Common Operational Picture

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Military commanders need to know where all their own troops are, where the enemy are, and various other information about the battlefield (or battlespace). This knowledge is described as Situation awareness.

A commander's headquarters is typically responsible for ensuring that the appropriate information is presented to the commander, so that he can make the best command decisions. Traditionally, headquarters would prepare maps with various symbols to show the locations of friendly and enemy troops and other relevant information.

Problems can arise when different commanders have different pictures of the state of the battlespace - especially Friendly fire. Ensuring that commanders have a common picture of the operation (or a Common Operational Picture) is important for preventing such problems.

A Common Operational Picture (COP) is single identical display of relevant (operational) information (e.g. position of own troops and enemy troops, position and status of important infrastructure such as bridges, roads, etc.) shared by more than one command.

A common operational picture facilitates collaborative planning of operations and assists all echelons to achieve situational awareness.