Obtaining a Clear Common Operational Picture (COP)
According to Brigadier General Philip Coker, director
of capabilities developments, Futures Center HQ, Army
Training and Doctrine Command, “To achieve essential
force performance in battle, all command posts must
be built on a common platform and operating environment”
(Military Information Technology, Online Edition, Volume:
9 Issue: 3). Coker continues, "Not only should
the systems be common and centrally linked, but also
the command post itself should have no internal support
posts that may exclude the commander’s vision
of the developing battle." In other words, all
former loose ends of communication are part of the military's
new initiative to tie up and link to the other arms
of the joint forces. The future of warfare is net-centricity,
which involves the standardization of command platforms
across organizations and creating a collaborative environment
for mobile tactical control.
As the DoD sets its sites on a total, shared situational
awareness, the challenges of configuring this type of
network can be daunting. And just like the military,
private companies are concerned with making this transition
effectively. Z Microsystems’ engineers, scientists,
managers, researchers and industrial design experts
spend their entire lives thinking of ways that will
improve the performance and safety of their products
for US soldiers. The results are products that are modular
in design to allow for interoperable infrastructure
at every level in support of net-centric joint control
initiatives for a clear Common Operational Picture.
To help integrate the various command post platforms,
Z Microsystems’ net-centric products take CPU
and human factor performance very seriously to offer
better computing functionality across military formations.
In the Army’s Command Post Platform (CPP) program
led by Northrop Grumman, Z Microsystems provided Z Multiple
Processor Units as a vehicle for COP change in the military.
The Z Multiple Processor Unit (Z MPU) offers up to seven
simultaneously operating mission controls, hot-swappable
in the field, with an option for up to five on-board
shared peripherals, and delivers a small footprint to
easily place and displace command missions on-the-fly.
The Z MPU was specifically created to support staff-centric
awareness for the commanders, efficiently synchronizing
ground and air battlefield perspectives in real-time,
and offers SMARTtracker as an additional security/safety
net. SMARTtracker is a way to know by whom, when and
where a display, computer or hard drive is being used,
moved or shut down, an added assurance in the COP. SMARTtracker
logs usage times of a display or computer, thereby improving
allocation of equipment, as well as being a useful tool
in predicting maintenance down-time for more accurate
sustainability in the field.
Z Microsystems listens to the final word from its customer,
the "Armed Forces", and responds with solutions
to further the military’s Common Operational Picture.
|
