# Canadian military brings high-tech warfare to Afghanistan



## GAP (27 Oct 2007)

Canadian military brings high-tech warfare to Afghanistan
System on par with the British and Americans  
Matthew Fisher CanWest News Service Saturday, October 27, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canada's military has leaped into the 21st century, trading radios and maps with pins stuck in them for ultra-high-tech war rooms where commanders have access to constant data streams, real-time digitized maps and live video feeds from drones, satellites and web cameras that travel with combat vehicles hunting the Taliban.

"We may still be in the mud and the buildings we use may be made of plywood, but what we have now is comparable to a combat battle centre on a frigate -- or the bridge of the Starship Enterprise," said Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, the army's top general.

"This is a huge step forward. In distance, it is light years. In time, we have moved decades with one step. In terms of information, we are right up there with the Americans and British."

To nearly universal rave reviews, several state-of-the art operations rooms have been set up by the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment battle group in southern Afghanistan. 

The biggest is a digitized battle suite at the Kandahar Airfield, where soldiers have been working around the clock in shifts. Their eyes are fixed on dozens of small computer screens in a cool, hushed room. The room is dominated by several huge computer screens hung on the walls and a red light on the ceiling that turns on whenever contact with the enemy is expected or has begun, or when there are Canadian wounded or dead.

"If that red light is on, it means 'Go to your battle stations; there is serious business to be done,'" said Maj. Pascal Larose, an armoured officer who gave the first extensive tour for a journalist of the top-secret Provincial Operations Centre. "And that light is on almost every day." 

Maj. Larose's job is to keep the electronic marvels running, along with Capt. Fred Letourneau, a signaller and computer engineer. 

"It is a big, big change in how we do things. What we have now is better situational awareness for everybody so everybody can make better decisions."

The close working relationship between Maj. Larose and the computer whiz, Capt. Letourneau, "was the very best thing we could have done," said Maj. Patrick St. Pierre, who oversees the main operations centre. "The match is perfect because one of them knows the technical language, the other knows the language of combat arms."
More on link


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## tomahawk6 (27 Oct 2007)

> Another possibility is that the situation in Afghanistan could be streamed live back to commanders in Canada.



Well that could put some of the dot coms out of business. Why need various levels of intervening hq's between the field and the decision makers in Ottawa ?


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## Scoobie Newbie (28 Oct 2007)

Will the kit stay once the Vandoo leave?


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## geo (28 Oct 2007)

Uhh.... yeah
This is not personal PCs and toys brought by & for the R22R Roto.
I just hope that the next Roto leadership cadre gets a chance to work with the kit before landing at KAF


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## Scoobie Newbie (28 Oct 2007)

geo said:
			
		

> Uhh.... yeah
> This is not personal PCs and toys brought by & for the R22R Roto.
> I just hope that the next Roto leadership cadre gets a chance to work with the kit before landing at KAF



Oh really its not a bunch of guys playing Ghost Recon.  Thanks I figured out that much thanks.


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## geo (28 Oct 2007)

CSA105,  valid point that has been a major irritant before... 
Have one of my mates who is part of the NCE group.  The tech gear that is running up there belongs to the expeditionary force and not the LFQA BG currently in theatre.
I have been led to believe that this hardware is up and running in Wainwright and TF 1/08 is supposed to be working with it.


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