Research Of Some Issues In C～4ISR For Network Centric Warfare

With the development of high technology at the beginning of 21 century, the battlefield of warfare was characterized by the high nonlinearity and uncertainty in the local Joint Operation System. The Combat System changed from the platform-centric warfare to the Network-Centric Warfare (NCW), which connected the widely dispersive and various military strength to an information network by C4ISR system, i.e. the system of Command, Control, Communication, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. As a result, the battle effectiveness was greatly incerased. In light of the Joint Operation Theory, Network-Centric Warfare, C4ISR System and the System Engineering, the relationship among the combat mission, weapon network, information network and the command&control network in C4ISR for NCW were studied in this article based on the research of C4ISR System Modeling from different points of view, which included the mission scheduling, information assignment, decision clusters and complex system design.The OODA model, M-OODA model and CECA model of the platform-centric warfare were analyzed and the concept framework of Network-Centric Warfare was studied, and the Information Superiority Reference Model for NCW was presented. As a result, the recognitive model of C4ISR system for NCW in Joint Operation was established, which included the constructive framework of sensor network, weapon network and the command&control network in C4ISR information network coupled with the combat environment. All these above constitute the solid foundation for modeling and analysis of the C4ISR system.In Network-Centric Warfare, all the platform's weapons were connected into a weapon network by C4ISR, which was different from the Platform-Centric Warfare. Based on the analysis of combat mission space, weapon network and the survey of typical mission scheduling, the Mission Scheduling of weapon network in C4ISR was proposed. Through the optimum configuration of Platform-Task and Platform-Platform cooperation, the"networked force"was realized in the weapon network. The research provided a reference result for Mission Scheduling in C4ISR for NCW. Network-Centric Warfare was essentially an information network, which was composed of the sensor network, weapon network and the communication network through the C4ISR's connection. To fulfill a mission, the C4ISR system would collect and handle a large amount of information. Given the limited processing capacity of the sensors, and the limited handling, command&control and operating ability of the system, the information assignment must be optimized. Based on the analysis of information flow, the model of platform's information flow, the constrains, the loss&gain of information network and the information assignment were proposed. The model optimized the information assignment throughout the combat process to get the maximized network gain.In the large-scale Joint Operation, C4ISR system's command and control network was composed of many platforms with ability of decision. If all the information was handled by just one of them, the decision capability of the platform would be exceeded, and the information would possiblly be lagged and lost, and the uncertainty of the information may increase as time gose by, which may even lead to fatal mistakes. Based on the analysis of Decision Clusters in a network and the different styles of combat, the Decision Cluster model in C4ISR for NCW was proposed. The model optimized the division of Decision Clusters, the decision-maker in one of which could handle the relative and local information to supply high-quality and sufficient information-sharing so as to decrease the decision delay and invalidation caused by"information overload".Network-Centric Warfare was essentially a complex network through C4ISR connections, which greatly increased the battle effectiveness. Based on a survey of the complex network, the complexity of C4ISR network system was reaserched. Based on the WS complex network model, an optimalized design model for the complex network of C4ISR system for NCW was proposed, which provided a new method for designing the C4ISR network connection.The research in this article would pave the way for the future study, while discovering some new areas of research in NCW.