Swiss Armed Forces boost intelligence capability with new AI solution

The intelligence community of the Swiss Armed Forces have acquired Systematic’s SitaWare C4I solution (Command, Control, Communication, Computer, and Intelligence) and will operate the new data fusion and decision support tool, SitaWare Insight.

Switzerland will operate SitaWare Headquarters, SitaWare Insight, IRIS Forms and IRIS Military Messaging software and selected third-party components in one coherent system. The commercial off the shelf acquisition means the intelligence community of Swiss Armed Forces have immediate access to the SitaWare product suite capabilities as well as a Coalitions Shared Database, exchanging data seamlessly across platforms, domains and forces, including at the joint level.

The fully integrated, end-to-end solution provides a range of command & control, AI, information handling and analysis tools, delivering a common operational picture for the Swiss Armed Forces, says Michael Jungen, Systematic’s business development manager for Central Europe. ‘In the past, these requirements were delivered by different products that were usually not connected,’ he says. ‘Now they will all be integrated into one solution.’

Data integration for advanced decision support

SitaWare Insight builds upon SitaWare Headquarters, enhancing operators’ intelligence requirements management (IRM) and collection management (CM) capabilities. The new tool provides the ability to store and analyse a ‘big data’ repository, processing and disseminating the data militaries need. It exploits the ‘data lakes’ they control, formed from sensor information, images, videos, documents and more, making it easy to retrieve information from multiple sources.

The tool integrates all relevant military and non-military data sources, offering advanced decision support through data collection, storage, analysis and dissemination. AI-powered functions allow users to pinpoint data on everything from enemy positions, images, documents to equipment.

SitaWare Insight is designed with flexibility at its core. When combined with the other elements of the SitaWare suite, SitaWare Insight will provide the Swiss Armed Forces with easy access to data that has already been collected and analysed, explains Henrik Sommer, SitaWare Insight product manager. Integration is key.

‘It’s vital to have systems that are completely integrated and exchange data from the tactical to the strategic level,’ Sommer says.

Systematic has long recognised the crucial importance of data handling for modern militaries, which drove the development of SitaWare Insight. This demand exists within many nations, says Jungen, pointing to a range of projects for similar systems worldwide.

The importance of interoperability

The new agreement makes Switzerland the latest nation to join the SitaWare family and will ‘enrich the user community in Central Europe,’ says Jungen.

The SitaWare suite and SitaWare Insight fully comply with Federated Mission Networking (FMN) requirements, a key demand for the intelligence community of Swiss Armed Forces. Interoperability is at the core of the solution, Sommer notes. ‘Switzerland and other nations are very focused on standardised doctrines, principles and procedures,’ he says. Switzerland recognises the importance of working with others in a conflict or crisis situation, and with this the need to operate and exchange data across national institutions and other partner nations.

‘It's all about exchanging data, enriching each other, and benefitting from working together.’