The Design and Implementation of the Data Link System based on the Off-the-shelf Ultra Mobile Personal Computer for Network Centric Warfare(NCW)

Sim, Dong-Sub; Kim, Ki-Hyung

Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology 2009;12(2):175-181.

Dong-Sub Sim, Ki-Hyung Kim

¹Operational Computing Center of Air Force Operations Command
²Ajou University

네트워크중심전(NCW)을 위한 UMPC 기반 데이터 링크 시스템 설계 및 구축

심동섭, 김기형

¹공군작전전산소
²아주대학교

Abstract

All of the military aircrafts in Korea Air Force are administered and operated together in the same system regardless of whether they are equipped with the data communication capability or not. The absence of the data communication capability in some of the aircrafts might increase whole kill chain hour at the point of the Network Centric Warfare achievement. Network synergy effects cannot also be desired if the section which is not connected to the network influences to the whole tactical network. Equipping aircrafts with the data communication capability could be done by upgrading the aircrafts, but resulting in high costs and long updating time. This paper is a research about the design and implementation of the UMPC based Data Link System to aircrafts that do not have the data communication capability. The proposed system grafts the UHF-based wireless modem technology and the aircraft flight mission support software onto the off-the-shelf UMPC and GPS system. The employed UHF radio equipment allows communicating tactic data with another aircrafts on the air, the ground control point, and even the Tactical Air Control Party(TACP) control vehicle that achieve missions with aircrafts. It thereby increases such capabilities as navigation aid, situation awareness, quick target identification and attack. We also applied Closed Air Support(CAS) scenarios, which is very close to the real environment, to the experiments of the proposed system. The experimental results show that the proposed system could support the data communication capability effectively and the flight mission at low costs of money and time.

Key Words: Ultra Mobile Personal Computer(UMPC), Tactical Air Control Party(TACP), Air Support Operation Center(ASOC), Network Centric Warfare(NCW), Closed Air Support