Event: 26 July-13 Aug, Ft. Huachuca AZ, Calif, VA, UK, CAN, AU, NL – Empire Challenge (EC10)

Empire Challenge (EC) is an annual joint and coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) interoperability demonstration sponsored by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD/I) that showcases emerging ISR capabilities, and provides vital lessons learned to improve joint and combined ISR interoperability to support warfighters at the tactical edge.

EC10, which runs July 26-Aug. 13, focuses on near-term capabilities that can be delivered rapidly to Afghanistan. Requirements from Afghanistan will drive the event schedule, venues and scenarios, which are conducted through a combination of modeling and simulation, laboratory and live events.

USJFCOM will host EC10 at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., with locations at the Joint Intelligence Lab and Joint Systems Integration Center in Suffolk, Va.; the Combined Air Operations Center-X at Langley Air Force Base, Va.; service Distributed Common Ground/Surface System (DCGS) labs; coalition sites in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia; and the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency in the Netherlands.

EC10 participants include the Joint Staff, combat support agencies, services, coalition partners, academia and industry. During EC10, live and virtual capabilities will be demonstrated as they typically would be by a real-world combined joint force.

The demonstration will evaluate the effectiveness of proposed ISR solutions to warfighter requirements identified by combatant commanders, services and coalition partners.

EC10 Purpose

• Demonstrate and assess interoperability of the DCGS enterprise
• Evaluate sensor developers on data intake into DCGS and coalition ground station/enterprise
• Demonstrate and assess coalition interoperability
• Demonstrate and evaluate multinational data sharing
• Explore emerging ISR capabilities that can address warfighter requirements
• Explore joint and coalition ISR interoperability with command and control from national operations centers to deployed warfighters

EC10 Objectives

• Provide assessments of the DCGS enterprise, the capability-based interoperability of multinational systems, and the quality of intelligence support to command and control
• Enable a quick reaction capability and optimize the live-fly phase of EC

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