Requirements for Cross Country Movement in Land Warfare

Abstract: In modern military operations, the usage of command, control and communication systems is ever increasing, where Geographical Information Systems are used to increase the commanders’ situational awareness. The use of cross-country movement models in a Geographical Information System can further aid commanders in their decision-making and narrow down possible advancements on the battlefield. This study’s purpose is to examine the Czech Republic’s available methods for presenting cross-country movement in a geographical information system, to recognize what procedures the Swedish Armed Forces have to conduct in the future to have equivalent or better ability in calculating and presenting cross-country movement.  In order to determine this, Swedish geodata has been analysed with a simplified Czech cross-country model and compared to an extended analysis made in the Czech Republic. The method for information gathering was literature studies in the field of geography and cross-country movement, collection of geodata from the Swedish authority Lantmäteriet and two interviews about Swedish geodata and the current situation with Geographical Information Systems in the Swedish Armed Forces. The result shows that the available digital elevation model over Sweden is not accurate enough and that the vegetation database is limited. However, the available geodata over soil is adequate enough in structure to use in cross-country movement models. The author’s suggestion for the Swedish Armed Forces is to determine domestic trafficability parameters and create models that consider Sweden’s specific geographical conditions, with use of similar models that the Czech Republic uses. Further research should focus on investigating necessary parameters and how the cross-country models can be incorporated in a command, control and communication system.