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 U.S. 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.