JDS Yuudachi, of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, leads a formation of ships during Exercise Malabar 07-02 in the Bay of Bengal on 05 September 2007. Right behind JDS Yuudachi, is the RSS Formidable - a guided missile frigate of the Royal Singapore Navy, next is INS Gomati - a guided missile frigate of the Indian Navy and the vessel in the far background is an unidentified US Navy surface combatant.
Image Courtesy - Juan Antoine King, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class.
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CENTRIXS, the core of Malabar 07-02
[FIDSNS, 19 September 2007]
Ex Malabar 07-02 had five nationalities participating, but they were all speaking one common language called CENTRIXS. As per the USN, Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS) is a coalition tactical C4I system, designed to be a global, interoperable, interconnected, inexpensive, and easy-to-use information sharing system. The USN provided seven IN ships with Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System - Combined Maritime Forces Pacific (CENTRIXS – CMFP). A CENTRIXS Fly Away Kit (a laptop, antenna, and encryption device) was provided on each of the Indian Navy vessels in order for them to communicate securely with other vessels. The exchange system is just like the internet, but on a much smaller scale. It can be accessed only at particular workstations with specific encryption. CMFP is a small segment of CENTRIXS and was first time used in a larger scale during RIMPAC '06. India was one of the observers of RIMPAC '06, for the likely participation in RIMPAC '08.
The five participating navies: India, Australia, Singapore, Japan and the US, with 22 ships in all, were all able to communicate via chatrooms and email, with each other and to the exercise headquarters on shore in New Delhi via CENTRIXS. Commander Dawn Cutler, Public Affairs Officer of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, in an email to FIDSNS wrote, "For the United States Navy Sailors, working with the Indian Navy was a great experience and an even greater experience was introducing CENTRIXS to them." The US Navy is converting its entire Global Command & Control System (GCCS)-K to the CENTRIXS-K system. CENTRIXS currently includes six multinational enclaves that feature e-mail, same-time chat, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), collaboration at sea and common operational picture services. The system is now being enhanced and its reach is being expanded to other nations.
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