ABU DHABI // Arabian Gulf countries must improve their sharing of information, technology and expertise among their military forces, according to the UAE Space Agency director.
Dr Mohammed Alahbabi said many countries, including the UAE, were turning to C4ISR – or Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems.
Without this integrated approach, experts said, shortcomings in the military theatres of operations were bound to occur.
“This concept is emerging,” Dr Alahbabi said on Monday at the opening of the C4ISR Summit in Abu Dhabi. “And this is where C4ISR works as a DNA for that concept.
“It is a reality. Military power was based on the number of soldiers 300 years ago, then on the number of platforms such as tanks, aircraft and vehicles in the past century. But nowadays, it is a network-centric warfare that includes all of these, but the core is the network.”
In the recent Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen, experts say that was not always the case.
“The coalition has to share together and I think that has worked pretty well,” said Col Ralph Thiele, former director special projects for the German air force.
“They are fantastically trained and the equipment is excellent but what is missing is evaluation of data that are there, and to make them actionable. This is something the coalition has learnt and they have gross potential.”
Col Thiele said an established process was needed to make sure that available information was evaluated and reached the decision maker. “Otherwise, you come too late or you miss the target,” he said. “This would be a pity so it is militarily advisable to move forward.”
The UAE recognised the need for change, Dr Alahbabi said.
“This emerging concept of the future battle space has four pillars: people, organisations, processes and technology,” he said. “It has to go together. You cannot buy it from the shelf, apart from the technologies.”
But there were many challenges facing this new concept of fighting wars, Dr Alahbabi said.
“For countries to utilise or realise this concept, they have to work on changing the culture and people’s minds,” he said. “It’s a mindset and a top-down approach that you have to convince the upper layer for transformation.
“I do believe in this concept and the sooner the transformation the better.”
Dr Linton Wells, managing partner at Wells Analytics and a former US principal deputy assistant secretary of defence, said the rate of technology change also had to be taken into account.
“The technology is never enough and too many people think that transformation is mainly an issue of technology,” he said. “In a year and a half, there will be twice as much capability in all devices, including smartphones, so you cannot base your expectations on linear projections.
“It is not enough to integrate it in your national system, we are operating in international coalitions so you have to work with other systems beyond your network.”
Space is an important element to the equation, Dr Alahbabi said.
“We know space has been identified as the fourth domain of power,” he said.
“It provides great advantages to fighters in communications, remote sensing and navigation.”
With the UAE’s investments in space ranked as the largest in the region, the country has the ability to provide services to the region.
“The emerging concept of fighting wars is the future, whether we like it or not. We have to do our homework,” Dr Alahbabi said.
“The UAE is working as a model for the region and it is committed in space. It will provide space capability to the region.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
