Base defence demonstration at Trident Juncture 2018 – TACT unmanned systems for base and force protection

Trident Juncture 2018 (TRJE18) was a high-profile military exercise held in Norway in the fall of 2018. The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) had a large demonstration venue close to Værnes airport together with NATO Allied Command Transformations (ACT). This report accounts for the base defence demonstration, which was a part of the venue. The demonstration was a Transformational Activity (TACT) under NATO ACT in the exercise. The demonstration showed a base defence concept using unmanned systems, where sensors and effectors were connected by a network to provide improved situational awareness and decrease the time from a threat is discovered to one is able to act upon or attack the threat. The purpose of including this activity in TRJE18 was twofold; primarily to demonstrate to key decision makers the potential of using cooperating unmanned systems for force and base protection, and secondarily to have soldiers using the system to gain insight into its benefits and potential improvements. FFI had its first base defence demonstration in 2016 and a second one in 2017. The TRJE18 demonstration was a continuation and was done in cooperation with many industrial partners. The demonstration was held at Sutterøya northwest of Værnes Airport. The scenario was that soldiers from the Norwegian Home Guard were tasked to protect the peninsula from incoming attacks from northwest. To their aid they had two Remote Weapon Stations (RWS), an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) with an RWS, an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV), a nano Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), different types of field sensors, a Battlefield Management System and a Soldier C2 System. The demonstration attracted many visitors, among them The North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the NATO Military Committee. The different technical subsystems had to be integrated into a common network. This was done through Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace’s Integrated Combat Solution (ICS). For this a network between the subsystems had to be established, which involved many radio systems. In addition all the subsystems had to be integrated with the ICS. Our base defence concept was successfully demonstrated for numerous high-ranking officials. Thus we achieved our main goal. The secondary goal, an evaluation of the operational value of the system, was only partially achieved due to time constraints.