By reusing existing capabilities, reducing test time and costs as well as recycling lessons learnt, the Distributed Networked Battle Laboratories (DNBL) framework allows NATO Nations and Industry to significantly lower the costs of Experimentation, Test and Evaluation (ETE) services. Recently the framework was used by Danish Industry to successfully conduct interoperability tests for the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation.
Providing quality ETE services faster and at a lower cost is a key aspect of the business model offered by DNBL to its member organisations. This is particularly relevant in the context of the NATO Secretary General’s Smart Defence and “Connected Forces” initiatives, which place a great emphasis on proven interoperability.
At the end of 2011, the NATO C3 Agency (NC3A) and Danish Industry – Terma A/S – successfully leveraged the DNBL framework to conduct tests for the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation, aiming to ensure the coherency of the tested systems with NATO objectives and requirements. During a two-week integration and test period at NC3A's DNBL test facility in The Hague, a team from Terma A/S succeeded in demonstrating STANAG 4559 interoperability between Terma's NSILI compliant data exploitation product and the MAJIIC Coalition Shared Database server.
Smooth collaboration within the framework was praised by the Terma A/S Project Manager Asger Lund Christensen - “The very professional service provided by the NC3A test team was instrumental in achieving this success”.
By using the DNBL framework, the team was able to reduce the costs of the testing by reusing frameworks already established for similar testing with other Nations, and to cut down on travel and equipment deployment time.
The DNBL framework is in operation since 2010 and has supported multiple testing events in the area of Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR). It has also been used to verify and validate the interoperability of NATO and national C4ISR capabilities prior to their deployment to Afghanistan. The Framework currently consists of 32 member organisations, is open for NATO organisations, Nations and Industry from NATO and Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries.
For more information, including information on how to join DNBL, visit: https://dnbl.nc3a.nato.int
Please also see a recent NATO Channel story on DNBL -“A Virtual Platform for Real Tests”: http://www.natochannel.tv/
Industry praise for NATO networked battle labs initiative