Cooperative fusion architecture in a network centric environment

Modern network centric technology within the global information grid (GIG) permits the rapid and effective sharing of information to such a degree that nodes should be able to "pull" information, rather than having centralized locations predict their information needs and "push" it to them. In this paper, we introduce innovative cooperative fusion architecture of nodes with similar on-board sensors and algorithms followed by fusion of relevant sources that may be available in the vertical layered sensing environment. This leads to flattening of the traditional network hierarchy and enhanced target location and reliable combat target identification.