Used in varying domains, such as air traffic control, aviation and military C2, as discussed in
[44], situational awareness comprises three identified levels: 1) perception, 2) comprehension and 3) projection, see [44]. SA or lack of it remains a key factor in military operations and in intelligence capabilities, especially in Web-Based Intelligence Networks, see [46]. Situational awareness is linked to dismounted battle command system, as discussed in [47], and to voice communications over Blue Force Tracking systems, see [32], which has become a critical capability for the military, as discussed in [27].
Blue Force refers to soldiers of own troops or soldiers of allied troops. Warriors on the same side of an operation compose the Blue Force. Also Unmanned Vehicles of own troops are entities of the Blue Force. Blue Force Tracking (BFT) Blue Force Tracking is a location system used in military and crises management operations to locate and identify friendly forces in battlespace. Blue Force Tracking is composed of various sets of tracking and location devices that can be combined to respond to the operational needs. The main objective of these devices is to track and locate a person or vehicle carrying these devices as a friendly force member. The use of these systems aims to reduce fratricide and minimize casualties of own troops by identifyig persons of friendly forces to avoid engaging against an identified person.
Blue Force Tracking was utilized during Operation Iraqi Freedom, see [27]. As described in [96], the tactical network systems are ad-hoc mobile communications that significantly contribute to an improved SA for BFT-systems. SA is strongly linked to the military decisi- on making process in smaller operational units, such as platoons and squads. The company command support system is introduced in [124]. Tools to increase the overall SA are often seen as collaboration tools, whose goal is to increase Shared Situational Awareness, as dis- cussed in [17]. This is also the case in technology-enabled non-face-to-face collaboration tools used while simultaneously providing near-real-time information in disaster situations, as described in [135].
Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) can be understood as distributed situational awareness and SSA data collected by many entities. Situational awareness data collected can be forwar-
ded to command posts or data-mining centers for analysis and distribution purposes. With the assistance of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and selected data-mining algorithms, the collected data can be analyzed and processed for further distributing purposes to foster mission success. Shared Situational Awarenes has a vital role in Network Centric Warfare (NCW). NCW considers the battlespace environment a distributed heterogenous system, consisting of reactive and cognitive agents functioning in relation to environmental factors or Shared Situational Awareness towards the final objective. NCW translates into a System of Systems (SoS) comprising intelligence gathering sensors, command and control –systems that enable enhanced SA and target assessment. This combined with the ability to network well with informed geographically dispersed forces and informed technological changes in a battlespace allows developing new forms of operational behavior to aid in mission success. Tools and concepts applied in Net Centric Warfare environments contribute to improving SA, see [150]. The end-state is to merge the data collected from a finite array of sensors and sources. Service Oriented Architecture and semantically aware systems are seen as enablers in the process of knowledge fusion, described in [31]. Predictive situational awareness benefits from the possibilities provided by the use of probabilistic ontologies for net-centric operation systems, as discussed in [31]. Predictive situational awareness applies a multi-disciplinary approach to solve the problem of predictive situational awareness within the domain of maritime operations, see [31].
The context of C4I2SR battlespace communications emphasizes the overall significance of
the elements and phenomena related to SA as discussed in [150]. As systems, tactics, techni- ques, and procedures evolve, the aspects and terminology concerning SA drastically increase. Military decision making process is linked to collaborative SA in time-critical operational environments, especially military operations indoors where location data are essential, as described in [143], as well as to company command support systems, see [124], and, lastly, to team situation awareness perspective, as described in [140], as well as enemy courses of actions, as discussed in [145]. In time-critical operations fast decision making is inevitably based on inadequate information on the overall situation. Cognitive situation modeling and recognition situation management apply the management of complex dynamic systems, see [73]. Situation management is understood as a combination of components, such as 1) situational awareness and 2) situation calculus and situation control, see [73]. As indicated in [73], integrating the systems with real-time situation models can be seen a useful means for decision support systems in medical relief operations, see [15] and [73].
In the context of Network Centric Operations (NCO), innovative enhancement to military decision-making is desired to be able to facilitate the decision maker’s perception, as described
in [64], and processes and computational models are required in supporting high levels of Shared Situational Awareness enhancing decision-makers’ perception, comprehension and projection of the underlying knowledge space requires adopting the recognition primed decision model, as discussed in [64].
The significance of SA is critical in Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT). As described in [86], building clearing exercises posed challenges for training requirements set for special weapons assault teams. To support training for oncoming operations, the After Action Reports (AARs) can be supported by generating performance feedback tools built in SA-systems and testing these tools before the AAR-processes, as discussed in [86]. The study described in [115] can be used as an example to reach the goal for improved performance and reduced numbers of casualties. To sum up, the significance of SA is closely examined in all the FFW concepts currently in-progress in ongoing soldier modernization programs, see [9].