SETTING A-PACE: A Soldier from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Signal and Intelligence Support Company configures equipment and devices for use on the network using Automatic-Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency (A-PACE) prototype capabilities, while establishing communications inside a bunker on Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, Romania, on January 11. (Photo by Pfc. Matthew Wantroba,101st Airborne Division)
Experts from PEO C3T explain how the global operational landscape is shaping Army network modernization.
by Amy Walker
The Army is leveraging the global operational landscape and ongoing multinational training exercises—such as those in the European and Indonesia-Pacific areas of responsibility—as real-world “laboratories” to rapidly enhance network resilience, security and capability, and keep ahead of potential challenges, including electronic warfare and cyber threats.
To optimize data exchange in denied, disrupted intermittent and low bandwidth network environments, the Army is accelerating experimentation and the use of Army science and technology (S&T) and commercial prototype capabilities worldwide. These efforts will support the rapid and continued integration of emerging technologies into the U.S. Army’s unified network to successfully combat increasingly sophisticated enemies. Soldier feedback will inform both current network modernization designs and operational concepts, and those supporting the Army of 2030 and beyond.
As noted in the Army Data Plan, “The right data, at the right time, at the right place will enable faster and better decisions at echelon—to out-think and out-pace any adversary.”
In this light, experts from the Army’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) answer questions on their organization’s recent efforts in leveraging the global operational landscape for ongoing network modernization. Nicole Aderton serves as the deputy product manager for Tactical Mission Command, at Project Manager Mission Command; and Anthony Day serves as the assistant product manager for portfolio integration for Product Manager Unified Network Capabilities and Integration, at Project Manager Tactical Network (PM TN).
ARMY OF 2030 AND BEYOND: Soldiers from the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division support the U.S. Army multinational Warfighter Exercise (WfX) 23-4, at Fort Hood, Texas, on April 19 and continued to build upon advancements in the implementation of an expeditionary interoperable coalition mission partner environment to meet current network, intelligence, fires and sustainment objectives and those of the Army of 2030 and beyond. (Photo by Amy Walker, Project Manager Tactical Network, PEO C3T Public Affairs)
How is the Army using this new construct of leveraging existing global training exercises as part of network modernization and the acquisition of new systems and programs?
Day: The opportunity to test and evaluate prototype technologies through real-world exercises provides the Army with invaluable insight into a capability’s effectiveness in a realistic operational environment. Executing hands-on testing with Soldiers earlier in the development process ensures that issues can be identified sooner, and capabilities adjusted with a substantially lower total life cycle cost and schedule impacts, compared to making changes during or after production. By leveraging already planned global training exercises, we have access to field testing environments on a much larger scale with greater frequency than would traditionally be available.
Aderton: The Army’s updated training construct has enabled the program offices to directly engage our coalition partners and unravel critical interoperability challenges. PEO C3T’s initiative to provide on-the-spot development during these exercises results in faster development and delivery of capabilities compared to the traditional process. Our developers work directly with the warfighters and coalitions partners to close operational gaps.
How are the Army’s “operational laboratory” efforts enhancing network resilience through agnostic multi-band multi-orbit and enhanced primary, alternate, contingency and emergency (PACE) communications plans, including terrestrial communications? What are some examples of these efforts?
Day: As the Army moves away from counterinsurgency missions, and with what we are learning from the European geopolitical landscape and the pivot to the Pacific, the threat is very different; we face much more sophisticated adversaries. Therefore, the service is focused on resiliency in its transport options. One way the Army is enhancing network resiliency is through automated diversity in transport agnostic communications, significantly increasing the number and variety of network communication pathways available to units. The more pathway options that can be leveraged for data to travel through, the more resilient the network becomes.
PM TN has been working with 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Europe to demonstrate a new software capability known as “Seeker,” a signal pathway diversity solution that provides the unit with an auto-PACE capability for satellite, terrestrial and line-of-sight communications. During the unit’s exercises, Soldiers did not know they had periodically lost their primary and alternate signal paths until after the event had ended because of the seamless transition between communications (transport options) that Seeker provided during the exercises. Additionally, the Project Manager Tactical Network recently completed real-world testing in Hawaii of a Next Generation Tropospheric Scatter Transmission capability that provides a high-throughput, non-satellite communications beyond-line-of-sight capability to units in geographically dispersed locations, which is exceedingly relevant in the Indo-Pacific environment.
Day: The Army is enhancing the network to support cloud access experimentation and pilot efforts, which will inform future enhancements of cloud-based mission command and data sharing from distributed locations. PM TN is supporting a pilot called Agnostic Zone Transport Enabling Cloud Access, which extends the regional hub node and Global Agile Integrated Transport infrastructure into the cloud. By extending the network security boundary into a cloud environment, this enables units to securely access their home station resources at the tactical edge using existing transport options, with fewer signal hops, less bottlenecks and ultimately quicker access, without sacrificing security or capability. This effort is currently supporting I Corps initiatives to operationalize distributing command and control in the Indo-Pacific environment.
Aderton: The Army’s distributed command and control and tactical cloud access enables commanders to make decisions at the speed of need. Access to data is no longer limited to just on premises or locally deployed tactical systems. With robust tactical networks and cloud enabled services, units are postured to access persistent data with fewer tactical systems deployed and managed to support mission at distant locations.
SOLID GOLD: U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, I Corps commanding general, receives a brief on the Cobra Gold 23 execution matrix by members of the 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade at Camp 31, Lopburi, Kingdom of Thailand, Mar. 4. Cobra Gold demonstrates ongoing readiness to operate throughout the region in support of allies and partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (Photo by Sgt. Michael Ybarra, 7th Infantry Division)
How does a tactical data fabric enable access to the right data for the right users?
Aderton: Tactical data fabric enables access to various data beyond just a particular warfighting mission area; it “stitches” together a variety of information sources and unique data formats. Let’s take logistics data for example. Through the data fabric—or the Product Manager Tactical Mission Command developed Command Post Computing Environment (CPCE) Tactical Data Fabric (CTDF)—we can ingest data sets necessary to execute logistics status reporting and to provision the logistics status and sustainment running estimate tools with the tactical and enterprise data sets required to achieve the required sustainment functions and features in CPCE. CTDF enables the ingress, curation, normalization and storage of sustainment data sets providing commanders with real time combat power status.
Discuss the partnership between Army units, PEO C3T, the Science and Technology (S&T) community and industry, and the significance of that. How is Soldier feedback specifically shaping capability development?
Day: Close partnerships between Army units, PEO C3T, the Army Futures Command’s Network-Cross Functional Team and the Army S&T communities, Training and Doctrine Command and numerous Army and industry stakeholders are enabling deployed Soldiers to experiment with evolving network technologies to successfully operate and exchange critical data in limited and constrained network environments with increasing network resiliency and security, while enhancing the network for distributed operations.
Obtaining direct user feedback helps PM TN and the Army to ensure capability will meet the needs of the Soldier, which aren’t always clearly articulated in the documented requirements. The partnership enables PEO C3T and the S&T community to focus research, development, and test and evaluation investments on critical needs; guides industry’s internal development efforts towards capabilities the Army wants to buy; and it provides Army units with opportunities to share their input on the tools they will use every day. As in the previous example, the 101st Airborne Division in Europe is informing the continued development of Seeker as they provide suggestions on which new features would be most beneficial in the next version of the software.
Aderton: The Army’s campaign of learning paradigm opens the aperture to various partnerships for the materiel developer community. Soldier requirements and feedback are foundational to what our product offices deliver. Though our development, security and operations efforts, we partner with units in mitigating and solving operational challenges with our systems. We are hand-in-hand with the Soldiers. We also work closely with our capability developers and S&T partners, collaborating on the modernized capabilities to deliver to the force.
BUILDING BETTER BANDWITH: A Soldier from the 307th Expeditionary Signal Battalion – Enhanced, 516th Signal Brigade, sets up a Scalable Network Node, at Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group, Thailand and Camp Red Horse in Thailand during the unit’s participation in Exercise Cobra Gold 2023. The Soldiers are providing critical network access and support, allowing American and allied partners to communicate securely. (Photo by 311th Signal Command (Theater) Public Affairs)
How are these efforts enhancing coalition interoperability?
Day: PM TN is committed to developing modular capabilities that support plug and play applications in different configurations based on varying mission needs. By separating software from hardware through ongoing initiatives such as modem virtualization, we can employ common capabilities on both new and existing platforms. This allows for units with different baselines of equipment to still have access to the same modernized capabilities. Support for common interfaces and data standards facilitate interoperability between the Army and the other DOD services, and between the Army and commercial capabilities that may be more widely available to our international partners.
Aderton: The collaboration with Soldiers, S&T community and industry further enhances our material development. These efforts minimize “stove pipe” solutions and reduce development iterations by collaborating on the standards and protocols that hinder interoperability. Some of the challenges with interoperability are often the result of varying technical standards, protocols and policies. As the Army modernizes the network, it’s vital that product offices fielding materiel solutions are aligned.
Final thoughts?
Day: One of the key benefits to these rapid prototyping and experimentation efforts is the opportunity to fail. Through traditional acquisition pathways, the Army might invest many years and a significant amount of funding before discovering that a capability does not meet the needs of the Army as originally intended. With these alternative pathways, the Army can leverage the Special Operations Command fail fast mentality to potentially learn that lesson much sooner and at a greatly reduced cost, allowing for a quicker pivot to a different technology that better meets the needs of the Soldier, and reducing the overall impact to the Army.
For more information, contact the PEO C3T Public Affairs Office at 443-395-6489 or usarmy.APG.peo-c3t.mbx.pao-peoc3t@mail.mil. Go to https://go.usa.gov/xMSNz for the 2021 Army Unified Network Plan or follow PACE at http://peoc3t.army.mil/c3t and https://www.facebook.com/peoc3t.
AMY WALKER has been the public affairs lead at Project Manager Tactical Network for over 10 years and was the public affairs lead at Program Executive Office Command Control Communications-Tactical for the previous two. She has covered a majority of the Army’s major tactical network transport modernization efforts, including Army, joint and coalition fielding and training events worldwide. She holds a B.A. in psychology with emphasis in marketing and English, from the College of New Jersey.
NICOLE ADERTON is the deputy product manager for Tactical Mission Command, Project Manager Mission Command, Program Executive Office Command Control Communications-Tactical. She has over 20 years of experience working in the Army tactical communications community. She holds an M.S. in information systems management from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. in sociology from Georgian Court University, New Jersey. She is DAWIA certified Practitioner in program management.
ANTHONY DAY is the assistant product manager for Product and Portfolio Integration, assigned to Project Manager Tactical Network under Program Executive Office Command Control Communications-Tactical. He has 13 years of experience supporting networks and information systems across the Army. He holds a B.S. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University, has a Project Management Professional certification, and is DAWIA certified in program management.
