EMS Force Tracking Keeps NATO Forces Safer, Connected
Today’s military men and women are increasingly operating in harsh conditions as part of multinational coalition operations. Coalition operations on patrol in Afghanistan face major communication and capability gaps since traditional line-of-sight communications do not work well over mountainous terrains and they have the need for interoperability with all participating nations. They need tough, reliable and interoperable Satcom tracking solutions.
For the past three years, the EMS Global Tracking group has provided NATO’s on-the-ground commanders and troops with a Satcom-based multinational global positioning tracking and messaging system. More recently, EMS Force Tracking systems were adopted by a European Mission (EU) for use in Afghanistan.
The EMS system supports tactical (Brigade and below) commanders with the additional capability to integrate to higher level strategic systems therefore providing situational awareness to all coalition decision makers. EMS-equipped vehicles offer near real time two-way satellite messaging and GPS tracks, and includes a panic alert capability.
Commanders need to know where their assets are at all times so they can plan and coordinate battlefield operations. Blue Force Tracking systems help safeguard coalition troops by reducing friendly fire or fratricide incidents. Just as important, they give tactical and strategic commanders a full operational picture of the battlefield scenario by data sharing at all levels.
EMS Force Tracking solutions are fully integrated into NATO’s ISAF, or International Security Assistance Force system. Currently, there are over 30 nations operating as part of the ISAF mission. A key capability with EMS solutions is the low latency of providing near-time information. As part of the solution is the ability to “geofence” a hostile area. Most commonly this would be used to indicate a no-go zone location on the digital map the could be the location of, for example a suspect improvised explosive device, or IED, therefore setting up automatic warning if any vehicle approached or enters this potentially dangerous area. As the number of incidents from IEDs mounts, this application becomes more imperative. Published reports indicate that in the month of July 2009 alone, roadside and suicide bomb blasts in Afghanistan soared six-fold compared with the same month last year.
As well as geofencing, if an IED or serious incident has occurred, you can relay a message instantly to all. The system not only provides command and control capability in critical situations, it can also be used as a planning tool for military convoys transiting through hostile areas.”
In addition to the military, EMS satellite systems are integrated into the Global Distribution Management System (GDMS), a commercial, non-military asset visibility, force protection, and intelligence support program that has operated continuously, 24x7, since November of 2004 at the Reconstruction Operations Center (ROC) and the Logistics Movement Control Center (LMCC) in Baghdad, as well as many other locations throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. GDMS is a battle-tested decision support tool that saves American and coalition lives daily by providing near real-time visibility over all movable reconstruction assets, high-profile personnel, railroad movements, and quick reaction force (QRF) responses. EMS provides the satellite services and hardware as part of this management system.
