A British-led defence alliance has used Systematic’s battle management software to enable the command and control of a two-week multi-national exercise.

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) consists of 10 nations who recently participated in Exercise Joint Protector in Denmark, which focused on the planning and coordination of operations.

The UK Standing Force Joint Headquarters (SJFHQ) formed the framework for the exercise and used SitaWare Headquarters to provide that crucial situational awareness for all participants.

Consisting of nearly 500 personnel – 400 of which were British – JEF nations comprise Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands.

Systematic also sent personnel from its technical support team, ensuring that any questions from SJFHQ could be dealt with immediately for the exercise to run smoothly.

Captain Matt Boulind RN, Assistant Chief of Staff Operations for SJFHQ, said: “This is the second time SJFHQ has used SitaWare Headquarters as part of a JEF exercise and we find it to be an invaluable command and control tool. This is a real leap forward for us in terms of interoperable and multi-domain battle management.”

SitaWare Headquarters provides a seamless, integrated C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) system for all levels of command, allowing the sharing of a Common Operational Picture (COP) and coordination of plans and orders across both co-located and deployed forces.

It is in use by six defence forces of the 10 JEF nations and provides the ability to exchange information across national forces, enabling true alliance partnerships. As it is built on an open architecture it allows for customised extensions and integration with legacy and third-party systems to increase the operational flexibility.

Lieutenant Colonel Lars Bossen is Denmark's liaison officer in JEF and is stationed at SJFHQ in the UK. He said: “Joint Protector provides both an opportunity to train SJFHQ's ability to deploy and establish a forward joint headquarters, and at the same time it allows the permanent staff and personnel contributions from the JEF nations to train the procedures essential to the effectiveness of the JEF.”