelligence queries in terms of
required range, depth and format;
• Facilitate real-time dissemination
of the output intelligence at two
distinct levels, viz, functional and
decision-making levels.
For sure the custodians as well as
main users of the ISDSS would be the
intelligence agencies, police and civil
administration, both at the Centre
as well as State levels and the static
military headquarters which are affiliated to various states or regions
within the country. May be at one
stage, the system might find utility in
controlling the latent threats to the
nation’s internal security — terrorism linked contraband trade, human
trafficking and illegal money exchange
for example.
Internal Security Decision
Support System (ISDSS)
In its nascent form, the ISDSS would
constitute of three distinct information
bases,
viz,
the
‘Demographic
Information Base’ (DIB), ‘Geographical
Information Base’ (GIB) and the
‘Infrastructure Information Base’ (IIB).
Keeping India’s vast diversities
in mind, the information databases
would have to be created, stored and
maintained according to the principle
of ‘whole to part’, as it is followed in
case of geographical mapping. That is
to say that the country would be subdivided into regions, states, districts,
sub-divisions, blocks, towns, villages,
and forested and barren areas before
drawing out a smallest standard gridded module to which the information
would be tagged. For ease of recording
and retrieval of inputs, the nation’s
existing administrative divisions and
the gridding pattern followed by the
Survey of India would be a good bet
to follow. However, boundaries and
scales of the ‘areas of intelligence interest’ would have to be dictated not
just by administrative convenience
and geographical space respectively,
but by the criteria of sensitivity and
volume of information in the context
of internal security. In other words,
the extent of areas of interest to which
information would be decided according to the range and density of sensitive information rather than the administrative boundaries. Similarly, the
spread of these areas of intelligence
interest might consist of a fraction,
or one, or many topographical grid
squares; for best results in manipulation of digitised data, the information
tagging modules may even follow different scales. Thus, a reconciliation of
boundaries and scales for the information bases would be needed to secure the best systemic advantage.
Once the basic gridded information modules have been drawn, the
digitised information base may be
created, tagged and retrieved as
necessary and manipulated according to the situation, just as it is done
while referring to digitised topographical maps. To this purpose, ‘Internal
Security Information Control Centres’
(ISICC) would have to be planted at
the successive hubs of the above mentioned hierarchy of modules. In form,
these centres already exist; just a bit
of orientation, equipping, technical
staffing and codifying the business
rules may be needed to formalise
these into the ISDSS.
A robust communication network for information recording,
advisory dissemination and retrieval of specifically formatted queries
would have to be a part of that system.
This network could be similar to the
dedicated networks created by some
of the government departments as
well as private players for their purposes and carried over common or joint
communication highways, though the
hierarchies and security classifications
would have to be unique. The existing
countrywide data network system may
be built upon for this purpose.
Build Up of ISDSS
Much of the pattern discussed
above is already in place with various public departments that operate
topographical, geological, mineral,
population census, public distribution and engineering schemes. But inputs obtainable from these sources
are neither comprehensive in characteristics nor conducive to efficient
strategic or tactical decision making. The entire system will, therefore,
have to be designed ab initio, with its
A robust communication network
for information recording, advisory
dissemination and retrieval of
specifically formatted queries would
have to be a part of the system
INTERNAL SECURITY DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (ISDSS)
DEMOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION BASE DIB)
GEOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION BASE (GIB)
INFRASTRUCTURE
INFORMATION BASE (IIB)
(People, Society, Economy,
Public Good)
(Terrain, Natural Resources,
Land Use, Environment)
(Transportation, Power, Industry,
Development)
A nascent architecture of Internal Security Decision Support System
The purpose
of having a
Geographical
Information Base
would be to offer
easy access to
geographical
information that
needs to be
incorporated into
the ISDSS
to be ported. However, given the deficiencies in the quality as well as the
coverage of such data, these inputs
would at best be raw. Therefore, these
inputs would have to be put through
the following processes to meet the
standards needed in ISDSS:
• Corroboration and vetting to ensure
authenticity and integrity of the
information;
• Algorithmic conversion for the sake
of standardisation of all aspects of
the system;
• Reconfiguration and reformatting of
information to conform to the system design;
• Fixation of the cycles of verification
and updating, and designation of responsibilities. Frequencies of these
cycles would vary from one class of
information to another depending
on the dynamics of changes.
Porting of available information
and processing, restructuring and
reconciliation of these to customise
according to the role and processes of ISDSS being an inter departmental process, this task should be
simple to achieve provided the urge to
poodle-fake is curbed. However, this
effort would still be of only basic utility
because as past experiences reveal, any
new venture like the ISDSS would have
to mainly upon dedicated in-house
exercise to build up its exclusive infor-
mation base that would answer to its
needs. In fact in many instances, the
processes of reconfiguration and porting may turn out to be more tedious
than starting from the scratch – more
or less.
Thus, setting the stage for further
examination of the proposition,
we may turn to consider the three
categories of ‘information bases’ as
mentioned above.
Demographic Information
Base (DIB)
Demographic Information Base (DIB)
facilitates expeditious and quality
decision making in relation to human
factors of internal security. This would
contain:
• Population figures, distribution over
areas, movement patterns, individual
records, migrations in and out, and
density variations over time.
• Societal
construct,
influential
groups, traditional habits, food habits, behavioural as well as vocational
leanings and vulnerable sections of
the society.
• Matrices of religion, language,
cast and tribe - festivals, rivalries,
tensions and contentious issues.
• Local and household economy,
employment and poverty figures,
production of necessities as well
as tradable goods and pattern of
custom-made hierarchies, structural
trees, activity flow diagrams, principal
and subsidiary technology themes,
algorithms, formats and above all,
operating formulae and derivations
(fashionably referred to as ‘software’)
— even the system configurations
(fashionably referred to as ‘hardware’
and the now unpopular term ‘skinware’ respectively) - to conform to the
roles listed above. Of course, to save
on time and effort on build up of basic
information, the existing data, in digitised form, as available with various
departments and agencies would need
INTERNAL SECURITY
demand and actual consumption.
• States of education, health, public
discipline, law and order, and crime
trends.
This kind of information is readily
available at National Information Centre
and National Informatics Centre, census
data, Public Distribution System, Electoral Rolls, revenue records, banking,
the Unique Identification Scheme, the
National Investigation Agency, various
non-government samplings and social
surveys. However, these need to be customised and the voids filled up. Notably,
neither the attributes, nor the fields and
properties within each attribute could
be exhaustive to begin with. The volumetric and qualitative improvements
would thus be a continuous process.
Geographical Information
Base (GIB)
The purpose of having a Geographical
Information Base (GIB) would be
to offer easy access to geographical
information that needs to be incorporated into the ISDSS. A large portion
of this information is obtainable from
topographical and geological maps, a
field in which India has excelled. But
the fact that these maps have not been
designed for the purpose of internal
security related information banking,
leaves most of the internal intelligence
queries unattended. Therefore, as stated earlier, build up of GIB needs to be a
fresh exercise. However, even if the information base has to be reconfigured
from what is available, it would make
sense for all the three information
bases to subscribe to common boundaries and adopt standard scales for the
information tagging modules that can
customise the role of ISDSS. Following
are some of the main attributes of GIB:
• Terrain information covering the
current spread and densities of vegetation, contours and gradients,
road and rail communications,
habitations and so on;
• Data regarding water drainage, flood
and draught, natural produce like
minerals, forestry and cultivation;
• Land distribution and use;
• Environmental records and issues in
contention;
• Areas that lend to lawless activities,
covert transit, attacks etc.
In many ways, the GIB will be similar
to the GIS facility, but with built-in
intangibilities of human and natural diversities which shape the internal security issues.
Infrastructure Information
Base (IIB)
The purpose of IIB would be to provide readily accessible information
about various categories of infrastructure, public and private, available as well as those in the process of
coming up, which may be of use in
planning and implementation of internal security measures. The class of
information to be covered under this
information base would be as follows:
• Transportation
infrastructure
to include road, rail, air and
waterway networks, availability of
transport fleet and warehousing,
load handling, transit and station
facilities;
• Power, water, telecommunication
network including mobile phone
and internet, and food supply
infrastructure;
• Construction agencies and earth
moving plants as available in location
with public and private sector
undertakings;
• Local industry and its links with the
larger economy;
• Development projects, current as
well as impending;
• Public goods like Public Distribution
System, banking network, educational
institutions primary upwards, hospitals and public health centres, pattern
of diseases, etc.;
• Law enforcement capabilities like
money transfer records, police presence, maintenance of law and order,
juducial mechanism, rates of conviction and rehabilitation measures.
Inadequate and outdated knowledge
of infrastructural conditions and the
equation of industrial activities with the
societies and economy at the local level
has been a bug in our internal security
schemes. Thus, many times while solutions — in terms of facilities, services,
tools and equipment - have lain ignored
in the backyard, frantic efforts are made
to find these from elsewhere. A competent and regularly updated IIB would be
an answer to that flaw.
Quick Tagging Options
It is natural for an elaborate system
like the ISDSS to grow its own tools for
more efficient and timely response. That
indeed would happen as the System
matures. It is, therefore, wise to visualise the scope for future developments
in some cases and monetary profit
in the others. Nevertheless, tagged
information about these elements
go a long way in estimating their
ability to infuse poison into the society.
In short, tagging options evolve
over a period of time with experience
gained and offer information which
is readily retrievable in the required
format for collation, analysis, dissemination and guidance in controlling
potentially harmful internal security
situations. With time, proliferation of
various information tags are expected
to be encouraged – with due regard to
accuracy. Needless to say, the Internal
Security Information Control Centres
(ISICC) would be the heart ISDSS and
its effectiveness would determine the
success of the scheme.
Recent Awakening
Automated information systems have
been in business for a long time. But
besides offering nonplussed lip service,
the pre-information age, non-science
stream of policy-makers have been
lukewarm to its possibilities and profits.
But as the recent developments unfold,
an understanding is observable at the
level of national leadership. Indeed, the
latest initiative by the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs in opening up automated information services on internal
security matters could be the harbinger of the proposed mechanism that
would be at ready call of the managers
of internal security. Reserved responses from the States’ and low scientific
temper to accept technology as a tool of
empowerment are hurdles that we need
to overcome. The proposition of ISDSS
will efficiently manage India’s growing
complexities of internal churnings.
Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee
(Retd)
gautam_banerjee31@yahoo.com
Reserved
responses from
the states and
low scientific
temper to accept
technology
as a tool of
empowerment
are hurdles
that we need to
overcome
at the starting stage itself – such
inquisitions lead to smooth transition
as well as saving in costs. Accordingly,
we may visualise coalescence over a
time of certain quick tagging options,
which would offer quick and focused
information thus making the system
increasingly user-friendly and trust
worthy.
Tagging options are semi or fully processed information duly tagged to location — that is, the corresponding module
of information base — and the time of
its generation or update. As the pattern
of users’ approach to the information
base, kinds of queries and precedence’s
of decision making crystallises and the
‘Tags’ earn credibility, these options
provide for readily formatted and annotated intelligence, even if mostly in
primary form. That indeed is a great help
in management of internal security,
particularly under emergent situations.
At this stage, however, it would suffice
to mention just a few examples of quick
tagging, as follows:
• Counter-Insurgency Force Tag:
This tag is related to deployment,
disposition, strength, operational
wherewithal and movement of
security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations. Further, it may
offer the situational picture, rebel
strongholds, the leadership, their tactical habits, capabilities and areas of
influence.
• Monetary
Information
Tag:
Information regarding monetary
flow, transactions, and trends may be
covered under this tag.
• Anti-National
Elements
Tag:
This Tag may be dedicated to
identification and study of anti-national individuals as well as the
groups. Notably, anti-nationals and
criminals are but two different classes of outlaws and therefore cannot
be dealt with by the same data base
or control methods. Therefore, a
dedicated information base is needed to deal with the former category.
Even then, there are numerous instances of build up of nexus between
the two. Many times the nexus turns
into coalition for ideological profit
LEARNING PATTERNS
Defining Learning Patterns in
Geographical
Information
System
Concept Definition Fomula (CDF),
Input Processing Output (IPO),
Model View Controller (MVC)
and Data Information Knowedge
Decision (DIKD) are some of
the fundamental learning
patterns exhibited by Geographic
Information Systems (GIS).
And the effectiveness of these
learning patterns are exhibited
and exercised by GIS in
different forms
G
eographical Information
System (GIS) is a popular
information system processing
spatiotemporal
data. It is being used as a collaborative platform for visualisation,
analysis and computation involving
spatiotemporal data and information.
GIS is a more specific name for a generic information domain, which can
process spatial, a-spatial or non-spatial and spatiotemporal data pertaining to the objects occurring in
topography, bathymetry and space.
Therefore, GIS is a more specific instance of spatiotemporal information
system, which is being used for many
decision support systems and anal-
ysis using multiple criteria. This has
emerged as one of the important system for collaborative planning, monitoring, and execution of operations
using multi criteria decision analysis
involving land, sea and air. The operations can be from different application
domains.
An informal definition of ‘Patterns’
can be a repetitive occurrence of
sequence of events, or phenomena which can be expressed through
a finite set of steps or mathematical
transformations. Patterns are abstract
form of observations taken over a
finite interval of time. A learning pattern is a sequence of learning process
which helps the instructor to maxim-
ising the transfer of knowledge in an
organised manner from the teacher
to the student and at the same time
maximise the knowledge acquisition
by the student or the trainee. GIS
exhibits many learning and teaching patterns in different sphere of
science and technology. Some of the
important learning patterns exhibited
by GIS are:
• IPO (Input-Processing-Output) is a
systemic perspective of GIS.
sis, visualisation and measurement.
In other words, any work flow or
functionality of GIS can be mapped
to one or more than one of these
patterns. These patterns are further
explored through suitable examples
in GIS to find their applicability in
different fields of science, engineering, technology and applications.
The pervasive nature of GIS functions in the form of spatiotemporal
analysis, visualisation, measurements and simulation has established GIS as a collaborative platform for multi-disciplinary research
in science and technology.
Learning Patterns in GIS
The IPO (Input-Processing-Output) is
a global pattern, often useful in understanding the overall functioning of a
sub-system or systems. Using this pattern the following types of analysis can
be performed:
→ Analysis of the input domain of the
system i.e. enumerating all the input
types the system can process. The cardinality of the input domain is a metric
measure of the capability of any information system in general and GIS in
particular. The formats in which the
data is being stored, the input data
types, the metadata contents in the
input data types and various sources,
sensors and agencies providing the
data are analysed. Also, a preliminary
assessment regarding the quantity,
quality and reliability of the spatial data
can be analysed from the metadata.
→ The processing capability of the
system is enumerated in terms of the
algorithms that perform the processing. The set of computing components
in a GIS is the measure of its processing capability. Further, the aspects
such as the time and space complexity of the computing algorithms are
studied extensively to understand
“how optimised these algorithms
are?”. Algorithms are the mappings
or the functions which transform the
spatial inputs from the input domain
• CDF (Concept-Definition-Formula)
which is a pattern in learning
Geographical Information Science.
• MVC (Model-View-Controller) an
engineering pattern or modelling
pattern in GIS.
• DIKD (Data-Information-Knowledge-Decision) is a usage pattern or
application pattern in GIS.
• These patterns find applicability
practically in most of the functions of
GIS involving spatiotemporal analy-
Learning Patterns
Examples
IPO
DTED Data is used to compute and generation
of Sun Shaded Relief Maps
MVC
Digitisation (Modeling) of Vector data to
Point (Location), Line(Communication) and
Polygon (Area) entities from raster images for
visualization of digital vector maps through
various digital control mechanisms such as
thematic composition of maps or application
specific map composition, zoom, scroll, scale
and space visualisation etc.
CDF
Projection of maps and images uses
Mercator’s map projection formulae. If the
coordinates are computed in Latitude and
Longitude, spherical coordinate transformation
is used. Differential geometry and geometric
formulae for computing slope, aspect,
curvature of terrain at particular location from
gridded and raster data.
DIKD
Identification of spatial hotspots like
concentration of chemical leakage, crime
events, high precipitation zone etc. can be
leveraged along with the spatial data to
identify the approach path to the hotspot for
disaster mitigation or planning of emergency
aids etc.
TABLE I EXAMPLES OF THE GIS LEARNING PATTERNS
LEARNING PATTERNS
Sensor 1
Sensor 2
Sensor 3
Sensor N
Sensor Data
Processing 1
Sensor Data
Processing 2
Sensor Data
Processing 3
Sensor Data
Processing N
Data Fusion
An example of multi-sensor data fusion system. Courtesy: Nutaq
to possible outputs in the range of outputs of the GIS.
→ The resultant output range produced by the GIS system is analysed
and enumerated. Output range is the
external interface of the GIS to the
user community. The cardinality of
the output range of the GIS is the metric measure which decides its usability
across different applications.
The mapping of the input-analysis-output is often known as the partitioning of the input-output space of
the GIS. Analysing various perspectives of spatial input domain forms a
good material for education. The basic inputs of GIS have the capability to
correlate with different ways the spatial data is collected, collated, organised and modelled. Various sensors
and agencies producing the spatial
data — its periodicity and accuracy —
extend and other related information
pertaining to the spatial data is studied under the subject ‘metadata organisation’ and forms the basis of
many searching algorithms. Another
dimension of the spatial data is the
techniques of its indexing, searching,
sorting and merging. They are distinct
and evolving set of techniques in con-
trast to the normal alphanumeric data.
The study of the spatial input domain,
its metadata has led to many areas of
research such as “Multi Sensor Data
Fusion (MSDF)”, spatial data integration, spatial data mining etc.
The study of the analytical capability
of GIS has led to design, development
and optimisation of many algorithms.
This field of research shares many ideas of computing and computational
science. The robust computational
geometric algorithms, graph algorithms and spatial statistical algorithms, spatial interpolation algorithms
and spatial analysis algorithms are few
sets of examples of computing methods in GIS. They are courses of studies
in themselves pursued in the graduate and post graduate engineering
curriculum of computer science and
spatial information science.
Unlike IPO, which is an overall system learning pattern, the Concept-Definition-Formula is a scientific pattern for
understanding, learning and educating
the scientific basis of spatiotemporal
phenomena in GIS. GIS brings in the
contemporary fields of geometry, geodesy, coordinate system and reference system and the mathematical
basis of map projection which act as
the pre-processing methods of spatial
data. There are ample examples of CDF
patterns in each of these fields which
can ignite the thought process of students in high school or graduation level. Pedagogically, there are many CDF
examples in GIS and its contributing
fields. Some of the geometrical concepts
of slope, aspect, curvature area, volume
etc. exhibit the CDF pattern. The multiple definitions of these quantities in
different frame of reference lead to different formulae and have different applications. CDF is a good learning pattern and fuels higher order thoughts and
understanding to the learners of GIS.
MVC (Model-View-Controller) is a
micro pattern observed in almost all aspect of spatiotemporal data processing.
In this paradigm, the spatial data is
modeled as vector, raster or digital
elevation model (DEM) or into point,
line, polygon type. Further these model data are used to visualise the digital
map, digital model of the terrain surface
in a controlled fashion i.e. the scale visualisation of the spatial data, thematic
map creation, event based visualisation, fly through and walk through visualisation etc. Therefore, the controlled
visualisation of the terrain led to design
and analysis of many algorithms and
GIS brings in the
contemporary
fields of
geometry,
geodesy,
coordinate
system, reference
system and the
mathematical
basis of map
projection
ed and collated contextually to bring
out the spatial information. The spatial information is further processed to
extract pattern from the data through
many algorithmic techniques known
under the banner of spatial data mining
techniques or spatial data analytics or
knowledge discovery algorithms. These
techniques applied on huge amount
of spatial data bring out the spatial
pattern or knowledge in the data. The
spatial patterns and knowledge are leveraged in different application areas to
take effective decision. A clear beneficiary of these patterns is spatial decision support systems such as disaster
management system, Command and
Control System, Battlefield Management system (BMS) etc.
DIKD pattern interconnects and
leverages the entire chain of learning
patterns viz. CDF, MVC and IPO. DIKD
uses modelling of spatial data through
defined syntax to prepare spatial information out of the spatial data. The
semantic networks, semantic rules the
spatial data patterns are extracted from
large volume of spatial data in preparing actionable spatial information
for taking decisions. Further, this
spatial information is computed and
transformed using different spatial
processing algorithms often referred
as spatial data mining tools to extract
knowledge. This chain of processing
which transforms raw spatial data to
knowledge which, in turn is being used
for taking decision is called DIKD. Enlisted below in the table-I are few typical examples of these learning patterns.
Extensive use of GIS by armed
forces for planning, execution and
analysis of operations cannot be overemphasised. Therefore, knowledge of
usage of GIS and understanding the
design and development of operation
systems and command and control
systems using GIS is quite important
for battle managers. Keeping in view
the above objectives, GIS training in
the form of CEP (Continuing Education Programme) and user workshop
are imparted to the GIS users in the
armed forces and scientists. The education profile of the students attending
these courses is heterogeneous field of
engineering. The impact of the GIS lesions imparted are evaluated through
a series of questions. The questions set
were carefully crafted to be judicious
mixture of above four type of learning
patterns. The observed data is consolidated in the table-II.
Conclusion
Analysis of the data, trends emerging
from the MOOC (Massively Online
Courses) and classroom teachings
indicates the mixed pattern of learners from different field of engineering
Digital Terrain Model. Courtesy: TMCE
systems interfacing the software-hardware and human cognitive system.
MVC has a profound impact in the
programming, design and development of the algorithms in GIS and has
brought in the student community to
harness their creative potential through
intelligent programs which binds the
HMI (Human Machine Interface) with
the GIS.
Therefore, MVC is a micro pattern
in the processing domain of GIS and
harnesses the algorithm and program
design skills of students. MVC has
ushered in the field of scientific visualisation, thematic map generation, virtual visualisation or virtual reality and
augmented reality etc.
The DIKD is an overall learning
pattern in GIS that interconnects
the entire chain of GIS functions in
executing a spatial decision. This involves the spatial data, the relevant
processing performed on the data to
transfer it to information and how the
information is processed to extract
knowledge for final spatial decision.
DIKD is a pattern repetitive in many
domains of applications involving
GIS with variation in data, processing
and the end decision to be taken.
Presence of DIKD pattern establishes the GIS as a collaborative platform,
for spatiotemporal decision system.
In this pattern, spatial data is collect-
LEARNING PATTERNS
TABLE II EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Year
Types of Learning Patterns
No of students
IPO
MVC
CDF
DIKD
2008
42
29
24
40
25
2009
31
28
21
30
25
2010
24
21
19
23
20
2012
25
22
19
24
17
2013
37
35
31
36
30
Total
159
135
114
153
117
The statistics of 40 questions with 10 questions each from each learning patterns
MVC
23%
IPO
26%
CDF
DIKD
29%
22%
FiG-1, PI-Chart of the correctly answered questions
and applications. This gives a strong
indication of the fact that GIS is fast
emerging as a platform for interdisciplinary learning. Also, GIS exhibits
number of patterns which are facilitator for learning and remembering
for students and teaching community.
The experimental data obtained from
classroom teaching is enlisted in the
Table-II. The data was analysed by
plotting them in the form of a PI chart
(Fig.1). On observation the following
inferences regarding the learning patterns in GIS can be drawn.
→ The CDF is the highly effective
learning pattern across all types of the
students and GIS professionals.
→ The MVC is a learning pattern most-
ly followed and utilised by scientists,
mathematicians and engineers engaged in design and development of
the GIS systems.
→ DIKD is the learning pattern
followed by the domain users and
domain experts of the GIS system
engaged in day to day use of the GIS
for taking decisions.
→ IPO is the learning pattern understood and practised by students, domain experts, users, developers. It is
the second best learning pattern following the CDF pattern.
References
[1] Goodchild, M. F., “Geographical information science”, International Journal of
Geographical Information Systems 6:31–
45,1992
[2] Longley, Paul A., Michael F. Goodchild,
David J. Maguire and David W. Rhind
(eds.). Geographical Information Systems.
vol 1, vol 2. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons. 1999.
[3] Panigrahi, N., “Geographical Information Science”, University Press, 2009.
[4] Chen, Yong-qi and Yuk-cheung Lee
(eds.). Geographical Data Acquisition. New
York: Springer Wien. 2001
[5] Frank, A. U., Spatial concept, geometric data models, and geometric data structure. Computers and Geosciences 18:409–
17.1992.
[6] Houlding, S. Three-dimensional Geosciences Modelling. Berlin: Springer.1994.
[7] Worboys, M. F. GIS: A Computing Perspective. London: Taylor & Francis. 1995.
[8] Snyder, John P. “Flattening the Earth –
Two Thousand Years of Map Projections.”
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1993.
[9] Snyder, John P. “Map Projections – A
Working Manual.” U.S.G.S. Professional
Paper 1395. Washington D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1987. Reprinted 1989;
1994 with corrections.
[10] Snyder, John P. Map Projections Used
by the United States Geological Survey. 2nd
ed. U.S.G.S. Bulletin No. 1532. Washington
D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1983.
[11] Steers, J. A. An Introduction to the Study
of Map Projections. London: University of
London Press. 1965. 1st ed. 1927; 15th ed.
1970.
[12] Preparata, Franco P. and Shamos, Michael Ian. “Computational Geometry, An
Introduction”, Springer-Verlag., 5th ed 1993.
[13] Aurenhammer, F. Voronoi diagrams:
A survey of fundamental geometric data
structure. ACM Computer Survey 23:345–
405. 1991.
[14] J. O’ Rourke, “Art Gallery Theorems and
Algorithms”. New York: Oxford University
Press. 1987.
[15] J. O’ Rourke, ”Computational Geometry Using C”, New York: Cambridge University Press., 2nd edn, 1998.
[16] Mitasova, H., L. Mitas, B.M. Brown,
D.P. Gerdes and I. Kosinovsky. Modeling
spatially and temporally distributed phenomena: New methods and tools for GRASS
GIS. International Journal of GIS 9 (4), Special issue on integration of environmental
modeling and GIS. 1995.
[17] Burrough, P.A. “Principles of Geographical Information Systems for Land Resources Assessment.”, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chapter 8. 1986.
[18] Densham, P. J. “Spatial decision support systems. In Geographical Information
Systems: Principles and Applications”, edited by D. J. Maguire, M. F. Goodchield and
D. W. Rhind. Harlow, Longman/New York:
John Wiley & Sons Inc. vol. 1:403–12. 1991.
Narayan Panigrahi
Center for Artificial Intelligence
and Robotics
Smita Tripathy
Aeronautical Development
Agency (ADA)
USGIF’s
GEOINT 2015
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TECHNOLOGY
G
eographical
Information
Systems (GIS) play a crucial
role in operation planning,
execution and monitoring
of progress of operations by showing
all entities of interest in the context of a
map. GIS provides spatial information
platform such as digital maps, digital
elevation maps and satellite images
to visualise the operation scenario.
This would help enable the disposition of enemy deployments and better
planning of own forces’ deployment.
In the present digital era, GIS is an excellent tool for military commanders
in operations.
The
use of GIS applications
in military has the potential to
revolutionise the way in which
these forces operate and function.
In the context of regional conflicts
necessitating, rapid deployment and
flexible response, spatial data enjoins
upon the operational staff and their
supporting system to maintain up-todate situational awareness of enemy activities. GIS has a variety of
applications including cartography,
intelligence, battle field management,
terrain analysis, remote sensing, and
military installation management and
monitoring of possible terrorist activity.
In this analysis of adoption of
GIS in the armed forces two issues are germane. One is the aspect
of integration of operational and
tactical information and knowledge
with reference to terrain for precise
targeting and second using the GIS
components to create a customisable,
scalable and data centric model for
armed forces.
In the Indian context, the need to
shift from Platform Centric Operations
to Net Centric Operations has brought
into focus the critical requirement for
integration of operational and tactical
information and knowledge with
GIS Adoption:
An Indian Perspective
reference to terrain for precise targeting.
Real-time geographical visualisation
of the battlefield scenario on a network
that is possible through the exploitation
of geospatial data obtained from multiple sensors located in space or on aerial,
ground, sub-surface and other platforms has become an imperative.
The task of generating digital topographical database, preparation of
Defence Series Maps (DSMs), large scale
mapping, training on GIS and attribute
data collection, photogrammetric survey was assigned to the Military Survey.
In undertaking this task, the requirement to introduce an Enterprise GIS
became paramount, as also did the
requirements of large scale mapping
in meeting increasing demands of the
upcoming OIS. Transfrontier mapping
responsibility that was earlier up to 300
km depth across the border was increased to a depth of 5,000 km by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS)
apparently to meet requirements of the
Strategic Forces Command .
With an aim to introduce Enterprise
GIS, a tri-Service study was ordered
in 2007 to examine nuances for
establishing an Enterprise GIS. On conclusion of this study, a GIS Policy with
common symbology for the military
was issued in 2009. Concurrently, a Request for Proposal (RFP) to establish an
Enterprise GIS was floated by DGIS in
mid-March 2009 but was not followed
In the present digital era, GIS
is an excellent tool for military
commanders in the operations
Spatial data is of crucial importance to the Military
Commander in the battle and for decision-maker
planning operational contingencies
TECHNOLOGY
Most of the GIS
applications used
by Indian armed
forces are based
on commercial
off-the-shelf
(COTS) software,
which come with
strict licensing
policy and
are prone to
technology denial
up. This was followed by another study
addressing the organisational and output oriented shortcomings of Military
Survey. Main issues addressed by the
study included — restructuring of Military Survey in concert with available
global technology and modern techniques; examine existing system of
mapping, digitisation and how updating
can be speeded up through reorganisation; examine the role of Military Survey
in attribute data collection, rationalisation of existing manpower etc. some of
the important findings were; restructuring of Military Survey including at
formation levels, changing its structure
to all arms, need to infuse new equipment and technologies in particular,
emerging technologies like digital photogrammetric using digital aerial photo/
high resolution imagery/UAV inputs,
mobile data capture in field using PC
tablets, gravity and geomagnetic surveys, Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping
(ALTM)/LiDAR survey, online data
transfer for updation/web enabled
services, etc. based on visualisation of
future operational requirements. The
study report despite approval remains
unimplemented.
In fact, the command and control
earlier the Military Survey which
was under the Military Operations
Directorate (MO Directorate) of
Army Headquarters, was moved to
Directorate General Information systems. However the Army hierarchy
was not satisfied with the pace of work
of Military Survey as well as accuracy
of their digital maps. Concerned with
these errors in the Army’s TacC3I,
Military Survey was reverted back to
MO Directorate in 2011-12.
According to informed sources, in
whatever little map digitisation has been
done, there are serious and persistent errors even along the Line of Control (LC)
in number of cases alignment of LC is
off by as much as 50 meters or more. Another issue is the pace of work; Military
Surveys time estimates to complete digitisation of maps – a prerequisite for a viable GIS – reportedly runs into 10 years
or so for maps astride the LC/Line of
Actual Control/IB and areas immediately beyond. Second issue is development
GIS based spatial information platform
such as digital maps, digital elevation
maps and satellite images to visualise
the operational scenario, such as enemy
deployments and dispositions, terrain
features for better operational planning.
Most of the GIS applications used
by Indian armed forces are based
on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
software. These COTS GIS come
with strict licensing policy and are
prone to technology denial. Their
interoperability with other GIS systems
for exchange of spatial information
is limited.
To overcome these challenges and
pitfalls of COTS GIS, the Centre for
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
(CAIR) has developed a home-grown
GIS software for military applications,
christened as INDIGIS. “The INDIGIS
is a suite of GIS components which are
customisable, scalable and data centric
to meet the specific GIS requirements
of a collaborative defence environment.
It offers a common platform for display,
analysis and decision support involving spatio-temporal data for Net Centric Operation (NCO) systems,” Indig-
enous GIS kernel has been developed
as a library of software components
to cover the following major function.
They are: a) processing of geospatial
data in various formats of interest to
Indian military; b) creation and management of a portable military symbol
library; c) geospatial data exchange,
analysis and visualisation with various Tactical Command Control Communication and Intelligence (TacC3I)
systems; d) analysis and visualisation
of data from military sensors like GPS,
digital compass, Battlefield Surveillance Radar, echo-sounder and unmanned aerial vehicles; e) support
for all the usual features of COTS GIS
including analysis and visualisation of
geospatial data in 2D and 3D. Although
the INDGIS has been fielded in number of exercises, nonetheless the Service HQ are nor very satisfied. In their
perception the system is at best a technology demonstrator which has yet to
be accepted for formal adoption by the
Army HQ.
Above analysis reveals that despite
attempts being made to develop a
robust and operational GIS System;
huge organisational and system gaps
remain. This is primarily on account of
turf battles, perception gap between the
MO Directorate, DGIS and the DRDO.
Important issue is that as the IRNSS
and other space based assets become
available, delay in developing Enterprise GIS fast tracking digitisation by
Military Survey, taking a call INDIGIS
by Army HQ working in tandem with
CAIR, so that it can be fielded at the
earliest. One of the constant refrain
from DRDO and laboratories like
CAIR is the lack of feed back or enunciation of desired operational and
system parameters.
Brig Arun Sahgal (Retd)
arunsahgal@hotmail.com
TECHNOLOGY
Aircraft Recognition Training
Using 3D Terrain Models
Aircraft recognition training is essential for
every soldier in air defence
of flight under realistic operational
terrain, weather and day/night conditions. One such system is used to train
20 or more trainees at a time by an instructor. Realistic positional surround
sound with Doppler is integrated for all
types of aircraft, helicopters and UAVs
in single aircraft and multiple aircraft in
various formations modes. Aircraft are
projected on a large screen in the classroom to train the Air Defence operators.
The operators have touch screen monitors to answer questions and practice
aircraft recognition from a database of
realistic 3D models prepared.
System Configuration
The ART comprises of an instructor
workstation, one image generator
workstation, twenty desktop/thin clients based trainee workstations, one
projection system and audio system,
UPS and associated ethernet/wi-fi
based networking hardware. The Instructor Console is a suitable server
for the instructor to carry out group
training sessions and conduct tests. It
has both Wi-Fi and LAN connectivity
inbuilt and a TFT touch screen monitor
of 21-inch size. The Image Generator
is a high-end workstation that displays
high-resolution graphics of the Aircraft
Students undertake ART in individual
training mode, group training mode
and can be subjected to tests and
assessment on Thin Client based
student consoles
Recognition Training exercises on a
projection system. This also has inbuilt
Wi-Fi and LAN connectivity. Students
undertake ART in individual training
mode, group training mode and they
can be subjected to tests and assessment on thin client based student consoles. Soft copies of high fidelity and
high resolution aircraft, helicopters
and UAV models are pre-installed into
the system. More models can be made
and incorporated depending upon the
requirement of the clients. Different
terrain models comprising of elevation
data and imagery will be loaded in
the system.
Modes of Operation
Exercise Preparation Mode: In this
mode, the instructor is provided with
the facility to plan an exercise scenario and save it in an exercise library. A
scenario comprises an area of interest (AoI) of 10 km x 10 km and aircraft
routes. Routes are a set of waypoints
that aircraft or formations must touch.
A section between two waypoints is
called a route leg. Facility is provided
to store waypoints and routes in waypoint and route libraries respectively.
During exercise creation, the instructor has the option to either create new
routes and add these to the scenario
or load existing routes from the route
library. Existing routes can even be
modified to create new routes and
stored thus. The instructor then assigns aircraft formations to each of
these routes in the exercise. The system automatically computes time at
the waypoints based on the leg speed
and leg distance. The actual path fol-
I
n their entire careers and maybe
even in their lifetime, Air Defence
operators may never be actually
attacked by an enemy aircraft.
If they do get such an opportunity, it
may be just once. In the fog of war, can
a soldier afford to lose that one opportunity, that he gets in his lifetime, by
making a mistake and allowing the enemy aircraft to escape? It may be possible that the soldier mistakes enemy
aircraft as own and allows them to escape. Alternately, the soldier may mistake own aircraft as enemy aircraft and
engage them. Unless the soldier has
faced actual or near actual situation
many times and practiced sufficiently, he is likely to miss the opportunity. Simulators can bring war-time or
operational situation to the soldier in
peacetime, in classrooms or in training areas. A soldier can now enter war
as a veteran, having experienced warlike situations on the simulator.
The Aircraft Recognition Trainer
(ART) is computer based classroom
trainer that can be used to impart dynamic aircraft recognition training in
simulated operational situations. The
system depicts fighter, transport and
commercial aircraft, helicopters and
UAVs in various modes and profiles
TECHNOLOGY
lowed by the aircraft and formations
depends on flight dynamics. The instructor also has the facility to program observer positions along the
route to facilitate observation.
Exercise Execution (Training)
Mode: This is the group training
mode in which students are trained
to recognize aircraft in realistic operational settings. The instructor loads
an exercise from the exercise library
into the image generator application
and simulates the exercise. He is provided with the control to start, stop,
freeze and manage the speed of the
simulation. The image generator creates a DEM and loads the imagery of
the AoI of the exercise from the terrain
database to create NDA6978 realistic
terrain and environment setting,
night/day and weather conditionetc
as per the requirements. On starting
the exercise, the simulation engine of
the image generator updates the aircraft position as per the set speed on
the programmed route and renders
the image at a frame rate of 60 Hz. By
default, the system renders the field
of view (FoV) of the observer, which
is pre-programmed into the exercise
by the instructor. However, the instructor is also provided with the fa-
cility to change the camera angle as
required. The system will generate
audio of the aircraft sound on the 5.1
channel speaker provided. During
exercise execution, the student consoles flash a multiple choice question
of the aircraft in the frame and they
also have the facility to input their answers through the touch screen.
Group Training Mode: In this mode,
the instructor conducts a class with
single aircraft models. He is provided
with the facility to zoom in/out, rotate, pitch, roll and yaw the selected
model and highlight the important
sections like wings, engine, fuselage
and tail of the aircraft. He can also
pull out similar looking aircraft from
the library and highlight the subtle
differences. Actual aircraft images,
videos and text data, if available, in
the aircraft database can be accessed
and displayed along-with the models.
In this mode, the student console is
loaded with the aircraft data being
presented by the instructor.
Individual Training Mode: In
this mode, each student can independently pull out aircraft models,
images, text and videos from the central database in the instructor machine and carry out self study. The
System Configuration of Aircraft Recognition Training.
student console will be provided with
the controls to view the aircraft models from various perspectives using
zoom and rotate controls.
Test Mode: This consists of a test preparation mode and test conduct mode.
The instructor will be provided with the
facility to create a set of objective type
questions/answers and answer time for
the question. A test question may pertain to aircraft models, image, text or
an exercise scenario. These are stored
in a test database. A question paper
comprising of a set of questions picked
up from the database is loaded into the
student consoles during the conduct
of the test. Answers fed by the students
are compiled and stored in the central
database.
Debrief Mode: In this mode, the instructor is provided with the facility
to debrief the students with their responses to an exercise or a test.
Software Specifications
Instructor Console Software: The
following functionality is provided by
the Instructor Application on the ART
network. It is user friendly and enables
the instructor to create new exercises
and to execute the created exercises
on the image generator.
Software Functions
• Provide a 2D map based workspace
to load geo-referenced satellite imagery/maps to create and execute
exercises.
• Provide a 2D workspace to load static images of aircraft and 3D workspace to load 3D aircraft models.
• Facility to create new exercises comprising of areas of interest (AoI),
routes, aircraft and aircraft formations scheduled to fly on these
routes in various profiles. The system will build the terrain for the selected AoI from the terrain database.
• Create routes by defining waypoints
based on lat-long, military grid reference and from the waypoint library. Facility to create routes as sets
of waypoints that include the start
points, target points and endpoints.
• Create missions comprising of
aircraft of same or different types
from the library. Facility to define the formation geometries and
attack profiles.
• Facility to place observers at selected
points on the ground for each route.
• Maintain a library of exercises,
routes, waypoints and aircraft.
Facility to modify and save parameters of exercises, routes, waypoints
and aircraft in the library by the instructor.
• Facility to define the aircraft profile
on a route in a library or a mission.
Facility to set speed, altitude and
bank angle for each leg of the route.
This will define the aircraft attitude
at any point in flight which includes
the pitch, roll and yaw axis.
• Facility to load an exercise into the
image generator exercise. Control
the exercise execution in the image
generator by play, pause, resume,
speed adjustment and stop controls.
• Facility to dynamically position
camera in an executing exercise.
• Facility to set the environmental and
weather conditions of the exercise
including time of the day, ambient
light, snow, rain, fog etc that affect
visibility. Facility to set the cloud
density and type and altitude.
• By means of above three mechanisms, classify the missions as very
advanced, and basic based on the
number of recognisable features
seen by the observer based on the
aircraft attitude and distance.
• Project images/3D models of aircraft
to the student consoles in group
training sessions.
• Facility to maintain a database
of students and a sample
question bank.
• Facility to create tests from the question bank and conduct tests.
• Auto evaluate a student’s performance in a test, maintain the test
scores and conduct debrief sessions.
Image Generator Software: The image generator is the application that
renders the scenario comprising the
aircraft and terrain in a realistic and
dynamic fashion to provide high fidelity images in real time. The image generator processes the aircraft
and terrain models in 3D internally.
The output of the image generator is
fed to the projection system for 2D
visualisation.
Software Functions
• Maintains a library of terrain
information — imagery and elevation data — in a database.
Training Mode of ART
TECHNOLOGY
• Maintains a library of aircraft models
that will be rendered in the exercise.
• Executes commands received from
the instructor console to load,
play, pause, resume, and adjust the
simulation speed of an exercise.
Synthesises high quality videos
as directed by the instructor and
displays the scenarios through the
state of the art projection system
provided.
• Renders the executing exercise at a
refresh rate of 60 Hz.
• Positions the camera as per the settings in the exercise. Shifts the camera dynamically on receipt of commands from the instructor console.
• Simulates the mission profile and
environment conditions as set in the
exercise or dynamically controlled
by the instructor. In case of dynamic
changes introduced by the instructor
at execution time, retains the parameters of the original exercise.
• Animates the flight path of aircraft in real time by computing instantaneous positions and
it’s pitch, roll and yaw as per the
Aircraft Training Module
programmed route. Generate images procedurally without writing to
the disk.
• Renders the aircraft models and
terrain as per LoD requirements.
The rendering engine automatically
switches the number of polygons of
the scenario elements in the field of
view depending upon their distance
from the camera point for efficient
rendering.
• Loads the highest resolution image
and elevation data available in the
database. Blends various resolution
data in case of an overlap to create
a single depth complexity image for
the scene.
• Simulates
the
environment
conditions of fog, haze, visibility,
rain, snow, clouds etc.
Student Console Software:
The
student console application is
launched on Thin Client system and
permits the student to undertake ART
sessions in various modes mentioned
below:
→ The students have the facility to
train either in individual mode or
group mode and undertake a test in
the test mode.
→ In individual mode, a student can
download aircraft data from the
central database hosted in the
instructors console into his thin
client. The data comprises of aircraft
models, images, videos and text.
The data also consists of important
aircraft performance specifications
and WEFT (Wings, Engine, Fuselage and Tail) features that form the
distinguishing characteristics of the
aircraft being displayed.
→ The group training mode is instructor driven. The instructor can either
train the students on individual
aircraft models or train them in a
realistic scenario comprising an
exercise executing in the image
generator. In the exercise mode, as
an aircraft formation appears in the
field of view, the students’ console
is populated with a multiple choice
question on aircraft recognition.
The answers inputted by the students are automatically evaluated
by the instructor’s application.
→ In the test mode, the student needs
to answer multiple choice questions on aircraft models, images,
videos and exercises projected on
the screen. The multiple choice
questions appearing on the students console are synchronised
with the model, image, video or
exercise portion projected on the
screen. The students answer the
question from the multiple choice
option presented on their touch
screen monitors.
Brig SC Sharma (Retd)
scsharma50@gmail.com
INTERVIEW
A Continual Shift
Market forces and customer needs barely allow us to only be an imagery
provider as there is a shift in extracted information services, speaks
out David Belton, General Manager, Geospatial Services, MacDonald,
Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)
Y
ou (MDA) are largest
satellite based radar data
provider, how according
to you did Radarsat-1
and Radarsat-2 come into picture?
Two decades ago, Canada was in the
planning phase in terms of investing in
the space scenario. At that point of time,
the need to have a better understanding
of happenings in the Arctic region was
one of the pressing demands that the
country faced. There were too few technologies that were actually capable of
mapping the area. Space-based radar
system was the best suited technology,
so Canada made a conscious decision
So, what’s the range
RADARSAT-1 and
RADARSAT-2 are
playing with?
RADARSAT-1 had a
range of different imaging modes. The highest resolution mode
was an 8m mode called ‘fine beam
resolution mode’ and was about 50km
wide as single image. This also has a
number of other imaging configurations
— something called the ‘ScanSAR
Wide Beam mode’ which has a 100m
resolution, but a very broad swath from
8m to 100m resolution. When RADARSAT2 was introduced, decisions were
made to go in a number of different
directions — one was to implement
some really high resolution imaging
modes, a three 3m resolution called
the ‘ultra fine’ and 1m resolution called
‘spotlight imaging’ focussed on target
surveillance which is a very localised
imaging of target locations. In addi-
tion, RADARSAT 2 added a polarisation imaging suite which is a collection
technique that allows additional information to be extracted. The other main
component of RADARSAT-2 was that a
wide collection of nodes were created
to focus on broader coverage market
where RADARSAT has a niche.
Are you planning to launch more
satellites to continue with the
RADARSAT-1 mission?
RADARSAT-1 was launched in 1995
and had a five year design life, but
it actually ran all the way to 2013 (a
good 17 years beyond its operational
service). And RADARSAT-2 was
launched in 2007 and has a design
life of seven one quarter years. The
satellite is in incredible health today.
With adequate fuel onboard, we
expect it to continue functioning for
another decade or so. RADARSAT
constellation mission is now a fully
funded programme. The government
entered into a contract with us for the
build phase of the mission, last year,
so we’re in the mid of the construction
process. With a design life of seven
plus years, the scheduled launch of the
programme is 2018.
Are all the missions of MDA in
partnership with private players?
The Government of Canada invested
in setting up of the infrastructure of
the RADARSAT programme. In the
RADARSAT-2 era, the investment came
in the form of an effectively prepaid
purchase of imagery to MDA. Then,
through the course of the mission, MDA
delivered on the prepaid purchase
to strategically invest in
that area. This gave birth
to the RADARSAT programme. Since then,
maritime surveillance
has become a huge
and pressing issue
for the country and
this ultimately led to
RADARSAT-1 mission.
This brought focus to
the radar technology
which formed the basis
of the company RADAR
International, which
gave birth to MDA.
INTERVIEW
The future for the RADARSAT
programme is the RADARSAT
Constellation Mission, which is now
a fully-funded programme
commitment. MDA also made significant investments in the construction
and operation of the mission, so the
public private partnership has taken
the form of a government pre-purchase
of data and MDA investment in manufacturing and operations.
In the new RCM (RADARSAT
Constellation Mission) era, things are
back to a traditional model where MDA
is manufacturing and constructing a
government-funded mission and the
company is also in discussions with the
government to commercialise the data.
Throw light on your business
model...
On the RADARSAT-1 case, this was
an instance where there was a royalty relationship with the Government
of Canada. In RADARSAT-2 case, it
really is a pre-purchase of data that
the government has made. There is
a contract with Canadian government on the funds provided to MDA,
and over the course of the contract
We deliver on the products that are
purchased through those funds.
How is radar imagery being utilised
in other applications apart from
maritime surveillance?
MDA has a particular market focus in its business — defense and
security, particularly maritime surveillance, are the top market verticals
and the company spends a lot of its
time and energy in developing that
market. The second focus is the oil
and gas industry, and within that industry MDA provides a range of services. Perhaps the most robust and
mature is offshore oil spill detection
and monitoring, which MDA does
for commercial oil and gas operators
and government regulators. MDA also
does onshore subsidence monitor-
ing, using a technique called INSAR
that measures very small changes in
surface elevation over active reservoirs where oil and gas extraction is
happening. This is done for the purpose of safety and to help the industry
understand the impact their activities
are having on the environment over
those reservoirs. The third focus is the
natural resources sector – MDA has a
range of services, particularly in the
areas of ice monitoring and detection
of illegal fishing.
Tell us about the value added
services you offer...
MDA’s business is going more and
more in the direction of extracted information services as opposed to imagery. Because of market forces and
customer needs, MDA cannot only be
an imagery provider – it needs to deliver more information and value to its
customers.
For MDA to be successful and
for its customers to be satiated, the
company has to help customers
extract the information for radar
imagery. For example, when we talk
about surface subsidence and deformation services, what MDA is providing its customers is not imagery,
but deformation maps describing
vertical motion. When we talk about
maritime surveillance, while imagery might be a component of that service, these maps are often deliverable
as text information product with ship
location, heading, speed, etc. There
is a continual shift in business, more
and more towards these value added
services. This doesn’t mean we don’t
sell imagery – that is still at the core of
the business. It is a service as well as a
product model – there is a range of services that are built around things like
monthly subscriptions. For example,
in maritime surveillance, the way service is provided is that a customer who
wants monitoring of a certain area
signs up for it. In other cases, there is a
product delivery model whereby MDA
delivers products to customers in response to an emergency event, or they
are bought and sold on the basis of a
customer order. It varies quite a lot depending on the customer and the level
of service he wants.
When it comes to imagery
distribution, how do you operate
across the world?
It’s a mixture of direct selling
and selling through international
partners, distributors and resellers.
In our Vancouver office, we have
a centralised direct sale customer
service group that handles individual
orders globally. We also have
comprehensive sales team that tries
to find out complex opportunities in
sales. The team here is multilingual,
they serve users in Asia, Europe and
North America. In addition to that, we
also have a global network of partners
that are geographically focussed on a
certain market vertical, etc.
In the past, we have partnered with
general geospatial and remote sensing
companies. But what we find ourselves
doing today is more and more market
vertical specific partnership to access
the mining industry or oil and gas
industry or defense sector.
Is MDA catering to the emerging
markets?
The overall MDA strategy is to become
a multinational company. In order to
address that strategy, the company is
looking at finding ways to have local
presence in emerging markets and
geographies like Brazil and India.
Natural resources are driving a lot of
geospatial activities in these economies
and the company has a particular focus
on building local partnerships with
organisations that are operating in
these domains and locations. Places
like Brazil, where mining is a major
endeavor and deforestation is a major
issue, are well suited for some of MDA’s
technologies.
GEOBUIZ.COM
All the BUZZ about Geospatial BIZ
EVENTS
Sea Air Space 2015
April 13-15, 2015
National Habour,
MD, US
www.seaairspace.org
LAAD Defence & Security 2015
April 21-22, 2015
Olympia, London
www.counterterrorexpo.com
ITEC 2015
April 28-30, 2015
Prague, Czech Republic
www.itec.co.uk
Avalon 2015
February 27-1, March 2015
Victoria, Australia
www.airshow.com.
MAY 2015
IDEF’15
May 5-8, 2015
Istanbul, Turkey
www.idef15.com
LANPAC Symposium
May 19-21, 2015
Honolulu, Hawaii, US
ausameetings.org/lanpac
IMDEX Asia 2015
May 19 - 21, 2015
Singapore
www.imdexasia.com
JUNE 2015
UDT 2015
June 3-5, 2015
Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
www.udt-global.com
Geoint 2015
June 22-25, 2015
Washington, D.C.
US
geoint2013.com
JULY 2015
Land Forces Africa 2015
July 5-8, 2015
Midrand Gauteng,
South Africa
www.landforcesafrica.com
NCT eXplosive Europe
September 22 - 24, 2015
Belgrade,
Serbia
www.explosiveeurope.com
OCTOBER 2015
NCT CBRNe Middle East
October 5 -7, 2015
Amman,
Jordan
www.cbrnemiddleeast.com
Northern Australia Defence
Summit 2015
October 28 -29, 2015
Darwin,
Asutralia
www.admevents.com.au
NOVEMBER 2015
SEPTEMBER 2015
Defence and Security 2015
November 2-5, 2015
Bangkok,
Thailand
www.asiandefense.com
DSEI 2015
September 15-18, 2015
London,
UK
www.dsei.co.uk
Milipol Paris
November 17-20, 2015
Paris,
France
en.milipol.com
APRIL 2015
GeoIntelligence India
Is Now
$VLD
11-12 June 2015
JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi
theme: converging geointelligence, information
technology And engineering For national security
SubMit AbStrActS ONliNe befOre
30th April 2015
strAtegic sponsors
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www.geointelligenceasia.org

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