Francois Anderson Radar EW Systems Engineer CSIR DPSS 3 December 2009

1. Francois Anderson Radar & EW Systems Engineer CSIR DPSS 3 December 2009 This talk is aimed at providing an overview of a proposed new national level innovation in the field of persistent, ubiquitous, surveillance systems. The idea is that this should be relevant to several national departments involved with various aspects of national security. In this presentation I will explain the meaning of each of these somewhat technical terms, discuss progress made in the period 2003 to 2009 towards realizing it and some of the immediate next steps, some already contracted and others foreseen if more resources can be obtained. This talk is aimed at providing an overview of a proposed new national level innovation in the field of persistent, ubiquitous, surveillance systems. The idea is that this should be relevant to several national departments involved with various aspects of national security. In this presentation I will explain the meaning of each of these somewhat technical terms, discuss progress made in the period 2003 to 2009 towards realizing it and some of the immediate next steps, some already contracted and others foreseen if more resources can be obtained.

2. Overview The importance of Science, Engineering and Technology for a modern society and economy The Career Growth of Scientists and Engineers The AwareNet Programme: A proposed new platform for South African high tech innovationsin the field of Radar & EW

3. Strategic Importance of Science, Engineering & Technology for Nations

4. © CSIR 2008 www.csir.co.za Urgent Need to Promote World-wide S&T Capacity The world is changing at a rapid pace, driven by S&T Business as usual will leave an ever-growing gap between ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ nations Local S&T capacity is essential for using and contributing to the world’s valuable store of knowledge Universities have a critical role to play in building S&T capacities Investments in S&T are increasingly important for economic growth Building capacity in agriculture, engineering, health and social sciences is essential for national development Stronger S&T capacity in the developing nations is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity if these nations are to participate as full partners in the world’s fast-forming, knowledge-based economy

5. © CSIR 2008 www.csir.co.za 20 Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century Electrification Automobile Airplane Water Supply and Distribution Electronics Radio and Television Agricultural Mechanization Computers Telephone Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Highways Spacecraft Internet Imaging Household Appliances Health Technologies Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies Laser and Fiber Optics Nuclear Technologies High-performance Materials

6. Career Growth in Science and Engineering

7. What is Science and Engineering?

8. The Core Processes of Engineering Problem definition (may be in the form of user requirements definition, design requirements definition, etc) Solution analysis and performance prediction, evaluation of proposed solutions Solution synthesis or design Design implementation, test and evaluation

9. Engineering Career Progression Paths At CSIR: Engineer in Training, Professional Engineer, Senior Engineer, Principal Engineer, Chief Engineer Could grow in: Complexity Size and Variety Coupling Information availability, uncertainty, solvability Systems dynamics, behaviour Team factors and task factors Body of knowledge factors Novelty of methods used (from standard text book to highly novel) Novelty/complexity of engineering tools developed/used Level of engineering leadership

10. The RSA National System of Innovation

11. AwareNet Overview Identified national level problemto be solved The proposed solution: A new South African Innovation with a unique value proposition Some of the R&D already completed towards realizing this innovation The next step already contracted: AwareNet Technology Demonstrator 0.5 Future challenges and opportunities Summary Here is the overview of my talk today. In my view a true innovation is based on three critical components: - A real problem out there that is so important that people will pay money for the innovative product that helps to solve it. - A good reason to believe that your conceptual solution has some features that provides it with a competitive edge relative to other potential solutions. - Some strengths in the relevant part of the national system of innovation that provide the country with a competitive advantage. The proposed new innovation in C4ISR with its primary sensor being an advanced new radar, is based upon South Africa’s recognized strengths in the field of Aerospace, Defence Electronics and specifically radar. In this field we have a number of good engineering faculties at our universities, some strong R&D institutes, an unusually strong Defence Electronics Industry and some high quality and relatively unique national test and evaluation facilities.Here is the overview of my talk today. In my view a true innovation is based on three critical components: - A real problem out there that is so important that people will pay money for the innovative product that helps to solve it. - A good reason to believe that your conceptual solution has some features that provides it with a competitive edge relative to other potential solutions. - Some strengths in the relevant part of the national system of innovation that provide the country with a competitive advantage. The proposed new innovation in C4ISR with its primary sensor being an advanced new radar, is based upon South Africa’s recognized strengths in the field of Aerospace, Defence Electronics and specifically radar. In this field we have a number of good engineering faculties at our universities, some strong R&D institutes, an unusually strong Defence Electronics Industry and some high quality and relatively unique national test and evaluation facilities.

12. An Important Problem in Military and Civilian Security Negative forces & criminals have initiative: They choose place, time and method Difficult to detect and track: Fly low, use small craft, operate in low visibility conditions, move stealthily Difficult to recognize: Operate amongst similar non-threatening entities They plan to beat the reaction time of State security forces and services They have the advantage, when force-to-space ratios are low It is commonly accepted that South Africa does not currently face a military threat to the country. However, this does not mean that we do not have many security-related challenges. I would like to draw your attention to the following types of security related issues that we hear about on a regular basis and that the government of a modern state is expected to control effectively: Low flying civilian aircraft crossing our northern borders, mainly undetected, presumably involved in smuggling activities; Border crossings by people on foot, in stolen vehicles, cattle rustling, etc., Poaching of abalone and other marine resources in our coastal waters and EEZ, Terrorism – this is the hole blown into the side of the USS Cole by a terrorist bomb hidden on a small boat, Piracy – here you see pirates off the coast of Somalia using small boats and some heavy weapons to force their way onto a freighter with the aim of high-jacking the ship and holding its crew hostage. When we analyze these types of security threats, we find a number of characteristics they have in common: (Read from slide in right sidebar) It is commonly accepted that South Africa does not currently face a military threat to the country. However, this does not mean that we do not have many security-related challenges. I would like to draw your attention to the following types of security related issues that we hear about on a regular basis and that the government of a modern state is expected to control effectively: Low flying civilian aircraft crossing our northern borders, mainly undetected, presumably involved in smuggling activities; Border crossings by people on foot, in stolen vehicles, cattle rustling, etc., Poaching of abalone and other marine resources in our coastal waters and EEZ, Terrorism – this is the hole blown into the side of the USS Cole by a terrorist bomb hidden on a small boat, Piracy – here you see pirates off the coast of Somalia using small boats and some heavy weapons to force their way onto a freighter with the aim of high-jacking the ship and holding its crew hostage. When we analyze these types of security threats, we find a number of characteristics they have in common: (Read from slide in right sidebar)

13. Proposed Innovation: In Principle Use technology as a force multiplier Provide an asymmetric advantage to commanders of our security forces Considering the vast areas that need to be controlled and the small number of resources developing countries such as South Africa have at their disposal to do so, it is clear that a technologically based innovation that provides a major force multiplication effect and provide commanders of our security forces with an asymmetric advantage relative to the negative forces and criminals will be a major advantage. This is my version of the typical elements of a Command and Control process. In the physical domain, we have the situation in the area of interest that needs to be controlled. We have resources deployed out there to influence the situation physically. And we have a commander in some form of command and control centre who needs to be aware of what is going on out there, make sense of the current situation and how it is developing and make decisions regarding the employment of his resources to achieve his aims in the most cost effective way. Those of us involved in this kind of operation or those who play strategy based computer games will know the critical importance of having proper situation awareness in real time. And if you have the cheat code of the computer game enabling you to turn off the “fog of war” so that you have a “Gods eye view” i.e. you can see the total area of interest and who is doing what and where, you have a decisive advantage relative to your opponents.Considering the vast areas that need to be controlled and the small number of resources developing countries such as South Africa have at their disposal to do so, it is clear that a technologically based innovation that provides a major force multiplication effect and provide commanders of our security forces with an asymmetric advantage relative to the negative forces and criminals will be a major advantage. This is my version of the typical elements of a Command and Control process. In the physical domain, we have the situation in the area of interest that needs to be controlled. We have resources deployed out there to influence the situation physically. And we have a commander in some form of command and control centre who needs to be aware of what is going on out there, make sense of the current situation and how it is developing and make decisions regarding the employment of his resources to achieve his aims in the most cost effective way. Those of us involved in this kind of operation or those who play strategy based computer games will know the critical importance of having proper situation awareness in real time. And if you have the cheat code of the computer game enabling you to turn off the “fog of war” so that you have a “Gods eye view” i.e. you can see the total area of interest and who is doing what and where, you have a decisive advantage relative to your opponents.

14. Proposed Innovation: An Integrated Sensing System Provide information superiority and consequently an edge in decision making to commanders of own security forces and services Enhance commanders’ situation awareness by providing them with relevant real time information about the situation in the total area of interest, as it develops: Persistent: All the time with sufficient update rate Ubiquitous: Everywhere at once Recognized: Classes, identities, threat levels Record complete evidence enabling post-mission analyses and actions Logical Description of the Innovation: Top Level Function and Characteristics: Security Forces and Services: The Departments and Agencies that form part of the JCPS (Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster in the SA National Cabinet) Persistent: All the time (at least days to weeks) with an update rate that supports real time operations (seconds to minutes, not days or hours) Ubiquitous: The whole area of interest to the mission Recognized: Each target track is classified and the level of treat posed by it is estimated: i.e. “it is a fishing trawler class of ship and it behaves in a way associated with a smuggling operation” b) Physical realization: Unmanned, elevated, pseudo-geostationary platform Integrated, long range surveillance sensors providing high level sensing in a number of dimensions in the electromagnetic spectrum: Frequency, Az, El, Range, Doppler and sensing with above average sensitivity, dynamic range and resolution over wide ranges of coverage in each dimension. An processing system converting sensed data to useful information (and even intelligence) semi-automatically in order to provide commanders with a real time, recognized situation pictureLogical Description of the Innovation: Top Level Function and Characteristics: Security Forces and Services: The Departments and Agencies that form part of the JCPS (Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster in the SA National Cabinet) Persistent: All the time (at least days to weeks) with an update rate that supports real time operations (seconds to minutes, not days or hours) Ubiquitous: The whole area of interest to the mission Recognized: Each target track is classified and the level of treat posed by it is estimated: i.e. “it is a fishing trawler class of ship and it behaves in a way associated with a smuggling operation” b) Physical realization: Unmanned, elevated, pseudo-geostationary platform Integrated, long range surveillance sensors providing high level sensing in a number of dimensions in the electromagnetic spectrum: Frequency, Az, El, Range, Doppler and sensing with above average sensitivity, dynamic range and resolution over wide ranges of coverage in each dimension. An processing system converting sensed data to useful information (and even intelligence) semi-automatically in order to provide commanders with a real time, recognized situation picture

15. Persistent and UbiquitousIntelligence Surveillance and ReconnaissanceSystem Functions Similar to the concept used in the air defence community of a “recognized air picture” we would ideally like to have a “recognized area picture” to be able to ensure the security in our area of responsibility. Note the logical breakdown of the system function into sub-functions and sub-sub functions. Each of the sensors need to be designed and developed to provide the data that will enable the subsequent automatic processing algorithms to provide the integrated system functions. Similar to the concept used in the air defence community of a “recognized air picture” we would ideally like to have a “recognized area picture” to be able to ensure the security in our area of responsibility. Note the logical breakdown of the system function into sub-functions and sub-sub functions. Each of the sensors need to be designed and developed to provide the data that will enable the subsequent automatic processing algorithms to provide the integrated system functions.

16. AwareNet’s Proposed Unique Value Proposition A modern C4ISR system that provides rich information to tactical and strategic level commanders in real time and regardingthe total area of operations A Knowledge-based, Cognitive Sensing System that senses changing conditions and requirements and automatically adapts to them Optimized for specialized operational scenarios and requirements: The type of scenarios typically encountered in developing countries Asymmetric warfare and operations other than war (OOTW) Wide spectrum of objects of interest: from large to very small: requires very high sensitivity Objects of interest hidden amongst many similar ones: requires NCTR and Threat Estimation Low force to space ratios: requires wide area coverage from an elevated, semi-geostationary platform Small logistics tail to allow cost effective operations when deployed far from reliable infrastructure Mid-priced solution: including the platform, sensors, processing and through-life cost A number of different types of C4ISR systems exist in the world today. Some well-known examples include the American AWACS, the Swedish Erieye, the Global Hawk and Predator UAVs, maritime patrol aircraft such as the British Nimrod, etc. If we hope that the set of technologies developed in the AwareNet programme will become a South African innovation in the field of C4ISR, what aspects are we focussing our R&D effort on to develop a unique value proposition when offered on the international market? We propose that the unique value proposition should be precisely those characteristics that will also make it the best possible solution for users in the South African security forces and services. A number of different types of C4ISR systems exist in the world today. Some well-known examples include the American AWACS, the Swedish Erieye, the Global Hawk and Predator UAVs, maritime patrol aircraft such as the British Nimrod, etc. If we hope that the set of technologies developed in the AwareNet programme will become a South African innovation in the field of C4ISR, what aspects are we focussing our R&D effort on to develop a unique value proposition when offered on the international market? We propose that the unique value proposition should be precisely those characteristics that will also make it the best possible solution for users in the South African security forces and services.

17. AwareNet Programme Strategy Define proposed problem area and an innovative solution at system and subsystem levels(System: C4ISR; Subsystems: Platform, Radar, Electronic Surveillance, E-Opt, Data Fusion, Classification, Threat Estimation, HMI) Perform first order feasibility studies in each and define first level questions Start the Radar subsystem R&D programme using existing national resources and funding streams: CSIR PG, SRP, EDERI, DOD, … Use Radar Surveillance system to validate the proposed functions and demonstrate value to users The first 2 bullets were achieved in the period 2003 to 2005 with CSIR corporate funding. After that, it was found that funding could be attracted more successfully from national level sponsors when project proposals were formulated per technology area (such as radar) than when the total system concept was proposed.The first 2 bullets were achieved in the period 2003 to 2005 with CSIR corporate funding. After that, it was found that funding could be attracted more successfully from national level sponsors when project proposals were formulated per technology area (such as radar) than when the total system concept was proposed.

18. AwareNet Programme Strategy (Continued) Define a Technology Roadmap and obtain funding for its first phase from strategic and competitive funding sources: locally and internationally Invite other subsystem teams to take part, each also attracting funding from their respective technology areas Use technology readiness model to structure a risk and opportunity driven spiral development programme with base lines and stage gates Evolve to national centres of competence producing a Tier 1 system solution

19. The CSIR AwareNet Programme:Radar Technology Evolution Plan Red: Real time implementation Orange: Data processed with manual intervention, results available during field trials Cream: Data acquired in real time, processed off-line after the field trials Start with a 40km (5000 sq km area) functional demonstrator with increasingly more advanced functions in the maritime environment and against maritime targets. Next evolve to include air targets and environment and then land targets and environment. Then repeat the process with a fully integrated sensing system with 50 km range deployed on a mountain top. After that move to a similar system, but implemented such that it can be demonstrated on board an Aerostat flying at 1000 m altitude for periods of weeks. The next step is a system with a larger power-aperture product providing longer detection ranges (50 000 sq km area coverage) on the same size aerostat. Eventually the system may evolve into one that provides even wider coverage areas by either integrating a number of these systems into a network and/or developing even more powerful systems flying on larger aerostats or airships.Red: Real time implementation Orange: Data processed with manual intervention, results available during field trials Cream: Data acquired in real time, processed off-line after the field trials Start with a 40km (5000 sq km area) functional demonstrator with increasingly more advanced functions in the maritime environment and against maritime targets. Next evolve to include air targets and environment and then land targets and environment. Then repeat the process with a fully integrated sensing system with 50 km range deployed on a mountain top. After that move to a similar system, but implemented such that it can be demonstrated on board an Aerostat flying at 1000 m altitude for periods of weeks. The next step is a system with a larger power-aperture product providing longer detection ranges (50 000 sq km area coverage) on the same size aerostat. Eventually the system may evolve into one that provides even wider coverage areas by either integrating a number of these systems into a network and/or developing even more powerful systems flying on larger aerostats or airships.

20. Technical Progress to Date Defined potential application scenarios and user requirements for the AwareNet C4ISR system Defined the AwareNet System concept and studied the technical feasibility of each of the proposed major subsystems Defined first order functional and architectural concepts for the radar-based long range sensor subsystem Studying the latest trends in radar techniques that may be used to obtain the required functions and performance Using existing national radar R&D facilities to make measurements of realistic targets in realistic environments Performing R&D on: Automatic small boat detection in sea clutter Automatic radar target imaging and classification

21. Small Boat Detection in Sea Clutter Developed good knowledge base on boat detection Collaborate and share data with international community Applying knowledge to: Radar design inputs for AwareNet Small boat detection mode for MECORT (ORT) Designing detection functions for RSR 210 and RSR 942 radars

22. Radar Target Recognition Many radars are able to Detect and Track targets: few provide Recognition functions Performing research into radar target recognition: Classifying (into class of target) and Identifying (specific type of target) Techniques 2D Radar Imaging (ISAR) High Range Resolution Sensing and Analysis Rotor Blade and Propeller Modulation Jet Engine Modulation Application: AwareNet and other new generation South African radars

23. Next Step: Add Experimental Developmentto existing Radar Research Programme Reutech Radar Systems RSR940 with improved small boat detection capability MECORT experimental radar with high performance target detection and target recognition waveforms and algorithms Together the two systems will demonstrate the functionality of the envisaged radar system New data and information processing and sensor control subsystems to provide surveillance system level functionsReutech Radar Systems RSR940 with improved small boat detection capability MECORT experimental radar with high performance target detection and target recognition waveforms and algorithms Together the two systems will demonstrate the functionality of the envisaged radar system New data and information processing and sensor control subsystems to provide surveillance system level functions

25. Information Processing and Display Subsystem Generalize existing air defence control system Ensure compatibility with IDE and national C&C standards Develop advanced threat estimation subsystem Design ergonomic HMI with plug-ins for decision support

26. Electronic Surveillance Subsystem Acquire VHF, UHF and microwave antenna array and receivers Develop super resolution angle estimation algorithm with performance approaching the Cramer-Rao bound Develop de-interleaving algorithms for cell phone and satellite phone signals Deploy and test against cell and satellite phone transmissions Integrate with AwareNet C4ISR system

27. A South African Innovation Cluster?

28. Summary

30. AwareNet TD 0.5 Functional Flow Diagramme