Human Systems Integration Report / In response to technological advances, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) emerged as a theory to leverage the technology available in todayâ s world. Advocates of NCW claim that technology will improve information sharing by â â µrobustly networking a forceâ , thereby improving mission effectiveness. This study proposes a methodology with which to test the first tenet of NCW: a robustly networked force improves information sharing. Lessons learned from Human Systems Integration (HSI) demonstrate that in order to improve mission effectiveness, characteristics of both the human and the technology must be considered. As such, the impact of human characteristics and traits on mission effectiveness, as measured by individual and team performance, are assessed using a computer simulation, C3Fire. Results at the individual level suggest that persons scoring high on extraversion and low on pessimism perform better than those scoring low on extraversion and high on pessimism. In contrast, at the team level, homogenous teams as measured by optimism-pessimism perform worse than diverse teams. Results of this thesis provide a methodology with which to examine NCWâ s claims in a laboratory setting. Preliminary evidence demonstrates the need to consider human characteristics and traits in the design and composition of network teams.

"This thesis will focus on the area of 802.20 wireless networking and how this technology will vastly benefit the US military forces, especially in the Network Centric concept of operations, where information flow is crucial. It will investigate this technology using published literature and previously gathered experimental data. This thesis will then relate its findings to Network Centric Warfare and the matters that could be most affected by this new technology." p. i.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Goshorn, Rachel E. Second Reader: Shebalin, Paul V. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 27, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Systems engineering, systems architecture, network-centric systems, network-centric warfare, NCW, network-centric operations, NCO, information sharing, information discovery. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-103). Also available in print.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / We discuss how aspects of telemetry can be effectively incorporated and modeled as a component within network-centric operations and warfare paradigms. Telemetry is particularly vital in Air Force Flight Test and Evaluation. As such, this paper has a specific emphasis and provides discussion within this domain. We also present how an existing framework for networkcentric operations and warfare can be particularly beneficial to telemetry modeling, and discuss the potential insights and utility within this context.

This thesis explores the possible gains and discusses the constraints of a communications system that uses a ship to unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) radio frequency (RF) link paired with a UAV to satellite free space optic (FSO) link to accomplish satellite communications. Analysis shows that a data rate of 2 gigabits per second (Gbps) with a 1 . 10 probability of bit error can be attained by a shipboard system with a relatively small antenna and power supply if an FSO-enabled UAV is used. An experiment demonstrated that the addition of an FSO link and additional routing does not reduce the performance of a slower data rate RF link. The findings indicate that a composite RF and FSO ship-UAV-satellite system can be used within the Transformational Communications Architecture (TCA) and with the Navy's FORCEnet to enable network-centric operations (NCO).

This thesis will examine the potential of the two competing designs for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), with regard to potential deployment of this vessel type by the Turkish Navy. The first design is by Lockheed Martin and has been designated the USS Freedom as the U.S. Navyâ s first LCS. The second design is by General Dynamics. This thesis will focus on the LCS usage concepts in Naval Capability Pillars and Information Operations. As a transformation platform, the LCS will be critical in implementing new operational concepts and in providing a focused, littoral mission platform for joint forces. Its superior speed and maneuverability; low radar, infrared, and acoustic signatures; and ability to lay distributed sensor fields are all fundamental to mission success. It will also carry a â squadronâ of unmanned vehicles (air, surface, and undersea) that will considerably extend its sensor and weapon coverage and provide substantial Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities. This thesis will also discuss present and future platforms and their concepts of operation in Turkish littoral waters (Aegean Sea, Black Sea, and Mediterranean Sea).

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / Network-centric warfare (NCW) has changed the way the Department of Defense addresses technological improvements for its military forces. No longer is the emphasis on enhancing the capabilities of a single platform, but the focus is now on networking people, processes and technology to enable knowledge sharing and rapid decision-making. The capabilities required to support network-centric operations (NCO) in the NCW environment must be supported by new, innovative networked communication technologies. There are many sources of requirements for these software systems supporting NCO, which may increase in number as the Services continue to develop the capabilities necessary for the transformation to a fully networked military force. Requirements may also emerge and continue to evolve following the fielding of a NCO capability because new technology has the potential to change how warfighters work. Requirements evolution results in requirements engineering challenges associated with the acquisition and development of network-centric software systems. As such, an approach is needed to provide for consistency in elicitation, management and documentation of evolving requirements for technological capabilities supporting NCO. The purpose of this research is to address the problem of evolving requirements. The requirements engineering framework proposed by this thesis incorporates classification theory and requirements modeling principles, and is supported by the Extensible Markup Language (XML) family of technologies. Particular attention has been paid to the selection of non-proprietary, platform independent technology to ensure data can be exchanged between organizations. The framework demonstrates a means by which requirements can be classified and structured in a standardized format. The result is a set of requirements that is consistent in structure and content, and that can be easily shared among all stakeholders because it utilizes one standard, non-proprietary format. This approach captures evolving software requirements of fielded network-centric software systems for use in the development of future systems. / US Navy (USN) author.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The United States Navy and its joint partners continually seek to maintain a responsive, agile, and effective fighting force well suited to combat present-day threats to national security. As a result, U.S. forces are currently undergoing force transformation to adopt an organizational structure capable of supporting this mission. This new organizational structure is known as Network-Centric Warfare. The purpose of this research is to analyze any performance metrics, measures of effectiveness, or analytical methods used by existing organizations engaged in network-centric operations that would assist the Navy and joint forces along with its transformation process. This research will be done in the form of a literature review, examining existing material written on communication, economic/business, and social/organizational networks. In addition to identifying quantitative and qualitative metrics, an emphasis will be placed on the methodologies used for network assessment. Final sections relate findings from each resource to Network-Centric Warfare and address matters relevant to the future of force transformation. / Ensign, United States Navy

The nature of warfare has changed dramatically during the last decade. Western armies are increasingly required to conduct complex operations in urban terrain against asymmetric threats. These opponents use cities and their inhabitants for cover and concealment. In such situations, modern equipped armies often cannot fully utilize many of their most powerful weapons. To overcome this situation, modern communication systems are being acquired and deployed to provide real-time reconnaissance; thereby, attempting to neutralize the threat through enhanced situational awareness. This research addresses the potential impacts of communication from airborne sensors on assisting a convoy in finding its way through a hostile city quarter (based on Mazar-E-Sharif, Afghanistan) in which militia forces try to interdict them via street blockades and ambushes. The implementation is done in the agent-based simulation Map Aware Non-Uniform Automata (MANA). The results show that the current MANA version is not sufficiently capable to handle routing problems in urban terrain. Specifically, the movement algorithm is â locally greedyâ and not flexible enough to project into the futureâ as real human decision makers do. Many workarounds were developed to mitigate this limitation. The analysis shows that the number of blockades is the single most important factor in determining the convoyâ s success. Of the communication factors, network latency has the most impact. For the convoy to effectively use the information, it needs to get from the sensor to the convoy in 11 seconds.

Situation (al) awareness (SA) is critical to analyze, predict and perform tasks effectively in a dynamic environment. Many studies on SA have ignored network dynamism and its effect on SA, focusing on simple environments. Many studies involving the network and SA have refrained from attempting to model information space dynamism (i.e. dynamic scenarios which may have more than one probable outcome). Few studies have identified the need for a flexible, robust and overarching framework which could model both the network and information space dynamisms and provide for analysis of different types of networks (heterogeneous/homogeneous) at multiple scales. We utilize the NCOPP (Network Centric Operations Performance & Prediction), a uniform framework with "plug-&-play" capabilities to provide analysis and performance prediction of networked information systems. In this work, we demonstrate the flexibility of the NCOPP framework and its ability to model a hierarchical sensor system satisfactorily. We model the network & information space dynamisms using probability and statistics theory (e.g. Bayesian prediction, probability distribution curves). We model the behavior of entities/nodes involved in the process of sharing information to achieve greatly improved situation awareness about a dynamic environment within hierarchical information network systems. Our behavior model mathematically represents how successful/unsuccessful predictions critically impact the achievement of effective situation awareness. In the behavior model, we tie together the cost of considering predictions which accounts for limited resources and the indirect effect of unsuccessful predictions. We research and show how the NCOPP framework can model real world networked information systems at different levels of granularity. We leverage the framework's capabilities to perform experiments that not only assist in an objective comparison of distributed information filtering and central data processing paradigms but also provide important insights into the effect of network dynamism on the quality and completeness of information in the system. We demonstrate the ability of incorporating key network information, in the process of achieving SA to improve the performance of the system. We exhibit the improvement in performance achieved with inclusion of the network characteristics during dynamic allocation of resources. We were able to show that simple hierarchical filtering (via distributed processing) results in significant reduction in the information in regards to "false alarms" when compared to systems employing central information processing. Experimental results show a direct positive impact in the completeness of SA when information sharing in hierarchical systems is supplemented by network delay information. Overall, we demonstrated the ability of the NCOPP framework to provide meaningful insights into the interactions of key factors involved in operation of networked information systems, with a particular emphasis on SA. / Master of Science