Live tasking / command and control (C2) of ISR unmanned underwater gliders from remote operational sites

This paper presents the challenges the tasking / Command and Control (C2) of live Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned underwater gliders (UUGs) from remote operational sites present to final users. Challenges such as UUG mission collection requirements provided by final users and mission submission to UUGs operating in remote sites are approached. Solutions are proposed for these challenges. A web interface created in the GliderC2 scientific/experimental facility available at NATO STO CMRE (Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation) was created to approach these challenges. The web interface and proposed approach for mission submission to a UUG of a given fleet of UUGs was tested in two different sites: the experimental campaign Nordic Recognized Environmental Picture 2017 (NREP17) in the South of Iceland, where the UUGs were deployed, and the NATO Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise 2017 (CWIX17) in Poland, where the final users were able to provide the mission requirements, generate the UUG tasking and submit it for execution. Results demonstrate how these challenges were approached and solved. Illustrations of mission executions in other NATO and National C4ISR capabilities are provided, demonstrating the high level of interoperability reached by the GliderC2 in the Joint ISR process TCPED (Tasking, Collection, Dissemination, Exploitation and Dissemination). Ideas for further work are provided at the end of this paper, stimulating the continuation of this work.