Exercise UNIFIED VISION: Information Sharing, Collaboration, Interoperability

July 6, 2023 – Defence Stories

By: Captain Matt Zalot, Public Affairs Officer for Exercise UNIFIED VISION 2023

While video sharing and streaming are all the rage online, Canada, NATO Allies^{Footnote *}  and Sweden made a bold leap forward with this capability during Exercise UNIFIED VISION 2023 (UV23). Occurring across North America and Europe from June 12-24, 2023, Ex UV23 is a distributed exercise, featuring participation from multiple Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), NATO and Sweden entities. As the premier NATO event for Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (JISR), UV23 is enabling the CAF to enhance its ability to transmit near-real time Full-Motion Video (FMV) from collection platforms in the sky to stations on the ground and beyond, with the goal of providing distant commanders an accurate intelligence picture, regardless of the physical distance between the target and their headquarters.

Collection platforms

Operating in the vicinity of Comox, British Columbia, the CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft and the CU-175 Puma Maritime Miniature Uncrewed Aerial System (MMUAS) were the two Canadian collection platforms used to collect and transmit video data. “Our objectives are to test our systems to ensure that we transmit our collection from the platform to the ground station to the Joint Operations Fusion Lab in Ottawa,” said Major Paul Hambleton, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) lead planner. “From an RCAF perspective, we’re in Comox (at 19 Wing) looking to identify capability-development opportunities to enhance our abilities and meet tomorrow’s JISR needs.”

Less well known is the Puma MMUAS, a relatively new capability to the CAF. A small team consisting of two weapons engineering technicians operated the small craft from the deck of HMCS Yellowknife, a maritime coastal defence vessel that was the perfect platform to test the propellor-based, shoulder-launched system. According to detachment commander Master Sailor Meghan Heal: “Mission success on this exercise is considered a flawless launch, time on station, collecting the full motion video to transfer to shore, and returning the UAV safely back to the ship.” This is no easy feat, and it’s the first time this video capability has ever been tested from a maritime vessel.

Transmitters

Collecting the video is only the first piece of the ISR puzzle, whether air-based or ship-based. The next step involves transmitting the data in essentially real time, so the information can be processed, exploited, and disseminated to key decision makers. “To enable timely decisions, our hardware – the sensors, receivers, antennae – bring everything into a coherent network system and we then distribute it accordingly,” said Sergeant Allan Silk, the UV23 Joint Interface Control Officer. “My troop of eight personnel are here as a ground station, which is acting as both a receiver for video and as the tactical datalink throughout the airspace.”

At sea, it’s a similar situation, with the ship’s ISR systems employed to transmit FMV to Ottawa and beyond. According to Sailor First Class (S1) Sam Hunt, the second Puma operator, it works as follows: “Our setup allows us to send FMV to a third party, allowing say the Joint Operations Fusion Lab a complete picture of what the Puma is seeing and recording.” Generally, a video feed from an UAS would be sent solely to a local ground station, with the need to save information on some form of physical media and the use of email or some other means to disseminate it further. “Here, we’re sending the FMV in near-real time to another location.” This allows unparalleled sight picture for all levels of command by enhancing the common intelligence picture.

“This ISR capability can be used for many things,” continued S1 Hunt. “It can be used for drug interdiction, as in tracking small boats. It can also be used for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, plotting flood boundaries, or during wildfires, tracking the spread of heat signatures. It can even be used to find people in the water during maritime disasters due to its powerful infrared capabilities.”

End users

Following the collection and transmission of ISR data to the Joint Operations Fusion Lab in Ottawa, an intelligence product is produced for dissemination. In this case, these products are sent to a notional coalition headquarters located at the European Partner Integration Enterprise (EPIE) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which initiates the collection request. Alongside allied personnel, EPIE hosted numerous Canadian Armed Forces members to perform a variety of ISR functions in support of UV23. Their contributions have been highly valued and the experience they are gaining will be critical to growing the JISR enterprise within Canada.

NATO Allies and Sweden

At the same time, the CAF is also benefitting from a concurrent USAF exercise based out of Comox, called AGILE BLIZZARD. The intent of this exercise is to conduct forward deployments in unfamiliar and semi-austere environments. Since ISR is a significant aspect of these agile deployments, the CAF and USAF elements are attempting to integrate their capabilities to collect and transmit FMV to the EPIE.

USAF Maj. Kyle “Sheriff” Shaner suggests that U.S. participation involves providing expeditionary communication links to bridge NATO, U.S., and CAF information to locations around the world. “We’ve proven we can rapidly deploy teams to unfamiliar locations where we organically stand-up robust communication suites in order to quickly pass information to our NATO partners over the cloud.” This concept allows the U.S. to practice integrated deterrence in the defense of NATO Allies.

The exercise enables the testing of new resources such as the Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System (BICES) for contingency operations and connecting various cyber capabilities with NATO Allies and Sweden to provide various communication feeds. Shaner stressed that “this increases information sharing and interoperability between allies. The capability to integrate with forces around the world allows NATO Allies and Sweden to effectively maintain a robust communications infrastructure. Establishing these capabilities ensures we are prepared to strategically deter attacks presented by enemy forces, while building a resilient and cohesive joint force within NATO.” At the conclusion of the exercise, UV23 will allow the CAF to be more interoperable with our NATO Allies and Sweden in any operational theatre in the world, whether that’s at sea, in the air, or on land.

“There’s quite a bit of planning involved to conduct an exercise of this magnitude,” says Chief Petty Officer First Class Adam Thibodeau, who served as the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) lead planner and liaison officer to the USAF. “The level of complexity we’ve planned demonstrates the high level of interoperability we see in Comox on Ex UV23.”

Conclusion

“Everybody involved has been committed to this collective aim of advancing both national and coalition JISR capabilities,” says Lieutenant (Navy) Thomas Mingle, who served as the exercise’s National Lead Planner. “The crossover between intelligence and operations is a huge undertaking with so many moving parts. The final product is only one small piece of this larger system that requires steady coordination between technical, operational, intelligence, and planning personnel across all elements. Then, there’s all the training and administration to get the right people educated and in place to contribute effectively – it’s truly a joint effort.”

Not every exercise is intended to showcase a quantum leap in capability, but that’s exactly what was accomplished on Ex UV23. Information is essential to the decision-making process, and only with the contribution of so many can timely intelligence be sent to commanders in an effective and interoperable fashion. The next iteration of the exercise should feature even more in the way of breakthroughs.