HANSCOM AFB, Mass., (July 14, 1997) -- Electronic Systems Center is a key player in the 1997 Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (JWID).
JWID is a worldwide coalition operation sponsored by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and involves components from throughout the Department of Defense and U.S. allies. It takes place from July 7th to 31st.
Its primary purpose is to integrate and demonstrate command and control interoperability between the U.S. and its worldwide allies.
The exercise involves the invasion of the mythical country of Kartuna by Korona for its oil reserves.
Kartuna is an ally of the U.S., which calls upon Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elements of NATO for assistance.
"JWID takes place at 45 worldwide locations and uses a wartime scenario to experiment with and demonstrate communications integration between the U.S. and our allies," said Maj. Michael Plowman, Hanscom’s JWID ’97 site coordinator.
ESC’s Command and Control Unified Battlespace Environment (CUBE) and the Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (MASC) are critical components of the entire JWID scenario, according to Plowman.
"The CUBE will be a communications link between the JWID Joint Forces Air Component Commander, located at Barksdale Air Force Base (Louisiana) and the coalition forces worldwide," Plowman said.
"The MASC is a key player in the demonstration and will play a part in several operational "triggers" - events that affect the worldwide operation and cause other military actions to take place."
The MASC will introduce aircraft and missile tracking information from the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) into the demonstration.
The JWID force structure involves elements of U.S. and allied sea, air and ground components and includes a U.S. carrier battle group, an amphibious task force and a submarine as primary demonstration sites.
"JWID will help ESC demonstrate its ability to electronically link the worldwide warrior for any type of conflict and will showcase our command and control expertise to the international defense community," Plowman said.
Again part of JWID this year is a Coalition-Wide Area Network (CWAN), established by DoD during previous JWIDS, which links all worldwide participants, including the submarine USS Atlanta.
"The Air Force test aircraft "Speckled Trout" will also be a JWID participant," Plowman said.
"The ultimate objectives of the exercise are to facilitate the real-time, global exchange of information and to integrate communications technology and data delivery on a worldwide scale," Plowman said.
"ESC is not only responsible for almost 20 percent of all JWID scenarios, but also has the chance to demonstrate its skill to a worldwide audience."
For more information, contact Jack Rankin via email- rankinj@hanscom.af.mil
or at ESC's Office of Public Affairs - (617) 377-4467