2021/7/2 Blue force tracking - Wikipedia

Blue force tracking

Blue force tracking is a United States military term
for a GPS-enabled capability that provides military
commanders and forces with location information
about friendly (and despite its name, also hostile)
military forces. In NATO military symbology, blue
typically denotes friendly forces. The capability
provides a common picture of the location of friendly
forces and therefore is referred to as the blue force
tracker. When all capitalized, the term refers to a
specific defense contractors' system, but the capability
is found in many military and civilian mobile apps.
A U.S. soldier preparing his Blue Force Tracker
before departing Camp Victory, Iraq in 2005

Contents
Systems
Adoption
See also
Civilian / commercial equivalents
References
External links

Systems
Blue force tracking (BFT) systems consist of a computer, used to display location information, a
satellite terminal and satellite antenna, used to transmit location and other military data, a Global
Positioning System receiver (to determine its own position), command-and-control software (to send
and receive orders, and many other battlefield support functions), and mapping software, usually in
the form of a geographic information system (GIS), that plots the BFT device on a map. The system
displays the location of the host vehicle on the computer's terrain-map display, along with the
locations of other platforms (friendly in blue, and enemy in red) in their respective locations. BFT can
also be used to send and receive text and imagery messages, and has a mechanism for reporting the
locations of enemy forces and other battlefield conditions (for example, the location of minefields,
battlefield obstacles, bridges that are damaged, etc.).

Additional capability in some BFT devices is found in route planning tools. By inputting grid
coordinates, the BFT becomes both the map and compass for mechanized units. With proximity
warnings enabled, the vehicle crew is made aware as they approach critical or turn points.

Adoption
Users of BFT systems include the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United
States Air Force, the United States Navy ground-based expeditionary forces (e.g., United States Naval
Special Warfare Command (NSWC) and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) units), the

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United Kingdom, and German Soldier System IdZ-ES+.

In 2008, work began on plans to reach the level of nearly 160,000 tracking systems in the US Army
within a few years; the system prime contractor is the Northrop Grumman corporation of Los
Angeles, California.[1]

In November 2010,[2] the US Army and the US Marines Corps reached an agreement to standardize
on a shared system, to be called "Joint Battle Command Platform", which will be derived from the
Army's FBCB2 system that was used by the US Army, the US Marines Corps, and the British Army
during heavy combat operations in the Iraq War in 2003.

An Army-specific Blue Force Tracking technology is Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below,
or FBCB2. The system continually transmits locations over the FBCB2 network. It then monitors the
location and progress of friendly (and enemy) forces, and sends those specific coordinates to a central
location called the Army Tactical Operations Center. There the data are consolidated into a common
operational picture, or COP, and sent to numerous destinations, such as the headquarters element,
other in-theater forces, or back out to other military units for situational awareness. The system also
allows users to input or update operational graphics (i.e. obstacles, engineer reconnaissance on the
road, enemy forces). Once uploaded, it can either be sent to higher headquarters or "mailed" to other
subscribers of that user's list, or other BFT users within the subscription system. The M1A1 Abrams's
tank AIM refurbishment/upgrade program includes FBCB2 and Blue Force Tracking.[1]

The BFT system, and the FBCB2 system of which it is a variant, have won numerous awards and
accolades, including: recognition in 2001 as one of the five best-managed software programs in the
entire US Government,[3] the 2003 Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s award for
most innovative US Government program,[4] the 2003 Federal Computer Week Monticello Award
(given in recognition of an information system that has a direct, meaningful impact on human lives),
and the Battlespace Information 2005 “Best Program in Support of Coalition Operations".[5]

See also
Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below
Project Manager Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below
Program Executive Office Command Control and Communications Tactical

Civilian / commercial equivalents

Find My Friends
Android Tactical Assault Kit
Swarm (app)
Automatic Packet Reporting System

References
1. General Dynamics Awarded $34 Million for M1A1 Abrams Tank Upgrades, General
Dynamics Press Release, Sterling Heights, Michigan, September 5, 2008; available at
generaldynamics.com
2. George I. Seffers (November 2010) Situational Awareness In Hand (https://archive.today/2
0130223085143/http://www.afcea.org/signal/articles/templates/Signal_Article_Template.a
sp?articleid=2434&zoneid=285). SIGNAL Magazine
3. Crosstalk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering, January 2002

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4. Factiva, 1-23-2004
5. http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/230216/32/ARTCL/none/none/1/In-brief/

Photograph taken of Major Stuart Burruss, Executive Officer, 2-156th Infantry, 256th Brigade
Combat Team (Mechanized) at Camp Liberty prior to a combat patrol in the brigade's Area of
Operations.

External links
1st Lt. Fox, Stephen (2006-01-19). "JSTARS adds blue force tracking capability" (http://ww
w.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/01/mil-060119-afpn04.htm). Global
Security.
Shachtman, Noah (2006-06-01). "Winning-and Losing-the First Wired War" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20120224225003/http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-06/winning-
and-losing-first-wired-war). Popular Science. Archived from the original (http://www.pops
ci.com/popsci/technology/1b1a2fe0df34b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html) on 24
February 2012.
"FBCB2 Program Manager, Fort Monmouth, NJ" (https://web.archive.org/web/200812051
05355/http://peoc3t.monmouth.army.mil/fbcb2/fbcb2.html). PEO C3T. 2008-11-18.
Archived from the original (http://peoc3t.monmouth.army.mil/fbcb2/fbcb2.html) on
2008-12-05.
The Blue Force Tracker System video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjl_bKuc_o) by
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

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