With two strategic acquisitions completed in less than three years, Space and Intelligence Systems (S&IS), the Boeing center for all Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) programs, has enhanced its existing engineering talent and capability in direct support of the company's vision for the integrated battlespace.

The integrated battlespace is a network-enabled information system that ties systems and platforms together so information and knowledge can be shared across the network in real-time, enabling battlefield commanders and others to make important decisions quickly and effectively, before an adversary has time to react.

“As the foundation for the integrated battlespace continues to be laid, acquisitions of companies like Conquest and Autometric strengthen our ability to collect and manage information,” said Greg Jones, director of Strategic Projects at S&IS. “These added strengths, coupled with new technologies under development, a history of leading large-scale systems integration programs, and knowledge and experience in designing and building a majority of the military’s platforms and systems, enable us to continue to lead the way in revolutionizing the way we gather information, fight wars, and protect our homeland.”

Conquest, Inc., of Annapolis Junction, Md., was the company’s most recent acquisition which was completed in February 2003. It strengthens the company’s ISR systems and product offerings for the defense and intelligence communities. With approximately 220 employees, this highly technical team specializes in enterprise architecture, systems engineering, and software technology solutions.

“Conquest’s existing legacy of technology and outstanding customer service, coupled with Boeing’s strength in lead systems integration, positions the new unit, now known as Boeing Advanced Information Systems: Maryland Operations, to pursue larger-scale systems engineering and integration contracts for defense and intelligence customers,” Jones said.

In August 2000, Boeing acquired Autometric, based in Springfield, Va., to extend the company's existing information collection and processing capabilities to include visualization technologies. The 800-employee unit has been in operation for more than 45 years and is now known as S&IS Washington Operations. It specializes in end-to-end imagery solutions that support modeling, visualization, simulation and analysis. The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is the unit’s primary customer, although many of the products and technical services offered have been expanded to include commercial applications.

One of the most visible commercial products is the Visual Security Operational Console (VSOC), a turnkey physical security system that provides state-of-the-art 2-D and 3-D visual alarm annunciation, security surveillance, and alarm management.

VSOC’s beginnings can be traced to the early situational awareness solutions that supported military commanders and their staffs by taking domain expertise and systems integration excellence and applying it to battlespace management requirements. This additional dimension in situation assessment today arms its users with information at a new level: more comprehensive, more informative, and more graphic.

“Additionally, industries requiring asset management through sophisticated perimeter protection, interior protection, and site monitoring have turned to S&IS Washington Operations for products and service,” Jones said.

Other technologies from S&IS Washington Operations provide solutions through geospatial information management and production systems. S&IS Washington Operations adds a new dimension to geospatial data, adding time and space elements that provide the information required to support critical business decisions. Whether it is a battlefield or a security monitoring station, these products interpret data collected by satellite, aerial, or other methods and add a 2-D or 3-D aspect. Instead of displaying a point location on a flat map, Boeing’s highly intuitive software creates a realistic and graphic representation, taking into account terrain, water, roadways, and other geographic elements to present a visual image that is truer to reality.

Surveillance systems play a major role in network-centric operations and the integrated battlespace. These current and future ISR resources collect the information that helps to populate the network for the integrated battlespace.

“Add to this an information management capability, comprised of databases and visualization tools that provide rapid access to and interpretation of available information, and the motivation for these two acquisitions becomes clear,” Jones said.