Work includes development of the NEXUS Data Platform and RAVEN Virtual Communications Node which according to the RCO, enable intelligence to be drawn from a variety of sources including space, ISR aircraft, ships or land-based systems and “processed to provide a combined intelligence picture of hitherto unrivalled detail in near real time”. A demonstration has already been conducted on board an RAF Voyager aircraft with information “seamlessly delivered for land, sea and air from a vehicle, backpack, ship or aircraft”. The demonstration sought to show how the system worked in the most demanding environments, proving that if it is feasible to configure a new Information Advantage system at 25,000ft. The RCO hand-carried its deployable systems on board and connected into the new Satellite communications feed, demonstrating a real-time Common Operational Picture, within just a few minutes. Industry partners Airbus and AirTanker jointly invested in upgrading the Satellite Communications System on a Voyager, enabling the aircraft to act as an airborne communications node whilst concurrently operating its air-to-air refuelling tasks. “This modification, which includes upgraded satellite communications, has been fully certified and remains on the aircraft, available for future operational use when required”. The RCO Air Information Experimentation Laboratory continues to work with partners from across defence to support Multi-Domain Integration trials and experimentation,” official RCO documents continued. On 2 February 2023, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) published its own Cloud Strategic Roadmap for Defence policy paper which explained how the organisation seeks to “coordinate and accelerate the most ambitious plans for hyperscale Cloud adoption across defence”. According to Charlie Forte, MoD, Chief Information Officer, Digital Functional Lead, the strategic paper identifies data as a “…strategic asset, that enables us to move faster than our adversaries”. Defence will have the unsurpassed ability to consume, aggregate, analyse and exploit data at orders of magnitude more than ever before, it will be fit for our future of integrated global warfighting across all domains. “Cloud is the key enabler for the realisation of the Digital Backbone and Data Strategy for defence. Establishing the right Cloud platforms will drastically improve the quality of the user experience both within the enterprise and at the tactical edge, accelerating the exploitation of data and providing more sophisticated ways of delivering our defence products,” the paper added. In the age of information, digital applications continue to proliferate throughout the defence sector as armed forces seek to securely handle and exploit exponential increases in data to maximise operational success. Digital solutions capable of supporting a wide range of defence applications include Cloud Computing which is in the early stages of being applied across an extensive range of use cases and future operating concepts. At the Future Forces Forum in Prague on 18 October 2022, NATO’s Secretary General, Emerging Securities Challenges Division, James Appathurai highlighted Cloud Computing as one of the top 12 ‘emerging and disruptive technologies’ being considered by the Alliance today. Describing how disruptive technologies were not emerging but had ‘emerged’ thanks in part to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Appathurai specifically mentioned Microsoft’s Cloud Data Hosting capability which is capable of collating and storing publicly available information regarding aircraft and shipping movements around the World. His sentiments were further echoed at the NATO Cyber Defence Pledge Conference in Italy on 10 November by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who described close cooperation in this space with partner nations including Ukraine. “We also work closely with private companies, which have played a key role in defending Ukrainian cyberspace. Starlink satellites enable secure communications and internet access. Microsoft and Amazon were able to upload Ukraine’s government ministries to the Cloud just as its servers were being targeted by Russian shelling.” As a result, many NATO nations are launching or updating Cloud strategies which according to Stoltenberg, illustrates how seriously members of the alliance are taking Cloud Computing. Examples include the ‘Italian Cloud Strategy’ (published in September 2021) and one of the most recent – the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Cloud Strategic Roadmap for Defence policy paper – which was published on 2 February 2023. At the Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference in London in July 2022, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force highlighted how ‘Combat Cloud’ solutions could help create a real-time Common Operating Picture for air platforms to greatly enhance the situational awareness and decision-making of pilots and air crew. Efforts are being pursued by the RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) Air Information Experimentation (aix) team which is already demonstrating “new technologies which offer a step-change in near real time, secure, information distribution”. Andrew White is an experienced defence reporter, having completed multiple tours of duty in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan with the British Army. He is a regular contributor to MilTech. Andrew White Cloud computing for defence applications Perspectives and experiments Computer Generated Image of the proposed Team Tempest Future Combat Air System concept. Tempest is planned to be able to fly unmanned and use swarming technology to control drones. It will incorporate artificial intelligence deep learning and possess directed-energy weapons. (Photo: UK MoD) Emerging Technologies MT 2/2023 · 51
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