Warlord / Warrior
Warlord, previously called Warrior, is a development effort
by the Army to merge, on a single workstation, the best features of
software from ASAS block I, Warrior, the ASAS Collateral Enclave, and
the Common ATCCS Support Software. Warlord is a workstation
that can be used with multiple communications equipment, such as the
current ASAS block I communications set, the Trojan Spirit system,
the Mobile Subscriber Equipment, and others. Warrior and
its successor, Warlord, have many key features desired in
ASAS.
Warlord is an initial operational
prototype with proven software that is robust enough for issuance to
operational units. Warrior, the predecessor to Warlord, has already
been issued to operational units and has performance characteristics
desired by current users. Troops in both Germany and the United
States accepted the former Warrior performance as adequate to meet
current operational joint and Army missions. For example, troops
used Warrior to (1) conduct all-source intelligence data analysis;
(2) provide European intelligence data to the Atlantic Command; (3)
exchange intelligence data in a seamless architecture from echelons
above corps to corps, to division, and to brigade; (4) provide
capability to deployed contingency forces; and (5) provide redundancy
to prevent catastrophic loss of capability.
Assessment by the Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry and III Corps
stress the need to include Warrior as a part of ASAS. According to
the Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division, Warrior was of
great value to targeting and situation development, and corrected a
limitation of the current ASAS block I configuration by expanding
intelligence processing capabilities throughout the Division. A May
1993 III Corps assessment said the block I collateral enclave and the
communications van are working well, but the JPL-developed
workstation in block I remains a weak link. The Corps assessment
concluded that the Corps could (1) abandon ASAS, (2) continue to use
the JPL workstation under specific conditions, or (3) replace the JPL
workstation with Warrior workstations. A July 1993 III Corps
assessment said the Warrior provided more accurate and quicker
situation and target development than any system previously used. A
Corps official said the Corps considers Warrior an essential element
of ASAS block I.
Warlord also provides capabilities that the ASAS program manager is
trying to include in ASAS block I through major configuration
upgrades and/or develop in block II. For example, Warlord (1) supports split-based, jump, and networked
operations and (2) provides communications and data links with
national, joint, coalition, and Army battlefield command and control
systems. Other Warlord capabilities the Army is seeking in the
follow-on block II program include (1) receipt, processing, and
display of framed images and live video; (2) electronic connectivity
to national intelligence data bases; and (3) open computer
architecture. In addition, Warlord does not require downsizing to
meet transportability requirements, whereas the Army is modifying the
ASAS block I configuration in an effort to downsize the system.
Another major benefit of the Warlord alternative over the ASAS block
I is the potential to procure enough sets to field throughout the
Army and provide redundancy in each unit at a reasonable cost. Lack
of enough block I equipment to deploy Army-wide and lack of
redundancy in each Army unit with block I equipment are major
problems to operating troops. The 11 existing ASAS Block I sets to be fielded
will go to first-priority Army units only; however lower-priority Army units went to Somalia and to Operation Desert
Storm. Based on data provided by the Army, enough
Warlord workstations could be bought to equip the entire Army for
about $21.6 million. This does not include the cost of
communications and supplemental equipment and training.
Additional Warlord units allows Army-wide fulfillment of another key
ASAS block II requirement to provide intelligence processing
capabilities at all Army organizational levels, from echelon above
corps, to corps, to divisions, and to brigades. Warlord units are
needed at the echelons above corps and brigades levels because the
ASAS program manager has only enough block I units to field to corps
and divisions. USAREUR has bought
enough Warrior units to provide this capability.
Warrior and its successor Warlord also have the potential for lower
operations and maintenance costs than those for the current ASAS
block I, and, at the same time, to meet block II requirements for
direct computer-to-computer connectivity and to implement new Army
intelligence doctrine. Preliminary Army cost studies--the ASAS
Independent Cost Estimate, dated January 1993, and the ASAS Baseline
Cost Estimate, dated February 1993--show that each ASAS block I set
should cost about twice as much to operate and maintain, as compared
to block II and follow-on systems. According to DOD, block I costs
are estimated at $2.1 million annually per set. Warrior is similar
in design to the ASAS block II workstation.
New Army doctrine combines two separate block I intelligence units at
both corps and divisions--one unit has original JPL block I equipment
and the other has Hawkeye--to provide a single integrated
intelligence unit. An all-Warlord system provides operational
flexibility from one set of equipment, and meets the block II
requirement for direct computer-to-computer connectivity so all
analysts can see the same picture.
Warrior
has been widely deployed and used in missions by USAREUR and other
military activities, including the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic
Command, and contingency forces in Somalia. As of April 1993, 195
Warrior workstations were in the inventory. Of these, 93
workstations were deployed to Army units in Europe. Another 20 units
were deployed in other joint and emergency support operational
locations.
The Army now plans to use Warlord as an
integral part of the 11 sets of block I to be fielded and to provide
Warrior/Warlord capabilities to units not receiving block I.
Sources and Methods
http://www.fas.org/irp/program/process/warlord.htm
Created by John Pike
Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated Saturday, June 21, 1997 11:14:49 AM
