For the first time, the German Air Force has at its disposal a Deployable Control & Reporting Centre (DCRC) for the military surveillance of airspace and for the tactical command and control of air force units thanks to EADS and Frequentis GmbH, Vienna. The companies jointly developed the DCRC on behalf of the Federal Office for Information Management and Information Technology (IT-AmtBw). Thanks to the DCRC, a deployable combat operations centre will be added to the four stationary Control & Reporting Centres (CRCs) already in service in Germany.
EADS is responsible for equipping the workstations and for the operations centre electronics—German Improved Air Defence System II (GIADS II)—while the communications equipment required for the DCRC was supplied by Frequentis. GIADS II assists the user in the tactical command and control of aircraft and air defence units by evaluating the information provided by military and civil radar sources. The software assists the operators in the task of generating an accurate presentation of the air situation.
Specific incidents are announced via an alarm system so that countermeasures can be initiated rapidly and effectively. Tactical datalinks connect the system to the NATO Integrated Air Defence. Flight plan and radar data from civil air traffic control are also fed into the system. During operation, all the data can be recorded for time-displaced replay and analysis as required.
To ensure that the DCRC is capable of serving as a mobile combat operations centre in international missions, it contains an integrated interface for the exchange of air situation data with the Airborne Early Warning & Control system (E-3A). This makes the system ideal for the tactical command and control of air force units in multinational as well as joint and combined operations.