13:33 GMT, November 12, 2009 Last week, the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the Danish software company Systematic Software Engineering for the acquisition of the C2IS/Battle Management System for the Estonian Army.
The C2IS/Battle Management System is software used by Army staffs, allowing the commander to of a unit conduct various management operations.

According to Captain Vahur Parve, Chief of the Communication and Information Systems Training and Development Centre of the Defence Forces, the system enables the managing of units more efficiently and accurately, using more and more operative information,

“The system provides a real-time overview of the location and activities of subordinate units or, if necessary, individual soldiers. It also allows for the management of a unit in battle faster and with a better situation awarness, as well as the planning the activities of units and conducting various control operations,” Captain Parve explained.

In the framework of the pilot project, the system will be first tested in the staff of the 1st Infantry Brigade and in the units of the Scouts Battalion to determine how the system satisfies the needs of the Defence Forces and which reorganisations should be made to make it comply better with the needs of future users. After that, the system is planned to be acquired in full and implemented in the entire Army.

The initial pilot project is small and includes both the use of software licences and the manufacturer’s support and necessary development works provided by Systematics.

To provide the system with the best domestic support, Systematic also signed a partnership contract with the Estonian company Webmedia, which is one of the largest software development companies in the Baltic States.

One of the main priorities of the Defence Development Plan 2009-2018, approved by the government in January of this year, is the development of command and communication systems of the Defence Forces, both at the strategic and tactical level.