Boeing Vigilare system completes site acceptance testing

[buglerbilly]

April 04, 2011

Boeing today announced that the company's Vigilare network centric command and control system (NC3S) developed for the Commonwealth of Australia has completed site acceptance testing at the Eastern Regional Operations Centre (EROC) at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Williamtown.

During the site acceptance testing conducted March 7-18, Boeing demonstrated that EROC is successfully interfacing with all external systems and that Vigilare has the full range of system functionality to provide enhanced battlespace management and surveillance operations for the RAAF.

Boeing and the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation's Vigilare Project Office recently received an Australian Defence Magazine Judges' Choice Award for their collaboration and commitment as they deliver Vigilare to the RAAF.

"EROC is the last piece of the puzzle for Vigilare. Once it joins the Northern Regional Operations Centre (NROC) in operations, the RAAF will have a truly complete and comprehensive operational picture of the skies above Australia and surrounding areas," said Lee Davis, Vigilare project manager, Boeing Defence Australia.

EROC's final test is an operational test taking place from March 28 to April 8. Operational testing prepares EROC for conditional acceptance, which is the last milestone before final system acceptance from the Commonwealth of Australia. NROC, located at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, has been operational since Sept. 2.

"The Judge's Choice Award is especially gratifying as we prepare to complete delivery of this complex project to Australia," said Mike Scott, general manager of Boeing Defence Australia's Network & Space Systems division. "We're enormously proud to be recognized for excellence in collaboration with the Defence Materiel Organisation and our supplier partners."

Vigilare, the RAAF's ground-based air defense system, consists of two operations centers, NROC and EROC, which are equipped with operator consoles and equipment to form a recognized wide area surveillance picture that is distributed to national command and control centers.

NC3S is Boeing Defence Australia's international Vigilare product. It combines information in near real-time from a wide range of platforms, sensors, tactical data links and intelligence networks to deliver tactical and strategic surveillance operations and battlespace management in the air and joint domains. The live inputs from these sources present a unified operational picture to the operator at single or multiple operational centers.

Source: Boeing

[buglerbilly]

Boeing Vigilare system completes operational testing in Australia

April 27, 2011

The Boeing Vigilare network centric command and control system has passed its last formal operational test. Testing took place at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Williamtown's Eastern Region Operations Centre (EROC) from March 28 to April 8.

The testing established that EROC is ready for operations as it demonstrated Vigilare's full range of functionality in preparation for conditional acceptance this month, the last milestone before final system acceptance by the Commonwealth of Australia.

Vigilare's second week of operational testing was incorporated into Exercise Aces South, a key combat exercise for pilots and air defense operators studying to become advanced fighter tactics instructors and controllers.

"Exercise Aces South provided an excellent opportunity to put the newly installed Vigilare system at EROC through its paces. We threw our best and brightest people into the exercise, and they worked the new system extremely hard through some complex and intense air battle scenarios," said Wing Commander Richard Pizzuto, Officer Temporary Commanding RAAF No. 41 Wing. "I've been impressed with how the Vigilare system performed and with the increased functionality it delivers. It's an exciting new capability for Air Force, and one which sets us up well for the future."

Vigilare combines information in near real-time from a wide range of platforms, sensors, tactical data links and intelligence networks to deliver tactical and strategic surveillance operations and battlespace management in the air and joint domains. The live inputs from these sources present a unified operational picture to the user at single or multiple operational centers.

"Vigilare demonstrated a new level of network centric capability for the RAAF by networking a broad range of RAAF assets into the battlespace through EROC," said Lee Davis, Vigilare project manager, Boeing Defence Australia. "RAAF operators' situational awareness was enhanced by their ability to connect to Vigilare's advanced surveillance and tactical management capabilities."

Platforms participating in the exercise included F/A-18 Classic Hornets, F/A-18F Super Hornets, Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, Hawks, a 707 Tanker and a P-3 Orion.

Vigilare consists of two regional operations centers: EROC and the Northern Regional Operations Centre, which has been operational since September 2010 and is located at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory.

Boeing Defence Australia's Network & Space Systems division provides a range of command and control, managed network communications, engineering services and cyber and information solutions, including Australia's Modernised High Frequency Communications System and Vigilare.

Source: Boeing