The command, control and information system HEROS-2/1 Lot 2 meets the requirements of the NATO Response Force.
This was one of the results found at this year’s CWID. The event, which took place in June under NATO auspices in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer, is one of the most important events in the field of Network Centric Operations. Here, NATO checks the level of interoperability of the command, control and information systems of its member states.
CWID stands for “Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration”. The focus of the CWID 2006 was on preparing the German/Dutch Corps (1 GE/NL Corps) for their deployment as the NATO Response Force 10 (NRF 10) as of January 2008. The purpose of this force is to be deployable in any crisis area in the world within five days and to be self-sustaining for up to 30 days.
The corps will assume the tasks of the Land Component Command (LCC) and will thus also be responsible for the exchange of information within the entire NRF structure. When deployed on a mission, information on the situation must be exchanged between all the units involved to support the joint operation and to produce a common operational picture. Moreover, interoperability with the navy and air force - national and international - must also be ensured.
Since the command, control and information system HEROS-2/1 Lot 2 has been in use for the 1 GE/NL Corps for about two years and is now being used for the NRF 10, ESG took part in the CWID 2006. ESG presented the CAMULUS version of its HEROS system. This extended version will be handed over to the 1 GE/NL Corps at the end of September 2006.
CAMULUS has the following features: new architectural modifications, the extension of the data model with the C2IEDM data model (Command & Control Information Exchange Data Model) as the heart of the NATO reference model, the international MIP DEM interface (Multilateral Interoperability Programme Data Exchange Mechanism) for the exchange of information, the NATO standard APP-6(A) for representing tactical symbols, an e-mail function using Lotus Notes and the ADatP-3 interface with selected message formats to establish interoperability with the navy and air force. These functions form the basis for guaranteeing a comprehensive and uniform view of the situation in all forces and units. This makes CAMULUS an important step towards Network Centric Operations.
When the 1 GE/NL Corps takes over the tasks of the LCC in about one and a half years, HEROS will be the central command, control and information system worldwide for crisis operations. The corps was already LCC from January up to June in 2005 as part of NRF 4 and took over the command of the forces from seven European nations. Even then, operational command capability was ensured by the HEROS system.
The mobile information system HEROS-2/1 Lot 2 and the successor version CAMULUS were developed under the supervision of ESG. The system supports the corps, division and brigade command levels of the army in the command process.