The Marine Corps has a new mobile command and control operations center designed
to allow commanders to digitally collect, process and disseminate tactical data.
General Dynamics Decision Systems says it will deliver 355 unit operation centers
to the Marine Corps by 2010. The company was awarded the contract in April 2002.
One of the first of 15 UOC systems will be used for production-readiness testing
by the 6th Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where Marines also will evaluate
how it solves command and control issues identified during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“Battlefield commanders will have the power to decide and the certainty
to act, using information on digital smart boards rather than paper maps,”
said Brig. Gen. William Catto, head of the Marine Corps Systems Command. “UOC
will re-host current Marine Corps mission application software, interface to
current Marine Corps communication equipment and represent a much smaller footprint
over the size, weight and flexibility of our current operation centers,”
he said in a statement.
The UOC deploys within 40 minutes, General Dynamics says. It includes a network
or workstations supporting standard tactical data systems and other mission-critical
software and has large screen displays. The UOC integrates non-secure and secret
voice and data communications, voice-over-Internet protocol and networked servers.
Tents, trailers, radios, power generation and other tactical hardware also are
incorporated.