----------------------------------------------------------------
           The Navy Public Affairs Library (NAVPALIB)
   A service of the Navy Office of Information, Washington DC
     Send feedback/questions to navpalib@opnav-emh.navy.mil
----------------------------------------------------------------
COPERNICUS ... FORWARD                                 June 1995
C4I FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

FOREWORD

In the 1980s companies like Apple and IBM revolutionized industry
by introducing the first desktop personal computers and the
Information Age was born.  The Navy recognized the potential of
using information as a warfighting tool and in 1990, published
Copernicus.  Copernicus is the Navy's initiative to make command,
control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems
responsive to the warfighter; to field these systems quickly; to
capitalize on advances in technology; and to shape our doctrine
to reflect these changes.

We must recognize that success on many past battlefields has come
from innovative ways of combining available new technologies, and
not solely from technological advances, per se.  History is full
of examples where outnumbered forces were victorious because they
controlled critical information.  Many times both sides had the
same tools or technology available, but one was able to achieve
an advantage through innovation. 

We are in the midst of a time of significant change that is no
less revolutionary than the advent of steam propulsion, carrier
aviation or nuclear submarines.  The Revolution in Military
Affairs has moved information and the requirement for information
dominance in the joint battlespace to center stage in our
thinking about modern warfare.  One important element of this
revolution is Information Warfare (IW) -- a powerful capability
that will have profound implications in the ways Naval forces
influence, deter and, if necessary, fight wars.  The Naval
services will, correspondingly, have a prominent role in IW. 
Forward presence requires the Naval services to aggressively
approach IW from the perspective of both an engaged and enabling
force.  Unlike the other Services, the Navy must imbed IW
capabilities in the fleet and be capable of conducting IW from
the time we leave CONUS to the end of an extended deployment. 
It has been five years since the Navy published Copernicus.  As
the role of C4I in the Information Age progressed, Copernicus
evolved.  We now understand the benefits of having a systematic
way to use information to influence future military operations. 
We have come to grips with the fact that we have crossed the
threshold into the Information Age.  In a time when one of the
most important enablers for the Naval expeditionary forces is
information, tactics flow in large part from characteristics of
our information processing capability.  We can only gain an
advantage over our opponents if we are the first to implement
offensive and defensive information tactics into our warfighting
arsenal.

Because our forward posture allows the Navy to be in position
when crises develop, we can use IW to slow and influence the
enemy's decision making cycle, to prepare the battlespace before
the start of open hostilities, and to dictate the battle on our
terms.  Information-based warfare, employing advanced IW with its
rapid, reliable and secure communications, permits integration of
battlefield information and increases effects from offensive
firepower and maneuvers of our dispersed units.

Information-based warfare allows our forces to exploit new
weapons technology to increase the speed of battle.  Impeding the
enemy's ability to communicate, attacking command and control
(C2) nodes, and shutting down enemy sensors will give us the
upper hand on the battlefield.  Likewise, information-based
warfare will give the U.S. the operational flexibility to
allocate forces and fires in real time, and to defeat enemy
forces at the time of our choosing.  In the battlefield of the
future, decisive victory will depend on having a comprehensive,
global C2 system.  This comprehensive analytical approach to IW
which combines strategy, tactics, and doctrine fully prepares the
Navy/Marine Corps team to meet the challenges of the 21st
century.  Implementing IW will be one our biggest challenges in
the near future.

To realize this future vision, all C4I systems must be built
under a JCS unified strategy.  Copernicus provides this focus for
the Navy and Marine Corps.  Our approach demands implementing
state-of-the-art technology with highly trained operators. 
Copernicus although not in its final form, is fielded and
operational.  It is a robust and dynamic architecture based on
the Navy and Marine Corps' vast experience over the past 30 years
digitizing the battlefield and providing global C4I in support of
the National Military Strategy. We have to be able to adapt
quickly to changing technology to fight and win wars in the
Information Age.  It is clear that information has become a major
factor in warfare and will grow in importance in the next
century.  I challenge you all to join me as we redefine how wars
are fought and won!

Admiral J. M. Boorda, USN
Chief of Naval Operations


COPERNICUS

1990: The Beginning

During the early 1980s, the introduction of the desktop personal
computer and advances in telecommunications sparked the
Information Age and forever changed the way nations conduct
business and warfare.  Late in the decade, the collapse of the
former Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War resulting in a
shift in our national priorities.  This shift, however, was not a
move away from military leadership or capability.  Instead, it
was a move toward capturing the forces of change, especially
information dominance and technological advancements, to move
into the 21st century.  Struck by the strategic implications of
information dominance in boardrooms and on the battlefield, the
Navy, in a white paper, defined Copernicus.  
In 1992, the Navy and Marine Corps made another bold move by
publishing "...From the Sea." Copernicus and "...From the Sea"
reflect a shift from maritime, open ocean warfighting to joint
operations in the littoral. ("...From the Sea", Sept. 1992)

Copernicus, designed as a user-centered command, control,
communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) information
management architecture, provided a blueprint for capturing
technological change.  Copernicus answered critical naval C4I
problems and articulated the true essence of modern command and
control (C2).  It laid the foundation, through its pillars, for
joint and allied operations. 


Copernicus...Forward
The Evolution

When Copernicus debuted it was revolutionary.  Its planners
recognized the technological limitations challenging Copernicus
and selected a building block approach to accommodate innovation. 
By focusing on fielding systems that provide access to essential
data, Copernicus allows the decision making process to migrate
from upper echelons down to the tactical commander, or the
shooter, realizing a goal of Copernicus -- a true
sensor-to-shooter environment.

Five years later, one of Copernicus' enduring characteristics is
its evolutionary nature.  Fielded advances in data processing and
storage media technologies permit the operational commander at
sea and in the field to process, store and manipulate greater
amounts of information more efficiently, improving both the view
of the battlespace and the decision making process.

Today's Naval forces perform an increasing number of non-combat
and contingency operations as part of United Nations or coalition
forces.  These operations highlight the need to respond quickly
to diverse threats that are not easy to predict or identify. 
Additionally, these operations emphasize the continuing need for
Copernicus as the best means of moving from stovepipe systems to
joint operations capability and systems interoperability.
In this document, we reaffirm the Copernicus foundation,
summarize its original vision, discuss Copernicus today and
describe the vision for CopernicusO evolution into the 21st
century.


COPERNICUS' FOUNDATION

There are five essential elements of Copernicus that provide
architectural oversight to leverage the C4I infrastructure
effectively and enhance the C4I operational perspective.  These
elements:

-    Seamlessly blend, through common applications in one
workstation, critical tactical, operational and administrative
data to the warfighter, thus allowing tactical objectives to
drive operations.

-    Assimilate required information rapidly through standardized
data formats, permitting operational commanders and users to
"pull" desired information to accomplish tasks.  A two-way
intelligent "push" capability supplements user-pull when required
and prevents information overload.

-    Provide information using integrated data formats in a
multimedia environment where form fits function (i.e., voice,
video, imagery, and tactical data at high speeds).

-    Provide a common operating environment (COE) that
standardizes workstations for the operator.  Workstation and user
interface standardization permits greater operator proficiency
while reducing training requirements.  

-    Use common building blocks for modular and standardized
hardware design, which permit upgrades and additions to the
architecture in an expeditious, cost-effective manner.
Copernicus supports the warfighter at all levels:

-    The watchstander, by employing high-tech computer
workstations and common interfaces.

-    The shore commanders, by developing multimedia connectivity
and establishing rapidly configurable shore networks that link
commanders to all echelons, across all Services, to all allies
(whether temporary or enduring) across the full spectrum of
warfare.

-    The Composite Warfare Commander (CWC), by employing a series
of tactical information networks that change in number and nature
to suit the CWCs doctrinal decisions and allow commanders to
customize their C2 needs.

-    The Commander Joint Task Force (CJTF), by employing networks
that must be flexible to permit commanders to customize their C2,
especially during joint and allied operations.  


The Pillars of Copernicus

Copernicus, an interactive framework of pillars, links the C2
processes of the warfighter at all echelons of command. 
 
The pillars of Copernicus include:

-    Global Information Exchange System (GLOBIXS) support the
joint and allied tactical commanders by providing access to all
required information from any location through a series of wide
area Defense Communications System (DCS) networks. 

-    The CINC Command Complex (CCC) serves as the primary gateway
for communications and information flow from GLOBIXS to forward
deployed warfighters via Tactical Data Information Exchange
System (TADIXS).  The CCC performs C2, correlation and fusion
functions.  A CINC decision making capability, with a focus on
rules of engagement and operational intent is included. 
Battlespace decisions are made by the tactical commanders and
shooters.

-    Tactical Data Information Exchange System are the tactical
networks connecting the CCCs with the Tactical Command Centers
(TCCs).  These tactical networks fall into four general
categories:  Command, Direct Targeting, Force Operations and
Support.  TADIXS provide enhanced digital communications links to
the shootersO combat systems from the Copernicus infrastructure,
enabling user-pull functionality and enough computer power and
bandwidth to receive and process tactical information. 
 
-    The Tactical Command Center disseminates information to the
warfighter.  The TCC can be any forward deployed command center,
ashore or afloat, mobile or fixed, and includes tactical centers
for individual units.  The TCC is the gateway for information
flow between TADIXS and the shooter and weapons using Tactical
Data Information Links (TADILs).


Copernicus Pillar Evolution

As Copernicus evolved, a new pillar emergedĄthe Battlecube
Information Exchange System (BCIXS).  The original pillars flowed
and filtered information to and from the TCC for use in the
battlespace.  The Copernicus battlespace is defined as the entire
military and political infrastructure that spans the range of the
pillars to the TCC.  The BCIXS extends the architecture to
include the battlecube, the area in which shooters and weapons
reside.  The battlecube is a conceptual, multi-dimensional area
that includes subsurface, surface, air and space as the
environment for conducting warfare.

-    BCIXS represents the battlecube in which tactical forces
operate.  BCIXS boundaries are fluid and defined by the dynamics
of the battle.  Shooters operating in the battlecube form the
operational nodes in the BCIXS.  Shooters are equipped with C4I
tools that allow them to receive and process information from the
Copernicus architecture.


Essential Functions of C4I

Copernicus provides the following four essential C4I functions:

-    Common Tactical Picture (CTP)
-    Connectivity 
-    Sensor-to-Shooter
-    Information Warfare (IW).

Common Tactical Picture is all information spanning the spectrum
from the sensor to the shooter that allows tactical commanders to
understand the battlespace.  CTP consists of surveillance,
intelligence, identification, environmental and positioning
inputs and tactical decision aids.  Key factors in the CTP
include timeliness, coverage, sensor revisit rates, accuracy and
completeness.  All users then share the same scaleable picture
and can extract the pieces relevant to their specific needs and
tactical situation. 
 
Reducing fratricide during hostilities is an objective of
national policy.  This depends on a near-perfect tactical picture
with common grid (locational) references on all platforms.  The
Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) established the
General Officer Steering Committee Combat Identification
(G'sC-CI) and the Joint Combat Identification Office (JCIDO) to
address these issues.

Connectivity: Connectivity links nodes throughout Copernicus to
implement the sensor-to-shooter construct.  Rapid and reliable
connectivity is the cornerstone of all C4I provided by GLOBIXS,
TADIXS and BCIXS.  Connectivity is critical to the CTP because it
provides the managed bandwidth for timely transmission of
imagery, video, voice and data.  Connectivity is critical to DII
users in peace, crisis, conflict, humanitarian support and war. 
It is the widely-distributed, user-driven infrastructure composed
of the information assets owned by the Services into which the
warfighter can gain access from any location, for all required
information. 
 
Defense Information System Network (DISN) is the information
superhighway of the DII and is the primary connectivity for
GLOBIXS.  DISN consolidates voice, video, data, imagery and
record traffic stovepipes into the global, joint C4I grid. 
Implementation of the Integrated Tactical Strategic Data
Networking (ITSDN) structure within the DISN will enable
horizontal and vertical cross-connection of the global grid. 
DISN will also be the transport medium for TADIXS and BCIXS shore
networks.  The worldwide shore-based communications
infrastructure will continue to play a vital role in supporting
the Copernican and DII architectures.  

Continuing expansion of available bandwidth to the warfighter
will be a hallmark of Copernicus in the 21st century. 
Exploitation of fiber optic wavelength multiplexing techniques,
direct satellite broadcast and wideband transmission systems will
sustain the Copernican evolution and result in increased
precision, lethality and survivability of the warfighter.  In
addition, these technological advances will allow other quality
of life enhancements for personnel including tele-medicine,
tele-training, tele-education or something as simple as a phone
call home from remote sites.

Sensor-to-Shooter focuses on the process of putting a weapon on
target.  This includes surveillance and reconnaissance,
acquisition and localization, combat identification, targeting,
engagement and guidance, and battle damage assessment.  
Historically, systems were developed to engage a specific threat
with little regard for the interrelationship with other systems
or supporting infrastructure.  Stovepipe systems made it
difficult for platforms to share information in a timely manner
causing inefficiencies, especially in joint and allied
operations.  The sensor-to-shooter construct integrates all
systems in the weapon procurement and employment process.         
                
Information Warfare/Command and Control Warfare (C2W) is any
action to exploit, manipulate or destroy an adversary's
information and/or information systems while leveraging and
defending friendly information and information systems to achieve
information dominance.  IW can be employed before and during
hostilities and is fought in the information battlespace.

IW:
-    Permeates strategic, operational and tactical levels,
-    Encompasses political, economic, physical and military
infrastructures,
-    Expands the spectrum of warfare from competition to
conflict,
-    Redefines traditional military and national security
concepts, and
-    Spans the spectrum from peace through warfighting.
C2W, the military implementation of IW, is the integrated use of
operations security, military deception, psychological
operations, electronic warfare and physical destruction to deny
information to, influence, degrade or destroy an adversary's C2
capabilities, while protecting friendly C2 capabilities against
such actions.



IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Trends

Information will continue to be a critical driver of warfare,
changing the fundamental way warfare is conducted.  The same
technological advancements that have provided business users
greater computing power in smaller packages at lower cost have
improved decision making within the battlespace.  Technology has
profound effects in the battlespace:
-    Decreased time from identification to engagement,
-    Improved precision and rates of fire cause dispersion of all
forces,
-    Enhanced digitization and integration of battlecube
information increases effects from fire and maneuver of dispersed
units,
-    Improved situational awareness, and
-    Better campaign assessment tools to evaluate courses of
action.

Warfare is changing because of enhanced battlecube effectiveness. 
Massing of troops is giving way to massing of firepower.  


Warfighting Challenges

Even though technology enhances battlecube effectiveness, there
will always be challenges to overcome.  For example, during
battle there is a tendency of each Service to resort to its
individual operating rhythm.  C2 systems must integrate and
synchronize the operations of forces to optimize individual
Service's strengths and synergize capabilities.  Other cultural
differences which distinguish our armed Services such as
organization and doctrine must continue to be modified to
accommodate technological advancements and to improve battlecube
effectiveness.  Intelligence gathering in the battlecube must be
wholly integrated to realize the system's full potential. 
Finally, there must be adequate communications capability to
ensure effective C2.


Information Technology Challenges

Besides the warfighting challenges that exist, there are
information technology challenges too.  For example: 

-    The acquisition cycle is slower than the pace of technology
expansion.  The Copernicus building block approach has allowed
the Navy/Marine Corps team to insert advanced technology during
system upgrades; however, the acquisition cycle still cannot keep
pace with the speed of advancing technology.  Standardizing
interfaces and replacing military standards with commercial
standards are positive steps toward obtaining needed bandwidth
and greater price performance of computing capability.  Other
steps can and are being taken to capitalize on technology in the
areas of software development and the application of modeling and
simulation (M&S).

-    The Services must correctly define requirements early in the
acquisition process.  Affordable software requires reduction of
costly error correction in later stages of software development. 
Using software engineering tools and techniques, systems can be
modeled and tested for compatibility and interoperability before
the engineering process begins.  M&S and code development, using
formal methods, can be an effective means of reducing errors,
accelerating the acquisition process and reducing costs.

-    As information requirements increase, not only must
bandwidth in the electromagnetic spectrum be managed, but data
transmission techniques must be developed to minimize or optimize
the amount of data to be transmitted.  This must be accomplished
without degrading the quality of information in that data.
Techniques which can be employed include demand assigned multiple
access (DAMA) and time division multiple access.

-    C4I systems can now inundate the warfighter with data but
must transition to providing information and knowledge of the
battlecube.

-    As our warfighting capability migrates from weapons and
platforms to the information systems that drive warfare, our
susceptibility to IW is increased.  

-    To maximize its timeliness and effectiveness, information
dissemination in the battlecube requires a more direct
organizational structure.  The focus must shift from
sensor-to-command to sensor-to-shooter.  With mission objectives
and rules of engagement established, warfighters and shooters
will perform their missions and commanders will command by
negation.


Flowing Information Forward: Building Sensor-to-Shooter

The original Copernicus pillars have also evolved to support the
shift to "Forward...From The Sea" and "Operational Maneuver From
The Sea."  In "Forward...From The Sea," there was a recognition
that the most important role for Naval forces, short of war, is
to be engaged in forward areas, preventing conflicts and
controlling crises. ("Forward.. from the Sea", 1994)  The
Copernicus evolution reflects the need for the C4I infrastructure
to support the architecture, down to the shooter and the weapon. 
Deployed forward, Naval C4I gives the joint commander C2 on
arrival.

Copernicus supports worldwide C4I coverage to the shooter.  Fixed
and mobile elements now provide the shooter the same information
previously available only to decision makers in command centers. 

Conceptually, platforms are linked by moving information around
the information spectrum.  The information spectrum consists of
three integrated grids.

-    Surveillance Grid: A capabilities grid blanketing the
battlespace instead of a series of single sensors.  This grid
consists of national, theater and platform sensors that the
warfighter can access directly or through GLOBIXS and TADIXS.

-    Communications Grid: An overlaying wide area network of
pathways that use multiplexing and digital technology to move
data and information into and around the battlespace.  Copernican
connectivity facilitates the movement of information among
operators and analysts.

-    Tactical Grid: A tactical network of communications links
that ties together all units of a force regardless of the
platform or component.  This grid connects the Combat Direction
Systems (CDSs) among unitsO TCCs to provide fire-control grade
information across the battlecube to the shooters.  The BCIXS can
"plug" and "play" to access C4I information directly by using
TADILs tied to higher echelon TCCs and the tactical grid itself.



COPERNICUS EVOLVING

Strategy to Match the Change - "Forward... From The Sea"

The Navy and Marine Corps team's focus in "Forward...From The
Sea" moves operations into the littoral and is consistent with
the Navy and Marine Corps' traditional forward presence role. 
Operating in the "blue water" environment, a battle group
commander could identify threats and have time to react in a
battlespace diameter that spanned 3000 nm.  Threat cueing and
advanced warning could occur long before engaging hostile forces. 
The time advantage is lost for forces operating in littoral areas
which might span a radius of less than 100 nm.  Transitioning to
littoral operations required a fundamental shift in how we think
about C4I from operations at sea, to mobile versus fixed units. 
Proliferation of cruise missiles, mines and even more common
devices such as cellular phones provide potentially hostile
forces with capabilities that demand an inordinate amount of
attention and could delay friendly operations.

  
C4I/CDS Integration

Reduced reaction times, combined with increasingly capable threat
weapons, makes full C4I/CDS integration a critical objective of
Copernicus.  Fewer nodes and integration of C4I/CDS accelerates
the decision making process and assists the joint warfighter in
achieving information dominance over the enemy.  Copernicus is
accomplishing this integration by prescribing the interfaces
between C4I systems and the CDS, empowering platforms to react
immediately to threats.  These interfaces depend on common
standards and protocols so that systems in the architecture can
transfer data.

The first major step in fielding Copernicus was implementing the
Joint Maritime Command Information Strategy (JMCIS).  The JMCIS
architecture links C2 systems into functional categories and
creates an environment for Services to field interoperable
systems with common user interfaces.  Already, JMCIS migrated
several stovepipe systems into one workstation to produce a CTP. 
More Navy and Marine Corps C4I systems will continue to migrate
into the JMCIS architecture as Copernicus evolves.  JMCIS forms a
kernel of the Global Command and Control System (GCCS).
GCCS supports an open system environment for automated
information processing at all warfighting levels of the
Department of Defense (DOD).  The GCCS, in a departure from
traditional developmental programs, promotes a rapid migration
strategy that cost-effectively and continuously builds on
changing technology and user information needs.  A major DOD
integration initiative is the selection of those migration
systems that will ultimately lead to the creation of standard DOD
systems. 

 

COPERNICUS AND THE WARFIGHTER

Organization and Doctrine

For the warfighter to benefit from improved information
availability and processing power, the Services must streamline
their command structures.  Joint doctrine must be developed to
ensure technology and investment are captured for the warfighter. 
Evolving to a sensor-to-shooter construct, information management
systems must correlate and fuse data and automatically update the
CTP.  Rules of engagement and operational intent combined with
real-time sensor information will guide warfighters in executing
their missions.  Rapid information exchange enables decisions at
lower command levels where timeliness is paramount.  Direct
access to information allows shooters to engage targets of
opportunity more rapidly.


Decision Process

The C2 decision making process has four phases:  Observe, Orient,
Decide, and Act -- the OODA loop.  The OODA loop drives decision
implementation within the battlespace.  Sensors observe reality. 
Processors and displays supply decision makers with the means to
visualize and orient themselves to the scenario.  Perceptions
lead to the commandersO intentions and allow decision makers to
decide on a course of action.  Following the decision comes the
execution, or the act.  The benefits of technology allow
simultaneous C2 decision making processes, empowering the
warfighter with faster, better and more direct access to the
decision making process.


Command and Control

Decision makers can be given all available situational
information; still, understanding the total scenario involves
knowing why hostile forces are acting.  When opposing forces
engage, the battle progresses at a pace set by each combatant's
actions.  C2 becomes difficult at best.  Under such conditions,
commanders must rely on training, doctrine and knowledge of the
enemy.  Knowledge goes beyond just situational awareness and
includes the enemy's motives and doctrine.  It is important that
C2 systems have the capability to transcend situational awareness
and free the commander for higher understanding tasks.  Actions,
visualization, collection and correlation drive the C2 engine
toward understanding.  Ascending the cognitive hierarchy will
allow decision makers to create strategy, plan missions and
rehearse based on an understanding of how the enemy is thinking.


Real-Time Mission Planning

When commanders conduct operations with a streamlined command
structure and improved C2, there are mission planning
implications.  Mission planning maximizes the enhanced
capabilities provided by advanced technologies.  Increased
intelligence in the mission planning process provides the
mechanism for the sensor-to-shooter construct to build a mission
planning capability into the launch platform, and even into
weapons.  Real-time mission planning allows weapon in-flight
reprogramming, updating and terminal homing based on sensor
inputs. 

Real-time mission planning is enhanced by M&S, which provides
tactical commanders planning option alternatives based on
scenario variables and produces rapid answers to "what-if"
questions.  Eliciting and storing details of mission plans is
especially useful in the battlecube when the shooter is relying
on the system to provide executable plans for targets of
opportunity. 


Information Spectrum

An objective of Copernicus is to provide worldwide, seamless
communications by integrating the surveillance, communications
and tactical grid systems within the Information Spectrum.  These
capabilities will provide worldwide commanders the operational
coverage needed to perform their missions.  Interoperability will
be fully realized when the surveillance, communications and
tactical grids seamlessly transfer information on a user-pull
basis across boundaries.

Currently, each Service uses components of the Information
Spectrum to obtain data; however, due to insufficient or
non-interoperable communications links, the data is still not
transferred seamlessly.  The Navy is in the process of
eliminating stovepipe systems and implementing Copernicus using
COTS/GOTS technology.  

Interoperability lowers the relative cost of information by
maximizing a system's ability to reach more users.  The grid
concept maximizes friendly force use of the Information Spectrum
in the battlecube.  If mission planners can conceive a grid for
Joint forces, they can also conceive analogous hostile grids and
devise methods to counter them.


IW/C2W to Preserve National Security

The revolution in military affairs moved the requirement for
information dominance to center stage in modern warfare.  Our
growing reliance on information systems and the global
information network results in emergent national security
requirements.  The Naval services must meet the challenge of
these new requirements by supremacy in IW.

IW is rapidly becoming a primary tool to discourage and deter
potential adversaries.  By leveraging information technologies,
we can shape opponents' information to confuse or convince them
that we will win if conflict is initiated.  IW seeks to avoid
hostilities or gain an information advantage before shots are
fired, missiles are launched or Marines are landed. 
 
Should deterrence fail, IW can be implemented at the operational
and tactical levels through C2W to disrupt the adversaries'
decision making process.  C2W attacks the various phases of the
opponents' decision cycle which slows their decision making,
generates confusion, magnifies uncertainty and results in their
inability to take effective action.  Conversely, we must protect
our decision making processes to maintain the tactical advantage.
C2W provides an efficient, potentially non-lethal capability to
neutralize an adversary's warfighting capability through a
measured response.  Naval forces deployed in a OpresenceO role
will be optimally positioned to conduct C2W.


The Joint/Allied Perspective

Future wars will be fought with joint, allied and coalition
forces.  Alliances will have the potential to produce a powerful
synergy of forces and capabilities.  However, individual
strengths can easily be offset if the interfaces among forces are
not transparent to the commanders and warfighters.  Technology
infusion, standards and protocols, concepts of operations, a
flexible architecture and a common command structure are required
to bring diverse forces together.  "The joint force is the source
for service capabilities not the result of individual service
capabilities coming together." ("C4I FOr the Warrior", 12 June
1993)

"C4I For The Warrior" is the conceptual roadmap for achieving
global joint C4I interoperability that will allow any warfighter
to perform any mission, any time, any place and is responsive,
reliable, secure and affordable.  In "C4I For The Warrior,"
information exchange must incorporate interoperable technologies
to fuse and automatically update information for joint users to
"pull" when required.  The command hierarchy must be flattened
for the warfighter to benefit from the revolution in technology
and information availability.  Information flow to the warfighter
must be as direct as possible, with command being exercised by
negation to accelerate the decision and action processes.
Each Service has its own strategy for achieving global, joint C4I
interoperability:

-    Navy/Marine Corps - Copernicus
-    Army - Enterprise
-    Air Force - Horizon

"Enterprise" takes a "holistic, process-oriented view of C4I
systems development, weapon and weapon support systems
development requirements definition, systems acquisition, systems
integration, systems improvement, systems employment, and
sustainment across the tactical, sustaining base, and strategic
operations." ("Enterprise")
 
"Horizon" provides the warfighter with responsive, advanced C4I
services.  It is a charge for leading the Air Force into an era
of technological innovation and better satisfying the warrior's
requirements.  "Horizon" charts the course to orient Air Force
thinking toward providing warfighters with C4I support in an
expeditionary environment and to seek advantages in the coming
age of information warfare. (Lt.Gen. Carl O'Berry, "Horizon")

The Navy/Marine Corps team enthusiastically embraces these
architectures.  Together with each Service, we will fulfill the
Joint Chief of Staff's "C4I For The Warrior" vision.  Each
Service can maximize their operational specialties by working
together to achieve battlespace dominance.  "C4I For The Warrior"
requires interoperable systems that can move information among
mobile units.  Mobile units that characterize the battlecube will
share information across the information grids, using space as
the common information transfer medium.  The Services will fight
synergistically, seamlessly transmitting critical information to
become fully integrated in the battlecube.


COPERNICUS...FORWARD

Copernicus in the 21st Century:  C4I for the Warrior

In the 21st century, Naval forces will achieve C4I for the
warrior through the implementation of Copernicus.  While the
planning horizon extends into the 21st century, Copernicus
emphasizes action and near-term results that can immediately
benefit the warfighter.  By designing for continuous change,
Copernicus creates an evolving systems environment that focuses
on the process of how we get there from here rather than defining
the ultimate destination.


Future Joint Warfighting

Future warfare will take on a new dimension with IW being
employed before and during hostilities.  Forward deployed forces
will conduct continuous surveillance and intelligence collection,
providing critical battlespace information.  IW preeminence will
start early in a crisis.  It will shape the conflict and reduce
the adversary's warfighting capabilities before hostilities
begin.  This gives our forces the clear advantage.  Technology
proliferation makes a clear requirements statement for a robust,
interoperable, highly responsive C4I system to provide timely and
accurate data and machine-assisted planning options to joint
force decision makers. 

 
Joint Battlespace

The Services must work together without boundaries so that
offensive actions can be executed with maximum effectiveness and
economy of resources.  Smaller, diverse forces will use C4I
systems to integrate their operating rhythms, creating a distinct
advantage over adversaries.  Communications will be seamless over
multimedia interfaces.  Workstations will correlate and fuse
data, and users will pull information necessary to the mission. 
Information will be received in a common format, through standard
graphical user interfaces.  Copernicus empowers users to act on
real-time information, which enables swift, decisive moves to
dominant the battlespace.  


In  Summary Copernicus...Forward

The Navy/Marine Corps team continues to ensure the architecture
remains a viable and evolving construct that fully supports the
warfighter.  Copernicus continues to adapt to new technologies
and requirements.  As a result of fielded systems that support
the Copernicus architecture, the Naval forces' goal of true joint
and allied interoperability is becoming a reality as is the
establishment of an IW strategy and capability.  The Joint force
of the future will require C2 on arrival.  This capability is
being addressed by each Service as we all strive toward coherent
joint operations.  Army "Enterprise," Air Force "Horizon" and
Copernicus represent tremendous leaps forward in achieving this
goal.  The integration of these architectures are the mainstay of
"C4I For The Warrior."  Examples of systems that work together to
support the C4I needed for the battlespace of tomorrow include: 
JMCIS-based C2 systems like the Naval Tactical Command
System-Afloat (NTCS-A) and Marine Air-to-Ground Task Force
(MAGTF) C4I and their compliance with the GCCS Common Operating
Environment, UHF Follow-on, JTIDS-CEC, and ongoing TBMD efforts. 

The anticipated speed of future battles dictates fundamental
changes in the way Joint forces organize, plan and execute
warfighting.  New concepts of operation and doctrine will force
C4I systems and architectures from linear, centralized constructs
to simultaneous, adaptable systems allowing almost continuous
planning, execution and replanning in near real time and real
time.  The Navy/Marine Corps team's implementation of the
Copernicus vision is now paying dividends.  Our ability to adapt
new technology and continually improve systems to support the
battlespace of the future is a proven element of that vision and
our acquisition strategy.

The enduring success of Copernicus is assured by its inherent
ability to capture change.  Copernicus continues to reduce
redundancies and accommodate evolving requirements, technological
innovations, systems improvements, standards-based
interoperability at the lowest possible level, and rapid
refinements in policy and doctrine such as "Forward...From the
Sea" and "C4I For The Warrior."  As the Services continue to
improve and refine their joint-oriented C4I efforts, Copernicus
will provide the warfighter a leading-edge architecture.

-----------------------

For additional information, contact
Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV)
Space - Command and Control - Information Warfare
Strategic Planning Office (N6C)
2000 Navy Pentagon
Washington, D.C.  20350-2000
phone:  703-614-4770
Fax:  703-653-7524
                               -USN-