CIC

Combat Information Center (credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

The Combat Information Center is the nerve center of a battlestar. Located in the heart of the ship, close to where the "alligator head" of the main main hull meets the midships section, deep within the ship, the CIC is the point from which a battlestar is not only commanded, but also where her offensive / defense operations are monitored and directed.

The CIC is a very large, multi-level complex spanning two decks within a battlestar. The Commander of a battlestar stands at the center of this area.

The lower deck provides:

Commander's Command & Control Center: featuring a table with a range of monitors known as the DRADIS console which can descend from a ceiling recess when required, or which can be retracted to give the Commander an unimpeded view of the entire CIC.
Main Plot Table: located a few feet away from the Commander's station, this features a main navigational plotting table, supported by vertical glass plot boards which can be used to record a battlestar's relative position, and the position of any planetary bodies or other vessels in the vicinity of the battlestar
Flight Control Systems: operated by by two helmsmen controlling the fore and aft thrusters as well as the sublight drive engines
FTL Jump Systems Control
Navigation Control
Main Communications Center
Ship's Sensors and Monitors

The Command & Control Center (credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

These are supported by additional facilities including: damage control; environmental control; primary control of all major shipboard systems, etc.

The upper deck of the CIC, or "the core" (Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down) contains further monitoring stations, and possible redundancy for the main stations in the lower deck.

Notes

Unlike the command centers of other fictitious and actual vessels, Galactica's CIC does not have a viewing screen, or even a window. Navigation is performed from sensor and spatial data not unlike a submarine. In fact, the arrangement of the CIC is more akin to submarines, although ships like Galactica function more as a carrier and heavy destroyer. Generally, the Commander does not sit, but stands with his XO at the Command & Control Center.

Cinematic realism is enhanced with the use of actual submarine hardware, such as thick phones with cords.

The destruction of other battlestars during the Cylon attack hinged on the Colonial's dependence on complex networking within most CICs. It is likely that the battlestars that were destroyed required fewer crewmembers to operate it since they used networked computer systems that moved data around faster than the crew that literally ran between stations in Galactica's CIC with pen and paper to transfer messages and data.

Unlike her sister battlestars, Galactica is the only one without networked computer systems throughout the ship. This simple design, which was a necessary defense when the ship fought in the first Cylon War, saved it again as almost all other battlestars were shut down and destroyed by the tainted Command Navigation Program created by Dr Gaius Baltar, modified by Number Six in secret. Without the CNP in place, Galactica was immune to its effects and was able to mount a defense.

Humano-Cylon agents, possibly the first copy of Aaron Doral encountered, installed a Cylon Transponder at the base of the DRADIS console shortly before the Cylon attack (Mini-Series). Dr. Baltar was aided by Number Six in identifying it to the CIC command staff. It is likely that the transponder was placed there to track Galactica should it escape Cylon attacks.

Galactica temporarily networked its computers once to accelerate the time needed to calculate the true location of the fleet after the ship was separated (Scattered). To slow the progression of the expected virus attack as it calculated the jump coordinates, the Ship's Officer of the Watch, Lieutenant Felix Gaeta, installed four firewalls between the networked systems. Galactica was able to obtain the jump coordinates and escaped before the attacking basestar overwhelmed the ship.

Unfortunately some subsystems in Galactica's CIC were infected by a Cylon virus after the brief networking (Valley of Darkness). This caused some ship's functions to be disabled, although communications and some internal sensor data remained functional. These subsystems were isolated from all other computers as normal and were thought to be cleaned of infection. However, a second infection in the form of a Logic bomb appeared in Galactica where systems were so compromised that a full wipe of the hard drives of the primary computers was necessary. The erased drives were restored from backups made prior to the Cylon Attack (Flight of the Phoenix).

Notes

See Also