MoD orders £3m anti-friendly-fire 'Combat ID Server' Controversial gov-plunder warboffinry firm Qinetiq - in partnership with US armsbiz giants - has won a £3m deal from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a prototype server intended to prevent "friendly fire" incidents. Qinetiq will ally with General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins to provide the MoD with a "Joint Data Network …
This would have saved a few British lives if it had been available to us in the Gulf in 1991 and indeed several other conflicts since then. That it has not already been invented, marketed and deployed yet is sad - especially when deploying over large areas with forces from several different countries.
Mines the one with the red and blue transponders in the pockets.
The thing about combat is that conditions, positions, etc. are so fluid that near-real-time is not anywhere near enough. Hard real-time requirements are what this situation calls for, added to the need for absolute confidence in ones intelligence (where are they now?). I think that a lot more friendly-fire incidents will occur due to misplaced confidence in one's equipment and databases. That is one of the advantages of the use of laser indicators used by ground troups - that there is probably a human intelligence pointing the laser and they should hopefully know who they want to shoot (back) at.
"hack into this server when you're at war with the UK and know where all the "friendly" units are.....".... By Mark Posted Friday 6th February 2009 16:25 GMT
Well, all the ones where access is provided. Core Control is somewhat Securer with ITs Turing Enigma Trigger Algorithms ..... GBIrish CodeXXXX...... call it what you will for Liquid Dynamic Security in Virtual Peace.
Do you believe that the MOD/DOD can discipline Nations to Enjoy Growth in Safety and Freedom.
The data bandwidth of Bowman equals that of an analogue GSM at the end of range on a rainy day - signalling in Morse Indian style (with a fire and a blanket) may be faster.
By the time the GPS data has been delivered the poor sap carrying Bowman has moved again - and may have run out of battery.
In a recent incident a UKLF Westland WAH-64 Apache almost opened fire on a fire section of Royal Marines, thankfully because of the new helmet markers the crew realised that they were friendlies. Enemy engagements on the ground can be very fluid and the UK's forces are trained to work to their own initiative within the mission briefing, you simply tell them what the patrol hopes to achieve and they do it without further instruction. The reason the Apache crew almost engaged the marines was that the Apache crew did not realise the marines could have moved so far from one fire position to another so quickly and without having been told to do so.
So will 'almost real time' be almost enough? The fog of war can get very, very thick at times and accidents will always happen.
Reading some history books? The most important thing has always been "Identify your target"! This can be done by actually looking at close range, either from the air or from the ground. What exactly was the function of those forward artillery observers and cab-rank controllers?
There seems to be too much reliance on computers these days (remember when computers were called the dumbest of dumb clerks, they do exactly what they are told and nothing else). This leads to stupid and final results. Think Iranian Airbus, think A10 Warthogs at 10,000 ft instead of 50 ft and destroyed Challengers with dead UK soldiers.
Warfare is unfortunately not machine verses machine, but man verses man. Don't forget the man and let him make the reasoned decision.
Anybody else here think War is a Dumb Losers Game? How about Junk all the Arms and Ammo and Start Building New Worlds Providing New Skills to Learn and Perfect.
Join the Army and become a Psychotic Wreck and/or Sociopath Pariah is a Hard Sell in these Hardened Times and Tempestuous Days.
Oh ... Sorry, does that not suit the hunter/killer element of dumb fellow animals. ZHeroes of the Plain.
* Depending on whether your Supplying or Dying
Putting bloody great big white sheets and chevrons on top of sand-yellow Warrior APCs didn't help during GW1, and we've had similar "incidents" where Amer^H^H^H "friendly" forces have shot up British forces despite obvious Ident markings even a blind wlarus with sunburn could hardly miss.
Why should a new "near-realtime" system help? All that will do is tell the flyboys where we *were* last time the system updated itself.
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