On March 14th, after meeting all interoperability tests, Poland gained membership in the international Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities (ASCA) initiative. Thus, TOPAZ confirmed the status of a national artillery system for the Missile and Artillery Forces granted to it by the Polish Army, included in the allied chain of command.
Poland became a full member of the Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities initiative. The decision was made as a result of voting during the ASCA conference, which took place from March 6th to 14th in Koblenz. This is the summary of six years of efforts to join the international community.
In 2023, the TOPAZ automated fire control system with the ASCA interface was subjected to detailed interoperability tests. According to the methodology, the tests were first carried out with the system of the introducing country, which for Poland was from 2020 the United States (with the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System). Then, the same scope of tests was confirmed with another country of the initiative, which was Canada (with the Fires Automation and Targeted Effects System).
The summary included reports on the tests carried out and established procedures for using the national implementation of the ASCA interface. The documents were the basis for the analysis and the statement of two subcommittees (for operational and technical matters) that Poland had completed all steps and was ready to be admitted to the community as a full member. Formally, this status was unanimously granted by the ASCA steering committee on the last day of the conference in Germany.
Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities is an international initiative with the leading participation of member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The aim of the ASCA initiative is to increase interoperability and enable direct cooperation between artillery fire control and management systems of different countries. This is achieved by using unified standards and uniform interfaces implemented in individual national systems.
Poland’s entry into the group of full members of the ASCA initiative confirmed the maturity of the TOPAZ system used in the Polish Armed Forces and checked its interoperability. It is the next stage in the development of a national solution, consistent with the needs of the Missile and Artillery Forces.
TOPAZ with the ASCA interface has already been introduced into two divisional fire modules (DMO) of 155-mm howitzers. The first DMO uses fully Polonized Krab howitzers produced in Poland, the second DMO uses K9 guns delivered from South Korea.