$189m plan to help UAE forces track units digitally

Dubai - The process marks a significant improvement over past "analog" practices at command posts

The UAE has awarded a $189-million contract to American defence technology giant Harris to provide an integrated battlefield management system that will allow commanders to track units and process information in real-time.
According to Christopher Tucker, vice-president of International Business Development for Harris and a former Brigadier General in the US Army, the Emirates Land Tactical System (ELTS) is designed to enhance the capabilities of Emirati military commanders while carrying out operations.
"It will help them move from an analog to a digitised command and control capability," he said. "It will improve the commander's situational awareness by integrating information from operations, intelligence, and logistics, so that he can improve the decision-making time that he has with his units and also help integrate staff, planning and orders functions."
Giving specific examples, Tucker said the system will provide the commander's tactical command post with the ability to simultaneously monitor the locations of the units, as well as their current operating capabilities. The ELTS is focused at the brigade level and below, so that information and orders can cascade down to smaller battalions, companies and platoons within the organisation.
The process marks a significant improvement over past "analog" practices at command posts, Tucker noted.
"Situation reports would come into the command post, somebody records that information and posts it either on a map or some type of display," he said.
"Now we have the ability to digitise that on a screen so that the commander can bring up different pictures of the battlefield and have near real-time information."
The contract includes the systems themselves and their integration into the armed forces.
According to Tucker, the deal stems from the fact that Harris and the UAE military identified an area in which the military could improve its control structure.
"They (the UAE) identified a requirement to move their land forces to a digitised process," he said. "We and our other competitors each developed a solution that we thought would meet those requirements. Through the talent of our engineers and our program team, we were able to win the contract."
Tucker said that he still sees ample room for growth in the Middle East, given its often complicated defence requirements.
"This region has been an environment of instability for many years. It's a very dynamic environment and we believe that there will be an ongoing demand for defence and security solutions in the region," he said. "We'll be working with our partners to identify ways we can help solve those."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
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• Dubai