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Coalition Warrior Interoperability DemonstrationA unique environment of virtual reality, sophisticated technology and real warfighter conditionsBy Sharon AndersonIt’s not Afghanistan, but it will simulatethe austere, remote and hostile conditionsof being there. I’m talking aboutCWID — Coalition Warrior InteroperabilityDemonstration — where informationtechnologies are assessed against simulatedoperational scenarios.For 2009-2010, CWID is using an Afghanistanbackdrop for combined operations.U.S. homeland security/defensescenarios will integrate virtual naturaldisasters, health pandemics and terroristthreats. CWID supports Departmentof Defense homeland defense and securityacquisition decisions within a venuethat provides significant savings to thegovernment.CWID’s 18-month cycle begins witha Federal Business Opportunity postedon www.fbo.gov that asks industry toprovide near-term technology solutions,also known as interoperability trials (ITs),designed to improve information sharingfor both military and emergency first-responderoperations.CWID focuses on assessing new technologiesand upgrades to existing versionsof command and control (C2); communicationssystems; and intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)systems. CWID 2010 will execute in June.The complexity of staging and executingapproximately 40 ITs across multipleU.S. and international sites, with morethan 1,500 participants and 20 participatingnations, is immense and requiresvigorous C2 and exhaustive planning,according to Dennis Warne, CWID sitemanager for Naval Surface Warfare CenterDahlgren.“We are coordinating command andcontrol over the Pacific and Atlantic,across Europe, Lillehammer, Norway, inGermany, in Italy. We run the trials duringthe day, but think of what time it is inItaly and Europe,” Warne said. “No othervirtual or real-world environment can duplicatethe unique characteristics of theCWID infrastructure.”CWID is a Chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff-directed annual technology discoveryand risk reduction event whichidentifies information-sharing solutionsfor operational problems. The DefenseInformation Systems Agency (DISA) managesCWID’s day-to-day operations usingthe CFBLNet, or Combined FederatedBattle Laboratories Network, which willspan 15 time zones, from New Zealand tothe United States, and across Europe.CWID encompasses an environmentof virtual reality, sophisticated technologyand real-world conditions that videogame fans would love to enter. But thereis nothing playful about CWID. To participate,proposed technologies must fillwarfighting gaps and be interoperable,not only with joint partners, but withNATO partners, and at another level, withnongovernmental organizations to coordinatedisaster relief responses and humanitarianaid.CWID's Unique Environment AddsComplexity and Realism to TestingWarfighter Solutions“This is a difficult battlefield. Coalitionsare complex: different languages,different cultures; coalitions are ad hocby nature. Sometimes there are differentstanding agreements with NATO countries,”said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. BruceDowns, CWID’s coalition forces land componentcommander and role player.“We are also looking for opportunitiesto integrate information, collaborate andshare information on the battlefield. Thisis a rare opportunity. This is the only placeI know of where you can have a multidomaintrial and where you have classifiedand unclassified networks, and youare sharing information between those inthe backdrop of something that is meaningfulto a warrior,” Downs said.Technology plays a major role in CWID,where participants explore the “art-of-thepossible,” according to Downs.“We get ideas about how to apply technology,to try to stretch it to meet ourneeds for interoperability and allow usto have an advantage on the battlefield,”Downs explained. “All of these coalitioncountries have come with their own solutionsindependently. Some of them arevery technical; some of them are manual.We take and use all of that information togetherto make good, effective decisionsin those scenarios. There is everythingfrom what we call kinetic warfare [whichis] dropping bombs and shooting bulletsand maneuvering on the battlefield,to running convoys with relief supplies,to humanitarian relief, to ship-to-shoremovements.”There are so many fascinating technologiesthat will be explored in June,but I’ll just highlight a few. CHIPS spokewith several CWID participants during theCWID Initial Planning Conference, whichtook place Nov. 16-20, 2009, in Williamsburg,Va., where more than 200 military,government and industry experts fromaround the world discussed their proposedITs for CWID participation. Whileneither the Navy nor Defense Departmentendorses the commercial products usedin the ITs; testing these products is theonly way to determine warfighter utility.IT001 – Service-orientedInfrastructure for Maritime TrafficTracking (SMART)The Italian-led Virtual Regional MaritimeTraffic Center (V-RMTC) is a virtualnetwork environment connecting the operationalcenters of participating naviesto unclassified information on merchantshipping vessels to enhance maritimesituational awareness (MSA).In CWID 2010, Service-oriented Infrastructurefor Maritime Traffic Trackingwill undergo interoperability testingwith system partners: Finland, Germany,the United Kingdom and United States.SMART represents the next-generationdevelopment of V-RMTC, according toItalian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sergio Ciannamea.But other frameworks can be easily exploitedthrough this technology, for example,the Italian interagencies and forthe European Union’s new experiments,such as the demonstration for the MaritimeSurveillance (EU MARSUR) networkscheduled for the end of 2010, said Ciannamea.“SOA-based technology is still inits formative stages. It will be taking overwhere V-RMTC has left off in providing30 CHIPS www.chips.navy.mil Dedicated to Sharing Information - Technology - Experience