Digital information has become an essential component for the engagement of a modern armed force, like ammunition, fuel, and support systems (artillery, engineering, air support, etc.). But as the need grew, and technology advanced, the sources of information multiplied, as did the number of access points to this information. In fact, today, it is impossible to access all the information actually available in a theater of operations, as the systems are complex and have not been designed to communicate with each other.
This will be precisely the role of Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node, or TITAN, an armored vehicle designed to receive, process and distribute all of this information in a formatted information system to combat units and headquarters. Concretely, the TITAN will have several missions:
- receive and store all information available regarding the theater of operation. This includes battlefield surveillance radars, electronic eavesdropping systems, information from deployed units, that acquired by surveillance drones and tactical drones, aerial systems (F35, SIGINT etc.), satellites military and civilians.
- Merge, prioritize, analyze and consolidate this information in a single format and interface for standardized, rapid and simplified access
- Distribute this information formatted on the information system of the future Battle Management Command and Communication, defining the standard for exchange and access to US Army information, and the format for exchanging data with other systems, whether national (US Navy, Air Force) or allied (NATO).
To cope with such a flow of information, the TITAN will have to be both scalable and scalar, so as to be able to integrate new information processing technologies, such as new sources of information which will be sure to arrive shortly, as well as equipment intended to increase the capacity for storage, processing and distribution of information. In this sense, the TITAN will be a key element of the Future Long-Range Precision Fire program, one of the main building blocks of the “Big 6” super-program, launched to ensure the technological and operational superiority of the US Army on the battlefield in the decades to come.
The fact remains that designing and manufacturing such an armored vehicle is far from simple, as there are so many problems. Firstly, it must have a very significant electrical production capacity, well beyond what a traditional armored vehicle can produce. Like the program intended to design an American high-energy laser anti-aircraft defense systemn, theuse of a turbine combined with high capacity batteries dedicated to this function alone appears to be a solution. But this solution takes up a lot of space, and consumes a lot of fuel to operate continuously. Likewise, in addition to protection against light ammunition and shrapnel, the TITAN must also be protected against electromagnetic radiation, and in particular against Electro-magnetic pulse weapons capable of damaging all electronic circuits within a radius of a few hundred meters. It will also have to ensure the cooling of the electronic systems and the cabin housing the operators, creating a significant release of heat around the vehicle, making it, therefore, a clearly visible target for all the adversary's infrared systems. Finally, and this will probably be the biggest challenge, it will be necessary to bring together all of these elements in an armored vehicle, by nature smaller than an aircraft or a combat ship.
Furthermore, like early air warning (Awacs) or intelligence aircraft and electronic eavesdropping (SIGINT), the TITANs are intended to become key pieces of the American system on the battlefield, and therefore privileged targets for the adversary, who will not fail to design equipment and tactics for them. eliminate from the first minutes of engagement. In fact, the US Army will need to have a significant number of these systems operating in load sharing and replication, so as to maintain the availability of the service even in the event of significant attrition.
The need addressed by the TITAN program exists in Europe as well as in the United States. We can therefore expect a similar program to appear, either within the framework of permanent structured European cooperation, or within the framework of Franco-German programs such as the Main Ground Combat System of new generation tanks, or the CIFS concerning artillery systems.