Effective command and control depends on an awareness of what is happening in the battlespace, based on the best available information presented in the most easily interpreted way.
As information is collated, analysed, related and linked, it can be used to form a picture of the battlespace. Such a picture, which can relate to a range of timescales, is the key element in providing situational awareness. More than a simple visual expression of geographical layout, the picture is an amalgam of all relevant information relating to past, current and future activity.
It includes an understanding of the environmental characteristics of the battlespace, knowledge of its other occupants together with their activities, likely intentions and relationships.
Currently, producing the real-time tactical picture in the maritime environment is essentially a manual process, involving the assessment of tracks from a number of different sources.
Identification may be established based on the operator's experience. Picture-compilers must be trained, their quality will vary and their product will always be subject to the vagaries of human input. |
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