Rapid Response Command and Control (R2C2): a systems engineering analysis of scaleable communications for Regional Combatant Commanders

Includes supplementary materialDisaster relief operations, such as the 2005 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and wartime operations, such as Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, have identified the need for a standardized command and control system interoperable among Joint, Coalition, and Interagency entities. The Systems Engineering Analysis Cohort 9 (SEA-9) Rapid Response Command and Control (R2C2) integrated project team completed a systems engineering (SE) process to address the military’s command and control capability gap. During the process, the R2C2 team conducted mission analysis, generated requirements, developed and modeled architectures, and analyzed and compared current operational systems versus the team’s R2C2 system. The R2C2 system provided a reachback capability to the Regional Combatant Commander’s (RCC) headquarters, a local communications network for situational assessments, and Internet access for civilian counterparts participating in Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief operations. Because the team designed the R2C2 system to be modular, analysis concluded that the R2C2 system was the preferred method to provide the RCC with the required flexibility and scalability to deliver a rapidly deployable command and control capability to perform the range of military operations

Fusion of night vision and thermal images

Night vision and thermal images are extensively used in military operations, as they help in mission planning and executions tasks. Image fusion effectively combines information present in each type of image. This research explored two wavelet-based image fusion approaches for night vision and thermal images; namely wavelet transform fusion and region-based fusion. Morphological methods designed to improve the image segmentation step were considered to improve image contrast and a global image quality index was applied to investigate the information content improvement resulting form the fusion process. Finally, a MATLAB-based graphical user interface was designed to assist the user in evaluating the benefits of the fusion process. Results showed the selection process is able to narrow to the best fused image with a satisfactory accuracy.http://archive.org/details/fusionofnightvis109452489Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited