China's Digital Army Inside the PLA's C4I Revolution
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VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 JAN/FEB 2018 A SHEPHARD MEDIA PUBLICATION China's digital army Inside the PLA's C4I revolution FULLY INTEGRATED BIGGER PICTURES THE UNBREAKABLE Air defence networks GEOINT solutions Rugged computers WWW.DIGITAL-BATTLESPACE.COM DB-01-18_OFC.indd 1 1/12/2018 3:46:57 PM YOUR PERSONAL RECONNAISSANCE SYSTEM LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BLACK HORNET: flir.com/blackhornet 17-1295-SUR_AIR_BlackHornet_Ad_Resize_UnMannedVehicles_205x273mm_FINAL_V1_Outlined.inddDB-01-18_IFC_FLIR.indd 2 1 1/12/20185/18/17 1:13:16 2:34 PM PM CONTENTS Editor Grant Turnbull [email protected] 3 EDITORIAL COMMENT FEATURE Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2583 New year, new you 24 THE BIG PICTURE Asia-Pacific Editor Geospatial intelligence is crucial for military Gordon Arthur [email protected] 4 NEWS users, and many manufacturers take different North America Editor Ashley Roque [email protected] • Raytheon falls out of JSTARS Recap approaches to designing tools for defence programme applications. However, such technology is now Staff Reporter Alice Budge • US Army outlines new command post initiative also being explored for its potential in the Contributors •Japan shifts military posture commercial sector.E Claire Apthorp, Angus Batey, Joe Charlaff, • Tactical radios for the Philippines Gerrard Cowan, Peter Donaldson, Krassimir Grozev, Alexander Mladenov, • Thales doubles down on cyber security FEATURE Doug Richardson, Richard Scott, Beth Stevenson, Alan Warnes, Andrew White 30 TOUGHER STUFF Production and Circulation Manager FEATURE Rugged computing is in a phase of rapid David Hurst 8 A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH change in the military domain, as developers Production Editor Huge C4I strides have been made in the seek to incorporate the best elements of Elaine Effard People’s Liberation Army, and while not without commercial technology while retaining the Sub-editor its challenges, the advent of a new Strategic required levels of durability and security. Georgina Smith Support Force, with all its attendant secrecy, will Digital Development Manager Adam Wakeling undoubtedly prove a thorn in the side of future FEATURE Graphic Designer US operations. 34 COMMANDING THE WAVES Kam Bains To manage naval operations with success, a Advertising Executive FEATURE C2 system must allow interoperability, data Louis Puxley [email protected] 14 A QUESTION OF INTERCEPTION analysis and synchronicity, and navies such Head of Advertising Sales Kevin Bethell [email protected] With technological evolution creating both a as the USN are investing heavily to ensure that Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2587 heightened risk of airborne threats and a they have the most robust technology in place. VP Business Development diversity of ways of addressing these dangers, Mike Wild militaries globally are determined to select the FINAL WORD Editor-in-Chief best systems in order to take the menace of Richard Thomas 40 SHAPING COMMUNICATION missiles to task. Alan Dewar, C4ISR product line director at BAE VP Content Tony Skinner Systems, spoke to DB about how the company Managing Director FEATURE is consolidating tactical data links to enhance Darren Lake 19 THE SKY IS THE LIMIT capabilities for future operations. Chairman Limited budgets and an often-fraught Nick Prest relationship with the West, including sanctions, Subscriptions Annual rates start at £90 have seen the Pakistan Air Force buy a range of Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2592 foreign equipment as well as developing Email: [email protected] Web: shop.shephardmedia.com indigenous solutions to defend its skies and Digital Battlespace is published six times borders. DB visited the country to assess the air per year by The Shephard Press Ltd, Saville force’s locally developed air C2 networks and Mews, 30 Saville Road, London, W4 5HG, UK. Subscription rates start at £90. PCM CitySprint other capabilities. is acting as mailing agent. Articles and information contained in this publication are the copyright of the Shephard Press Ltd and Page 34 may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. Print by Buxton Press, Derbyshire, UK © The Shephard Press Ltd, 2018. ISSN 1759-345X Front cover: Established in 2015, the People’s Liberation Army’s Strategic Support Force is now the Chinese military’s lead The Shephard Press Ltd organisation for space, cyber offence and defence, technical reconnaissance and EW domains. (Image: Shutterstock) Saville Mews, 30 Saville Road, London, W4 5HG, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3179 2570 SUBSCRIPTIONS 8 industry-specific magazines (print and digital) 14 definitive data sets/handbooks (print and digital) The Professional Publishers Association Shephard Plus online – in-depth news, analysis and intelligence Member To subscribe to our print and online services visit www.shephardmedia.com WWW.DIGITAL-BATTLESPACE.COM VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 DIGITAL BATTLESPACE WWW.DIGITAL-BATTLESPACE.COM 1 DB-01-18_p01_Contents.indd 1 1/12/2018 4:32:05 PM SA18_Visitor02_Shephard_205xx273.pdf 1 11/20/2017 6:55:08 PM TIME IS FLYING BY SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2018 ASIA’S LARGEST AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE EVENT 6 - 11 FEBRUARY • CHANGI EXHIBITION CENTRE Register your attendance now at www.singaporeairshow.com/register Supporting Media Partners: DB-01-18_p02_Singapore.indd 2 1/12/2018 1:12:11 PM COMMENT In the next issue • SATCOM part 1 Grant Turnbull, Editor • SIGINT/ELINT • Border surveillance EO/IR New year, new you • Tactical comms The start of a new year is a good chance for against a peer threat in a congested or Germany, France and the UK, are looking at us to put the previous 12 months behind us contested environment’. It was criticised for moving forward with new communications and start afresh with resolutions that aim to not being simple or intuitive enough, and and networking projects in 2018. The UK, for break old, often bad, habits and the inevitable also for being heavily dependent on industry- instance, will continue to leverage work poor life choices we sometimes make and, provided field service representatives. already done on the next-generation instead, capitalise on the good things we’ve Instead, the US Army wants to leverage Morpheus programme, in particular a £330 done. Reducing the amount of alcohol we the ‘innovation explosion’ currently under million ($444 million) contract placed with drink, stopping smoking and losing weight are way in the communications sector and General Dynamics UK last April for the usually the top of the list for a revitalised self. transform its acquisition process to keep up development of a new architectural approach It’s no different for the C4I community with these seismic changes. As part of this, known as Evolve to Open. The British Army is as industry and the armed forces look to it will establish a new command aimed at expected to contract other elements of start new initiatives in 2018 or build on modernisation, known as the Army Futures Morpheus this year, including the Battlefield successes already achieved. As ever, a new Command, with networking being one of six Management Application. year means a renewed purpose to achieve key priority areas that it will look at when it is The German Army is also undertaking a goals set out. It also means taking a step stood up this summer. significant communications and overall back and learning from the past, avoiding This new command for 2018 could battle management modernisation, with the mistakes that sometimes plague major revitalise and reinvigorate army acquisition. two programmes known as Mobile Tactical projects. Indeed, many individuals and Less-established players will also be hoping Communications and Mobile Tactical organisations will be hoping that 2018 will that this new buying process could mean Information Network. Several companies be the year that their endeavours bear fruit. their innovative solutions win out over the used 2017 to position themselves for a same old multi-billion-dollar contractors. soon-to-be-released RfI. Both efforts could Networking challenges Either way, the US Army has to find a be highly lucrative for industry, with Nowhere is that more so than in major solution to its networking challenges, and estimates suggesting the German Army will networking projects, which are often fraught this will be the year in which we get more of allocate around €4-6 billion ($4.8-7.2 with technical difficulties and so ambitious an idea about the direction in which its billion) to the modernisation process. in scope that they implode due to cost heading. In some good news at least, it Challenges still remain, and as projects overruns and delays. Indeed, 2017 was appears that the army’s attempts to fuse its increase in scope and become more challenging for the US Army in this respect air defence enterprise through a single ambitious (and unwieldy), the chances of as it decided to effectively cancel its major network as part of its Integrated Air and failure inevitably increase. If that’s not networking modernisation programme Missile Defense (IAMD) programme is daunting enough, the increasingly known as the Warfighter Information progressing well, despite early software contested and congested nature of Network-Tactical – or WIN-T. hiccups. With its underlying IAMD Battle communication networks, including the WIN-T was supposed to be one of the Command System, the army will be able to growing cyber threat, is also adding to the service’s flagship projects, but last exploit open architecture standards and a issues facing both OEMs and the armed September the army’s Deputy Chief of Staff significantly improved air defence picture forces. Nevertheless, as 2018 goes on, (G-6) Lt Gen Bruce Crawford announced its (see p14). industry will be hoping its new year’s premature end, describing it as ‘not the And it’s not just the US embarking on major ambitions can achieve results, unlike trying network that we need to fight and win C4I programmes.