National Defence—C4ISR Initiative in Support of Command and Control

National Defence must overcome obstacles to improve command and control systems

Chapter 4, April 2005 Report of the Auditor General

Ottawa, 5 April 2005—National Defence has begun a major initiative to improve its information systems for command and control as part of the transformation of the Canadian Forces. While the Department has put in place guidance and methodology to help it achieve its goals, some key elements to the success of this initiative are missing, according to the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, in her Report tabled today in the House of Commons.

“National Defence’s C4ISR initiative in support of command and control is complex and expensive, with more than 90 projects,” said Ms. Fraser. “Our audit found that they need to do a better job of co-ordinating projects and ensuring that they follow a common design approach.”

C4ISR is the military acronym for command, control, communications, computers (C4), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). It includes data processing systems, satellite and sensor technologies, plus other tools, skills and processes to support information gathering.

National Defence estimates that by 2015 it will have invested almost $10 billion on projects to improve the way it gathers, processes, and uses military information. This is needed to provide commanders with better information for decision making in order to exercise faster and more effective command and control in both joint and combined operations and to help National Defence keep up with progress and changes being made by allies.

National Defence has already invested about $4 billion in C4ISR projects. However, it still needs to develop a joint C4ISR doctrine, a concept of operations, a definition of interoperability, and an enterprise architecture. Without these key elements, the Department risks costly duplications and incompatible systems.

“I am pleased to see that National Defence agrees with our recommendations and has committed to taking action on them,” concluded Ms. Fraser.

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The chapter National Defence—C4ISR Initiative in Support of Command and Control is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site.

Information:

Julie Hébert, Communications
Tel.: (613) 952-0213, ext. 6292
E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca