Sextant role in mission concept of operations 

Recently, SSgt Patrick Hegeman, a Marine with Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One, and Mike Parlow, Director of Object Raku Technology, prepared a brief on DET-1's OIF II mission preparation process including visualization of targets using Sextant VWT.  For urban operations, Sextant contributed significantly to the team's mission briefing and added particular value during the individual assault team rehearsal.   This brief was delivered at the Urban Operations Summit V and is now available on the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned website.  Selected excerpts are included below:

"MC-SOCOM DET-1 had a two man Geospatial Intelligence Team and a two man Imagery Interpreter Team. Both teams had significant roles to play during the process of creating and editing all 3d urban models.  Including the 3D products, both teams had a minimum of 10 to 15 different types of products to produce to support each mission that took place."

"During operations in Iraq, the average time-frame to prosecute a target site was twenty-four to thirty-four hours." 

"Most of the historic geospatial data from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was Quality Checked (QC’d). Meaning, most of NGA’s data is created for the macro level and not the micro level so we had to add information and update pre-existing data. This meant fine tuning Digital Terrain Elevation Data, Interim Terrain Data, Vector Interim Data, Urban Vector Map, and other data sets that are provided by NGA.  All of this data would come into play when we created our Sextant 3D model; we found that the more we QC’d, the faster we could create our 3D model.  Also during this time, the Imagery Team were finishing up their target breakdowns. This included exact door placement, window placement, equipment identification, building measurements, etc. This was also an imperative step to creating a good 3D representation."

"Our next priority was the 3D model itself. Our first issue was determining the right amount of quality vice quantity. Given our time line we would start with a 500 meter radius around the target site.  We would then add all the vector data that we had QC’d from the previous products, and again this was crucial because our intent was to fill the area with as much vector data as possible. Following that, we'd start building the target compound itself and continue to add detail to the specific target site all the way to the D-6 hour mark.
Once we hit the D-6 hour mark, we would move on to build the essential but not critical features, i.e. buildings within 200 meters of the target compound. Just the basic shapes of these bldgs were added and very little detail was used on them unless pertinent information was needed on those buildings, i.e. we were identifying the target building by the number of gates on the block or a specific patch of trees in a courtyard, etc.  We would spend approximately 45 minutes to 5 hours in Sextant depending on the scene’s importance to the mission and the progress of all other required products."

"At D-5, all data was saved and the product was brought to the Assault Teams for individual team rehearsals.  This consisted of sitting down with the teams one at a time and walking them through the target site and answering any questions that they had. This was the main focus of effort and paid off the most dividends for the operators."  

"At D-4, the Concept of Operations Brief usually lasted an hour. During this brief I would bring in my system and have the model up on a side overhead projector. During the brief, team leaders would walk the commanders through their individual team tasks utilizing both imagery and the 3d model."

"After the mission, during the debriefing, the 3D model was used by the team leaders to walk the commanders through their actions during the target take down.  As part of our post processing duties we would update the 3d model with any new information.  If possible, the target was visited, so it was easy for the GINT & IMINT teams to compare the model to the real thing."

Sextant integrated by Skyline Software Systems:

Object Raku Technology Inc is pleased to announce that Skyline Software Systems, Inc has joined its Vendor Authorized Reseller program. The move synchronizes Skyline’s patented and award-winning Terra Explorer Pro technology with Object Raku’s hi-resolution 3D geo-modeling package.

“Military operations in urban terrain constitute one of the most daunting challenges facing forces today”, says Mike Parlow, Director of Object Raku said. “In an operational scenario, operators and analysts are under extremely tight timelines. From the time the warning order is issued, products and analyses have hours, not days, to be completed. This problem is compounded near-exponentially in an urban operation where the terrain, infrastructure and population add significant issues that cannot be ignored.
Because urban operations are at their core 3D operations, portrayals of the mission information in the 3D context better enable the operators and analysts to make decisions tailored to the environment. By combining Skyline Software’s Terra Explorer suite and Object Raku’s Sextant, we create an unparalleled urban mission planning & rehearsal capability.”

Plans are for the Sextant module in Terra Explorer Pro to be available in beta form to Skyline customers by June ’06.

“We are on track to complete the integration over the next few weeks.” says Paul Collins, C.E.O. of Skyline Software Systems. “Our customers worldwide have a need for the whole picture – from the country level view right down to the individual street corner. The ability to accurately depict specific features such as street signs, lamp posts, man-hole covers, and windows in the immersive 3D mission scenario allows the analysts, planners, and operatives to weigh all of the relevant information in a mission-specific perspective. What we have done is to fuse the ground level and subterranean perspective of Sextant directly into Terra Explorer Pro as a native interface. This approach aims to leverage the years of mission-tested experience of both tool kits. For seamless viewing, interaction and dissemination of the geospatial globe down to low-level fly-over, Terra Explorer is without peer. In complement to our technology, Object Raku has pioneered urban mission support to tactical operators and allows them to vividly detail and enter buildings and subterranean mission areas. It’s a perfect match.”