Capabilities and equipment needed for establishing C2 system from strategic to tactical level, complementing existing European External Action Services systems

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

The Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy (Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe. A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy (http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/docs/top_stories/pdf/eugs_review_web.pdf)) defines an integrated approach to conflicts “at all stages of the conflict cycle, acting promptly on prevention, responding responsibly and decisively to crises, investing in stabilization and avoiding premature disengagement when a new crisis erupts”.

The Capability Development Plan (CDP) analysis also highlights that resilient C2 capabilities are critical enablers for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations and missions.

Specific shortfalls concerning the fulfilment of the EU CSDP military level of ambition are a consequence of EU strategic Command, Control and Coordination (C3) at military level. This EU strategic C3 should be capable of directing, coordinating and controlling all EU CSDP actions, missions and operations, as well as civilian and military actors and forces in an integrated approach, in the full spectrum of crises – before, during and after conflicts – by managing its development, stopping ongoing conflicts and contributing to consolidating stability in the post-conflict situation.

Proposals shall address the feasibility and design of a system that includes, in particular, the capability to conduct several simultaneous operations, with all kinds of forces, anywhere in the world, either independently or in cooperation with NATO. The Strategic C2 must integrate all kinds of Communication and Information Systems (CIS) and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) means and shall be able to interoperate with Member States, EU forces, NATO and civil agencies. The size, duration and number of simultaneous operations and deployments to be planned and conducted must be based on the EU level of ambition for CSDP missions and operations established by the Council for the MPCC.

The strategic C2 system shall support a large staff working simultaneously over multiple operations, with a scalable C2 structure that could be adapted to each mission.

The architecture of the strategic C2 system should also consider integrating and complementing the tactical and operational levels.

The strategic C2 system shall support all operational phases:

• Planning:
  • Supporting the capabilities demanded by Joint C2, including personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics, plans, CIS and Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC);
  • Integrating planning information from all domains (air space management, naval operations, ground deployments, cyber situational awareness, etc.). and external systems;
  • Allowing the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) to effectively task its own staff and other supporting armies.
• Pre-deployment:
  • Supporting force projection tasks in complex scenarios (infrastructures databases, etc.).
• Deployment:
  • Monitoring deployment tasks;
  • Supporting the quick establishment of communications and command posts upon initial entry.
• Mission conduct:
  • Generating real time common operational picture;
  • Integrating many systems for multiple domains;
  • Segmenting the information in the most automated way per mission;
  • With a strict control on the information dissemination.
• Re-deployment.

Target activities:

The proposals shall cover the initial phases of the development of the strategic C2 system including in particular:

• Preliminary studies: analysis of existing MPCC capabilities and systems and their potential evolution. Analysis of the existing systems that the strategic C2 system may potentially be required to be interoperable with (NATO, national, others). Dialogue with EUMS / MPCC to capture requirements, experience and lessons learned applicable to the future system;
• Feasibility study, definition of Concept of Operations (CONOPS), system specification, Detailed Requirements Review (DRR) and architecture definition;
• Detailed design of the system, including the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and including up to the Critical Design Review (CDR).

The project could also include the development of small-scale technological demonstrators, in order to support decision making during the design phase.

A detailed planning of the subsequent project phases shall be generated, including the identification of implementation priorities, according to the operational needs of the EU and its Member States. Subsequent phases up to operational readiness shall include in particular prototype development, qualification and test activities, following a spiral approach, to reach incremental operational capabilities.

Main high-level requirements:

The system shall fulfil the following general requirements:

• State-of-the-art system, with modern, intuitive user interfaces supporting MPCC operators in all their operational, technical and training needs. Usability shall be the cornerstone of the system design allowing rapid installation, administration, operation and training;
• Selection of technological solutions with a strong focus on obsolescence management;
• The system architecture shall be designed in accordance with the modularity principle in order to be expandable to future operational capabilities and to integrate modules and tools coming from multiple sources, allowing other PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) projects to be linked, integrated or implemented through this one;
• The proposed system shall be based on a modern service-oriented architecture with an extensive use of open standards, allowing full compatibility with NATO and national systems, both military and civilian. Specifically the system must be interoperable with a federated mission network;
• Effective use of communications, covering also tactical levels. The system shall operate in a full IP (Internet Protocol) communication network that shall be able to integrate different transmission mechanisms (WAN (Wide Area Network) segments, SATCOM, etc.). The system shall be able to seamlessly use the available transmission mechanisms and adapt the information flows to their specific characteristics;
• The system shall be able to work simultaneously in different security domains and handle the information security requirements to properly control the information flows between these domains and the integrated external systems;
• Dynamic, scalable and resilient, capable of easily integrating all the actors and nodes for each mission;
• The system shall be able to be deployed over a fixed C2 centre, which will host the MPCC operators and in deployable centres. The system will be deployable over COTS IT (Commercial Off-The-Shelf Information Technologies) equipment and will be able to operate in virtualized environments in conjunction with specific security equipment, such as Information Exchange Gateways (IEGs), Firewalls, Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDSs and IPSs), etc. Specifically the feasibility of an architecture based on cloud concepts (either private or hybrid) must be analysed;
• The system shall be able to support the MPCC availability requirements providing an open, scalable, high availability and transparent failover architecture;
• Cybersecurity aspects must be taken into account along all project phases, from requirements capture to system design and implementation, in order to ensure adequate resilience, survivability and information protection;
• The system shall be adapted to the EU generated doctrine.

The architecture of the strategic C2 system shall take into consideration all necessary future elements, and in particular:

• Communication equipment and infrastructure, in order to be able to exchange information between the EU headquarter and the Member States’ C2 centres and information systems. This may require the use of dedicated terrestrial networks and satellite links, hub infrastructure and terminals;
• The infrastructure to setup a dedicated C2 centre, including facilities for operators, data centres, and all the associated equipment (operators’ equipment, voice / video communications, local communications, etc.);
• Deployable C2 centres, based on shelters and providing operator posts, a deployable data centre, communications and the required infrastructure;
• Architecture designed for security accreditation and cyber defence in order to prevent cyber attacks and to protect the information.

• Develop critical enablers for CSDP operations and missions;
• Reduce the minimum reaction time for deployment of European military missions;
• Integrate all CIS and ISR means provided by Member States, EU forces, NATO and civil agencies;
• Improve situational awareness, resilience and security of EU operations;
• Create a reference Strategic C2 System that will improve the capabilities of the European defence industry to develop and supply state-of-the-art C2 systems;
• Reinforce interoperability of Member States’ armed forces;
• Reduce the cost of European military missions.