C4ISR Involvement with the Distributed Engineering Plant (DEP)

The Navy's requirement for interoperability between systems and Battle Groups led to the development of the Distributed Engineering Plant (DEP). The DEP Battle Group Interoperability Test (BGIT) was a combination of several Navy laboratories in which command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems were tested within the DEP. This paper focuses on C4ISR integration and interoperability testing accomplished by the DEP BGIT program. It also discusses the support that C4ISR systems provide the Fleet and problems found during the DEP BGIT. This paper describes the DEP concept as drafted by the Task Force, and developed and engineered by the Navy Alliance. The DEP was founded on the existence of shore-based combat system sites. These combat system sites were built to replicate the hardware, computer programs, connectivity, and environment of the ship and aircraft combat systems as much as possible. The DEP extends this concept to the Battle Group level by interconnecting these combat system sites to replicate a Battle Group. Given that the DEP is founded on shore-based combat systems, understanding the DEP begins with an understanding of a basic combat system. The combat system consists of many important elements integrated to form a system.