§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department is taking to enhance the network-centric capability of the armed forces. [76863]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 28 October 2002]: As we stated in the Strategic Defence Review New Chapter, the key to delivering networked capabilities is the ability to collect, fuse and disseminate accurate, timely and relevant information to deliver improved situational awareness—a shared understanding of the battlespace among commanders at all levels. We are already committed to investment in a range of sensor capabilities such as Nimrod MRA4, ASTOR and RAPTOR and communications systems such as SKYNET 5, BOWMAN, FALCON and tactical Datalinks—part of the backbone of our network infrastructure. We are also investing in information processing applications that will enhance our capability to collate, analyse and control the distribution of information within the network. As part of the New Chapter we announced a number of early capability enhancements that will help improve situational awareness, for example, an extra Mission Console for the E3-D and advancing the WATCHKEEPER Surveillance UAV programme.