Data: the golden thread of military defence | Computer Weekly
Summary
“Defence is rightly focussed on establishing intelligence systems that provide insights on threats and give advantage on the battlefield,” says Tim Smail, a digital expert at PA Consulting. “But there are other things, like the communications systems, or radar, where you can take a much more digital approach to development.” This offers the potential of shorter development lead times for new equipment, as well as better long-term value through in-service upgrades. “That has all sorts of challenges around protecting intellectual property and there might be commercially sensitive information in there.” This also applies to sub-contractors and the wider supply chain: a supplier might sell to other prime contractors or OEMs, and not want each customer to see those details. Building in instrumentation and telemetry is all well and good, but as James notes, military equipment, unlike civilian vehicles, needs to control its radio frequency (RF) signature and operate in “silent mode”. But addressing skills shortages is easier for defence suppliers, who can recruit from the open market, than it is for the forces themselves who need to develop data specialists on their existing enlisted personnel and officers.