By M. D. Morales

ESC Public Affairs

Modifications to the 950th Electronic Systems Group's Distributed Common Ground System will take to the open road next month for their first test drive at the Air Force Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

DGS-X - or Distributed Ground System Experimental - will be the very  first site at which two key components of the DCGS 10.2 modernization program will go online and be accepted. The Air Force DCGS is a global system that
provides analysis and distribution of intelligence data from anywhere on the planet.

"We hope to demonstrate the value of these modernized capabilities and take a step toward providing more tools to analysts," said Col. Alan Tucker, 950th Electronic Systems Group commander.

The improvements to the Air Force DCGS include the multi-intelligence core software capability which allows users at any DCGS workstation in the world to access data not only at that geographic site, but also anywhere in the
system network infrastructure. The existing capability exists in a stovepipe, not allowing users to analyze data from a more integrated perspective.

"Even at sites where there are multiple data feeds coming in - signals intelligence, imagery intelligence - you only typically get on your work station what comes in from that particular sensor," Colonel Tucker said. "This software will now allow you to see any of that data from the user's site or any other."

The second system upgrade is the DCGS Integration Backbone. The DIB enables the sharing of data between sites and carries with it the capacity to change how data workflow is processed.

A metadata catalog linked to the DIB allows users to access information via a search engine like those on the Web. Using a key word, target, interest type or geographic area, users can search through libraries of information.

Rather than include the scenarios of an exercise, the experimentation with these changes will incorporate live data feeds using actual sensors to gather data. A team of subject matter experts - originally involved in the design and development of the software - will then evaluate its use and share the lessons learned.

"We hope to get feedback from the AF C2ISR Center, and that feedback will be rolled into future spiral capabilities for the system," Colonel Tucker said.

The Langley center will function not only as the initial experimentation site, but also as the locale where all future improvements to the system can be tested before they are fielded.

Though arriving at the experimentation phase marks a major milestone since the birth of 10.2 efforts in November 2003, reaching this point has not come without its challenges, Colonel Tucker said.

Each Air Force DCGS site presents its own set of differing variables - from the software of contractors to the fielding of new sensors and varying equipment - that requires additional customization to ensure that each factor plays its role in yielding results.

"Each site is a little bit different. The number of users at each site is different. The communications bandwidths are different," he said. "Even though we are standardizing this as a weapons system, the challenges we face are in bringing all those components together in an integrated way, making it seamless for the user."

It's this eye on user flexibility and ease of use that remains central to what Colonel Tucker said is the greatest challenge to overcome before 10.2 capabilities can be fully fielded.

The round-the-clock operations that accompany the ongoing war effort must remain uninterrupted by the turning over of modifications to an operational site, the passing along of new equipment, the training of users and, ultimately, the transitioning of capabilities.

"As we go to our first operational site, they will be working 24/7 operations fighting a war," he said. "Despite the period of shadow operations where both systems will be running before cutting over to the new one, one of our fundamental premises is that we can't field this capability unless we are confident it will work from Day 1."

Plans to turn over the 10.2 modifications at Beale AFB, Calif. - the first of operational sites - will hinge upon the findings at the Langley experimental site.
 

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