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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (BNS): Boeing-designed Vigilare Network Centric Command and Control System (NC3S) has entered service with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The RAAF, on September 2, began using the Vigilare Northern Regional Operations Centre (NROC) at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory for surveillance and battlespace management operations across Australia, Boeing announced.

Before entering service, Vigilare participated in ‘Pitch Black 2010’ multinational air combat exercise that saw the participation of air forces of Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand.

During the exercise, NROC was used as the central C2 node, providing continuous surveillance and battlespace management for offensive counter-air and offensive air-support operations.

The system interacted with multiple assets, including RAAF F/A-18 Hornets, F-111s, Hawks, forward air control PC-9s, and AP-3C Orions; Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and Royal Thai Air Force F-16s; an RSAF E2-C Hawkeye Airborne Warning and Control aircraft, and other air mobility and air-to-air refueling assets, Boeing said.

The Vigilare system is slated for final system acceptance by mid-2011 when it will enter service with the Eastern Regional Operations Centre at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, the company said.

The NC3S functions by combining information in near real-time from a wide range of platforms, sensors, tactical data links and intelligence networks to deliver tactical and strategic surveillance operations and battlespace management in the air and joint domains. The live inputs from these sources present a unified operational picture to the operator at single or multiple control centres.