A NATO-interoperable, tactical command and control system for land forces

This paper describes the initial steps in the development of a brigade-sized wireless internet system for the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR). In co-operation with the ACR and its Military Technical Institute of Electronics (VTUE), the US Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) and the MITRE Corporation are providing advice on systems engineering and system architecture design for the ACR´s Ground Forces Tactical Command and Control System (GF TCCS). The objective system will use a high proportion of commercial off-the-shelf networking software, and government off-the-shelf equipment, including military mobile radios and switches. The key constraints, mandated by VTUE, were as follows: the operating system (Windows NT), the net hardware (radios and switching systems), and NATO compatibility. The tasks on which the CECOM/MITRE team is advising are architectural consultation, systems design and engineering development, database design, user interface consultation, and interoperability analysis.