Satellites and military space sensors often operate as a glaring, ever-present “electric eye” zooming in on earth to look for heat signatures coming from launching enemy rockets and ICBMs, force maneuvers and fast-changing tactical circumstances unfolding amid heavy fire and hostile aircraft approaching sensitive command centers and vital targets in need of Protection.
Yet, how can human decision makers somehow discern, organize and process crucial, time-sensitive operational data at the “speed of relevance?”
This predicament, of sorts, is fast-becoming more and more pressing as technologies evolve, and is exacerbated by how new streams of information flow increasingly accelerates both the speed of transmission and the sheer volume of incoming sensor data. This challenge relates to matters of the most crucial military significance, such as the speed with which an Air Force Space Based Infrared system can process the data associated with a mission event. Not only do event signatures need to be found, but they also must be distinguished from seemingly similar signals, processed and placed within a broader mission context to the maximum degree Possible.
The dynamics with this, which of course pertain to the speed and precision with which human decision makers can optimize a response, represent the inspirational foundation upon which the Air Force is now architecting its Overhead Persistent Infrared enterprise and moving quickly with rapid prototyping efforts intended to streamline the technical development process.
The challenge of organizing, distilling yet also networking, pooling or aggregating seemingly vast or limitless volumes of information is also providing the inspiration for a Raytheon Intelligence & Space innovation called Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) Mission Data Processing Application Framework.
The Raytheon system helps architect the technical apparatus to gather, store, safeguard and network OPIR related sensor information. It involves synchronizing fixed ground terminals with other nodes such as air and space assets; it also leverages cloud technology. In effect, when Spaced-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) sensors detect the key indicators of an important mission event, the data is then pooled, organized, analyzed and made available to key decision Makers.
“What we are building on a much bigger scale is the hardware and the software that enables mission applications to come in and use satellite data and bring it into a framework,” Karen Casey, FORGE Chief Engineer, Raytheon, told Warrior in an interview.
