sits/sa beacon soldier - northrop grumman corporation€¦ · the situational awareness beacon...
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SITS/SA Beacon
Soldier
INSTRUMENTATION TRAINING SYSTEM/
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS BEACON
The Soldier Instrumentation Training Suite (SITS) / Situational Awareness
Beacon (SA Beacon) was developed to take advantage of emerging and future
commercial technologies as well as the reuse of Northrop Grumman’s tactical
components to meet current and future requirements. These include both training
requirements (legacy, interim, and future force) and tactical Command, Control, and
Communications (C2) systems.
SITS OVERVIEW• Trackssoldiersinoperationaland
trainingenvironments,includingthosethatareglobalpositioningsystem(GPS)accessibleandGPSdenied
• Reusestacticalandtrainingsystems,orportionsofthosesystems,toreducecosts
• Protectssoldiersinoperationsandtrainingthroughsafetyalerts
• IscapableofstandaloneusewithlegacyorfutureTacticalEngagementSimulationSystems(TESS)orwithtacticalC2(BFT/BFT2/JPC-B)
THE VALUE OF PERFORMANCE.
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THE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS BEACON COMPONENT:TheprogramfeaturesatrackingsystemcompatiblewithfieldedtacticalC2systemsenabling:
• Trackingofsoldiers,equipmentanditemsofinterest• Usewithlegacy,interimandfutureTESStotrackand
collectdatainnearrealtime• Passiveandactivesafetymonitoringthataddresses
currentgapsandshortfalls
TheSABeaconwasinitiallydevelopedforuseintrainingbutisequallyrelevanttocombatoperationswarfightersafetyandassetmanagement.Reusingthecombat-provensoftwarekerneloroperationalCommand,Control,Communications,Computers,andIntelligencesystems,theSABeaconwasprototypedinamatterofmonthsratherthantheyearsnormallyrequiredforsystemdevelopment,scalability,andcommunicationsarchitecture.Itiscapableofuseinsingleormulti-tiercommunicationsarchitecturewithavarietyofcommercialortacticalcommunicationoptions.Theseincludeaself-healinglower-tiernetworkconsolidatespositionlocation,health,andotherdata.Nofixedterrestrialinfrastructureisrequiredforlast-mileconnectivityonthelower-tiernetwork.
Whenused,anupper-tiernetworkpushestheaggregatedinformationofuptohundredsofSABeaconstoacommandcenterortrainingoperationscenterforanalysis.TheSABeaconarchitectureenablestheuseofmultipleupper-tierpaths,optimizingcommunicationscapabilitywhilereducingcost.
Upper-tieroptionsincludeexistingoraugmentedinstrumentationcomponents(fiber,wire,microwave,etc.),commercialandtacticalsatellites,andtacticalorcommercialradiosdependentuponuserrequirements,resources,andpreferences.
TheSABeaconcomponentofSITSmaybeaugmentedbyaDeadReckoningModule(DRM)thatprovideslocation,positionandmovementinformationinGPS-deniedenvironmentssuchasurbansettings,caves,andtunnels.TheDRM’saccuracyisenhancedbyalearningsub-modulethatusesmovementcharacteristicslearnedwhilewithinGPScoverageandmultiple-sensoralgorithms.
TheweightofboththeSABeaconandDRMislessthanonepound,includingabackupbatterythatenablesextendedandemergencyoperationsandahotswapcapability.Themainpackageisuserdefinedandincludesavarietyofmilitaryandcommercialbatteryoptions,aswellasvehicle/localpower.
Ultimately,thesoldierwillbeabletotransitionfromtrainingtocombatusingthesametrackingequipmentwithcommonreportinganddatatransfercapabilities.
For more information contact:
Mark Hehmeyer
11474 Corporate Blvd, Suite 120
Orlando, FL 32817
phone: 407.737.4912
mobile: 321.230.6138
email: [email protected]
www.ts.northropgrumman.com
BlueForceTracking(BFT)anditsterrestrialcommunicationscounterpartForceXXIBattleCommand,BrigadeandBelow(FBCB2)weretwoofthegreattechnologicalsuccessesofOperationsIraqiFreedomandEnduringFreedom.Theyeffectivelyimprovedsituationalawareness(SA)andsituationalunderstandingonthebattlefield,contributedtoanunprecedentedlowbullets-tofriendlycasualtyrate,andprovidedmoreeffectiveC2,allowingtherapidapplicationofoverwhelmingforce.TheSABeaconextendstheBFTandFBCB2/JCRtrackingcapabilitybeyondkeyleaderstoincludeindividualsoldiers,combatvehicles,andotherassetsenablingunitaggregationandde-aggregationasrequiredtosupportthemission.
Inatrainingenvironment,theSITS/SABeaconallowscombattrainers(CT)tocapturecriticaldataforunitAfterActionReviewsevenifaCTisnotinpositiontoobserveanaction.ItalsoenablescollectionofTESSdatapreviouslycollectablemanuallyinpart.ThesafetyfeaturesbuiltintothesystemenableindividualSoldiersandMarinestosignalanemergencysituationandprovidethedatanecessaryfortheLiveTrainingTransformationfamilyofprogramstoprovidevisualalertstoCTsforboundaryandrestrictedareaviolationsandothersafetyfeatures.
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