definition for: #C4ISR

Military campaigns have been typically directed from war rooms. They are also called command centers, or command and control centers (C2). A C2 center is a military term for a station which allows the planning, direction and control of operations, monitoring, decisionmaking, and execution. The word communications was added to this term, making it C3, and eventually computers were added, amounting to C4. It is now referred to as C4ISR with the addition of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. A more detailed explanation of this term follows. Command is the formulation of intent such as planning, control is the information obtained from the results of the action taken, as well as the conclusion as to whether or not the action was successful. Communications and computers are the hardware and software used to implement the command and control. Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance are the hardware and software systems of sensors, people, data collectors, and platforms, as well as the use of tools to extract the information from data. These are collectively referred to as C4ISR. C4ISR has multiple interacting components including: battlespace monitoring, awareness, understanding, sensemaking, command intent, battlespace management, synchronization, and information systems. Most C4ISR centers are equipped with computers and communications that collect, process, filter, store, display, and disseminate information, according to predefined policies. Physical C4ISR centers can be mobile or stationary and due to the possibility of online meetings, they may be virtual as well. Excerpt from NewWorldWar.org. See also #HumanComputerIntelligenceNetwork & #Swarming.