Information and Communication Technology (ICT)¹ has transformed how we live our lives and the way we interact as individuals and with organisations

The same is true for national military forces where ICT offers decisive advantages through the timely provision and exploitation of information and intelligence to enable effective decision-making and agile actions. The proliferation of modern ICT within national military forces offers greater opportunity for the mutual exploitation of information and collaboration in the Command and Control (C2) of coalition operations. The British Ministry of Defence’s Strategic Defence Review recognised the pace with which the US military was applying this technology and its effect on coalition operations. In doing so, it also stressed the importance of preserving and enhancing UK/US interoperability in order that UK and US forces can work effectively in coalition.

ICT is not a recognised military term and national military forces use a large subset of acronyms to describe the integration of their C2, communications and information systems functions. Generally, the process of integrating these functions with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensors in order to improve a Commander’s situational awareness and consequently their decision making is generically described as C4ISR². Central to ISR activity is the Intelligence Cycle and the way in which we Direct, Collect, Process and Disseminate (DCPD) Information and Intelligence (I2). The inclusion of the "I" is key as it recognises the importance of taking the information from all of the sensors and processing it into useful knowledge.

With the increasing complexity of these activities, the British Defence Staff - United States recognised that as the UK and US develop C4ISR capabilities through the integration of their own current and future C2, ISR, DCPD and I2 systems of systems, there needed to be a focus to:

• Promote and improve coalition C4ISR reach and interoperability;
• Examine ways in which we can make better use of current and emergent UK/US ISTAR, DCPD and I2 capabilities to support coalition C2 and Decision Making;
• Rationalise existing capabilities across the gamut of information systems and sensors, and;
• Exploit synergies with US C4ISR Department of Defence and commercial defence industry partners.

In early 2006 the C4ISR Team was formed by the collocation of the previous C3I³ business area with the Defence Science and Technology desk officers responsible for ISR. The team works as an integrated project team under the direction and co-ordination of Head C4ISR, Colonel Terry Canham, and reports to the Minister (Defence Materiel), Patrick Turner .

The Team have a wide remit and with the support of approximately 30 UK personnel in core BDS - US and other MOD Exchange and Liaison Officer posts throughout the US, they support numerous UK Ministry of Defence customers and stakeholders. The core Team is based in the British Embassy, Washington and an organisational diagram of its members is here.

¹ It is the study or business of developing and using technology to process information and aid communications.

² C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance).

³ Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence.

Please contact Col Terry Canham -