Center has key role in Integral Fire 2007

  • Published
  • By Capt. Larry van der Oord
  • Global Cyberspace Integration Center Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) --  When Exercise Integral Fire 2007 kicks off July 23 here and at 14 other sites across the country, the Global Cyberspace Integration Center will provide the necessary command and control systems and expertise to link the various simulations being tested.

Integral Fire 07, an Air Force integrated collaborative environment, or AF-ICE, event is a distributed test and development event involving all military services and U.S. Joint Forces Command. It connects 15 sites over the Defense Research and Experimentation Network to create an environment within which various systems can be tested and developed.

The event is administered by the Simulation and Analysis Facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and the support provided by the GCIC will coordinate actions and create an operationally realistic background for the different tactical systems to function during the exercise.

"Participating in Integral Fire 07 expands our ability to use distributed operations to accelerate the testing and acquisition of new weapons systems," said Mike Keefe, GCIC Integral Fire project manager.

Focusing on fielding new and improved command and control capabilities and fixing issues with current systems is one of the major aims of Integral Fire 07, said Mr. Keefe.

"Weaponry which is improved and more accurate will decrease the risk on the battlefield and improve inter-service operations," he said.

Several of the systems being evaluated during Integral Fire 07 include a GCIC engineering test and demonstration of tactical data link integration at the Air and Space Operation Center level, a USJFCOM analysis of joint close-air support, and U.S. Army non-line-of-sight precision attack munitions tests.

"Distributed operations and net-centric warfare are the way of the future," said Mr. Keefe. "The GCIC is currently using these capabilities as part of Integral Fire 07 to meet the advanced needs of the warfighter."

Integral Fire 07 is the latest in a series of tests the GCIC has conducted using distributed networks. During each instance, more sites have participated and more high-fidelity simulations have been able to link up. This increased capability has resulted in the gathering of more data and a reduction in time and money required for testing.

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