Canada turns need into reality
Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Levesque, Programme Manager Integrated Soldier Systems
Project (ISSP) is responsible for delivering Canada’s Soldier Modernisation Programme
(SMP) for fielding from 2011-2018, building the system up from a very broad and deep understanding of requirements, garnered over more than a decade of research
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ISSP and related work focused on the dismounted soldier has
significantly contributed to operations in Afghanistan. © DoD |
Canada’s experience has emphasised the primacy of
establishing clear and well understood requirements
validated by thorough investigation and assessment.
The term ‘Why before What’ encapsulates this way of
thinking. This approach has been in response to the
false start of the Integrated Protective Clothing and
Equipment Technology Demonstrator (IPCE TD) in the
mid 1990s, an early attempt to go too quickly to a
system design, with unhappy results.
Lt. Col. Levesque said, “We realised that we had not been
rigorous enough in defining why we needed to give a
capability to a soldier in the context of mission success
and the individual soldier’s concerns with weight, volume
and power demands. Just because a certain technology is
available doesn’t mean the soldiers need it to do their job.
So, “Why give the soldier technology” became as
important for us as “What technology to give the soldier”.
The answers to ‘Why before What’ are now part of our
solution so that we can demonstrate to the soldier the
value of carrying the system, and are specifically related to
justification for the project to the Army as well as
supporting project user acceptance.”
Arguably, the most significant consequence of this
ethos is the absence of a weight goal in ISSP, Lt. Col.
Levesque explained that this is a deliberate omission from
the requirements. “In the end, you have to agree on what
that weight - which is from the body out and that includes
underwear - would be for. We say our burden of proof for
the project is that the soldier has to agree to carry the
weight. They have to agree that the system gives them
sufficient functionality because they will carry only what they
need.” That weight however, can be considerable. “When I
went through basic training, five magazines were all you
carried. Right now some contingents are carrying 15
magazines of ammunition. They are the ones who are being
shot at and if that is important to them, they’ll carry it. Of
course, weight is not unlimited but if it gives them the extra
functionality they want and need you have to go there.”
Current thinking puts the maximum theoretical all in
weight for the soldier at 30 percent of their body weight,
put at an average of 26.2Kg. This is however
acknowledged to be at variance with operational realities in
Afghanistan; where kit weighting over 37Kg is carried in
temperatures that reach over 40 degrees centigrade.
The ISSP has more in common with other SMPs than
those aspects which differentiate it. Lt. Col. Levesque cited
the example of the USMC’s MERS programme, “We and the
Marines are pretty much like peas in a pod and our
programme timings are in sync. We think the same way,
we operate the same way and do business the same way
and we are a lot closer in size to them than we are to the
US Army. There are over 500 agreements between our
two countries in defence co-operation across the Services,
so there is always something going on.”
SCHEDULE
Fielding for ISSP is due to begin in 2011, however, in the
work up to achieving Treasury Board approval, there has
been a nine-month slip in all the milestones, with Treasury
Board approval currently expected in June 2008.
ISSP will deliver its capabilities through a series of
three Cycles, each with a Definition and Implementation
phase, representing; Initial, Improved and Full capabilities.
During the initial Definition Phase, the Project will award a
contract to an overall Program Integrator through a
competitive process with pre-determined evaluation
released to Industry through the Government Electronic
Tendering System. EADS, Raytheon, Rheinmetall, Sagem,
GDLS and Thales have each expressed interest in ISSP.
The resulting contract will cover Cycle 1 including
systems integration, trade-off analysis, integrated logistic
support, and in service support. The resulting contract will
also include an option for definition and implementation of
an upgrade to Cycle 1. This option will be identified as
Cycle 2. A separate competitive process and contract for
Cycle 3, including integrated logistics support and in
service support will be released to Industry.
The Program Integrator will be responsible to design
and prototype an integrated Cycle 1 system based on an
unbiased assessment of the best available Commercial Off
the Shelf / Military Off The Shelf (COTS/MOTS)
technologies and components, and deliver prototypes for
user acceptance trials. Once the contractor has
successfully met the performance-based evaluation for the
Cycle 1 system, the Project will authorise production. The
subsequent Cycle 2 Definition and Implementation Cycles
will be identified as options in the initial contract and will be
linked to the successful completion of the previous
deliverable and successful user acceptance. A separate
competitive process and contract for Cycle 3 will be
released to Industry, with production again being linked to
the successful completion of the previous deliverable and
successful user acceptance.
PARALLEL RESEARCH WORK
In the run up to the commencement of ISSP, the
Department of National Defence (DND) has placed major
emphasis on a series of technology demonstration
programmes (TDPs) and research projects which have
directly supported the production of the Statement of
Operational Requirement for performance needs for ISSP.
Other materiel projects feed into ISSP from separate
programs, such as the Small Arms Replacement Project II
(SARP II), Sniper Systems and Future Combat Uniform, all
DND programmes of record. Lt. Col. Levesque said that
the ISSP will either be the baseline for these projects or
benefit from the work done to provide the capability,
depending on timelines.
ISSP and related work focused on the dismounted
soldier has significantly contributed to operations in
Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Levesque explained, “A specific example
was the R&D within the Soldier Information Requirements –
Technology Demonstration Program (SIREQ-TDP) sponsored
by the ISSP team. SIREQ demonstrated specific advantages
to providing a communications capability at the soldier level
within the section. Based on the research an Unforecasted
Operational Requirement was raised to push radios to that
theater and has been expanded over time.” This lead to the
acquisition of the Selex Communications Personal Role Radio,
since then, a data enabled version has been acquired for
deployment.
The recently completed SIREQ TDP demonstrated
capability enhancements in command execution, target
acquisition and situational awareness for the individual
Canadian dismounted soldier in 2010-2015. The Soldier’s
Integrated Headwear System (SIHS) TDP is tasked with
demonstrating the most promising headwear integration
concept by demonstrating novel concepts is due to be in
2008. The SIHS work is investigating far more than the
upper level of weight that is safe and appropriate for the
soldier’s head. “Research has shown that the all-up weight
isn’t as important as weight distribution on the head -
Centre of Gravity and Moment of Inertia,” Lt. Col. Levesque
explained. SIHS has focused on an integrated solution that
involves weight, balance, comfort and functionality across
the domains of five sub-systems aspects; head, hearing,
vision, respiratory and speech.
A proof-of-concept lightweight, low profile, fully
functional, protective day-use combat uniform with
protection against toxic hazards chemical and biological
exposure and is being examined with the ongoing
Chemical Biological Plus (CBPlus) TDP, which is due to be
completed in 2008.
The Advanced Soldier Adaptive Power (ASAP) TDP is
investigating a dynamic mixed power architecture.
Discussing power requirement for ISSP Lt. Col. Levesque
said, “The mixed power distribution architecture and the
requirement for dynamic power management is based on
our research - notably from the SIREQ TDP and ASAP TDP -
and our understanding of the lesson learned from other
NATO partners experiences with their fielded systems and
our experience in Afghanistan. It is our expectation that
individual devices will as appropriate have on-board back-up
power as well as connectivity to a distributed power
source so that a particular capability can still function in a
stand-alone mode when temporarily disconnected from the
power and data bus.”
Two new Technology Demonstration Programs have
also begun; The Advanced Modular Multi-Threat Protective
Headwear System (AMMPHS) TDP is examining novel
concepts for integrating enhanced blast and ballistic
protection technologies into a headwear system and the
Soldier Integrated Precision Effects System (SIPES) TDP, a
four year programme approved in March, will demonstrate
the viability, utility and usability of integrated novel small
arms related lethal and non-lethal technologies for future,
lightweight, small calibre weapon systems which address
current capability deficiencies.
Beyond ISSP is Soldier System 2020. This explained
Lt. Col. Levesque, “is essentially our placeholder, as much
as ISSP is Cycles 1,2, and 3 Soldier System 20202 is
Cycles 4,5and 6.” Work on this is currently being
undertaken within the Army doctrine community at this
stage. Lt. Col. Levesque continued. “At this point the
current generation of soldier systems technology hasn’t
taken hold in all armies. Armies will have to master that yet
before we can see what the next step is.” Suggestions of
what those capabilities might be were floated in the DND’s
recently published ‘Crisis in Zefra’, a doctrine novella,
describing potential of the future capabilities. These include
visual augmentation, one example being the projection
onto a soldier’s head mounted display of images from
sensors on board an IFV that would otherwise be obscured
from the soldier directly – in essence the soldier seeing
through the vehicle’s eyes.’ ■ |