Integrated C4ISR

Government and military leaders can overcome challenges of stovepiped systems in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) by adopting an Enterprise Integration approach.

The U.S. military’s C4ISR systems, while the best in the world, are nevertheless operating well below their full potential. There are a variety of factors that lead to hindering optimal potential. Stovepiped systems make it difficult—and sometimes impossible—to collect, analyze, and disseminate critical threat and operations information, or obtain a complete, single view of the battlefield.

Warfighters and the government and military organizations that support them need “integrated C4ISR,” in which the individual pieces are designed as part of an enterprise system from the start. Integrated C4ISR is a force multiplier that enhances mission capabilities and enables warfighters to meet continuing requirements, despite anticipated cuts. Acquiring integrated C4ISR requires a holistic approach called Enterprise Integration, which brings together three major disciplines and their communities; engineering, operations and acquisition. Programs will need enhanced capabilities in all three areas to build integrated C4ISR on a foundation of open architectures, agile development, modular construction, and common hardware, software, data, and infrastructure.