AUSA: Army Magazine

PROPHET: BATTLEFIELD ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS
04/01/2001

As the reconnaissance element for 3rd Brigade/2nd Infantry Division, the 1st Squadron/14th Cavalry will provide the Army's first interim brigade combat team (IBCT) with its eyes and ears. Late last year, that unit's sensory capabilities were significantly enhanced with the arrival of a set of three new battlefield electronic surveillance systems known as Prophet.

The IBCT is getting three systems in one set, according to Edward T. Bair, program executive officer for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S). Block I is fundamentally an AN/PRD-13, a system already in use by special operations forces. It is mounted on a 7-meter mast that automatically goes up and down and is mounted on the back of a Humvee.

Initial Prophet Block I integration activities have been conducted by Titan Systems Corporation's Delfin Systems under a development contract to the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command.

Block I integrates Delfin's AN/ PRD-13(V)2 direction-finding system on the Humvee. Initially designed as lightweight man-pack signal intelligence systems, the mobile terminals provide highly accurate VHF/UHF monitoring and direction-finding capabilities and can fulfill mission requirements, whether the vehicle is stationary or on the move (OTM). The antenna is mounted on a mast assembly, which is deployed in stationary mode but retracted while performing OTM missions.

Additional subsystem components include the single-channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) radio, a global positioning system navigation system and an electrical power subsystem.

Prophet Block I delivers electronic support (ES) capabilities to the IBCT. "Block I is the basic capability, the electronic support subsystem mounted on a Humvee," says Bair. The IBCT Block I systems were bought under an urgency requirement to equip the first IBCTs.

At about the same time that those systems were being fielded, other Block I systems were participating in a two-phase initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) program from October 2000 to January 2001. Program officials expect a Milestone III full-rate production decision soon.

The Army is already examining a Block II configuration that will expand Prophet with jamming and electronic attack (EA) capabilities. This configuration will be added to the Humvee as another subsystem. "Block I is a box. Block II will be another box, at least as we see it at this juncture," explains Bair.

There are some decisions, however, to be made along the way, such as whether the Army will purchase and field Block I to the entire force to the exclusion of everything else. If so, the Army would conclude fielding Block I to the force by about 2003-04, which would then push Block II further out. The Army will make that decision within the ongoing program objective memorandum period.

According to Bair, "Block II is funded for prototyping and prove-out. We have an ongoing effort to integrate an electronic attack subsystem on the Humvee and assess its technical and operational performance." These factors will be checked against costs. One of the key issues to consider will be power. "That's always an issue when you come to a jammer," says Bair. "The more power outage you want, the higher the cost of that subsystem." The Army needs to decide if it wants an electronic attack subsystem on every Prophet or only on select systems.

Although the current funding profile anticipates the earliest provision of Block II to the IBCT would be brigade combat team (BCT) No. 3, program officials note the possibility of providing some EA capabilities to the first IBCT later this year.

"We're looking at giving them a Block II engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) capability," explains Dan Tartaglia, product leader for the 13 Prophet EMD vehicles developed to date. Currently there is an EMD prototyping contract, and characterization testing is under way at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. "We plan to field that EMD system to the brigade combat teams as soon as possible, even if it's not quite up to speed with what we eventually want to put in production," says Tartaglia. He is hoping to field the systems tested in February just to the BCTs in late summer.

Rockwell Collins is working with Titan Systems Corporation to develop the EA subsystem currently being tested. A competitive contract process is taking place to select a production contractor.

Looking further into the future, PEO IEW&S planners are looking at a Block III configuration of Prophet that would address so-called modern modulation signals and so-called signal-hopping or low-probability-of-intercept systems.

"Block III is for Œfreq hoppers' and modern modulations," Bair says. In addition to some near-term plans to carve out some money for prototyping projects, Block III production funding begins in 2005.

Finally, there is the theoretical development of a far-term notional Prophet Block IV system. Block IV is the objective force capability. The objective force is what the Army wants to have in 2008 and beyond. This system is called multi-intelligence. The concept is to integrate onto a vehicle a suite of sensors that will combine electronic surveillance, acoustics, and perhaps a radar and imagery. Block IV, however, could be a totally new system. "It may not be today's Block I at all," Bair explains. "With today's Block I, we went with a nondevelopmental approach: We took the AN/ PRD-13 that the Special Forces were using and characterized its operational performance. The user wanted it installed onto a vehicle, so we developed a relatively low-cost solution. We just had to integrate it onto a Humvee and add an antenna."

More distant planning even identifies a Block V configuration that would introduce micro/robotic capabilities to the Prophet.

Noting the success of all Prophet field tests to date, Jim Maziarz, deputy product manager for the Prophet, summarizes its benefits as the following:

The first, which does not exist today, is an on-the-move capability. The mast can be brought down, and it still has the OTM ES capability. Second, Prophet has a much greater operating frequency range than any other system. Finally, based on a Humvee, it is much more mobile, easier to deploy and requires fewer people to operate than any other system.

The Prophet is already on duty as one of the newest intelligence tools in the commander's toolbox.

More information on the Prophet - animation, schedules and more