Systematic teams with Hammerstone to boost Australian Army logistics

Actionable information is critical for military logistics today, enabling real-time situational awareness and decision support.

With the Land Capability Information Management System (LCIMS), Hammerstone and Systematic joined forces to develop a cutting-edge sense and respond logistics Proof of Concept (POC) for the Australian Army.

Military platforms and systems today produce vast amounts of logistics data. The Australian Army launched LCIMS to tap this in-built advantage, aiming to optimise its situational awareness, situational understanding, and improve logistical decision-making across the tactical, operational and strategic domains.

Logistics support specialist Hammerstone was contracted to design and deliver a POC for LCIMS, conducting the work between November 2023 and December 2024.

Hammerstone’s LCIMS solution was based on the company’s ReadyFleet data fusion and analytics system, which manages and brokers information across logistics information systems.

ReadyFleet connects ‘edge’ computing systems with deployed ICT infrastructure and strategic cloud services, and is technically capable of integrating with Land Domain Battle Management Systems (BMS) and / or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, such as SAP or Oracle.

“This provides a comprehensive deployed logistics management system that operates in Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent and Limited Bandwidth (DDIL) environments, improving situational awareness and decision support from tactical to strategic levels,” explained Matt Hanlon, general manager at Hammerstone.

The LCIMS POC primarily focused on asset monitoring and tracking, with ReadyFleet used to collect data from a range of different edge sources, including such vehicles as the M113 armoured personnel carrier and in-transit visibility systems.

Integrated advantage

Because the Australian Army uses Systematic’s C4ISR software suite as its interim BMS, SitaWare was an important element of the LCIMS POC. 

Thanks to integration through LCIMS, ReadyFleet was able to share real-time equipment status from Health and Usage Monitoring (HUMS) systems directly into SitaWare, through a notional Cross Domain Solution (CDS), thus providing commanders, logistics and operations managers with priority alert information notifications on the location and condition status of their equipment fleets.

Hammerstone worked with SitaWare Edge, Frontline and Headquarters to provide alerts from vehicle HUMS to the tactical C2 command. This “demonstrated how priority logistics information can contribute to efficient decision support within a tactical environment”, Hanlon noted.

Mark Gainsford, vice president for business development at Systematic Australia, said the project underlined the power of existing commercial software and the enhancements that can come from collaborative efforts. Work between the Systematic and Hammerstone software teams “optimised the integration between the two systems and created a powerful demonstration of interoperable C2 and logistics systems”, he noted.

LOGCOP and the Recognised Logistics Picture

With the technologies embedded in the LCIMS POC, logistics managers at the operational level and fleet managers at the strategic level can both make decisions based on aggregated data from a wide range of platforms and systems. The benefits are seen on two broad levels.

First there’s the Logistics Common Operating Picture (LOGCOP), used at the deployed headquarters level and below. This is delivered through optimised information provided on customisable dashboards, catering to the needs of all defence personnel, from field commanders to logistics and fleet managers.

The second level is wider, but just as important: the Recognised Logistics Picture. Here, the information provided through LCIMS POC is used to enhance theatre-level support, the national support base, fleet management and joint logistics.

D-JMILS and PC-C5

Hammerstone and Systematic see multiple areas for collaboration looking forward. One example is the Digitalised Joint Modular Intermodal Logistics System (D-JMILS); this involves the integration of location and condition monitoring sensors on intermodal logistics platforms using intrinsically safe and secure RuBee magnetic communications.

The data is collected by Hammerstone through asset tags and integrated readers, before being sent to secure cloud services via cellular or satellite communications, enabling in-transit visibility of asset location and condition anywhere in the global supply chain. 

The data gathered through D-JMILS can then be shared, ensuring logistics and operations managers are aware of inventory and cache locations and any environmental conditions or handling issues beyond approved tolerances. 

And there is strong potential for future collaboration in Australia and beyond, notably through the AUKUS alliance. The US and UK are both users of SitaWare, with the countries set to further analyse their emerging requirements through the collaborative Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5) event, which will be hosted by the US Army in Spring 2025.  

No matter what specific projects lie ahead, Hammerstone and Systematic will continue to work together to enhance tactical logistics capabilities for their customers. The companies will deepen integration between SitaWare and ReadyFleet, enhancing logistics situational awareness for users across the complex, multi-domain battlespace. 

The aim is simple, but powerful, noted Hanlon.