NLOS-LS in the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF).

The Army is pursuing the most comprehensive transformation of its forces since World War II. This transformation process is shaping the military. Driving the transformation are new concepts, capabilities and organizations intended to ensure a strategically responsive, campaign-quality force to dominate in full-spectrum operations.

As part of this transformation, the Army will field selected future combat systems (FCS) capabilities to its operational forces through a concept called "spin outs." Spin outs accelerate the fielding of capabilities to today's modular forces before the first FCS brigade combat team (FBCT) is activated in 2015.

Spin Out 1 consists of two FCS technologies: unattended ground sensors (UGS) and the non-line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS). UGS is comprised of the urban UGS (U-UGS) and the tactical UGS (T-UGS). U-UGS is a hand-emplaced series of sensor nodes that allow Soldiers to monitor a variety of urban spaces, including cleared or closely clustered buildings. T-UGS, which is also hand-emplaced, is a series of sensor nodes that allow the commander to monitor a variety of different terrains.

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The second technology and the focus of this article is NLOS-LS. This article provides an overview of NLOS-LS' capabilities and briefly describes its employment and integration into the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF), a uniquely modified heavy brigade combat team (HBCT) at Fort Bliss, Texas.

NLOS-LS will be part of the FBCT's fires battalion, and, for the first time, the BCT commander will have a precision-guided munition (PGM) organic to his brigade in the form of a missile that can kill moving and other targets at a range of 40 kilometers.

AETF Initial Spin Out 1 work in 2008 consists of fielding prototypes for testing and evaluation. Assuming successful testing and evaluation of Spin Out 1, the capabilities will be fielded to current force units beginning in 2010.

The AETF's overall interactive development, integration and verification of Spin Out 1 capabilities will demonstrate the readiness to progress through additional spin out phases, ultimately, leading to the fielding of the FBCT in 2015.

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The AETF. The creation of the AETF dates to December 2005 when the Chief of Staff approved Army Campaign Plan Decision Point 22. That decision designated an HBCT to evaluate FCS operational concepts and conduct testing of and training on FCS equipment at Fort Bliss. During that evaluation, the AETF will provide continuous feedback, enabling the Army to evaluate technologies and develop tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for the new operational concepts and equipment.

Organization. The AETF was organized under an "exception modified table of organization and equipment" (E-MTOE) in Forces Command (FORSCOM) and then transitioned to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) on 16 March 2007. The intent is for the AETF to integrate the newly developed prototypes for FCS platforms and network capabilities into a fully functional fighting force.

The AETF will execute along three distinct lines of operations (LOOs) for the development of the FBCT. The AETF's LOOs are to support the evaluation of selected FCS spin out systems for fielding to the current force, to support the evaluation of FCS main program initiatives for production decisions and to convert the AETF structure to become the first FBCT.

The base design for AETF Spin Out 1 includes a headquarters, two maneuver battalions and a Field Artillery (FA) battalion.

Because of its spin-out focus, the AETF and its subordinate units are not fully manned and equipped. The FBCT headquarters and one of the maneuver battalions (an Armor battalion) are the most populated units. The Armor battalion is made up of a tank company, a mechanized company and an engineer company.

Fires Battalion. Because the FA battalion is focused on testing the NLOS-LS, it will not have any of the howitzers normally found in a FBCT fires battalion. It will, however, have a battalion fire direction center (FDC) and the associated fire support personnel to support the FBCT headquarters.

All cannon fires will be simulated for Spin Out 1. The NLOS-LS section of the fires battalion (fielded in October 2007) will have a control cell and three families of medium tactical vehicles (FMTVs), each carrying two container launch units (CLUs). The remainder of the fires battalion and the brigade are populated to provide only the minimum essential material and personnel to support the main effort.

NLOS-LS. This fire support system is revolutionary. It gives the FBCT commander the ability to target precisely and attack point targets--armored and non-armored, moving and stationary, during the day, night and adverse weather--at extended ranges. As part of the fires battalion supporting the BCT, NLOS-LS adds an increased capability to what was a cannon-only organization with minimal additional force structure.

NLOS-LS is a self-contained launch system that is not vehicle-dependent and that can be fired from the ground, a vehicle or a trailer. The system consists of the launch unit, an on-board command and control capability and 15 individual containerized munitions, each with a precision attack missile (PAM).

The NLOS-LS receives its missions from an advanced FA tactical data system (AFATDS)-equipped command and control node that is part of the NLOS-LS section in Spin Out 1.

Precision Attack Missile (PAM). The missile has solid propellant, is launched vertically and has a variable flight profile, enabling it to be employed against a wide array of targets out to a range of 40 kilometers. The target location and description is loaded into the missile before launch; PAM uses global-positioning system (GPS) guidance (with inertial backup) to fly to the target location.

Equipped with an on-board radio, PAM receives target information and instructions while in flight and provides a terminal image (target picture) immediately before impact. If the observer communicates an updated target location and activity, the data can be sent to the missile in flight, further enabling the attack of moving targets.

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PAM searches the target area during the terminal portion of the flight and makes corrections to hit the target using its infrared (IR) seeker or by flying directly to the target guided by the observer's laser designator. A 12-pound shaped-charge warhead with fragmentation makes PAM effective against a variety of targets found on the battlefield.

Container Launch Unit (CLU). The CLU holds 15 individual, sealed munition containers, known as all-up-rounds (AURs). The CLU also has a computer and communications system in a similarly sized and shaped container. This system has all the subsystems required for mission processing and communications (to include antenna, self-location, weapon interface and power supply) along with intrusion detection when operating unattended.

The primary role of the CLU is to act as the missile transportation and firing platform as well as the pre-launch command and control link.

The CLU measures 45 inches by 45 inches at the base with a height of 69 inches and, when fully loaded, weighs approximately 3,250 pounds. Generic tie-downs are built in to allow any transport system with an adequate capacity to haul the CLU.

NLOS-LS Section. In Spin Out 1, the 11-man NLOS-LS section is composed of a section headquarters, a control cell for controlling and coordinating NLOS-LS missions and three firing teams. Each firing team uses an M1084A1 FMTV to transport two CLUs. The M1084A1 has on-board materiel-handling equipment to replace expended CLUs, as needed.

The section headquarters consists of a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 13D40 FA Automated Tactical Data Systems Specialist NLOS-LS section chief and a 13D10 driver operating out of a high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). MOS 13D was chosen for the section headquarters to augment the control cell as needed.

The current design of the control cell uses a rigid-wall shelter mounted on a HMMWV and is manned by the 13D30 NLOS-LS control cell chief, a 13D20 NLOS-LS fire control NCO and the 13D10 vehicle driver.

Two AFATDS terminals installed in the control cell process fire missions from the fires battalion FDC or other command and control nodes and control NLOS-LS operations. Each NLOS-LS team, which transports and maintains the CLUs, consists of an MOS 13B20 Cannon Crewmember NLOS-LS team leader and a 13B10 driver.

The team leader uses a removable control panel to interface with the CLU. This control panel communicates with the computer and communications system and allows the team leader to conduct maintenance and diagnostics on the CLU and resident missiles to place the CLU safely into and out of operation and to monitor fire missions as they are received and processed. Additionally, the removable control panel enables the team leader to perform a basic PAM fire mission, if required.

The NLOS-LS Soldier will use a waveform radio known as the PAM single-channel radio system (SCRS), until the joint tactical radio system (JTRS) becomes available later in Spin Out 1. PAM, the CLU and control cell will use the SCRS for NLOS-LS ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications.

Communications between the fires battalion FDC and the control cell will be through standard single-channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) radios. When JTRS radios are added to the force, the radios will be able to link sensors and observers directly to a missile in flight.

Mission Processing. To take advantage of the flexibility found within NLOS-LS and the PAM missile, significant changes are being made to the forward observer system (FOS) and AFATDS software to process requests for fire. FOS is being modified to process the request for a precision munition, allowing the observer to specifically request PAM, select the engagement mode that PAM should use and specify the direction of approach the missile should take in its flight. Additionally, FOS will improve PAM's ability to attack moving targets by computing the target's speed and heading based on data received from the observer's laser rangefinder and automatically pass this information in the request for fires.

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The control cell uses mission, meteorological (Met) and digital map data along with fire support coordinating measures (FSCM) to select the CLU that best supports the mission. As part of this process, AFATDS uses an effects optimization tool to plan a flight route for PAM that avoids busy air space and intervening terrain. For a laser-designated mission, the effects optimization tool automatically takes the observer's location into consideration to direct the missile along a course to acquire the reflected laser energy from the most advantageous angle--eliminating the need to compute observer-target angle and select a firing platform at the correct angle.

After determining the best flight route, the mission is sent from the control cell to the CLU. In addition to the flight route, the target description that was part of the observer's request for fire is provided to the missile before launch to ensure the IR seeker will look for the correct category of target.

For moving targets, target speed and heading are also provided, enabling the missile to fly to a predicted intercept point, thus, increasing the probability that the missile's seeker will detect the target or reflected laser energy.

This capability represents a radical departure from the past because the observer adjusts fires before impact instead of after the fact. Also AFATDS and the effects optimization tool will provide the missile with no-fire areas (NFAs) and the observer's location to ensure the safety of friendly forces and non-combatants in the target area.

PAM's Flight. After launch, PAM flies along the prescribed flight route to the known or predicted target location. PAM communicates directly with the control cell, sending its position for display on the AFATDS operator's screen.

As the missile approaches the predicted location of a moving target, the observer sends an update of the target's location to the control cell. The control cell checks the data against the current FSCMs and then sends it to the missile in flight. PAM adjusts the final part of its flight to intercept the target and, just before impact, transmits a snapshot of the target with the time and location back to the control cell.

The Army quickly is realizing its transformation into a strategically responsive campaign-quality, full-spectrum force. Spin outs will bridge the gap between the current and future force by enabling today's Soldiers with tomorrow's capabilities--including NLOS-LS.

Chief Warrant Officer Four (Retired) Robert A. Nelson is the Future Force Lead Action Officer within the Future Force Integration and Concepts Division of the Future Development Integration Center (FDIC) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. While on active duty, he was the Sensors and Targeting Lead for the Director of Combat Developments, also at Fort Sill. In previous assignments, he was a Radar Maintenance/Operations and Targeting Instructor for the Warrant Officer Basic and Advanced Courses at Fort Sill; a Radar, Targeting and Counter fire Operations Observer/Controller at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California; the Counter fire Officer in the S3 shop of the 1st Calvary Division Artillery, Fort Hood, Texas; and the Targeting Officer in the 41 st Field Artillery (41 FA) Brigade in Germany.

Lieutenant Colonel William E. Field, Acquisition Corps (AC), is the Assistant Training and Doctrine Command (TRA-DOC) Capability Manager, Rocket and Missile Systems (TCM RAMS) for the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) at Fort Sill. Previous assignments include serving as the Assistant Project Manager for NLOS-LS and Assistant Product Manager for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS), both at Reds tone Arsenal, Alabama; and Assistant TRADOC System Manager for HIMARS, and Chief of the Weapons and Munitions Branch in the FA School, both at Fort Sill. He commanded A Battery, 4th Battalion, 11th Field Artillery (A/4-11 FA), Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and served as the 2nd Platoon Leader in B/4-5 FA, 1st Infantry Division, during Operation Desert Storm (ODS) in the Gulf.

By Chief Warrant Officer Four (Retired) Robert A. Nelson and Lieutenant Colonel William E. Field, AC