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OSI’s COP product line takes centre stage at CWID – the premier coalition warfare, homeland defence and homeland security technology demonstration
Vancouver, Canada -- Offshore Systems Offshore Systems International Ltd. (TSX: OSI/ OTCBB: OFSYF) announced today that its Common Operational Picture product line (COP PL) will be one of the international trials at the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) scheduled for June 13 to June 23, 2005 at nearly 30 sites around the globe.
CWID is an annual exercise hosted by the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with 26 coalition countries participating, including diverse military services and government agencies. This year, CWID participants will conduct approximately 50 “interoperability trials” to formally assess technology for its ability to solve interoperability challenges facing Joint, Coalition, Homeland Security (HLS) and Homeland Defence (HLD) operations. This year’s trials are focused on solutions to address the Global War on Terrorism that can be purchased and deployed within 18 months of the exercise.
Sponsored by the Joint Intelligence Information Management (J2IM) Division of the Canadian Department of National Defence, OSI’s COP PL will be evaluated on the international stage in both a warfighter and geospatial intelligence context.
A core objective of CWID for the warfighter is to enhance interoperable “situational awareness” capabilities among coalition forces. The COP PL will be tested in nearly 100 different coalition and joint force warfighting scenarios over 10 days of assessment. It will be formally evaluated against situational awareness objectives by 13 warfighter assessors representing all forces (navy, air force, land force, marines, special forces, intelligence analysts), and at over 10 locations in Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Formal after-action reports on the COP product line’s performance will be submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and receive broad circulation to all 26 participating countries.
“The military scenarios are set up to be as realistic as possible,” said John Jacobson, OSI’s President and CEO. “Warfighters and intelligence analysts will use the technology as they would if the events were happening in real-time. Throughout CWID, there will be intensive interaction with our COP products internationally to assess their capability.”
Test sites include the host combatant command site for the exercise, U.S. Northern Command at Colorado Springs, Colo., the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Va., the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, and the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass. OSI’s COP PL is designated as one of the main interoperability trials at each of these venues. The COP software will be accessible to all 26 countries and multi-agency participants over a secure, classified CWID network hosted at the Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre near Ottawa, Canada.
With map, image and tactical display capabilities, OSI’s COP tools will allow intelligence analysts, warfighters, military operators, battle commanders and selected government departments to view simultaneously, in near real-time, geospatial and tactical situational awareness data from many different sources in a single picture. “It’s like going to CNN to get the latest, up-to-the-minute report of the news as it unfolds,” said Jacobson. “A battalion commander in Canada, a ship’s captain in Australia, and a geospatial analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency could all be sharing information with each other and at the same time, via the secret web, looking at the exact same picture of what is occurring in the field by using our COP technology. The benefit is superior information for decision-making in mission planning and execution.”
Another key capability of OSI’s COP PL is the ability to provide a live display of all red and blue force positions as well as their operations. “Anyone, anywhere on the coalition network can access OSI’s COP capability to view a near real-time, common operational picture of where the friendlies are in relation to the unfriendlies,” said Jacobson. “From what we understand, this is a new and unique capability for the broad defence and intelligence community.”
During CWID, OSI’s COP products will also be fully integrated into the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) CPIGS system (Coalition Portal for Imagery and Geospatial Services). NGA serves as a national intelligence and combat support agency for U.S. forces and as a core service provider for CWID. CPIGS is a web portal database for geospatial intelligence in all its forms – imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial data and information. For two weeks, the international geospatial intelligence community will be able to access CPIGS for information to support the warfighter in all of the various CWID events and trials.
At the same event last year, OSI’s COP-IDS® product was recognized as among the best-performing in the exercise. “Even though we were a late entrant and literally in a back room as a small engineering trial for the Canadian Forces, our server was operating at maximum capacity -- there was overwhelming demand internationally for our COP capability,” said Jacobson. “This year, we are front and centre as one of the 50 international interoperability trials and involved in about 100 individual military scenario tests.”
Jacobson added that OSI has invested considerable time and resources in further product development for COP to respond to the widespread need for geospatial and tactical intelligence within the C4ISR (command, control, computers, communication, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) community. “A key strength of the COP PL is its versatility and ability to be integrated into C4ISR systems at the strategic, operational or tactical level. Last year, we received invaluable exposure for our new COP PL and generated numerous sales leads. This year, our goal is to break into existing joint and coalition level programs by clearly enhancing C4ISR situational awareness and interoperability.”
For further background on CWID, please visit www.cwid.js.mil or OSI’s website at www.osil.com.
About Offshore Systems International Ltd.
Offshore Systems International Ltd. (OSI) is the pioneer in geo-spatial intelligence and the world leading fleet supplier of electronic chart systems and software for navigation and situational awareness in NATO and allied markets. The Company’s core competency is electronic geography and the production, management and display of many forms of geographic data. The Company provides display systems and data for several defence, government and commercial customers, and conducts its operations through three business units: OSI Navigation Systems (moving map display systems and software), OSI Applications (situational awareness products and services for command and control systems) and Mapcon Mapping (digital map and electronic chart data production services: land and marine). OSI’s common shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: OSI) and the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB: OFSYF). Please visit OSI’s website at www.osil.com for more information and the latest Company updates.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains discussion of items that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws including Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21e of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, OSI’s analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and other matters. These statements are made under the ‘safe harbour’ provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actualresults to be materially different from the results implied herein. Although Offshore Systems International believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that its expectations will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include the effects of general economic conditions, changing foreign exchange rates, actions by government authorities, uncertainties associated with contract negotiations, and industry supply.
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For more information contact:
Jane Hayward
Investor Relations
+1 613 287 0462 or +1 888 880 9797
+1 613 287 0466 (FAX)
invest@osigeospatial.com
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