Marines Call to Improve Call-for-Fire System

As they field the remainder of their new and improved target handoff systems, the U.S. Marines are planning further enhancements and applications, including possibly using the technology to control an unmanned aircraft or its sensor payload.

The portable Target Handoff System Version 2 (THS V.2) is designed for dismounted forward observers and joint tactical air controllers. It allows them to locate targets, pinpoint global positioning coordinates and call for close-air, artillery and naval fire support using secure digital communications. With the system, a Marine can provide situational data on friendly and enemy forces and hand off targeting data to fire-support units for quick action on the battlefield. The system communicates using variable message format, a U.S. military standard.

While the tablet—a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2—garners most of the attention, other system components also are critical to mission success, indicates Lt. Col. Brad Sams, USMC, program manager for fires, Marine Corps Systems Command.

The THS V.2 uses a fist-size port hub made by Human Systems Integration Inc. To that central hub, Marines connect a Harris AN/PRC-117G radio, a GPS device, a tactical datalink, a laser rangefinder and a Soldier ISR Radio, commonly known as a ManPack Video or an MP Video, along with a battery. All those components are integrated into a specially made backpack designed to keep the myriad cables strapped down and out of the way as much as possible.

Already the THS V.2 is a dramatic improvement over the initial version. The variety of commercial off-the-shelf equipment cuts the weight from roughly 20 pounds to 10. New, more intuitive software allows information to be transmitted via an encrypted combat net radio, ensuring mission security. And more precise fire-support data reduces the potential for collateral damage.

When a Marine identifies targets, the system automatically generates, coordinates and digitizes the information into a map application pre-installed on the S2, eliminating the need for manual input. Once digitized, the information is transmitted to the fire support coordination center, where personnel arrange air, artillery or naval fire support.

The system’s No. 1 benefit is its ability to digitize the call-for-fire process, explains Jeffry Nebel, fire support coordination team lead, Office of the Program Manager for Fires, Marine Corps Systems Command. “It provides a single system that the Marine can use to identify and locate a target and then send that target information either to an Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System or another weapons platform. Normally for us that would be an aircraft,” Nebel says.

The Marines have fielded roughly 100 systems of 900 total. They will begin fielding the remainder by the first quarter of next year.

Once all systems are deployed, they will receive a technology refresh about every two years. Many enhancements are either underway or on the horizon. For example, the video downlink will soon include a transceiver, which will improve coordination with unmanned aircraft, commonly known as either unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aerial systems (UASs).

A Marine using the THS V.2 could contact an unmanned system pilot and ask to take control of either the aircraft or its sensors. “As we transition to a video downlink system that has a transceiver rather than a one-way feed, we can potentially have the ability to control a UAV or UAS-type vehicle or the payload on a vehicle—the camera or that type of thing,” Nebel says. “That might be the most significant near-term improvement. We’re working on it now.”

The upgrade likely will happen within two years. Furthermore, both the tablet and the hub likely will be replaced. In the first quarter of next fiscal year, the Marines will begin integrating the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active, which is marketed for its toughness. Samsung officials say the system can survive drops from 3.9 feet. It also is sealed against water or dust. “They advertise it as a commercial off-the-shelf product that meets the military standard specifications, but we’ll still put it in a hard case because Marines are a little bit tougher than mil standard,” Nebel states.

The hub also will be replaced with a power-saving alternative. Cutting power usage means warfighting Marines can carry fewer batteries. “We’re going to use what we call smart hub. It will communicate with the Tab Active to give us the ability to shut off devices that we’re not using,” Nebel reports. “For instance, now if you plug a laser rangefinder into the hub, power is going to that laser rangefinder.”

Some changes being made are the direct result of feedback from Marines. For example, the graphical user interface (GUI) will soon be more intuitive, making the system easier to use. “It is government-owned software, so that allows us to make changes and test those to quickly meet the needs of the Marines,” Nebel says.

The program office is adding a digital owner’s manual and training modules. “For almost all of our operators, their primary [military occupational skill] is not a radioman, so we’ve added modules on how to set up and operate the radios, which can be the most challenging part of the system,” Nebel notes.

The Marine Fires application that runs on the tablet also is getting an upgrade. The app’s users file a number of different reports: situational reports, calls for fire and medical evacuations, for example. Rather than typing the details for each one, users now will be able to choose options from a simple drop-down menu. “Marines can just fill in the critical information instead of having to write the entire message from scratch,” Col. Sams explains.

Even the cabling will be improved. “Right now it looks like a spiderweb of cables. One of our initiatives for the future is to try to reduce or eliminate the cabling all together,” the colonel reports.

Last year, the THS V.2 was integrated for the first time into a Marine Corps exercise. Marines from the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1) conducted and organized a digitally aided close-air support fire mission at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, California.

This exercise was conducted during the Weapons and Tactics Instructors Course 1-18, which brings together service members from across the world to participate in training that teaches pilots, air crew and ground forces to work together to support the Marine Air Ground Task Force. “It was one of our first opportunities for some of the air wing folks to actually take [the THS V.2] and use it in that environment. It went very well,” Nebel reports.

The only issue during the exercise was that some Marine Corps aircraft were not yet equipped with radios capable of variable message format communications and had to have PRC-117Gs installed. “Our threshold requirement is that the system will communicate with all Marine Corps aircraft. Our objective is that it will communicate with all joint and NATO aircraft,” Nebel offers. “We communicate with all of the Marine Corps aircraft that are digitally capable.”

The Marines are incrementally digitizing aircraft in coordination with the other services and government agencies, according to this year’s Marine Aviation Plan.