Go to Strategic & Tactical Networks

Command Post of the Future (CPOF)

The Command Post of the Future (CPOF) provides planning and mapping tools to support the CDR's battle management and Information Operations processes by rapidly processing and correlating combat information from all available sources. The goal of the CPOF system is to provide CDRs and their staff with an advanced distributed, collaborative decision making environment, thus eliminating fixed command posts and enable true mobile, distributed command.

CPOF is an information-centric tool that provides real-time knowledge sharing that directly impacts team effectiveness and decision-making. The highly intuitive visualizations allow officers to quickly review one another's data to support the unique demands of battlefield awareness. It achieves this by integrating CoMotion and CommandSight software technologies to provide a comprehensive workspace tool that contains frames of various sorts, such as charts, tables, and customized appliances specific to the application. Integration with existing ABCS systems, critical for providing accurate SA to CPOF operators, is achieved through the Data Bridge.

Key design principles central to the technical approach in development include:

• Composability - CDRs can access, view, configure, and tune data, visualizations, workspace, and processes in a way that supports their thinking. The computer is an instrument for artists (tactical) to express thoughts and understandings.
• Collaboration - "Topsight" provides the visualization and understanding of who is doing what in the system allowing the command staff to better manage and share their C2 resources and expertise. While current procedures focus on Course of Action generation and capture in a heavy text format, the command staff of the future will have the ability to collaboratively generate, share and evaluate visual COAs and Operation Orders maximizing the use of graphics over text.
• Visualization - Information is displayed in the way each CDR thinks about it, with pedigree information preserving the trail of data.