ATCCIS Background 

  NATO operations require deployed forces to form part of combined and joint coalition formations.  Earlier operations focused on general war requirements.  Recently NATO forces are increasingly employed in Crisis Response Operations. Both such operations require all participating national units to operate in cooperation with each other.  To operate effectively force commanders require a common view of the operational area that is both timely and accurate, and supporting command and control (C2) systems need to pass information within and across national and language boundaries.  Moreover, C2 information must be provided to the strategic levels of command including national organisations.  Additionally, NATO forces must interact with non-NATO nations, non-governmental bodies, and international and national aid organisations.

  The Military Committee approved MC 245 on 18 June 1976 , and the North Atlantic Council later noted this on 6 August 1976 (PO/76/87).  MC 245 was a statement of the military requirement for interoperability between automated data systems.  This visionary statement remains valid today.  It led to the start of the ATCCIS programme in 1980.

  In September 1979, the former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), initiated an effort to determine the feasibility of developing a common Army Tactical Command and Control INformation System (ATCCIS) for deployment in the NATO Central Region in the post-1995 time frame. This initiative had its origin in the requirements specified in the Long Term Defence Programme (LTDP) Task Force 6, which was formed in 1977 to develop long term programmes in the C3 area.

  The objective was (and remained) to see if interoperability can be obtained at reduced cost and developed according to technical standards agreed by Nations and prescribed by NATO.  The aim given to the programme was to identify the minimum set of specifications, to be included within C2 systems, to allow interoperability between national C2 systems.  The programme has gone through the stages of: operational analysis, technical concepts, proof of concept, transition to operational use, demonstration, and maturing of the specification.  The ATCCIS programme is not a formal NATO programme.  Rather it is a voluntary and independent activity by the participating nations and is sponsored by SHAPE.  The nations and HQs that are active in the ATCCIS programme are: Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North Europe (RHQ AFNORTH) and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).

Purpose

   The ATCCIS specification is a managed interface between C2 information systems.

   When incorporated into a system it enables interoperability of information between any other system that also incorporates the specification.  

   Battlespace data is transferred as information.  The meaning and context of the information is preserved across national and system boundaries precisely and without any ambiguity.

   The information exchange requirements, upon which ATCCIS is founded, encompass the spectrum of Joint and Combined Land Operations.  

   Thus ATCCIS meets the requirements of the Land Component Commander of Allied Joint and Combined Operations (including Article 5 and Crisis Response Operations). 

   Systems may be wholly different from each other and need not necessarily conform to any hardware or software standard. 

   Typically systems will be acquired through national or NATO acquisition programmes and their architecture will conform to the national or NATO policy prevailing at the time.

   The effort required to go from an innovative idea that was capable of demonstration to one that was ready for universal industrial use was considerable.

ATCCIS Phases

The ATCCIS work has been conducted in programmed 'Phases', each with a specific aim:

  Phase I (1980-1983) was an initial 'Feasibility Study' into the ATCCIS concept.

  Phase II (1985-1990) identified the military and technical concepts required to achieve C2 interoperability by the automatic exchange of data.

  Phase III (1992-1997) was the 'proof of concept' phase.  Phase III concluded with a successful demonstration of multinational C2 interoperability between national prototypes for ATCCIS-compliant systems.  Interoperability by controlled, automatic data exchange, free of the need for common hardware, software, operating system, or database management system (DBMS) was demonstrated.

  Phase IV (1997-1999) concentrated on the refinement of the specifications and transition to operational use.  CA, DA, FR, IT, GE, NL, NO, PO , SP, UK , and US were participants in the supporting programme of work.  Phase IV included a Command Post Exercise involving nine national ATCCIS-compliant systems.  Results from the Command Post Exercise concluded that ATCCIS was a workable solution for C2 interoperability that was achievable using the ATCCIS specifications.

  Phase V (2000-2002), known as 'ATCCIS 2000', had the aim of completing and maturing the ATCCIS specifications, suitable for building fieldable systems.  The programme concentrated on extending the ATCCIS specifications to support 'combined joint task forces' and 'crisis response operations'.  Further, the work included developing the necessary procedures to adopt and maintain all ATCCIS components as NATO standards.

Figures

The estimations point out that:

   ATCCIS has been working for 22 years.

   The average of people attending to the ATCCIS meetings has been of 60.

   The meetings usually last for a fortnight.

   There were 9 meetings in Phase I, 58 in Phase II, 54 in Phase III, 19 in Phase IV and 8 in Phase V, making a grand total of 148 meetings.

   The investment could be calculated in 15 million $.

   ATCCIS has gone through one proof of concept demonstration in Phase III, one Command Post Exercise in Phase IV.  

ATCCIS Phases...

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Remarks

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Future

   The ATCCIS programme merged with the Multilateral Interoperability Programme (MIP) in early 2002.  The ATCCIS ethos was passed to the enlarged MIP and MIP has taken the responsibility of keeping and further developing the ATCCIS specifications.