The Patriot radar system pictured above was used to correlate tracks in conjunction with the Polish radar system. Soldiers from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and the 174th Ohio National Guard Air Defense Brigade along with partners fr...

Three of the five major pieces of equipment that create the Patriot Enhanced System. This equipment was used during the correlation and simulated engagement of the 6 Polish air tracks. Soldiers from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and t...

The engagement control station pictured above is where the tactical control team is positioned during Patriot engagements. Soldiers from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and the 174th Ohio National Guard Air Defense Brigade along with pa...

Ustka, Poland -- Soldiers from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and the 174th Ohio National Guard Air Defense Brigade along with partners from the Polish 3rd Surface to Air Missile Brigade conducted an air defense exercise June 6-8 during Anakonda 16 that resulted in a first of its kind shared multinational air picture.

Over the past several days American and Polish air defenders have been familiarizing each other on their individual nation's air defense weapons platforms and systems with the goal of creating a combined multinational air defense operations center. Now that all parties involved have a shared understanding of the capabilities and limitations of all the equipment being utilized, all that is left to do is connect both air defense networks together.

"Creating a multinational air picture is pivotal to our interoperability," explained 1st Lt. Nicholas Ontiveros, the Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment's Executive Officer, "Without a shared air picture our ability to coordinate targets is severely limited."

While it may sound simple to say that both nations connected their air defense networks together, the task itself was not easily performed. Connecting these two networks required months of planning with experts from both countries testing, configuring, retesting, and reconfiguring the multinational network countless times to ensure the most accurate and fluid data transfer possible.

"It was a lot of work but we made it happen," said an excited Chief Warrant Officer 2 Manoj Mukkada, a 140A Command and Control Systems Integrator, "We just correlated tracks with a Polish radar allowing us to successfully simulate engagement of 6 ABTs (Air Breathing Threats) with our Patriot System!"

When it was all said and done, the exercise was a tremendous success. Both nation's networks were able to send and receive information from each other seamlessly, and the relationship formed between members of both nations working so closely together has truly strengthened the alliance.