Combat Systems Engineering is all about working quickly and skillfully to help soldiers navigate while on combat missions.
These missions could include just about anything such as constructing bridges, clearing barriers with explosives, and detecting and avoiding mines and other environmental hazards.
Combat Systems Engineering is also about providing expertise and coming up with quick and creative engineering solutions, constructing fighting positions, fixed and floating bridges, and obstacles and defense positions.
A combat system must merge, fuse, and deconflict many sources of track data to produce a single usable track picture for decision-making. This includes all local sensors as well as track data from tactical data links such as Link 16/11 and measurement and track data from sensor networks such as the CEC.
The principal challenge is the diversity of the data received and the need to make one unit’s track management process interoperable with multiple units’ track management processes. For example, each source will generally have a different way of characterizing the accuracy of the kinematic track data, and some sources may provide incomplete characterizations.
Similar diversity exists in the characterization of target identity and type. Different units designed in different time frames and with different missions will have different rules and algorithms for supporting the creation of a common track numbering and identification system.
Additionally, the networks may deliver data with different time delays, biases and data dropouts. The process by which all these sources are reconciled into a single usable track picture is generally called track management.
Combat Systems Engineers can be thought of as basically specially trained infantry with the primary tasks of mobility (removing/bridging obstacles) and counter-mobility.
Of the four combat arms, the Combat Systems Engineers must do the most training. They must be capable of mine laying, minefield breaching, bridge building (many types and classes) route denial, demolitions, weapons training, vehicle (tracked and wheeled) operation and maintenance, road building (graders, dozers, backhoes, etc.) and a multitude of other skills.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Combat Systems Engineering Training Bootcamp, a 5-day course that focuses on the application of systems engineering and system architecture to the design and construction of modern combat systems and their integration with each other.
The course introduces participants to the application of systems engineering, system of systems engineering (SoSE), ConOps, system analysis, requirements, architecture to the design and implementation of modern combat systems.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.