ARMY AL&T
firewall configurations and initialization data products. Tese products are assigned to each unit before deployment or training events, to enable the systems to run on the network. When a unit is reassigned, new data products are needed to support the new assignment. Tese products include unique identifiers, roles and Internet Protocol addresses, taking into account a unit’s specific mission, personnel footprint and mix of networked mission command systems. Te Army refers to this process as unit task reorganization.
In the face of potential peer and near- peer threats, the Army needs dynamic and f lexible network re-provisioning capabilities to reflect changes in mission and assigned units. In the past, signal Soldiers manually conducted the provi- sioning and re-provisioning process one
The Army
understands that to receive better, more tailored solutions from industry, it needs to share open application programming interfaces and use cases in areas that could potentially be supported by commercial off-the- shelf products.
device at a time, with physical cables connecting each node to the network, which took many weeks, depending on the equipment and size of the unit. More recently, new Army capabilities are enabling over-the-air provisioning and security patching, which could, for exam- ple, speed the time it takes to provision a brigade’s worth of on-the-move, network- equipped vehicles from two weeks to three days, without having to take the entire system offline in the process. Te implementation of an Army software- defined networking design could speed that process even further, cutting the time down to hours.
Te Army is also looking to leverage soft- ware-defined networking to increase security in the tactical network by enabling rapid response through central- ized changes to security policy, patching and configurations in support of offen- sive and defensive cyber operations. Tis would enable the Army to defend itself against enemy cyber threats across the network and push security updates to units all over the world, simultaneously, from the remote centralized network oper- ations center.
OVERCOMING A DEGRADED NETWORK ENVIRONMENT A software-defined networking design could enhance system and network simplicity for tactical users, since it moves some of that network complex- ity to a centralized network operations center. However, the Army will have to leave enough of the routing control func- tions locally, within the tactical device, to get through network challenges found in degraded signal environments. Tese degraded network challenges include network transport environments that are highly latent (slow), disconnected, inter- mittent and with low bandwidth, which the Army refers to as DIL environments.
The tactical network is an intercon- nected mesh design, with different-sized line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight systems that exchange data over different frequencies and multiple transmission paths. Together these unified systems enable secure network connectivity and data exchange across the force, from a large command post down to the Soldier on the ground with a handheld device. Unfortunately, degraded network chal- lenges are inherent in the Army’s tactical network, and not just because of its size, breadth and complexity. Connectivity issues can also be caused by topography like mountains or buildings that block signals; on-the-move communications; or, increasingly, enemy jamming.
In recent pilot efforts with operational units, the Army has been experimenting with both software-defined networking and software-defined wide area network- ing. Tese laboratory experiments and operational unit pilots are underscor- ing the need for solutions to detect and route around network interference and congestion, and to load-balance flows across multiple transmission paths, to increase network speed, performance and reliability.
If the Army switches to a software-defined wide area network design, the remote centralized network controller will need to include software that implements a strong and automated primary, alternate, contin- gency and emergency routing plan, so that it can automatically route and reroute signals over multiple transmission paths, choosing the strongest available paths for optimal connectivity and resilience. Te Army wants to ensure continuity of oper- ations, to enable network routing to be seamless and transparent to the tactical user, so Soldiers can focus on the mission and not the network.
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