Bold Quest 07 Begins to Test Coalition Combat ID

US Department of Defense, NORFOLK, Va.: Bold Quest 07 (BQ 07), a technology assessment aimed at improving combat identification technology and reducing friendly fire incidents, begins Friday and runs through Sept. 19 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. 
 
U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) will team with multinational partners and all four U.S. military services to test Coalition Combat Identification Technology (CCID) in an advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD). The Air Force will be the lead service for BQ 07. 
 
John Miller, USJFCOM's operational manager for the CCID ACTD, said BQ 07 will focus on improving the combat effectiveness of shooters at the point of engagement and minimizing the risk of fratricide. 
 
Miller said that BQ 07 will test a variety of target identification technologies. Some focus on directly identifying what is in the warfighter's sights, especially aircraft; others will focus on enhancing situational awareness. 
 
He said instead of focusing on a single target, situational awareness technologies will provide a unit leader with an overall picture of the battlefield. 
 
“Rather than focusing on a particular object or individual, and determining whether that is a friendly or enemy, situational awareness provides a general understanding of the environment,” said Miller. “Think of a display, for example, in a vehicle, where a unit leader is looking at a display that has icons representing where his own forces are, as well as icons representing the enemy.” 
 
Miller said reducing fratricide between coalition partners will be a major focus of BQ 07. The assessment will allow the multinational participants to evaluate how well their systems work together at sharing information. 
 
Air Force Col. Lou Durkac, Air Combat Command's lead for BQ 07, said the problem of CCID integration isn't limited to multinational systems. He said the individual services are sometimes limited in their ability to see each other – a problem that BQ 07 will also address. 
 
“A Marine aircraft can see Marine ground forces but it can't necessarily see Army ground units,” said Durkac. “So now we're trying to take all of those ground forces positions and feed the relevant ones up to the aircraft before they release their weapons, so that they have the most situational awareness on where the friendlies are on the ground.” 
 
Miller said that while BQ 07 will focus on the tools required by aircrew and ground controllers to coordinate, ground-to-ground combat identification systems will be tested and assessed both in the multinational and U.S.-only arenas. 
 
“The Canadians, for example, are absolutely looking at some ground-to-ground applications, so is the U.S. Army, so is the Marine Corps,” said Miller. “They differ in their specifics but the event does provide an opportunity for those nations and services to pursue ground-to-ground initiatives.” 
 
Miller said BQ 07 will be more than an assessment of CCID technology. It will also be a way of getting the technology to the warfighter faster. 
 
“We're trying to accelerate mature technologies that might be on a path towards fielding. If the results warrant, it could accelerate that and put them in the hands of warfighters sooner than they might otherwise be received,” said Miller. “There is no point in doing this if we're not trying to move those things along the line faster than they ordinarily might be.”