Saab Systems (Stand W326) has developed a new software suite and integration platform that allows users to connect a wide variety of systems to a common network, without the need for expensive hard-coding and software integration. Known as WISE (widely integrated systems environment), the system has a number of applications but is particularly well-suited to military training involving differing platforms and services.

WISE was developed within the recently established Capability Development Centre at Järfalla in Stockholm, Sweden’s northern suburbs. The CDC was formed specifically to develop new technology for new concepts.

The new system can take information from a variety of disparate sources and integrate it so that all users can read and update that information as part of a single network. WISE differs from previous networks in that it can take information from many different platforms and applications, and integrate it into a common picture without the need for reconfiguring those platforms and applications. This is called infocentric integration, focusing only on the relevant information. It adds functionality to the platforms without affecting the applications themselves. In this way the system can easily integrate information from legacy systems with that from newer systems, while allowing future systems to be added to the network without the need for upgrading older platforms.

WISE uses individual drivers for each platform on the network. The drivers render the information from the platform down to objects and events. This data can be transformed into other protocols for dissemination to other platforms on the network via their drivers. In August the CDC ran a demonstration that linked six disparate systems, comprising a Gripen simulator in Sweden, a simulator in South Africa, a laptop-based terminal used by the Swedish fire service, a terminal of the TVT battlefield management system used by Swedish army vehicles, the StriC Swedish air defense network and a terminal in an air force rescue helicopter. All these networks vary in functionality and protocol yet, linked via WISE and its drivers, data information entered by one platform immediately appeared on the disparate displays of the other platforms.

This ability to effectively link systems across the divides of both distance and system protocols offers enormous benefits for training, especially across services and even nations. Training for multinational taskings, such as the Nordic Battle Group, can be undertaken easily without the need for expensive integration. The system also offers a full record and replay facility, again available across a wide range of platforms.

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