Fort Bragg, North Carolina – The Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S) Integration Directorate (ID) worked with 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division, Project Manager Electronic Warfare & Cyber, and industry partners during the most recent Scarlet Dragon Experimentation to successfully utilize the Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA) to transmit electromagnetic warfare data from Beast+ sensors -- a tactical, man-portable electronic warfare and signals intelligence sensor -- across Tactical Cross Domain Solutions (TACDS), and populate the data into MAVEN Smart System (MSS).
Several times each year, government and industry bring systems and platforms to Scarlet Dragon to engage in rapid integration testing. The most recent exercise used experimentation and innovation focused on Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) platforms, intelligence systems and sensors with the purpose to push the envelope and ensure all systems and sensors could speak to each other to provide commanders a clear picture to inform rapid decision making.
These days, there is a large variety of sensors and systems in play on a modern battlefield, spanning domains and echelons. It’s complex. To make sure all systems can talk to one another and provide advantages to commanders, a common, standard language is needed to bring all the assets together. ISA helps integrate sensors and systems -- legacy, current and even future -- thanks to a common architecture that allows for easy ‘plug and play.’
“Since ISA is owned by the government, specifically PEO IEW&S, and because the data model is modular and flexible, we have the ability to make connections between systems quickly and seamlessly,” Nick LeGrand, PEO IEW&S Integration Directorate Open Architecture and Standards Lead said. “We have the goal of abstracting our end users away from proprietary and siloed interfaces that use different data standards which limit interoperability.”
By standardizing open architecture, interfaces, and software frameworks, various sensors, platforms and systems can connect easier and share data, regardless of vendor, platform or domain.
One of the primary objectives of Scarlet Dragon was focused on using ISA to connect various EW sensors and Command and Control systems to MSS, an AI-powered, industry-made software capability designed to improve interoperability between strategic and tactical operations. Over the last few years, a growing demand for AI-powered software throughout the Department of Defense has brought MSS to the forefront and increased the importance for testing events like Scarlet Dragon.
During Scarlet Dragon 25-2, the ISA Team, 82nd Airborne DIV, PM EW&C, 18th Airborne Corps and industry worked together to integrate ISA into the MSS successfully.
“Our goal was to see how fast we could integrate ISA into MSS to transmit EW data,” LeGrand said. “We integrated an ISA client and made the connection with MSS in about two weeks, a testament to the collaborative and rapid iteration environment provided by the Scarlet Dragon exercise. Simple sensors have been integrated in a day but complex systems like MSS take some more time to get everything right for the users.”
Additionally, by leveraging ISA, the team succeeded in pushing EW sensor data across various Army networks through the approved TACDS, a secure communications gateway used to share and transmit data across various security domains. Data properly provided in ISA is accredited to operate bidirectionally across the TACDS.
The ISA team has already been invited back to the next Scarlet Dragon to continue integrating and expanding to involve other systems and units, possibly growing beyond EW data and sensors to also include intelligence systems.
The ISA team continues to proliferate ISA, rolling out ISA in the Army, DoD, coalition and industry. The ISA standard and software are publicly releasable. Currently, the intel community (IC) has indicated they would like to integrate ISA into more of their systems, and the Integration Directorate continues to work closely with various IC partners on requirements development and execution.
“Right now, ISA users are pioneers,” LeGrand notes. “Units just have to be willing to try it. As soon as they see it work, they’re all in.”
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