Google Earth Navigation Information System (GENIS)

Hypothetical scenario: In the near future, a US Navy submarine is operating in shallow littoral water near a country involved in a deadly civil war. The US Navy is attempting to help the United Nations mission in an effort to restore peace and assist with an orderly transition from the existing tyrannical rule. This submarine is providing intelligence and reconnaissance to help monitor the growing human crisis on the ground. There are concerns that chemical weapons will be used on the native population, and there are concerns with proliferation of WMD and related technology that the country possesses in modest amounts. Up ahead in the water, a dangerous seamount lurks that is not clearly obvious to the crew by their traditional 2D situational awareness display. The data exists in several different electronic chart products in a 2D format, but the operator really requires the data to be visualized in 3D to aid in the safe operation of the submarine. A collision with the seamount occurs, and the submarine must retreat and surface to evacuate the wounded and return to port for extensive repairs. Now return to the same scenario, but the operators have at their disposal a 3D situational awareness display that incorporates all available 2D hydrographic and bathymetric sources for display in a well recognized Google Earth format. The danger from the sea mount is clear to the operator, a course change is enacted and the potential grounding was averted, as the submarine continues its vital mission. Intelligence reveals that the WMD are secured and that no chemical weapons were used as threatened by the previous rulers.