The idea to have a single digital display of relevant operational information shared by many nations and organizations in real time is becoming closer to reality at Combined Endeavor.
Traditionally, when coalition partners wanted to share their operating pictures with each other, doing so required installing a separate system requiring additional training and having yet another screen to monitor in the operations center.
Through the ever-increasing capabilities provided by the Multilateral Interoperability Programme, or MIP, timely and accurate information on the positions of friendly and enemy troops, and the positions and status of important infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, can be made available to commanders, said Tony Mansfield, command, control, communications and computers system engineer at the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"The aim is to achieve international interoperability of command and control information systems at all levels from corps to the lowest appropriate level, in order to support multinational, combined and joint operations and the advancement of digitization in the international arena," he said.
"Within our [U.S. Department of Defense] services, we're all sharing [a common operating picture]," Mansfield said. "Now we're sharing that with multiple nations."
The MIP is the standard for data exchange. And a standard is important because the data can then be shared in each nation's own system.
"It's a big advantage to individual nations," Mansfield said. "Because it requires no special training — they're using their own system. The MIP specifications [are] a powerful interoperability tool."
Countries at Combined Endeavor 2008 using their own system and linked together through the MIP include: Afghanistan, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.
According to Sgt. Michael Hendren, C4I systems analyst, having this common interface specification makes a common operating picture possible and minimizes problems that can arise when different commanders have different pictures of the state of the battlefield, including friendly fire incidents.
"With all the joint ops going on, it's very important to be able to share information," he said.
The MIP came about in 2001 by merging two separate programs: the Army Tactical Command and Control Information System (ATCCIS) and the former MIP. The former MIP was established in 1998 by the project managers of command and control systems in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and United States.
Multilateral Interoperability Programme
The MIP specification is a managed interface between C2 information systems. When incorporated into a system, it enables interoperability of information between any other system that also incorporates the specification. Battlespace data are transferred as information. The meaning and context of the information are preserved across national boundaries precisely and without any ambiguity.
The information exchange requirements that MIP inherited from the Army Tactical Command and Control Information System encompasses the spectrum of joint and combined land operations. Thus MIP meets the requirements of the Land Component Commander of Allied Joint Combined Operations (including Article 5 and Crisis Response Operations). Systems may be wholly different from each other and need not necessarily conform to any hardware or software standard.
Typically, systems will be acquired through national or NATO acquisition programs, and their architecture will conform to the national or NATO policy prevailing at the time.
In a community of MIP-enabled C2 systems, nations, command levels and organizations can share:
• Situation awareness;
• Orders, plans and intentions; and
• Capabilities and status of friendly and enemy forces.
This is the MIP we all know today.