Israeli solution within a European Defense organization: battle management support
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
Reconnaissance vehicles of one of the most advanced and well equipped defense organizations in Europe are fitted with ruggedized computers which make up part of a battle management support system. Personnel manning the vehicles can at any moment receive from the onboard systems encrypted, accurate, credible on the spot info concerning the deployment of parallel units or foes, navigation assistance, tasks and logistics or battle missions, as well as issue reports or video feeds back to HQ, and all this – using the system.
Relaying the required info as part of battle management or maneuver management from a control center or from a command and control center to thousands of dedicated vehicles fitted with the ruggedized computer system must be highly credible, disturbance-free, continuous and well protected, even against adverse infiltration to the comm network and any attempts to intercept the sensitive data running through it or to disrupt it.
One of the key elements of a digital deployed tactical data array is the control mechanism which runs the entire traffic, especially the IP-based traffic, between each and every reconnaissance vehicle and HQ, the command and control center, as well as between the vehicles themselves, as a matter of dependence in the deployment formation and definition (including organizational) of the military buildup.
When it comes to military vehicles which carry a great deal of equipment (weaponry as well as logistic), complete with the ruggedized computers, reducing the weight, the volume and the power consumption, as well as distributing the heat is critical for the operation of the crew and the success of the mission. This is where the Israeli mind gets to work, armed with military and technological practice.
Experts from Spider had been asked to provide an engineering solution, based on their vast experience in integrating systems, which comprised of refurbishing an existing system per client specifications as well as developing an innovative communications control complete with pure IP comm, dynamic client network routing and solution to BIT (Built In Tests) in order to enable system SLA. Spider’s solution included testing the programming based on specifications and contacting other manufacturers, setting up the configuration, lab tests, consulting and advising.
Unmanned systems conference 2014 – Israel
As a natural part of the process, Spider proposed an effective virtual solution by Juniper to provide the comm and routing function between the system’s various interfaces. The solution is software-based, thereby saving on valuable space, weight and energy and avoiding further cooling/heat dispersal issues, eliminating further electro-magnetic radiation and so on.
The solution was presented as a prototype of over ten systems and passed the client’s initial feasibility tests.
Additional advantages of the virtualization of the specific solution, beyond the savings on space, weight and energy, are the improved ability to carry out remote system maintenance, all the more so because many of them are designated as critical and operational, complete with remote troubleshooting, software upgrades and update statistics on routine performance and the efficacy of the ruggedized computers, deployed over vast areas.
Spider, which was established in 2000 and is owned by AMT (which is traded on the TASE), has many clients, among them financial institutions, some of Israel’s leading corporations, government ministries, broadcasters, food companies, energy infrastructure companies, medical organizations, and others, whose critical data infrastructures are controlled, managed and secured by Spider experts using dedicated data security practices.
The application of these unique comm solutions in the operational vehicles of this undisclosed European defense organization, also includes a reference to data security aspects. The intensive interface of “Spider Solutions” with relevant companies in this field, among which is CheckPoint, that consists of cooperations which mature to Beta testing in Israel and worldwide, have upgrade the solution for this project as well.
In the near future, the company is planning to establish “Spider Communication”, a fully owned subsidiary. This, according to Rafi Kokotek, Spider founder and CEO.
The company will focus on providing communication solutions to data centers, accelerating communications, overload balancing, comm systems survivability and security.
An additional activity Spider is planning is the promising field of cyber forensics (admissible evidence in cyber-crime court cases – D.L., iHLS Newsdesk).
