Multi-domain technologies to address future operational scenarios

In current operational theatres, nations operate in much more complex contexts than in the past, with hybrid threats added to traditional ones, often configuring unstable and confusing environments in which the forces on the field require integrated technological solutions that provide timely responses to  defence and security needs.

On the other hand, the rapid progress of technology has brought to the fore - alongside the traditional terrestrial, aerial, and naval scenarios - the new operational domains linked to Space, with the resulting opportunities in terms of downstream satellite services and space cloud, and to the cyber dimension, in its double role as a domain and as a connector and enabler of all the others.

The "battlefield", whether it is a theatre of military operations or an emergency linked to the safety of citizens or infrastructures, is expanding, making the line of demarcation between military and civil operations increasingly thin, since the technological tools available have created completely new conflict environments, in which the combined effect of the interactions between the various systems, and the consequences in case of their compromise, has repercussions in both scenarios.

It is the new "bullets & bytes" paradigm as highlighted by Roberto Cingolani: the mix between conventional weapons (bullets) and digital technologies (bytes) transforms the very concept of traditional Defence. Today you can declare a war by blocking the systems of a nation's strategic organisations, banks, dams, all services, essentially conducting an attack without physically hitting critical infrastructures. Or sophisticated and expensive weapons can be destroyed simply by steering a drone from a smartphone via a satellite connection. Or again, the ban on cyberspace can have serious effects not only in the field of civil services, but also in strategic military activities, blocking intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities, or preventing communications, command, and control.

The result is a paradigm shift that is not only geopolitical, but also industrial. From the traditional concept of Defence we move to an approach oriented towards Global Security, which extends to a broader horizon, to include security in all its forms: energy, space, cybernetics, infrastructures, food. Moreover, this is the lesson learned from the recent conflict in Ukraine: since it began, the first impact was on energy security, then on food security and finally on data security, thereby dramatically highlighting the global repercussions of a conflict that is only apparently local.

In this framework, the combined effect of the proliferation of technological capabilities, the interdependence of modern systems and the innovative use of new modes of conflict, creates a complex and challenging scenario, in which the need to guarantee security for citizens and institutions goes beyond the conventional military action domains to take on an "all-round" dimension. The separation between civil and military vanishes, in fact, when digitalisation creates a level of cyber activity that has value on both realities without distinction.

Graphical representation of a multi-domain scenario

MULTI-DOMAIN OPERATIONS TO ADDRESS FUTURE GLOBAL SCENARIOS

From these premises was born the concept of multi-domain operations, which are on the way to overcoming - in doctrine and practice - the traditional paradigm of joint operations. How?

Multi-domain operations (MDO) are distinguished from joint operations; the latter have the aim of achieving superiority in the domain of competence, through the collaboration of the various Armed Forces that operate in a coordinated manner; the former operate transversally in all domains, also coordinating and integrating with the activities of non-military stakeholders, such as industry, research centers and other international partners who can actively support field operations. 

This scenario is therefore not a simple "summation" of forces to which satellites and information technology infrastructures can be added, but rather a "synchronisation" of objectives and instruments capable of ensuring freedom of action for one's forces always and everywhere (even in Space, or in the immaterial cybernetic flow), to identify windows of opportunity and superiority in the domain of greatest interest in that particular situation.

Here the capacity of space and digital infrastructures comes into play, as they allow the interaction between the forces on the field and the various levels of command to be organised at a completely higher stage than in the past, allowing them to act as a single body that plans operations to be carried out, having at one's disposal the complete situational awareness provided by the information coming from each domain, thus being able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of all the elements interacting at that specific moment.

It can be said that it was precisely the digital revolution, and the creation of cyberspace, that shifted the logic of joint operations to the concept of multi-domain. The cyber dimension - the only immaterial and non-physical one - in fact, acts and integrates all the others and their tools and changes the nature of the three traditional factors - time, space, and forces, since it compresses time, dilates space, and makes the forces less relevant.

For this reason, in a multi-domain operation, strategic planners and operational forces must also know domains other than those of their own competence, because an action in one's own domain can have a direct effect in another. The real challenge is to achieve the so-called "convergence" (strategic, tactical, and operational) also linked to the different speeds with which action takes place in different domains.

The advantage will thus be obtained by those who are better able to coordinate the actions of their own forces at all levels of domain, will receive and process intelligence information more quickly and on this basis will make coherent and effective decisions.

LEONARDO'S “GAME CHANGER” TECHNOLOGY

Leonardo covers the entire multi-domain value chain - platforms, enabling technologies and systems and integration capabilities - with the resulting possibility of exploiting its technological solutions in all operational domains in a synergistic manner.

The propulsive element of this technological capacity is digitalisation which allows interoperability between operations in the various domains. Big data analysis, high performance computing, cloud, artificial intelligence, digital twin, ultra-broadband connections are the strategic enablers that allow the company to better manage the new global security scenarios.

Added to this are specific skills in cybersecurity. The more pervasive the use of digital, the more the amount of data to be collected, analysed and distributed increases. And this data must be protected. Furthermore, the convergence of the cyber and physical dimensions (OT – Operational Technology, which includes hardware and software to monitor all devices in the fields, together with IT – Information Technology, which refers to all data processing systems), which characterises a large part of national critical infrastructures and of industrial production, causes a cyber-attack to have very serious consequences not only at the level of IT infrastructures, but also on the physical ones.

Cybersecurity therefore becomes the other side of the digital coin: the essential need to protect information, systems, and platforms according to a secure-by-design approach, whereby any product or process must "be born safe", that is, have intrinsic characteristics of cyber security right from the design phase, in order to build a safe and resilient cyberspace.

The result of this progressive "contamination" between digital and manufacturing is a strong acceleration of technological evolution which transforms the single product (the helicopter, the satellite, the radar, the helicopter, the drone) into a "system of systems" closely interconnected with the surrounding environment, integrated with other platforms, and multi-domain, with an increasingly extensive application scope.

The other "leg" on which Leonardo's evolution rests is Space. As Cingolani recalls, “much of what is the internet today will tomorrow be managed by satellite and space will generate an infinite amount of data to protect. This is why we need to accelerate infrastructure and services."

Moreover, space is strategic not only for satellite applications and services that are increasingly present in daily life (from mobile phones to travel, from financial transactions to precision agriculture). It is also the key to the planning and operational capacity of nations because it enables communications, territorial observations, intelligence, precision positioning, in all possible scenarios, civil and military. Having a space infrastructure is therefore crucial to enable multi-domain operations connected to maintaining global security, the ability to react to external threats, and the tools to deal with environmental and climate emergencies.

The combination of the digital continuum along the entire value chain, with an advanced network of space infrastructures and within a robust cyber security shield, are therefore the enablers to decline the concept of multi-domain in the industrial sector, with solutions that "orchestrate" and "make interact" the activities of all the technologies used in the different fields (terrestrial, aerial, maritime, space and cyber), making the latter fully interconnected. Some of these solutions are already operational, others in the pipeline, some being studied by designers and technicians. Below is an overview of the most interesting examples.

AW249, the new helicopter for the operational scenarios of the future

The AW249 was specifically designed to operate in a multi-domain scenario, characterised by high complexity and high threat profile, which requires the ability to integrate information from all domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber) and to collaborate with other platforms. The helicopter has been equipped, by design, with a series of "native" capabilities, present on the machines that will be delivered to the Italian Army starting from 2027. In particular: computing capacity and power, connectivity and interconnection, UAV management, extensive potential for technological updating, precision in target acquisition and resilience to cyber-attacks. Complete and accurate situational awareness is guaranteed by a series of devices and sensors - LIDAR technology, IR sensor and microwave radar, while the interaction between artificial intelligence and advanced computing capabilities allows parametres such as height, speed, and presence of obstacles, thus guaranteeing the helicopter the possibility of identifying the safest routes to follow. Finally, integration with the drone is of strategic importance, as the latter, thanks to its advanced position, can extend the intelligence capacity of the helicopter. This allows formations made up of AW249s and their unmanned wingmen to optimize and make operations more effective.

Mock up of the AW249 on display at Eurosatory – Paris

GCAP, the sixth generation “system of systems”.

The GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme) is an international collaboration programme involving Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan with the shared ambition of developing a new generation air system by 2035. Leonardo is a strategic partner together with the British BAE Systems and Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The project involves the development of an integrated air combat system, in which the main platform, equipped with a human pilot, is at the centre of a network of remotely piloted aircraft with different roles and tasks, from reconnaissance to combat support, controlled from the central node and inserted into an ecosystem capable of multiplying the effectiveness of the system itself. Through a technological capacity, digital in all its components - a command and control and communications infrastructure, based on artificial intelligence and supercomputing, combat cloud architecture and cyber datalinks that are resilient, self-adaptable and super-fast in the transfer of high volumes of data - the system will be able to operate in the multi-domain dimension, synchronising operations with other military devices on land, sea, air and space and allowing decision makers to have a complete image of the operational area and multiply response options as events change. Leonardo will make its skills available to the project in all the technological areas involved, leveraging the most advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced computing, digital twins, and making use of its systems and integration capabilities.
 

GCAP – Graphical representation

MILSCA, first space cloud system for Defense

MILSCA (Military Space Cloud Architecture), assigned to Leonardo by the Italian Ministry of Defence, is a high tech, multi-domain project that leverages the company's capabilities in data acquisition, management and cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and supercomputing. It involves the development of a military space cloud architecture, the first in Europe: a constellation of satellites orbiting the Earth to provide the Government and the Armed Forces with high-performance computing and storage capacity directly in space. The system, designed with integrated cybersecurity models, will guarantee users speed and flexibility in accessing and processing strategic data - communication, Earth observation, navigation - generated on Earth and in space on board each satellite. The space cloud will reduce data processing times, processed directly in orbit through the capabilities of the davinci-1 supercomputer, thus providing real-time information and facilitating multi-domain and multi-nation operations.

Space cloud – Graphical representation

ECYSAP, cyber situational awareness to defend Europe

Cyber security at European level is one of the pillars of European defence and strategic autonomy. For this reason, the European Union has co-financed the ECYSAP (European Cyber Situational Awareness Platform) project which aims to develop and implement innovative theoretical foundations, research methods and prototypes, integrated into a European operational platform that enables cyber situational awareness in real time. The aim of the project is to provide commanders of military missions with an accurate image of cyber risks both in the planning phase and during the execution of missions and to assist them in decisions to be made in all physical domains - land, sea, air, space - and in the specific area of cyber-attacks. Leonardo's contribution to the project is focused on the Course of Action component, i.e., on the identification and execution of actions to mitigate cyber risk.

Global Cybersec Centre

ATHENA, the “digital brain” of the ship platform

The multi-domain challenge is essential for the Naval Forces which must integrate with other Armed Forces at a national and multi-national level. ATHENA is Leonardo's Combat Management System recognised as an international benchmark and now in its MK2 version on board Multi-purpose Offshore Patrol Vessels. It was conceived, right from the design phase, as scalable upwards, allowing an expansion of performance to adapt to even more complex naval units or more disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence and supercomputing. It will be possible, for example, to integrate a piece of ad hoc software for multi-domain operations, synchronising naval activities with those underway in other areas of land, space, and air, then representing the overall scenario on a dedicated tactical table to speed up the decision-making process. The development of the ATHENA MK2/U, intended for the new submarines of the Italian Navy, started precisely from this system. Also making use of artificial intelligence algorithms, the new system will offer operators a complete tactical picture management and situational awareness of the surrounding operational scenario, allowing rapid mission planning and execution, as well as advanced interoperability, data recording and analysis and image recognition of the underwater and surface environment.

ATHENA CMS on board the PPA (Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel)