Common collaborative operational environment lets users simultaneously see and share real-time information while eliminating time lost through swivel chair operations.

The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems a two-year contract for the continued development and enhancement of the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) system. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a maximum potential value of $78 million. The original contract for Command Post of the Future was awarded to General Dynamics in 2007. General Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD).

"Our performance in developing and fielding user-friendly command and control systems like CPOF has given thousands of users the ability to share their workspace displays and data in real time, contributing to greater operational efficiency," said Kevin Merrigan, vice president of Battle Management Systems for General Dynamics C4 Systems. "By enhancing and expanding CPOF's capabilities, warfighters will be able to communicate better and plan and execute missions faster and more effectively than ever before."

The Command Post of the Future is an executive-level decision support system providing situational awareness and collaborative tools. In a single, integrated environment, commanders and decision-makers can analyze information, share thoughts and evaluate courses of action from geographically dispersed locations.

As part of the planned enhancements, General Dynamics will significantly expand the collaboration capabilities of CPOF. Users will be able to see and share information from multiple control systems, including ground, aviation, logistics, fires and airspace control systems. General Dynamics will also field the next-generation command and control architecture that can increase the number of users sharing the same information from hundreds to thousands. This will allow users who are purposely or inadvertently disconnected from the network to continue their collaborative efforts without interruption to operations or loss of data.

The work done to enhance the collaborative command and control capabilities for the CPOF system directly supports the Army's Mission Command Collapse initiative in which several mission command and control systems are collapsed into a consolidated product line.