Simon Quek

Vice President, Defence Business International at ST Engineering

He was, of course, referring to how tactics and strategy often determines the flow of the battle before the first sword is even unsheathed. Today, however, battles are fought and won not only on the physical battlefield, but on the digital one as well. On this front, winning is all about speed of thought and execution.

Many armies around the world are paying ever closer attention to not only missiles and bullets but how efficiently information is transmitted and shared. To this end, armies will need to Detect Earlier, Decide Faster and enable Force Multipliers more effectively to win every engagement.

The need to have a robust Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cybersecurity, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) products and platform to allow the ground friendly units to engage in a single collaborative networked force, to achieve mission critical needs, is more urgent than ever.

At ST Engineering, we relentlessly develop our Defence Platform Electronics (DPE) that can be mounted on a variety of fighting vehicles to empower C5ISR on the move. 

From seamless battlefield communications to actionable intelligence, we incorporate advanced digital technologies in our DPE. With information superiority and secured data analysis in real time, you can detect threats earlier, make the best combat decisions faster and create force multiplying impacts.

Detect earlier

Battles are won in a matter of nanoseconds. The first to detect the opponent, gains an overwhelming advantage against a slower opponent.

As such, knowing exactly where your enemies are before they can even detect you is one of the most powerful advantages any commander can have. The ability to sense and detect enemies is critical to the success of any mission.

Our DPE enables 360 Situational Awareness cameras fixed on all sides of the vehicle. The cameras are also equipped with infra-red vision, providing both day and night imagery.

These state-of-the-art cameras allow commanders and gunners to have a panoramic, high resolution view of the surroundings, allowing them to react immediately to enemies that may appear.

Decide faster

Once the enemy is detected, the speed of reaction is the next big step in deciding the outcome of the engagement. Efficient information sharing is key to close combat engagements.

With a vehicle intercom system (VICS), the convergence of voice and data (including video) services provides commanders with a high-speed network for mission critical communications.

The VICS allows seamless communication between commander and gunner in a battle situation, as well as with friendly forces to collaboratively annihilate enemy forces efficiently. This ensures the entire crew fights as one and in collaboration with friendly forces.

At the same time, making the correct decision also requires commanders to have a quick appreciation of the battlefield. Commander uses the Integrated Battlefield Management System (iBMS), that allows participation in mission planning, fast collaborative targeting, and engagement capabilities.

iBMS has an modernised soldier-centric combat user interface (UI) that provides a comprehensive situational awareness of the battlefield. These capabilities aid commanders, by making it easier, faster and simpler to reach the right decisions.

A force multiplier

When individuals and teams work together, they become far more than the sum of their parts. Digital transformation has enabled collaborative engagement, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), and enhanced situation awareness in the modern battlefield giving the force multiplier effect.

The DPE is a tactical system that networks the entire battalion from platforms down to individual soldiers for shared situational awareness and collaborative engagements, creating a force multiplier effect to achieve a Networked Force for a Common and Relevant Operating Picture.

The DPE network all forces both manned and unmanned though many communication means including our Satellite Communication-on-the-move providing the concept of “one see, all see”. The DPE was designed with one aim in mind: dominating the digitised battlefield by providing superior information, accurate intelligence and secure data analysis. This, in turn, allows commanders on the ground to detect threats faster, make decisions more effectively and defeat their enemies in a swift and decisive manner.

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